Four Delaware men charged in international sextortion scheme that netted nearly $2 million

The group, along with others, targeted thousands of victims across the U.S., U.K., and Canada, prosecutors allege.

Four Delaware men accused of an international sextortion scheme targeting thousands of victims across three countries were arrested or self-surrendered in recent weeks to face charges, federal prosecutors said Monday.

The men allegedly posed as young females online and engaged in communication with thousands of potential victims in the U.S., U.K. and Canada, including minors, prosecutors allege. The men posing as young females encouraged their victims to expose themselves or engage in other sexual activity over web camera or live video chat, and then used the material to extort the victims afterward.

The suspects successfully extorted roughly $1.9 million through CashApp and Apple Pay, prosecutors said, and attempted to extort roughly $6.9 million overall.

The suspects are: Sidi Diakite, 30; Almamy Diaby, 22; Abdul Aziz Sangare, 26; and Adoul Aziz Traore, 31; who all live in Wilmington, Del.

The indictment unsealed Monday included updated charges for suspects previously arrested in Delaware and Cote d’Ivoire as part of the same scheme. Those suspects are Hadja Kone, 28, of Wilmington, and Siaka Ouattara, 22, of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, who was arrested by authorities there in February related to the same scheme.

The suspects are charged with conspiracy to commit cyberstalking and to send interstate threats, money laundering, conspiracy to engage in money laundering and wire fraud. Each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each conspiracy count and money laundering count, and a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each wire fraud count, the Department of Justice said in its statement.

The FBI has “seen a huge increase” in sextortion cases recently, the agency said in post on its website detailing how to recognize sextortion attempts and who to call for help. Financial losses are not the only impact of sextortion, the agency noted, pointing to a recent case where one 17-year-old victim took his own life.

Two Nigerian men charged in that case — Samuel Ogoshi, 24, and Samson Ogoshi, 21 — were sentenced Sept. 5 to 210 months in prison followed by five years of supervised release.

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