Technology can make life easier and better in many ways.

Think about it.

You can order something today with the miniature computer in your pocket or purse and often have it delivered to your doorstep tomorrow.

You can stay in contact with family and friends on several social-media platforms.

Medical technology has advanced to the point where diseases or accidents that once left people dead or severely disabled can be successfully dealt with — sometimes with a minimal hospital stay or on an outpatient basis.

But the downside of technology is something we often don’t like to acknowledge. Have you ever had to cancel a debit or credit card because of potential fraud? The technology boom of the last 30-40 years has brought with it remorseless and soulless criminals who quickly learn to abuse and exploit technology for illicit gains.

Depending on your bank or credit card provider, those types of crimes can be caught and losses restored.

But another type of burgeoning crime can have deadly consequences, especially for young people.

Elijah Heacock, a 16-year-old high school sophomore from Glasgow, Kentucky, committed suicide on Feb. 28 after becoming the victim of what law enforcement entities are calling a “sextortion” scheme.

A yet-to-be-identified predator threatened to release AI-generated explicit photographs of Elijah unless the teenager paid $3,000. The boy sent $50, but the extortionist responded that the amount wasn’t enough. Later that day, Elijah killed himself.

The teenager’s parents spoke to The (Louisville) Courier Journal about their son — known to his family and friends as Eli — and to advocate for legislation and resources to combat online sextortion. It is one of the the fastest-growing online crimes, according to the FBI.

“We do know for a fact that all of Elijah’s pictures were AI generated,” said the boy’s mother, Shannon Heacock. “There’s two parts to this. It’s … whoever’s doing this is harming our children, causing their suicide, but then you also have the fact that it’s considered a homicide … through the FBI.”

Heacock said she and Eli’s father, John Burnett, believed they “were doing enough” by checking his phone often, but Burnett said predators have advanced in their illicit schemes.

“The enemy has upgraded. They don’t need your kid’s photo,” he said. “They can do it on their own.”

They’re doing it often — with as many as 13,000 reported cases between 2021 and March 2023 — and many times with deadly consequences. Primarily, these predators target teen boys from 14 to 17. A recent USA Today story stated that as many as 30 teen boys have committed suicide after falling victim to sextortion demands since 2021.

One of them was 17-year-old James Woods, a northeastern Ohio high school senior who took his own life just before Thanksgiving. Woods, who lived in Streetsboro, loved comic books and was a top hurdler on his school’s track team.

The predator who went after Woods sent him more than 200 messages in a span of 19 hours before the boy committed suicide. The extortionist told him he would face jail time for sending nude photographs, that his parents would stop loving him and he would never be able to run track again or go to college.

“They eliminated his desire for a future,” James’ mother, Tamia Woods, told USA Today. “I don’t think James knew he was a victim.”

But James Woods and Eli Heacock were exactly that — victims — in every sense of the word.

The predators who targeted them are pure scum. They must be brought to justice and held accountable for the hideous actions that led those boys to believe that killing themselves was the only option.

The ability for strangers with nefarious intent to establish contact with our kids is now unprecedented in our history. Many of us grew up being warned about “stranger danger,” but technology has now given predators the ability to harm innocents — or even take their lives — without ever being in the same room or even the same town.

Be vigilant in monitoring your children’s online contacts. Their lives might just depend on it.