The Receipts: Local FBI agents detail how sextortion schemes target teens

The Receipts: Local FBI agents detail how sextortion schemes target teens by Alexia Stanbridge Tue, November 10, 2026 at 6:28 AM Updated Tue, November 10, 2026 at 7:02 AM 4 VIEW ALL PHOTOS Gavin Guffey was 17 when he was targeted in an online sextortion scheme. His father, South Carolina Representative Brandon Guffey, is sharing Gavin’s story to help other families recognize the warning signs and know where to turn for help. (Credit: Brandon Guffey) Comment on this story 0 Comment Share story Share topics: Sextortion FBI Austin-San Antonio Teenagers Artificial intelligence Meta Nigeria CyberTipline AUSTIN, Texas — The FBI is warning families in the Austin-San Antonio area about a rise in online sextortion cases, a crime that can give strangers access to children through their phones, computers and social media accounts. Rep. Brandon Guffey of South Carolina said his 17-year-old son, Gavin, was targeted by someone pretending to be a teenager, an encounter that he said changed his family’s life forever. “It made no sense because Gavin was living his best life. He had finally decided where he’s going to go to college, what he was going to do,” Guffey said. Guffey said Gavin was playing video games with friends when he logged off and began talking online with someone he believed was a girl. “That conversation started off with something like, ‘Hey, you’re cute.’ And that conversation turned into, ‘Do you want to play truth or dare?’” Guffey said. Guffey said after Gavin sent an image, the person began demanding money and threatened to share it. The FBI said sextortion can escalate quickly. “And it happens in as little as minutes, right? We’ve seen it go from a quick interaction” said Alex Doran, assistant special agent in charge for the FBI in San Antonio. Doran said the FBI’s primary target audience in these cases is teenage boys. “The primary target audience for this is teenage boys age 14 to 18,” Doran said. Doran said offenders may use fake accounts, artificial intelligence and details from a child’s profile to build trust. He said many cases are financially motivated. “The majority of these cases, it’s just money. They'll get Apple gift cards, whatever the kid can have access to,” Doran said. Doran said the FBI sees sextortion cases on both social media and gaming platforms, more often on social media, and that most offenders are overseas. He said AI has made it easier for offenders to pose as local teenagers. “AI certainly has made it a lot easier for individuals. Again, a lot of these times are located overseas to pretend to be a 15-year-old girl located in the town next door to you, and to quickly kind of start exchanging information and becoming friends,” Doran said. THE RECEIPTS | Air quality and representation fears rise with Taylor's data center The FBI said sextortion is a newer trend and can be difficult to track. FBI IC3 data show 427 complainants age 17 or younger in 2025. Data provided show 401 complainants in that age group in 2026. The FBI said it only began tracking complainants 17 and younger in 2025, meaning the figures do not show a longer-term trend. The FBI also noted the numbers do not include reports made to some local law enforcement agencies and other organizations. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children said more than 67,000 CyberTipline referrals to Texas law enforcement in 2025 concerned online enticement, a broad category that includes sextortion but is not limited to it. Nationally, NCMEC said it received more than 80,000 reports concerning sextortion, including an average of 137 reports of financial sextortion a day. Guffey described Gavin as someone who looked out for others. “Gavin didn’t want anyone to be alone. If he seen you sitting alone, he was going to make you his friend,” Guffey said. Guffey said the threats did not stop with Gavin, and that the same person also targeted his nephew and other family members. He said Meta removed one account but left other related profiles up. “It really disturbed me that Meta only pulled down Bella Janet 28 and left up all the other profiles affiliated with Bella Janet,” Guffey said. We reached out to Meta to ask what it does when users report accounts they believe are connected to sextortion. The company said it works to fight sextortion by disabling scam accounts and supporting law enforcement. Meta also said its safety features restrict who can message teens and that it uses user reports to identify accounts and disrupt networks of scammers. They said its safety features restrict who can message teens and that user reports help it identify accounts and disrupt networks of scammers. “We work aggressively to fight sextortion, disabling scammers’ accounts whenever we find them and supporting law enforcement in prosecuting them. We’ve spent years developing safety features to help stop this abuse, including restricting teens from being messaged by accounts they're not connected to, warning them about the risks of sharing sensitive photos, and notifying them if they’re chatting with someone in another country. These determined criminals do everything they can to avoid detection, so we're also focused on helping teens recognize possible scams and making sure they know that sextortion is never their fault,” Meta said in a statement. Meta did not address Guffey’s specific claim that related profiles remained online. Guffey said law enforcement tracked the main suspect to Nigeria, and that the person was extradited to the United States and is now in a South Carolina jail awaiting trial. The FBI said anyone targeted should stop responding, tell a trusted adult and report it. Doran said adult support is critical for teens who may feel overwhelmed or afraid. “Having the adult to kind of just bring that back down to reality that, hey, yes, this is bad, but it’s not the end of the world. You’re not gonna be in trouble. You’re not the one that was in the wrong here. You were taken advantage of. That's the most important thing,” Doran said. Guffey said he does not want other families to experience what his has endured. “The pain, you can’t explain. I don’t want anyone to ever feel that pain,” he said. The FBI said parents should monitor their child’s phone and talk with them ahead of time so they understand sextortion can happen and feel comfortable coming forward. 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