A 17-year-old boy died by suicide hours after being scammed. The FBI says it’s part of a troubling enhance in ‘sextortion’ cases.

Inside hours, the 17-year-old, straight-A student and Boy Scout had died by suicide.

"Someone reached out to him pretending to be a woman, they usually started a dialog," his mother, Pauline Stuart, informed CNN, fighting back tears as she described what happened to her son days after she and Ryan had completed visiting several colleges he was considering attending after graduating highschool.

The online dialog quickly grew intimate, after which turned felony.

The scammer -- posing as a younger lady -- sent Ryan a nude picture after which asked Ryan to share an express picture of himself in return. Instantly after Ryan shared an intimate photo of his personal, the cybercriminal demanded $5,000, threatening to make the picture public and ship it to Ryan's household and buddies.

The San Jose, California, teen advised the cybercriminal he couldn't pay the total amount, and the demand was finally lowered to a fraction of the unique determine -- $150. But after paying the scammers from his college savings, Stuart stated, "They saved demanding increasingly and placing plenty of continued strain on him."

At the time, Stuart knew none of what her son was experiencing. She realized the details after law enforcement investigators reconstructed the occasions leading up to his demise.

She had said goodnight to Ryan at 10 p.m., and described him as her often comfortable son. By 2 a.m., he had been scammed, and taken his life. Ryan left behind a suicide word describing how embarrassed he was for himself and the family.

"He actually, really thought in that point that there wasn't a method to get by if these footage were actually posted on-line," Pauline mentioned. "His be aware showed he was completely terrified. No youngster ought to need to be that scared."

Legislation enforcement calls the scam "sextortion," and investigators have seen an explosion in complaints from victims leading the FBI to ramp up a marketing campaign to warn dad and mom from coast to coast.

The bureau says there have been over 18,000 sextortion-related complaints in 2021, with losses in excess of $13 million. The FBI says the usage of baby pornography by criminals to lure suspects also constitutes a severe crime.

The investigation into Last's case is ongoing, Stuart and the FBI tell CNN.

"To be a prison that specifically targets kids -- it is one of many extra deeper violations of trust I think in society," says FBI Supervisory Particular Agent Dan Costin, who leads a workforce of investigators working to counter crimes against kids.

Based on Costin, many of the sextortion scams reported to the FBI are determined to be from criminals on the African continent and in Southeast Asia. Federal investigators are working with their regulation enforcement counterparts world wide, Costin mentioned, to help identify and arrest perpetrators who're targeting youngsters online.

One problem for the FBI: many victims of sextortion don't report the incidents to legislation enforcement.

"The embarrassment piece of that is probably one of many larger hurdles that the victims have to overcome," stated Costin. "It may be loads, particularly in that second."

However investigators urge victims to quickly contact legislation enforcement, both online or at their local FBI subject office.

Medical experts say there's a key motive why young males are particularly weak to sextortion-related scams.

"Teen brains are still creating," mentioned Dr. Scott Hadland, chief of adolescent medication at Mass Normal in Boston. "So when something catastrophic occurs, like a personal picture is launched to people online, it's exhausting for them to look past that moment and understand that within the huge scheme of issues they'll be capable to get through this."

Hadland said there are steps mother and father can take to assist safeguard their kids from online hurt.

"The most important thing that a dad or mum ought to do with their teen is try to perceive what they're doing online," she said. "You need to know when they're going surfing, who they're interacting with, what platforms they're using. Are they being approached by those who they do not know, are they experiencing stress to share information or pictures?"

Hadland mentioned it is also essential that folks particularly warn teens of scams like sextortion, without shaming them.

"You wish to make it clear that they can discuss to you if they've accomplished something, or they feel like they've made a mistake," he said.

Ryan's mom agrees.

"It's good to talk to your children as a result of we have to make them aware of it," Stuart mentioned.

Still grieving the lack of her son, she is channeling her household's ache into action, and honoring Ryan by speaking out and telling his story. She hopes that doing so will assist save lives.

"How might these individuals have a look at themselves in the mirror knowing that $150 is extra vital than a toddler's life?" she says. "There is not any other phrase however 'evil' for me that they care way more about cash than a toddler's life. I do not need anybody else to go through what we did."