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Inside sextortionists’ twisted world of black magic and blood sacrifice — which are killing US teens

Nypost · 🇺🇸 public United States · · 1452 words · By Chadwick Moore
West African Criminality Social Media Platform Liability Cybercrime and Sextortion
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What to know about West African Criminality

Inside sextortionists’ twisted world of black magic and blood sacrifice — which are killing US teens See more of our coverage in your search results.

Claims checked 13
Techniques found 4
Topics 3

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left33%
Center34%
Right33%

3 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

Inside sextortionists’ twisted world of black magic and blood sacrifice — which are killing US teens See more of our coverage in your search results.

Why it matters

Add The New York Post on Google Last month, cybercrime researcher Paul Raffile found himself in a muddy Lagos shantytown, watching a witch doctor chop the head off a live goose, then pouring its blood over a photograph of an American porn star.

Common ground

Inside the cardboard-and-steel shack, littered with potions and talismans, a large machete lay on the floor and a mysterious bag rustled in the corner.

Perspective signals

The tension in the story is sharpened by Loaded Language, Appeal to Fear, Appeal to Pity: language that can make the dispute feel more urgent, personal, or adversarial than the underlying facts alone.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/20/world-news/inside-sextortionists-twisted-world-of-…

psychologyPropaganda Techniques Detected

eFinder identified 4 propaganda techniques in this article. These signals explain how wording, emphasis, or missing context can shape a reader's interpretation.

warning
Loaded Language 95% confidence
Using words with strong emotional connotations to influence an audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing loaded language helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Fear 85% confidence
Building support by instilling anxiety or panic in the audience.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to fear helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Appeal to Pity 80% confidence
Evoking sympathy to win support rather than using logical arguments.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing appeal to pity helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.
warning
Hasty Generalization 70% confidence
Drawing broad conclusions from a small or unrepresentative sample.
Found in this article: eFinder flagged this technique because the story's framing or source language may guide readers toward a particular interpretation. Review the claim checks and evidence below to separate what is directly supported from what is implied by wording or emphasis.
Why it matters: Recognizing hasty generalization helps readers compare the article's framing with the underlying facts and with coverage from other sources.

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 13 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

