Increasingly dangerous scam targets kids through sextortion

Scams are usually financial crimes, but they’re almost always about more than money.

When a grifter tricks somebody into pre-paying a tax for a fake lottery win, or writing a check to a bogus charity, or wiring cash to bail a supposedly wayward grandchild out of a (nonexistent) Mexican jail, the loss runs deeper than a drained bank account. Confidence, trust, self-respect; all are just some of the things the scammer takes from the scammee.

That dynamic can be even more powerful when...