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A 17 year old from Dunfermline, Fife, Scotland has taken his own life after a Skype conversation with someone pretending to be a girl, the same age. Daniel Perry was the victim of a chat ‘hijack'.
According to newspaper reports, A gang hijacked his Skype chat and threatened to show the video to his family and friends, unless he paid them off.
Child welfare agencies are claiming that they are getting dozens of calls every week from suicidal children as young as 11, who are caught in a similar situation. The reports indicate that blackmailers are asking for naked pictures or strip teases, which they record. They then threaten to share the media with parents or other pupils in school. Mechanic Daniel Perry was told to place money in a specific account, or he would be ‘better off dead'.
Within an hour of the threat, he walked to the Forth Road Bridge and jumped to his death. Apparently the teenager was embarrassed and felt he had let everyone down. A source close to the family spoke to the Daily Mail, and you can read the conversation on this page.
The Daily Mail say that just before he killed himself, he asked blackmailers ‘what can I do to stop you showing this to my family?'.
When a lifeboat crew found his body later he was still alive, but died shortly afterwards.
This is the latest death in the news, after 14 year old Hannah Smith hanged herself in her bedroom after suffered months of abuse from trolls on the website Ask.fm.
Kitguru says: Another sad story, but they seem to be on the rise recently.
This is a very sad news. I’m a parent and I think I need to brief my kids about stuff like this. I think the best way to combat or avoid this is to tell the kids never trust anyone you barely knew online and never record anything which is considered private.
in all fairness the Hannah thing was proven that she sent half the messages to her self, and with this kid he should have thought twice ether way its more self inflicted but to kill your self is just pure stuidity
as a parent, i wont allow my children any for of computer in their bedrooms, there is a good computer downstairs in a quiet area of the house but is in full view of everyone, at the same time, social networks & skype are moniitored. its time parents realise that our kids are vulnerable at home.
why dont all parents do things like this?
More than half, more like 98%.
This is very sad but mostly stupid. Get over that “oh no, I was naked and there’s proof, everyone can see my bum.” If there was less shame over sexual stuff then these blackmailers wouldn’t even have anything to go off of.
Anonymous murderers, inc.