![\"Grindr\"](\"http:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.towleroad.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/grindr.jpg?resize=479%2C400\")
<\/p>\n16-Year-Old Led Chilling Extortion Ring Targeting Grindr Users<\/b><\/p>\n
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A 16-year-old Australian boy<\/a> was among four arrested in Canberra<\/a> for running an extortion racket that preyed upon Grindr users by threatening to out them as \u201cpedophiles.\u201d One of their victims is said to have committed suicide as a consequence.<\/p>\n While the group extorted up to $1,000 cash from the victims often along with their mobile phones, it appears the teenager was motivated by more than avarice, but rather a twisted and misplaced sense of \u201cmorality.\u201d He referred to their group as \u201cpedo[phile] hunters.\u201d The boy<\/a>\u2019s father claimed when contacted by police that his son was \u201cdoing [the] police\u2019s\u00a0job\u201d for them.<\/p>\n First Constable Steven Luxmoore gave evidence the boy<\/a> was a principal offender in four or five of the seven alleged blackmail incidents reported to police.<\/p>\n \u201cIf there was someone I was to say sat at the top of the pyramid in this investigation that would be the individual,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n First Constable Luxmoore said police found text and online messages exchanged with the man<\/a> who died by suicide showed the boy<\/a> had discussed meeting him at Mawson shops and was allegedly among a group who visited his house the night before he died.<\/p>\n The court heard the alleged victim\u2019s phone had been active after his death and the accused had advertised that same model of mobile phone for sale on Gumtree soon after.<\/p>\n The others charged included the boy<\/a>\u2019s 18-year-old brother, a 15-year-old, and another 16-year-old. They face multiple counts of blackmail and drug offenses. An investigation had been launched by police<\/a> following alerts to LGBT advocacy group the AIDS Action Council about Canberran gay<\/a> men<\/a> running afoul of blackmailers.<\/p>\n The magistrate overseeing the boy<\/a>\u2019s case said the scheme was \u201cstartlingly sophisticated\u201d for his age and that there was a \u201chigh likelihood of [his] re-offending\u201d before she took the decision to refuse his bail.<\/p>\n The post 16-Year-Old Led Chilling Extortion Ring Targeting Grindr Users<\/a> appeared first on Towleroad<\/a>.<\/p>\n