On the night of December 29th, 16-year-old Murray Dawei was at home with his family in Dunblane, Scotland. As they sat together and watched TV, Murray talked with his friends about saving money for summer vacation.
Around 9:30 p.m., he went up to his bedroom.
“That was the last time I saw him alive,” he says. Ross DaweiMurray’s mother.
That night, he was targeted by a sextortion scammer and took his own life.
“He was tricked into thinking he was talking to a young girl and shared intimate photographs with her,” Ross told the Guardian’s Scotland correspondent. Libby Brooks. “As soon as he did that, it became very clear that he was not talking about a young girl, but a Nigerian criminal who immediately began extorting him.” [him] …and threatened to share the photo with all of his contacts. ”
Murray’s parents, Ross and Mark, are now raising awareness of the crime, which often targets young people. They argue that social media companies need to do more to protect teens like Murray.
“We’ve talked many times about the dangers of social media, and we’ve always warned that you never know who you’re talking to,” says Ross. “So we talked about that. It’s not like we didn’t have conversations, we were a very open family.
“That’s the hardest thing to deal with, he didn’t just get over it. But when you look into the issue of sextortion, the scammers are relentless and they’re just sending kids into a frenzy of panic.” It is.”
In the UK and Ireland, Samaritans can be contacted on freephone 116 123 or email jo@. samaritans.org or jo@samaritans.ie. In the US, support is available at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 988 or via chat. You can also text HOME to 741741 to be connected to a Crisis Text Line counselor. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is 13 11 14. Other international helplines can be found at: befrienders.org
Photo: Murdo MacLeod/The Guardian
