Sextortion: Threatened With Photos? Don't Pay
Quick answer: Someone threatening to share your intimate photos unless you pay is committing sextortion, a crime. Do not pay. Paying almost never stops the threats and usually brings more demands. Stop replying, save the messages and the username, report the account, block the person, and tell someone you trust. Then report it to the FBI at ic3.gov.
Your phone buzzes. The message says someone has intimate photos of you and will send them to your family, friends, and church unless you pay by tonight. Maybe you shared photos with someone you met online, or maybe you never sent any photos at all. This is a sextortion scam, and it is a crime. The person threatening you is the criminal. You did nothing wrong by trusting someone, and you are not the one in trouble. Here is exactly what to do, starting with the most important thing: do not pay.
This is happening to a lot of people. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center received more than 75,000 sextortion reports in 2025. People aged 20 to 29 filed the most reports, but people 60 and older lost the most money: $14,894,547 from just 6,121 reports, an average of about $2,433 each. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 50,000 reports of financial sextortion involving children in 2025, an average of 137 a day, up from more than 36,000 in 2024. Most victims never report at all, because shame keeps them quiet.
What a sextortion scam is
Sextortion is blackmail with intimate photos or videos. Someone gets hold of intimate images of you, or claims to have them, and threatens to share them unless you pay money or send more images. The FBI says it can start on any site, app, messaging platform, or game where people meet and communicate. It does not matter how the photos were taken. Once someone uses them to threaten you, that person is committing a crime. You are not the one in trouble. The blackmailer is.
How it starts
The fake romance. The most common start for a sextortion scam is a new friend online. Someone you met on Facebook, Instagram, a dating app, or WhatsApp starts a friendly conversation, then a flirty one, and moves you to a private video chat. They may ask you to send some. Then the tone changes: the person who was kind an hour ago now has your photos and a deadline. The FBI says this is how it usually begins, with people believing they are talking to someone their own age who is interested in a relationship. The person on the other end is often not who they claim to be.
Stolen photos. Sometimes there is no romance at all. The blackmailer may have taken photos from a hacked account, an old phone, or a cloud account.
The cold threat. Sometimes the first message is the threat itself. An email or text says, "I recorded you on your webcam," or, "I have your photos. Pay in bitcoin or I send them to your contacts." The FBI says the first contact is sometimes a threat, with the criminal claiming to already have a revealing picture or video. There may be no photo at all.
Fake photos. Sometimes the photos are fake: criminals can take an ordinary photo of your face and use editing tools to make a fake intimate image. A fake photo is still sextortion. Handle it the same way: do not reply, do not pay, save the message, and report it.
The threat and the payment demand
The threat is always personal. They will send the photos to your family, your friends, your co-workers, or your church, and they may name the people: your daughter, your boss, your pastor. They give you a deadline, often a few hours, so you pay before you can think. The demand is usually money, paid in a way that is hard to trace or reverse: cryptocurrency, gift cards, or a wire transfer. Sometimes they demand more photos instead. The deadline is fake pressure. Paying does not buy safety. It buys the next demand.
Why paying never ends it
Paying feels like the fastest way to make the fear stop, but it is not. The FBI says the offender often releases the material whether or not they are paid, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says cooperating or paying rarely stops blackmail. Paying tells the blackmailer you will pay when threatened. The usual result is another demand, larger than the first. The only way to break the cycle is to stop paying, stop replying, and report it.
What to do in the first hour
Do these steps in order.
- Stop replying. Do not pay. Do not negotiate, do not beg, and do not explain. Every reply tells the blackmailer you are scared and still listening.
- Save everything first. Before you block anyone, take screenshots of the messages, the username, the profile, the payment demand, and any payment details. This is evidence, and the police and the FBI need it.
- Report the account on the platform. On Instagram or Facebook, open the conversation, tap the message, choose Options, then Report. On WhatsApp, open the chat, tap the contact's name, scroll down, tap Report, and check the box to also block the sender. Report the person's profile too. Your report is anonymous.
- Block the person. After you have saved the evidence and reported the account, block them. Blocking stops the messages, calls, and new friend requests. Do not delete your account or your messages: the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says they can help stop the blackmailer.
