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The Global Story

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The one big story. Making sense of the news with our BBC experts around the world

The one big story. Making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, Monday to Friday, from the BBC. With Katya Adler.

The one big story. Making sense of the news with our experts around the world. Insights you can trust, Monday to Friday, from the BBC.  Episodes will be ready by 10:30 GMT.

Host Katya Adler and our BBC teams guide you through one major global news story each episode.

From Beijing to Boston, Baghdad to Bangalore, our unrivalled reach will take you beyond the headlines to help understand and explore what’s happening.

The Global News Podcast brings you the latest updates and, on The Global Story, we will drill deep into a single story.

From the climate emergency, to the burning questions around Artificial Intelligence, to the movements of money and markets, and the power of the ballot and the bullet.

Katya Adler has been a BBC correspondent and editor for more than 25 years, covering conflicts in the Middle East, political and economic crises in Europe, and drug cartels in Mexico. 

The Global Story team would like to hear your stories and experiences on the issues that we’re covering on the podcast. Please get in touch: theglobalstory@bbc.com #TheGlobalStory and tell us your thoughts on what you would like us to talk about.

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The Global Story: Sextortion: 'In six hours, my son was dead'

21/06/2024 GMT

Sextortion: 'In six hours, my son was dead'

BBC World Service - The Global Story, Sextortion: 'In six hours, my son was dead'

How Nigerian scammers blackmail teens worldwide

How Nigerian scammers blackmail teens worldwide.

Sextortion is the fastest-growing scam affecting teenagers globally and has been linked to more than 27 suicides in the US alone. Many of the scammers appear to be from Nigeria - where authorities are under pressure to do more.

It’s feared that sextortion is under-reported due to its sensitive nature. But US crime figures show cases more than doubled last year, rising to 26,700. But what types of sextortion crimes are on the rise and what’s being done to stop them? 

In this episode, Katya Adler is joined by our Cyber correspondent, Joe Tidy and Alex Goldenberg, Director of Intelligence at the Network Contagion Research Institute at Rutgers University.

WARNING: This episode deals with issues of suicide and depression. If you are experiencing distress, despair or suicidal thoughts, contact a local mental health care provider.

If you live in the US or Canada, you can call or text 9-8-8 to be connected to a support line.

You can learn about the resources available in the UK at www.bbc.co.uk/actionline

Or you can access help anywhere in the world through Befrienders Worldwide at www.befrienders.org

The Global Story brings you trusted insights from BBC journalists worldwide. We’re keen to hear from you, wherever you are in the world. We want your ideas, stories and experiences to help us understand and tell The Global Story. Email us at theglobalstory@bbc.com You can also message us or leave a voice note via WhatsApp on +44 330 123 9480. #TheGlobalStory.

TGS is part of the BBC News Podcasts family. The team that makes The Global Story also makes several other podcasts, such as Americast and Ukrainecast, which cover US news and the war in Ukraine. If you enjoy The Global Story, then we think that you will enjoy some of our other podcasts too. To find them, simply search on your favourite podcast app.

This episode was made by Beth Timmins and Laurie Kalus. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The assistant editor is Sergi Forcada Freixas and the senior news editor is Sam Bonham.

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