Sextortion scams: what to do if someone is blackmailing you
Quick answer
Sextortion is blackmail: someone threatens to share intimate images or video unless you pay. Don't pay and stop replying. It's a crime, and you did nothing wrong. Save the evidence, block them, and report to ic3.gov or tips.fbi.gov.
- Comes by
- Email, Social media, Text
- First reported
- Latest official alert
- (FBI IC3)
- Last updated
How it works
There are two common versions. Both are crimes, and the person targeted isn't to blame.
Contact on social media or a dating app. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) says this often starts as a friendly exchange on a dating site or app. The person quickly suggests moving to another messaging app, then pressures you to share explicit photos or video. Once you do, they demand money and threaten to send the material to your family and friends. The FBI describes financially motivated sextortion against teens, mostly boys aged 14 to 17, as a growing threat. Payment is usually asked for in gift cards, payment apps, wire transfers or cryptocurrency.
A mass email that says they recorded you. The email claims they hacked your webcam or filmed you on an adult website, and demands cryptocurrency. The FTC says the threat is empty. The sender often knows an old or current password, which usually comes from a data breach, and uses it to sound real.
Paying doesn't end it. The FBI warns that the criminals keep asking for more.
Red flags
- A new online contact who moves fast, flirts and asks to switch to another app
- A request for intimate photos or a video call, often after they send a photo first
- A demand for money, gift cards or crypto within hours, with a threat to send images to your contacts
- An email claiming to have webcam footage of you and quoting a password you once used
- A deadline and instructions to pay in cryptocurrency or by QR code
Example message
I have recorded you through your webcam and I know your password [password]. Pay [amount] in cryptocurrency to [wallet address] within 24 hours or I will send the video to everyone in your contacts.
What to do
- 1
Stop contact and don't pay
Don't send money or more images. Paying seldom ends the blackmail. Block the account after you've saved the evidence.
- 2
Save the evidence
Take screenshots of messages, the profile and payment requests. Report the account through the app's safety tools. The FBI advises not deleting messages until law enforcement has seen them.
- 3
Report it
File a report with the FBI at tips.fbi.gov or IC3. If you are under 18, or a parent is helping, you can also report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children.
- 4
Get images taken down
The FBI points minors to NCMEC's Take It Down service and adults to StopNCII.org, which help stop images spreading on participating platforms.
- 5
If the email quoted your password
Change that password everywhere you've used it, turn on two-step verification and check whether your email appeared in a breach.
- 6
Get support
Being targeted is stressful. Talk to someone you trust. A teenager who is being blackmailed is a victim, whatever they sent.
Report it
Check if your details are exposed with Serus
Scammers find your number and address on data brokers and people-search sites. Serus removes them.
Why you got it
Mass sextortion emails go to lists of addresses. Scammers use leaked data to add a real password or a street address so the threat sounds personal. Contact details also sit on people-search sites, where anyone can look up your name, address and relatives.
Serus finds where your details are listed and removes them from data brokers and people-search sites, and alerts you when your email or password shows up in a breach. That won't stop a blackmailer who already has a conversation with you, but it limits what a scammer can look up.
Official alerts
Frequently asked
Do they really have a video of me?
In the mass-email version, almost certainly not. The FTC says the webcam claim is an empty threat, and any password quoted usually comes from an old breach.
Should I pay to make it stop?
No. The FBI says paying doesn't end the scheme and criminals keep asking for more.
What if I'm under 18?
You aren't in trouble. The FBI says the person being blackmailed isn't the one who committed a crime. Tell a trusted adult and report it to the FBI or NCMEC.
Can the images be removed?
Often yes. Take It Down (minors) and StopNCII.org (adults) help block images on participating platforms.
Are there laws against this?
Sextortion is a crime. The FBI treats it as one and wants victims to report it.
Sources
Something wrong or out of date? Tell us and we'll re-check it.
