The grieving parents of a teenager who took his own life after falling victim to a ‘sextortion’ scam have spoken out in a bid to help other young Australian victims.
Rohan Cosgriff, from Ballarat in Victoria’s Central Highlands, about 115 kilometers northwest of Melbourne, had “befriended” a teenage girl on Instagram.
The 17-year-old didn’t realize that the girl he spoke to was a cruel scammer from Nigeria.
After gaining his trust, the scammer convinced Rohan to send him an explicit photo of himself.
Once the photo was sent, the scammer threatened to make Rohan’s image public and demanded the teenager pay $1,000.
On July 26, 2022, a few hours after being blackmailed, Rohan took his own life.
17-year-old Rohan Cosgriff (pictured) took his own life in 2022 after being the victim of a sextortion scam
The night of Rohan’s death, his father, Anthony Cosgriff, was doing paperwork on his computer when his wife, Beck, noticed his son was not in his room.
The couple began searching their home and the horse stables on their property for their teenage son. They even called his mobile number, but there was no response.
“I thought I’d go check out what we called the oval, which was the grass area where we always played ball next to the house,” Cosgriff said. 7Featured news.
It was there that Cosgriff saw his son’s body and made the heartbreaking discovery that he had committed suicide.
The devastated father did everything he could to bring his son back and performed CPR until paramedics arrived.
A sobbing Mrs. Cosgriff said she and her husband sat in their car and watched as paramedics worked on their son but were unable to save him.
“I came in and I didn’t want Rohan to be cold, so I grabbed his blanket,” Mrs Cosgriff said.
“We also had a pillow, we put it under his head and we lay with him in the rain, stroked his hair and told him we loved him.”
His grieving parents Beck and Anthony Cosgriff (pictured) have spoken out about their son’s devastating death in the hope they can prevent other young Australians from falling victim to the cruel scam.
The next day, police found a note inside Rohan’s bedroom that said, “I’m sorry.” I have made a big mistake. I love you all so much.’
The Cosgriffs soon discovered their son was the victim of a sextortion scam and spoke out in the hope of helping other young Australians.
Rohan had told the scammer that blackmail was illegal and that he was “just a kid” and had no money.
Just hours before Rohan took his own life he received a reply from the scammer saying: “Okay, now you have half an hour until we ruin your life.”
‘According to the police officer, the pressure they put on him was immense. And that was an hour after they first asked him for money,” Mr. Cosgriff said.
Cosgriff believes the traditional message of “don’t send explicit images” should be backed up with “if you do, it’s not the end of the world.” We can fix it.’
His wife agrees, saying the message should take away the shame of teens who have sent explicit images.
‘The reality is that many children send damn photographs. They just do it. They shouldn’t do it. It’s nonsense. But they get caught up in the moment for whatever reason,” Ms. Cosgriff said.
‘People need to know that the problem can be solved, that they are not committing the crime. Someone else is committing a crime against them.
“Rowan was a victim of a crime and is dead because of it.”
Rohan befriended a stranger who was posing as a teenage girl on Instagram. The scammer pressured him to send an explicit photo of himself before threatening to share the image unless he paid $1,000.
An investigation into Rohan’s death was launched by Victoria Police in July 2022, which alerted the Australian Federal Police in October, but an official referral was never made.
The AFP explained that it was never the agency in charge of leading the investigation, while the details of the case were not communicated to the Nigerian authorities.
In a statement on April 17, Victoria Police said information about the case had been sent to the Australian Center to Counter Child Exploitation, which “is carrying out a more detailed assessment of the matter.”
NIGERIAN SEXTORSIONIST TALKS ABOUT HOW HE ADDRESSED YOUNG AUSSIES
A Sextortionist from Lagos, Nigeria, known as ‘Daniel’, explained the simple methods scammers use to take advantage of unsuspecting teenagers.
The 21-year-old college student poses as a teenager named Evelyn-Joanne on social media.
Daniel demonstrated to journalist Sarah Greenhalgh how they “choose” their victims, usually teenagers aged between 13 and 17 from “rich” countries, including Australia and the United States.
“We just act like you’re looking for a relationship or maybe just sex chat because most of them like sex chat,” Daniel said.
Within hours of gaining his victim’s trust, Daniel begins sending explicit female photographs taken from adult websites and encourages boys to do the same.
“Now I’m going to tell him that if he doesn’t pay $1,000, I’m going to publish the nude. I’m going to send it to all his family, all his friends, everyone,” Daniel said.
Daniel claims he stopped his sextortion scam after learning about the deaths of teenagers in Australia and the United States.
A Sextortionist known as ‘Daniel’ explained to 7News Spotlight the simple methods scammers use to prey on unsuspecting teenagers.