Warning: This podcast explores subjects that may be sensitive to some. If you or someone you know is in crisis, contact the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline (US) or a local mental health professional.

This podcast looks at how people in developing countries, access, groom and exploit U.S. teenagers and exploit them to the point of abuse and sometimes suicide. It is called “Financial Sextortion”, and it is one of the fastest growing crimes in the world. Now we learn that their first encounter is often with an individual who is also a victim of human trafficking.

This week Interpol released new information on the globalization of scam centers indicating that human trafficking victims have been trafficked into criminality from more than 66 countries in the world with emphasis on Southeast Asia and Africa. As an American, few of us really understand what is happening here and even more concerning, very few understand the impact that it will have on U.S. teenagers and adults looking for a relationship online.

As the entire world is now connected by 5G high speed Internet, Cartel organizations in third world countries use A.I. generated employment ads to seduce innocent poor people seeking legitimate work. Often these individuals end up on “Scam Farms” in Southeast Asia, Africa, or South America where they become human trafficking victims. The are forced to spend long hours seducing teens in the U.S., UK or Australia into sending illicit photos or perpetuating a romance scam. Once they are successful in securing an illicit image from a teen, the photo is immediately turned over to the cartel and the blackmail of a U.S. teen begins.

To date, approximately 42 outstanding teens have taken their own lives because of the brutality of “financial sextortion”. One young victim received over 1,000 texts in 24 hours demanding thousands of dollars or suggesting that he end his life. Recently in the case of Caleb Moore, his mother said it was only 35 minutes between the time that he realized that he was trapped and the criminals pressured him to take extreme measures. Our heart bleeds for the families that are left dealing with a lifetime of travesty.

At Million Kids, we believe this must change. Perhaps app companies could post “offshore” on any communication coming from outside the U.S. We need national curriculums to educate about a globally connected world and the impact of foreign national cartels and scam farms. Every young person and parent should be provided with a documentary about financial sextortion with instructions on what to do and what not to do. And there must be a safe place intervention for a young person to be able to access if they find they are in the cross hairs of global organized criminal groups.