Teen boy Bryce Tate sadly dies after becoming victim of devastating extortion scheme.
The death of a teenager is always a tragedy, but losing a young life to an extortion scheme makes the loss feel even heavier. Bryce Tate was full of promise, hope, and the kind of innocence the world should have protected found himself caught in something far too big, far too dark, and far too cruel. His story has left many shaken, heartbroken, and searching for answers that never come easily.
Authorities say the teen became a target of an international extortion operation, the kind built on fear, extortion and manipulation.
Tate was targeted as a part of a surging online sextortion ruse, where ruthless people specifically target teenage boys, study their social media profiles, cozy up to the victims and pretend to be a flirtatious girl in a bid to extort them for money.
Just three hours before he took his own life, Tate received a text message from an unknown number pretending to be a teenage girl who was interested in him, his father, Adam Tat, told the New York Post.
‘They acted like a local 17-year-old girl. They knew which gym he worked out at, they knew a couple of his best friends and name-dropped them,’ Adam said.
‘They knew he played basketball for Nitro High School. They built his trust to where he believed that this was truly somebody in this area.’
He also received photos from the strange number that were not AI-generated, but likely an image of a real girl who was another victim in the scheme, a source told the outlet.
This is sad and it’s time cyber security laws are strengthened to prevent such painful incidents.
‘My son had 30 freaking dollars and he’s like, “Sir, I’ll give you my last $30”,’ Adam said. ‘And these cowards wouldn’t take it.’
When targets like Tate can’t send the requested amount, whether through cryptocurrency, gift cards, Venmo or Cash App, the extortionists are known to threaten them with violence or, in Tate’s case, tell them to commit suicide.
Police found Tate was messaged 120 times in the last 20 minutes of his life, which is what these scammers do to create a ‘tunnel vision to where you can’t set your phone down,’ Adam said, recalling what authorities told him.
Although his son did pull the trigger, Adam said he was murdered by ‘godless demons.’
‘They say it’s suicide, but in my book it is 100% murder,’ he said.
‘They’re godless demons, in my opinion. Just cowards, awful individuals, worse than criminals.’
The loss of a young life breaks something in all of us. It reminds us that the world is not always gentle. Be safe!
