Someone is threatening to share your photos: what to do right now.

Sextortion is when someone threatens to share intimate images or videos of you unless you pay money or provide more images. It's a well-documented, high-volume scam, and law enforcement in both the US and elsewhere treats it as a priority: the FBI and the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) both publish active guidance on it because it happens constantly, to people of every age. Two things matter more than anything else if this is happening to you right now: don't pay, and you are not to blame.

The two versions of this scam

Almost every case falls into one of two patterns, and telling them apart changes what you should do next.

The bluff email. By far the most common version. An email claims the sender has hacked your webcam or infected your device with spyware, and threatens to send an embarrassing recording to your contacts unless you pay in Bitcoin or gift cards. In the overwhelming majority of cases, there is no actual footage — the message is a mass-sent bluff, often padded with an old, real password of yours pulled from a past data breach to make the threat sound credible. If you don't recognize the password, or it's one you changed long ago, that's another sign the claim is empty.

Real coerced images. A more serious pattern, and the one that disproportionately targets teenagers: someone builds trust over time on social media, a dating app, or a game, convinces the target to send a real intimate image or video, and then immediately pivots to threats and demands for money or more images. This version is financially motivated and can escalate quickly, and it's the version where reporting to the right place matters most.

Why you should never pay

Paying does not reliably make the threat go away. Paying the requested money or gift cards does not ensure the offender won't still release the material — and it often works in the opposite direction: once an attacker knows you're willing to pay, victims are frequently targeted again, sometimes by the same person, sometimes because the information gets sold on to other scammers who continue the abuse. There is no version of this where sending money makes the situation safer.

What to do right now

• Stop responding. Don't argue, don't explain, don't negotiate — every reply confirms the account is active and worth continuing to target.
• Don't pay, and don't send more images under any circumstances, including a promise that it will "make them stop."
• Preserve everything as evidence before you block: screenshots of the messages, the account or profile used to contact you, any usernames, and payment details if money was demanded.
• Block and report the account on whatever platform it contacted you through — most major platforms have a dedicated reporting flow for this.
• Report it to law enforcement. In the US, file a report with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3.gov), or call your nearest FBI field office.

If this involves a minor

If the person being targeted is under 18, contact the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) directly: call 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800-843-5678) or submit a report through CyberTipline.org. NCMEC can help with getting images removed from websites and works directly with law enforcement on these cases. A parent or trusted adult reporting on a teen's behalf is not overreacting — this is exactly the kind of case these organizations exist for, and acting quickly genuinely helps.

Watch out for paid "recovery" services

Once you've been targeted once, a second wave of scammers sometimes appears offering to "get the images taken down" or "identify the blackmailer" for an upfront fee. The FBI has specifically warned about for-profit companies charging sextortion victims and using deceptive tactics to collect payment. Law enforcement and organizations like NCMEC provide the real version of this help for free — anyone charging you for it after the fact is worth treating with the same suspicion as the original threat.

Frequently asked questions