A Manitoba family is warning of a global sextortion operation targeting teens that has driven their boy to suicide.
Derek and Jill Lints, from Pilot Mound, Manitoba, describe their 17-year-old son Daniel as kind, responsible and spiritual.
He had been blackmailed on Snapchat in February. Three hours later, he took his own life.
According to the Canadian Center for Child Protection, reports of sextortion are on the rise across the country.
He explains that sextortion is a form of blackmail that occurs whena user threatens to post an intimate photo or video of a child or teenager if the latter refuses to send him money or other intimate images.
The Canadian Center says that young adolescents are particularly vulnerable because of their stage of development and the feelings of embarrassment they may feel.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) has already advised victims of this type of blackmail to stop communicating with the fraudster and to notify an adult, a help line or the police.
Radio Canada
Source: Radio-Canada
