17-Year-Old Dies By Suicide Hours After Being Scammed By 'Sextortionist'

A 17-year-old boy in California took his own life after an online scammer tricked him into sending a nude photo and then blackmailed him for $5,000.

Ryan Last, a straight-A student and Boy Scout from San Jose, California, died by suicide in February just hours after being approached by a cybercriminal who was posing as a young girl online, CNN reported.

The scammer sent Last a nude photo and then asked the teenage boy to share an explicit image of himself in return.

After Last shared an intimate photo of himself, the cybercriminal demanded $5,000, threatening to make the photo public and send it to the teen's family and friends.

The scammer later lowered the amount to $150 after Last said he did not have the cash.

Last paid the scammer from of his college savings. However, the cybercriminal "kept demanding more and more and putting lots of continued pressure" on the teen, his mother Pauline Stuart told CNN.

Stuart only learned about what her son went through after Last's death and a police investigation.

She found a suicide note left behind by Last describing how embarrassed he was for himself and the family. The mom opened up about her son's case in the hopes that other families would be spared the same grief.

"He really, truly thought in that time that there wasn't a way to get by if those pictures were actually posted online," Stuart told CNN. "His note showed he was absolutely terrified. No child should have to be that scared."

Stuart explained that the online extortionist would not stop pestering her son and pressuring him for more money.

"How could these people look at themselves in the mirror knowing that $150 is more important than a child's life?" she added. "There's no other word but 'evil' for me that they care much more about money than a child's life. I don't want anybody else to go through what we did."

Last had just finished visiting the colleges he was considering attending after graduating high school when he first came in contact with the scammer, according to Stuart.

Since their son's death, Stuart and the teen's father, Hagen Last, have been raising awareness of such scams, which law enforcement calls "sextortion."

“We want to help to make sure that this will not happen to any other family. And the best way to do that is to help educate parents and children about what dangers exist on the internet,” the father stated.

No arrests have been made, and the investigation into Last's case is ongoing, according to Stuart and the FBI.

"To be a criminal that specifically targets children -- it's one of the more deeper violations of trust I think in society," FBI Supervisory Special Agent Dan Costin, who leads a team of investigators working to counter crimes against children, told CNN.

There were over 18,000 sextortion-related complaints in 2021, with families losing more than $13 million, the FBI said.

If you have thoughts of suicide, confidential help is available for free at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline. Call 1-800-273-8255. The line is available 24 hours, every day.