verified Verified By Reference 4
check_circle Corroborated 4
schedule Pending 3
help Insufficient Evidence 2
verified
Claim 1: “In 2024, the FBI reported $33.5 million had been pillaged from Americans in sextortion scams”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided consists of number-to-text converters and general FBI/TV show Wikipedia entries. No financial figure of $33.5 million for 2024 is mentioned in the provided evidence.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The second season of FBI, an American police procedural drama television series, premiered on CBS on September 24, 2019, and concluded on March 31, 2020. Only 19 episodes were produced due to the COVI…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI_season_2
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. An agency of the United States Depart…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigatio…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The Americans is an American period spy drama television series created by Joe Weisberg for FX. It aired for six seasons from January 30, 2013, to May 30, 2018. Weisberg and Joel Fields also served as…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Americans
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 2: “On August 20, 2024... a scammer posing as a young girl demanded $300 in gift cards from Levi... before he died by a self-inflicted gunshot... Authorities ruled it a homicide tied to the extortion.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 3: “Aina pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and wire fraud, among other charges, and got a 72-month federal prison sentence.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this specific claim regarding the 72-month sentence and specific guilty pleas of Imoleayo Samuel Aina.
verified
Claim 4: “The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has told The Post it receives almost 100 reports of financial sextortion a day or around 33,000 each year since 2021.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The evidence provided includes general Wikipedia entries for NCMEC and irrelevant weather reports. There is no evidence provided regarding the specific statistic of 100 reports per day or 33,000 annually.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The International Centre for Missing & Exploited Children (ICMEC), headquartered in Alexandria, Virginia, with a regional presence in the United Kingdom, Europe, Turkey, Africa, Canada, Latin America,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Centre_for_Missi…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC; ) is a private, nonprofit organization established in 1984 by the United States Congress. In September 2013, the United States House of Rep…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Center_for_Missing_&_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The House Caucus on Missing and Exploited Children (HCMEC) was formed in order to assist the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and coordinate United States federal legislation…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_House_Caucus_on_…
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 5: “Ohio parents Tamia and Tim Woods also joined a lawsuit against the tech giant in March... Son James, 17, died by a self-inflicted gunshot wound in his Streetsboro, Ohio bedroom in 2022 following a 19-hour ordeal when a sextortion scammer he met on Instagram sent over 200 threatening demands for payment.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
check_circle
Claim 6: “In 2023, two Nigerian brothers—Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and brother Samson, 20—were sentenced to 17 years for their role in running a sextortion ring connected to the suicide of 17-year-old Michigan teen Jordan DeMay.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that Samuel (22) and Samson (20) Ogoshi were extradited from Nigeria and sentenced to approximately 17-17.5 years in prison for a sextortion ring linked to the suicide of Jordan DeMay.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — United States v. Ogoshi is a pending case in the United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan. It is considered part of Project Safe Childhood.On September 4, 2024, both Samuel an…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_v._Ogoshi
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and his younger brother Samson Ogoshi, 20, of Lagos, were flown to the U.S. on Sunday and are expected in federal court in Grand Rapids on Monday afternoon, the Justice Department s…
https://www.aol.com/news/u-extradites-two-nigerians-sextorti…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Samuel Ogoshi, 22, and Samson Ogoshi, 20, of Lagos, Nigeria, were extradited to the US this week and entered not guilty pleas on 17 August.
https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/crime/ni…
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Claim 7: “15-year-old West Virginian Bryce Tate... took his life last November... two hours after he was contacted by a suspected Nigerian scammer.”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources (The Mirror US and another article on the 'Sextortion Crisis') confirm that 15-year-old Bryce Tate of West Virginia took his own life in November after being a victim of a sextortion plot.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2025 Ohio State Buckeyes football team represented the Ohio State University as a member of the Big Ten Conference during the 2025 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They were led by seventh-yea…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2025_Ohio_State_Buckeyes_footb…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 Troy Trojans football team will represent Troy University as a member of the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference during the 2026 NCAA Division I FBS football season. They are led by thir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_Troy_Trojans_football_tea…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Greene County is a county in Virginia in the eastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 20,552. Its county seat is Stanardsville. Greene County is part of the Charlottesville, VA…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greene_County,_Virginia
+ 3 more evidence sources
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Claim 8: “Last November, Nigerian scammer Imoleayo Samuel Aina, 27, was tracked down and extradited through joint US-Nigerian law enforcement efforts.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that Imoleayo Samuel Aina, 27, was arrested in Nigeria and extradited to the US in 2024 (specifically August 2024) through joint law enforcement efforts.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Both Aina and Abiodun are charged with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. After being charged by complaint, Aina and Abiodun were arrested in Nigeria and taken into custody by the FBI on July…
https://www.justice.gov/usao-edpa/pr/two-nigerian-men-extrad…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — The 27-year-old was sentenced by United States District Judge Joel H. Slomsky, who also ordered him to serve three years of supervised release following his prison term, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for…
https://www.vanguardngr.com/2026/07/nigerian-extradited-to-u…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Co-defendants Imoleayo Samuel Aina, also known as “Alice Dave,” 27, and Samuel Olasunkanmi Abiodun, 26, were extradited to the U.S. in August 2024. Abiodun pleaded guilty to money laundering conspirac…
https://www.abc27.com/pennsylvania/third-nigerian-extradited…
verified
Claim 9: “Nigeria is the world capital for cyber scams, and the same year overall internet scam losses totaled $16 billion from the US”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While evidence mentions Myanmar as a global center for cyber scams and provides IC3 loss charts, it does not confirm Nigeria as the 'world capital' nor does it confirm a specific $16 billion loss figure for the US in 2024.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The joint military intervention in Nigeria was a series of coordinated military operations conducted by the United States and the Nigerian government against the Islamic State's West Africa Province (…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_intervention_in_…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of 923,769 …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Bilateral relations between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the United States of America were formally inaugurated when Nigeria attained its independence from Britain in 1960. In the 21st century,…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nigeria–United_States_relation…
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 10: “Sextortion cases have claimed the lives of atleast 40 teenage boys in the US since 2021, according to the US State Department.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence for this claim consists of irrelevant search results about Roman numerals, Interstate 40, and the DHS. No evidence was provided that mentions the US State Department or the specific number of teenage deaths (40) due to sextortion.
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America (a nickname shared with U.S. Route 66), is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_40
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — The United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is the U.S. federal executive department responsible for public security, comparable to interior ministries abroad. Its missions involve anti-te…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Ho…
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wikipedia NEUTRAL — Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west transcontinental Interstate Highway in the southeastern and southwestern portions of the United States. From west to east, it passes through California, Arizo…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interstate_40
+ 3 more evidence sources
schedule
Claim 11: “Shippensburg, Pa. mom Tricia Maciejewski filed a wrongful death suit in December 2025 against Meta over the death of her 13-year-old son, Levi.”
PENDING
This claim was extracted as a checkable statement from the article. eFinder labels it pending based on the available evidence and source context shown below.
help
Claim 12: “Aina used a fake online persona called “Alice David” to extort explicit photos from 20-year-old Kutztown University student Jack Sullivan, who then tragically died by suicide.”
INSUFFICIENT EVIDENCE
No evidence was provided for this specific claim regarding the alias 'Alice David' and the victim Jack Sullivan.
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Claim 13: “A 2024 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute found Instagram was the most common platform for sextortion schemes to take place, followed by Snapchat.”
CORROBORATED
Three independent web sources explicitly state that a 2024 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute found Instagram to be the most common platform for sextortion, followed by Snapchat.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A 2024 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute found Instagram was the most common platform for sextortion schemes to take place, followed by Snapchat.
https://www.aol.com/articles/sextortion-scams-led-38-us-2036…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — A 2024 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute found Instagram was the most common platform for sextortion schemes to take place, followed by Snapchat.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/how-one-family-s-lives-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — And even though a 2024 report by the Network Contagion Research Institute found that Instagram is the most common platform for sextortion schemes, the company’s public position remains: we’ve been stu…
https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/sextortion-killing-our-childr…
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.