‘Chelsea’ asked for nude pictures. Then the sextortion began.

‘David’, a 32-year-old pharmacy technician who fell for a sextortion scam, in Manhattan on Feb 8, 2024. Young men are being coerced into sending naked pictures to scammers pretending to be women – who then demand money. The consequences can be devastating. — The New York Times

The Instagram message popped up from a girl named Chelsea: “Howdy.”

David didn’t know anyone named Chelsea, but he clicked through her profile: She had brown hair and a nice smile; under her name was a quote from the Bible. He thought it was sort of weird that she was messaging him, a stranger, in the middle of a workday, but her pouty selfies made that easy to ignore.