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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Libby Brooks Scotland correspondent

‘I felt ashamed and scared’: how an online friendship became a sextortion nightmare

A man looking out over a city skyline
Thomas: ‘I hated pretending to my parents that everything was fine. I started to think there might not be a future.’ Photograph: Graeme Robertson/The Guardian

“I still describe them as the best friend I’ve had.”

Thomas* knows how it sounds, but it’s his honest description of what he initially thought was an online friendship with another teenager who, just as he did, felt lonely and like he didn’t quite fit in at school.

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