How to report sextortion

If someone is threatening to share intimate images of you unless you pay or send more, don't pay, stop replying, and save the evidence. Then report it to the platform where they contacted you and to the authorities — and if you were under 18 in the images, to NCMEC's CyberTipline.

You are not in trouble, and you are not the first. This is a crime committed against you, and the people doing it rely on you feeling too ashamed to tell anyone.

Key takeaways

• Don't pay. Paying almost never ends it. It tells them you will pay again, and the demands usually grow.
• Save everything before you block. Screenshots of the conversation, the account, the handles and every payment request are what a report runs on.
• Under 18 in the images: report to NCMEC's CyberTipline and use Take It Down to get the images removed. You are not in trouble.
• 18 or over: use StopNCII.org to stop the images being shared on participating platforms, and in the US file with the FBI at ic3.gov.
• A sextortion email demanding Bitcoin is almost always a mass-mailed bluff. Search the wallet address on Chainabuse to see whether others received the same email.

What to do in the first hour

The first hour is about two things: taking away their leverage, and keeping the evidence. Panic is what they are counting on — the threats come fast because they want a payment before you have time to think.

1. Stop replying. Don't negotiate, argue, or explain. Every reply tells them the pressure is working.
2. Don't pay, and don't send anything else. Payment usually leads to a second, larger demand rather than to the images being deleted.
3. Save the evidence before you block anyone. Screenshot the full conversation, the profile, every username and handle, and every payment request — wallet addresses, payment-app usernames, gift card requests.
4. Block and report the account on the platform, once everything is saved. Accounts are often deleted quickly, and the evidence goes with them.
5. Lock down your accounts. Change your passwords, turn on two-factor authentication, and make your friends and followers lists private — those lists are who they threaten to send the images to.
6. Tell someone you trust. A friend, a parent, a partner. It takes away the secrecy they depend on, and you should not handle this alone.
7. Report it, using the options below.

If you feel unsafe or are thinking about harming yourself, call your local emergency number now. In the United States you can call or text 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, at any hour.

Where to report

Most people need more than one of these. The platform removes the account, the authorities investigate, and the image-blocking services stop the pictures spreading.

If you were under 18 in the images: NCMEC CyberTipline and Take It Down

The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children runs the CyberTipline, the US reporting centre for the sexual exploitation of children online, sextortion included. Report at CyberTipline.org or call 1-800-843-5678. NCMEC works with law enforcement and with platforms to get images taken down.

Take It Down (takeitdown.ncmec.org) is NCMEC's free service for intimate images taken before you turned 18. It makes a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device — the picture itself is never uploaded — and participating platforms use the fingerprint to find and remove copies. You can use it without giving your name.

Outside the US, report to the police and to your national child-protection hotline. Chainabuse Safe lists the hotline for your country at chainabuse.com/sextortion/resources.

If you are 18 or over: StopNCII.org

StopNCII.org is a free service run by the Revenge Porn Helpline. Like Take It Down, it makes a fingerprint of each image on your own device, and participating platforms use it to detect and block the images. The pictures never leave your phone or computer.

In the United States: the FBI

File a complaint with the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, or submit a tip at tips.fbi.gov or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI. Sextortion is a federal crime, and the FBI investigates it whether the victim is a child or an adult.

The platform where they contacted you

Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, TikTok and every other major platform have a reporting option for threats and for sharing intimate images without consent. Report the account and the messages: the platform can remove it, block it from finding you again, and preserve records for investigators. Do this after you have saved your evidence.

Outside the United States

In most countries sextortion is handled by child-protection and online-safety bodies rather than financial-crime units. In Australia, report to the eSafety Commissioner. In Canada, to Cybertip.ca, with NeedHelpNow.ca for young people. In the UK, to CEOP, and under-18s can use Report Remove to get images taken down. Everywhere, you can also report to your local police.

Chainabuse: a private report that links your case to others

Sextortion is run at scale: the same accounts, scripts and wallets are used against many people. A private report on Chainabuse Safe records the accounts, handles and payment details used against you, so your case can be linked to other reports involving the same ones.

Your report is never published and is kept separate from the public Chainabuse database. No account is needed and you don't have to say who you are. Law enforcement only sees details from it if you allow that at the final step. The private report is for adults; if you are under 18, use Take It Down and NCMEC instead.

Got a sextortion email demanding Bitcoin?

An email claiming a hacker recorded you through your webcam, and demanding Bitcoin to delete the video, is a mass-mailed scam. The same message goes to huge numbers of people at once, and there is almost never a video.

Many of these emails quote a real password of yours to look credible. That proves the password leaked in an old data breach, not that anyone has been inside your device.

• Don't pay and don't reply. A reply confirms your address is read by a real person.
• If the email shows a password you still use, change it everywhere you use it and turn on two-factor authentication.
• Search the Bitcoin address on Chainabuse. If other people have reported the same address, you are looking at the same mass-mailed scam.
• Report the address on Chainabuse, so the next person who searches it finds the warning. In the US, you can also report the email at ic3.gov.

What to keep for your report

• Screenshots of the full conversation, from first contact to the latest message
• The profile, username, handle and profile link of every account involved
• Every payment request: wallet addresses, payment-app usernames, gift card details, bank details
• Records of anything you already paid, with dates and amounts
• The date and time of each threat, and the platform it came through
• Never the intimate images themselves — reports do not need them

Frequently asked questions

1. Is sextortion a crime?

Yes. Threatening to share someone's intimate images to get money or more images is extortion, which is a crime in the United States and in most other countries. When the victim is under 18, it is also a child sexual exploitation offence.

2. Should I pay?

No. Paying rarely makes the threats stop: it shows that you will pay, and the demands usually grow. Stop replying, save the evidence, and report it instead.

3. Should I just ignore it?

Stop replying, but don't ignore it. Save the evidence, block and report the account once everything is saved, and report it to the authorities. A sextortion email demanding Bitcoin is the exception: it is a mass-mailed bluff, so don't reply or pay — just change any password it shows and report the address.

4. Will reporting it make things worse?

No. Reporting to the platform, to the police or to NCMEC does not alert the person threatening you. Reporting is how accounts get removed, images get blocked, and the people behind it get identified.

5. Will I get in trouble if I was under 18, or sent the images myself?

No. You are the victim of a crime. NCMEC, the FBI and police treat young people being sextorted as victims, and Take It Down exists for exactly this situation.

6. Should I be worried about a sextortion email?

Usually not. Emails claiming to have recorded you through your webcam are sent to huge numbers of people at once, and there is almost never a video. If the email shows a real password, change it, and search the Bitcoin address on Chainabuse to see whether others have reported it.

7. Can the images be removed from the internet?

Often, yes. Take It Down (images from when you were under 18) and StopNCII.org (18 and over) block copies on participating platforms, and every major platform removes intimate images shared without consent when they are reported.