Sextortion: What to Do If Someone Threatens to Leak Your Photos

A new online relationship escalates fast

Someone you met recently on a dating app, Instagram, or Snapchat builds intimacy quickly, then encourages or pressures you into sending intimate photos or video — sometimes on a call that they secretly record. Once they have material, the relationship persona disappears and the threats begin.

A hacked or compromised account

Malware, a phishing link, or a reused password gives someone access to photos already stored on your device or in cloud backups — no explicit content had to be sent by you at all. They contact you claiming to have found this material and demand payment to not release it.

AI-generated or 'nudified' images

Ordinary, fully clothed photos from your public social media are run through an AI tool that generates a fake explicit image. The threat is built entirely on fabricated content, but the panic and the demand are identical to a real-photo case. Being able to prove an image is fake matters here — see our guide on spotting AI-generated faces.

A webcam or video call is secretly recorded

During a video call — often on an adult site, but sometimes a normal dating app call — the other person is recording without your knowledge and later sends you a clip along with a payment demand.

Payment marks you as a repeat target

Extortionists often run dozens of victims simultaneously using scripts. A victim who pays once is flagged internally as compliant and re-targeted with escalating demands. Cases where a victim pays five or six times before the material is leaked anyway are common — payment provides no guarantee.

The threat to 'leak to your contacts' is designed to panic you

Scammers frequently claim to have already messaged your friends, family, or employer, or threaten to within minutes. In the overwhelming majority of cases this is a bluff intended to force a fast, panicked payment before you have time to think or seek help.

There is no way to verify they will stop

Nothing prevents the extortionist from releasing the material after being paid, or from returning weeks later with a new account and a new demand. The only way to actually end the leverage they hold over you is to remove the threat's power — by reporting, documenting, and getting ahead of the material with hash-blocking tools — not by paying for a promise a criminal has no reason to keep.

Do not respond to the threat itself

Do not argue, plead, negotiate, or explain your situation. Anything you say can be used to refine the pressure applied to you. If you need to buy time while you gather help, a single neutral message such as 'I need some time to get the money together' is the only reply worth sending — and only if you need a short window to act on the steps below.

Screenshot everything before you block

Capture the full conversation, the profile or account used to contact you, any images or video sent to you, and any payment details (crypto wallet address, gift card instructions, payment app handle). This is your evidence for reporting — do not delete the conversation or the account's messages.

Do not delete your own accounts or the images

It is tempting to delete everything to make the situation disappear. Do not — deleting removes the evidence trail platforms and law enforcement need to act, and it does nothing to stop material that has already been sent to the extortionist.

Submit to StopNCII or Take It Down immediately

Do this before anything is posted, not after. Both services hash the image on your device and share only the fingerprint with partner platforms — the actual image is never uploaded anywhere. See the full resource list below for the difference between the two.

Cut off contact after documenting

Once you have your screenshots, block the account across every platform where it has contacted you. Continued contact only gives the extortionist more material to work with and prolongs the psychological pressure.

Tell someone

A trusted friend, family member, or — if you are a minor — a parent, school counsellor, or teacher. Sextortion relies on shame and isolation to work. Involving someone else breaks that isolation immediately and gives you support for the reporting steps ahead.

A hash-matching service backed by Meta and the Revenge Porn Helpline. You submit the intimate image from your own device — it never leaves your device or gets uploaded anywhere. A digital fingerprint (hash) is created and shared with partner platforms (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Bumble, OnlyFans, Reddit, Pornhub, and others), which then block that exact image from being uploaded on their services.

Run by the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at takeitdown.ncmec.org. Works the same way as StopNCII — on-device hashing, no upload of the actual image — but is specifically designed for minors and partners with a wider set of platforms that host this kind of content.

Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok, and Facebook each have a dedicated report category for 'nudity or sexual content involving me' or 'threatening to share my private images' — separate from the generic abuse report. These go to a specialised trust and safety queue rather than the general moderation pool.

Sextortion is extortion — a crime — regardless of whether explicit images exist yet. File a report at ic3.gov (FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center) and with your local police department. Bring your documentation: screenshots, usernames, payment demands, any wallet addresses or payment handles given to you.

Report it as non-consensual intimate imagery, not generic content

Every major platform has a specific reporting category for this — using it routes your report to a specialised team instead of the general moderation queue, which is dramatically faster.

Submit the exact URL to StopNCII or Take It Down as well

Even after content is posted, hash-matching prevents the same file from being re-uploaded elsewhere after the first copy is removed — which is common, since these images are often mirrored across multiple sites.

Use Google's 'Results about you' tool to de-index it from search

At myaccount.google.com you can request removal of search results showing the content, which limits how easily it can be found even while platform takedowns are still in progress.

File a police report and keep your case number

Non-consensual intimate imagery is a specific criminal offence in most US states, the UK, and much of the EU. A police report creates a paper trail that strengthens every other removal request you file.