Man posing as teen YouTuber gets 17 years for horrific global sextortion scheme

An Australian man who pretended to be a famous teenage YouTuber has been sentenced to 17 years for orchestrating what police are calling "one of the worst sextortion cases in history."

Twenty-nine-year-old Muhammad Zain Ul Abideen Rasheed blackmailed hundreds of victims across 20 countries, ultimately pleading guilty to 119 charges involving 286 people. Most victims were children, the Australian Federal Police (AFP) said in a press release confirming that Rasheed targeted at least 180 kids under 16.

AFP coordinated with US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and INTERPOL to catch Rasheed before more victims could be harmed. Their investigation started in 2019 when cops in Leon County, Florida, were tipped off to a sextortion scammer "masquerading as a YouTuber," an ICE press release said. He was first charged in 2020 and was then hit with more charges in 2021.