In July 2024, Nairametrics reported that Meta had removed around 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria that it said had attempted to attract in financial sextortion scams.
Further of behind, the apply of artificial intelligence has added another dimension to the menace. The assessment too recorded regarding 600,000 sextortion detections by TrendAI.
The agency furthermore said it had recorded additional than 54,000 victims in 2024, up from 34,000 in 2023.
The scale of the effort has furthermore prompted activity by social media platforms. Nairametrics reported in August 2026 that INTERPOL’s African Cyberthreat Assessment found AI was enabling 55% of reported cybercrimes across Africa, together with electronic sextortion and deepfake-based deception in the midst of the emerging threats.
The Countrywide Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) has warned Nigerians on the rising challenge of sextortion, an digital blackmail scheme involving threats to matter intimate images or videos if not victims gather the perpetrators’ demands.
NITDA issued the warning on Friday as section of activities marking Cybersecurity Awareness Month by method of its Computer Emergency Readiness and Reply Crew (CERRT).
According to the informative, sextortion can impact children, teenagers and adults and regularly begins on social media platforms, messaging applications, dating platforms or virtual games.
The agency moreover warned that criminals can use artificial intelligence to develop convincing fake explicit images excluding having an existing intimate image of the victim.
NITDA explains how sextortion happens
NITDA described sextortion as a constitute of internet-based blackmail in which a perpetrator threatens to provide a individual’s intimate images or videos barring the victim pays capital, sends supplementary images or complies using other demands.
The agency said that once a perpetrator obtains or creates an intimate image, complying alongside the demands may not conclude the threats.
Instead, perpetrators may shift forward demanding money or supplementary images, potentially exposing victims to emotional stress, reputational damage and financial losses.
NITDA said children and teenagers are specifically vulnerable as fear and shame may deter them from reporting the abuse to a trusted adult, potentially allowing the abuse to carry on.
What NITDA advises victims and the society to do
NITDA advised Nigerians to prevent sending intimate images or videos virtual, even to individuals they understand or trust, noting that it may not continually be potential to authenticate who is behind an internet-based account.
For community who are already being threatened, the agency advised against paying finance or sending added images, as complying including the perpetrator’s demands could direct to additional demands.
NITDA moreover recommended that victims:
- Retain evidence by taking screenshots of messages, usernames, settlement requests and account details ahead of blocking the perpetrator.
- Prevent communicating together with the perpetrator once the menace is identified.
- Announce the account and offending replica to the applicable platform.
- Status the crime to the Nigeria Police Force Cybercrime Unit.
Sextortion cases and the evolving menace
NITDA’s warning comes as sextortion continues to function in cybercrime cases involving Nigerians, whereas artificial intelligence is adding modern ways for perpetrators to create and distribute convincing information.
In August 2026, Nairametrics reported that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) had facilitated the extradition of two Nigerians to the United States over allegations involving child exploitation and financially motivated sextortion.
The development followed an earlier FBI operation in which 22 Nigerian suspects were arrested in relationship including financially motivated sextortion schemes targeting audience in the United States.
Nairametrics reported in April 2025 that the FBI estimated that virtually $65 million had been lost to sextortion crimes allegedly linked to Nigerian nationals over two years.
Source: NITDA warns Nigerians over rising sextortion threats, AI-generated explicit images
