Recently, the tragic story of 15-year-old Bryce Tate circulated. He took his own life just 2 hours and 32 minutes after first contacting a suspected Nigerian online scammer (Yahoo Boy) on Instagram. This scammer pretended to be a 17-year-old girl.

Within minutes, the "girl" gained Bryce's trust and sent him private photos of herself.

When the "girl" asked Bryce to send him photos as well, he immediately complied. The message then read:

"I have nude photos of you. Give me $500 if you don't want your life ruined."

Bryce reacted by committing suicide.

Unfortunately, this is not the first such incident. Unsuspecting young people are repeatedly targeted by sex offenders who demand more explicit content or by scammers who demand money to keep quiet.

Eileen West of Operation Shamrock sums it up perfectly:

[You have the advantage of artificial intelligence.] [You can claim the person in the photo isn't you.]

She's right. Even if you're not the person in the photo, it doesn't lessen the humiliation of having your sex photos faked and circulated online.

Because if the photos end up in the hands of your employer, how can you convince them it wasn't your fault without taking full responsibility?

As an anti-trafficking activist and international speaker, I frequently receive calls for help from children all over the world who tell me they've received nude photos and want them back.

But as with most financial scams, the chances of getting the photos back are extremely slim.

Sexual blackmail isn't limited to "petty criminals" like the "Yahoo Boys" who dominate social media.

Many people may not realize that sexual blackmail is a huge business in the world of scams.

A Filipino con artist recounted how she and her team chatted online for hours, receiving explicit sexual messages and, of course, the "essential" photos of male genitalia.

Once the man on the other end of the line was sexually aroused, the conversation quickly moved to the next stage.

In this stage, the con artist video-called the victim, and both masturbated, unbeknownst to the con artist, who was filming them.

This recording was enough to initiate the next step: blackmail.

Since the methods used to "attack" children and adults are nearly identical, the simple answer isn't "Don't send photos," because that advice simply doesn't work anymore.

A better piece of advice is to avoid taking photos that show your face or other personal information.

But even that doesn't protect scammers from stealing your face and transferring it to someone else, or even photoshopping it onto their own nude photos.

Therefore, the only solution is to ensure that no photos of your face are found online—neither on your LinkedIn profile, nor on social media platforms, nor in media outlets and news portals.

People often lack empathy for victims of sexual blackmail; instead, they are frequently shamed and blamed.

Regardless of our opinion on taking and voluntarily sharing nude photos (presumably with another person): Publicly distributing such photos without consent is a crime and should be prosecuted.

How many more suicides like Bryce's must we endure before we finally take this problem seriously?

In the UK, there's a movement:

Stop, Think, Prevent Fraud

These three simple words, in my opinion, are a rule of thumb that applies in all situations.

Stop:

If someone you met online asks you for nude photos.

Think about this:

Consider the potential consequences if these photos fall into the wrong hands and are seen by family, friends, or colleagues.

Scams:

Are you absolutely certain that the person you are speaking to is who they claim to be?

Are you truly certain that the phone and/or video call is from a real person and not a scammer?

Is there even the slightest possibility that you have been the victim of a scam and that these photos could be used to sexually blackmail you?

If you have even the slightest doubt, do not take any photos and under no circumstances send them.