- Tell someone you trust. Tell a family member, a close friend, or a counselor what is happening. The blackmailer's whole plan depends on your silence, and one honest conversation breaks it. You do not have to show anyone the photos.
- Report it to the FBI. File a report at ic3.gov, the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, with the usernames, the messages, and any payment details. You can also call 1-800-225-5324.
- Tell your local police. File a report with your local police and bring the screenshots you saved. If you feel unsafe, or if the person threatens violence, call 911.
- Get the images blocked. If you are 18 or older, go to StopNCII.org, a free tool that creates a digital fingerprint of your image on your own device, without uploading the image, and shares that fingerprint with participating companies so they can block it from being shared. If the images were taken when you were under 18, use Take It Down at takeitdown.ncmec.org instead. Both are free.
If you feel you cannot cope, call or text 988. The 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is free, confidential, and open 24 hours a day. Adults can also call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for free support.
What not to do
- Do not pay, and do not send more photos. Paying or sending more images never ends it.
- Do not keep it secret. Secrecy is the blackmailer's business model.
- Do not delete everything in a panic. Save the evidence first, then block.
- Do not give the blackmailer access to your devices or accounts.
- Do not pay a company that promises to stop the blackmailer for a fee.
- Do not answer if they contact you from a new account.
The second trap: companies that charge to stop it
When you are frightened, you may search online for help and find companies that promise to stop the blackmailer and keep your photos offline, for a fee. In October 2026, the Federal Trade Commission sued a company called Digital Forensics Corporation, the operator of sites like BlackmailHelpline.com and DigitalForensics.com. The FTC says the company charged victims thousands of dollars, and alleges it took at least $60 million from people who were already being blackmailed, while failing to deliver the help it promised. A federal court has temporarily halted the company's activities, and the case is still before the court. Real help is free: you do not need to pay anyone to report a crime, to report an account, or to use StopNCII.org or Take It Down. If a company found you through a search ad, check it first: search its name with the words "scam," "review," or "complaint," and scroll past the paid results. If they pressure you to pay right now, walk away.
How to report sextortion
File a report even if you lost no money. Report the messages and the profile on the platform where it happened. Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov, or call 1-800-225-5324, and to your local police. You can also report online at tips.fbi.gov. If a minor is involved, use the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678. Report fraud to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, and if a platform misses the 48-hour removal deadline, report it at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. If you are 60 or older, the National Elder Fraud Hotline at 1-833-372-8311 and the free AARP Fraud Watch Network Helpline at 877-908-3360 can help.
If the photos are already posted
If the blackmailer has already posted the photos, act fast. Report the post and the account that posted it. Under a federal law called the Take It Down Act, platforms must remove intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request, and the removal is free. If a platform misses the deadline, report it to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. If you are 18 or older, create a case at StopNCII.org, which turns your image into a digital fingerprint on your own device, without uploading it, and shares that fingerprint with participating companies so matching copies can be blocked. If the image was taken when you were under 18, use Take It Down at takeitdown.ncmec.org. Report every repost you find.
If you already paid
If you already paid, stop now. Do not pay again, even if the threats get worse. Call your bank or card company right away on the number on the back of your card and ask about a recall or a chargeback. If you sent cryptocurrency, contact the exchange at once, but know that crypto is very hard to reverse. If you sent a wire transfer, ask your bank about a recall. Keep every record: the messages, the usernames, the payment receipts, and any wallet addresses. Then report it at ic3.gov and ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Watch out: someone new may soon offer to get your money back for a fee. That is a recovery scam. Real agencies do not charge you to recover stolen money. Our guide on what to do after sending money walks through each payment type.
Protecting your accounts after
Lock down your accounts. Change the passwords on your email and social media accounts, starting with the account the blackmailer contacted you on, and use a different password for each account. Turn on two-factor authentication wherever it is offered. Make your social media accounts private, and remove anyone you do not know in real life. If the blackmailer got into one of your accounts, use that service's account recovery page, change the password, and sign out of all devices. If you shared personal information such as your Social Security number or bank details, our identity theft recovery guide walks through the freeze and recovery steps.
If your grandchild is being threatened
Children and teenagers are the most common targets of financial sextortion. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received more than 50,000 reports about children in 2025, an average of 137 a day, and teenage boys are the most common targets. The FBI has interviewed victims as young as eight. If a grandchild tells you this is happening, stay calm and do not blame them. Tell them the blackmailer is to blame, not them, and they are not in trouble, even if they sent the photos themselves or accepted money or game credits. Tell them to get help before deciding whether to pay anything, because paying rarely stops blackmail. Help them report the account and block the person, but do not delete the messages. Report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678. If the images were taken when your grandchild was under 18, use Take It Down at takeitdown.ncmec.org. If your grandchild seems frightened, withdrawn, or secretive about their phone, ask gently and listen.
Prevention checklist
- Never send intimate photos to someone you have not met in person. Once a photo leaves your phone, you cannot control where it goes.
- Be suspicious of a new online friend who moves fast. Flattery, then a request to move to a private video chat, is the classic setup.
- Keep your social media accounts private. A stranger who can see your friends, your family, and your photos has everything they need.
- Do not accept video calls from strangers. A video call is how the blackmailer gets the recording.
- Never pay anyone who threatens you online. A threat plus a payment demand is a crime, not a bill.
- Agree on the family rule now: if anyone online threatens you, tell a family member first, then report it. No one in the family will be angry. The criminal is at fault.
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Check It Now — Free →Frequently asked questions
I already paid. Will they stop now?
Probably not. The FBI says the offender often releases the material whether or not they are paid, and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children says cooperating or paying rarely stops blackmail. Paying shows the blackmailer you will pay, and the demands usually continue or grow. Stop paying now, save every message and receipt, and report it at ic3.gov and to your local police.
They say they will send the photos to my family in one hour. What do I do?
Do not pay. The deadline is pressure, not a promise. Save screenshots of the messages, the username, and the demand. Report the account on the platform, then block the person. Tell someone you trust right now, before the deadline passes. Then report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and to your local police. You do not have to face the deadline alone.
The photos are fake. I never sent any photos. Is it still sextortion?
Yes. Sometimes the blackmailer has no real photo. They may use a stolen photo, an old photo, or a fake one made with editing tools. The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children lists fake images as a known tactic. Treat it the same way: do not reply, do not pay, save the message, and report the account. A threat to share intimate images is a crime whether the images are real or not.
Can I get the photos taken down if they are already posted?
Yes. Report the post on the platform where it appears. Under the Take It Down Act, platforms must remove intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request, for free. If a platform misses the deadline, report it to the FTC at TakeItDown.ftc.gov. If you are 18 or older, create a case at StopNCII.org, which uses a digital fingerprint of your image to block matching copies. If the image was taken when you were under 18, use Take It Down at takeitdown.ncmec.org.
My grandchild is being threatened. What do I say to them?
Stay calm and do not blame them. Tell them the blackmailer is to blame, not them, and they are not in trouble. Tell them to get help before deciding whether to pay, because paying rarely stops blackmail. Help them report the account and block the person, but do not delete the messages. Report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-843-5678, and use Take It Down for images taken when they were under 18.
Someone online offers to stop the blackmailer for a fee. Should I hire them?
No. Real help is free. The FTC warns that some paid sextortion help companies make big promises and fail to deliver. In October 2026 the FTC sued one company it says took at least $60 million from victims, and a federal court temporarily halted it. Report the crime to your local police and the FBI, report the account on the platform, and use StopNCII.org or Take It Down to block the images. If you are considering a paid service, search its name with the words 'scam,' 'review,' or 'complaint' first.
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Sources: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sextortion, and the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center, 2025 Internet Crime Report (April 2026), at ic3.gov; National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC Releases New Sextortion Data and Sextortion; Federal Trade Commission, How to avoid deceptive sextortion assistance services (October 13, 2026) and "FTC Sues Operator of Sextortion Relief Scheme" (October 13, 2026); StopNCII.org, Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse; National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, Take It Down; Meta Help Center, Report Non-Consensual Intimate Images on Meta Platforms; WhatsApp, How to block and report someone. Last updated November 3, 2026.