--- title: "Sextortion Help: What To Do If Someone Is Blackmailing You Online" description: "Being blackmailed with intimate images? The free official steps come first: do not pay, save the messages, report to the platform and the FBI, and block your images with StopNCII (or Take It Down for images taken under 18)." canonical_url: "https://adultmodelprotection.com/blog/sextortion-help-what-to-do-if-someone-is-blackmailing-you" last_updated: "2026-11-13T17:47:57.010Z" --- ## If You Are Being Sextorted Right Now, Start Here If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency services now. If someone is threatening to share your intimate photos or videos unless you pay them or send more content, you are dealing with sextortion. In the US it is a federal crime, and many people, creators included, have been targeted this way. The most important rule comes first: **do not pay, and do not send anything more.** Every step in this guide up to the last section is free, and none of them needs a company. They follow the advice of the FBI ([financially motivated sextortion](https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion/financially-motivated-sextortion)) and its Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) ([sextortion warning PSA230605](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/PSA230605)). **If the person in the images is under 18, or the images were taken before they turned 18**, report it to the NCMEC [CyberTipline](https://report.cybertip.org/) and use [Take It Down](https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/), NCMEC's free service for blocking images of minors. Contact the police as well. ## What Sextortion Is Sextortion is a form of blackmail. Someone has obtained, or claims to have obtained, intimate images or recordings of you, and threatens to publish them or send them to your followers, friends or family unless you give them money, gift cards, cryptocurrency or more explicit material. According to the FBI, the images can come from a hacked account or from deceiving the victim, and some offenders have no real images at all and edit an ordinary photo into an explicit one. Offenders often create urgency and fear so you pay before you think: a short deadline, threats to message people you know, sometimes screenshots of your followers. Some offenders do carry out the threat, so take it seriously, and act on the steps below rather than on their deadline. ## The First Hour: Free Steps ### 1. Do Not Pay IC3 advises: "Do not provide any unknown or unfamiliar individuals with money or other items of value. Complying with malicious actors does not guarantee your sensitive photos or content will not be shared" ([PSA230605](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/PSA230605)). The FBI says: "Cooperating with the predator rarely stops the blackmail and harassment", and notes that offenders sometimes distribute the images even after being paid ([FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion/financially-motivated-sextortion)). ### 2. Save the Messages, Not the Images Before you block anyone, save what investigators and platforms will need. IC3 advises you to "retain all information regarding the incident" ([PSA230605](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/PSA230605)). Take screenshots of, or write down: - The offender's username, profile link and any display names - Every message with the threats and demands, with the date and time - Any payment details they sent (wallet addresses, account names, payment links) - Where they say they will post the images, and the links if anything has been posted You do not need to keep copies of the intimate images themselves, and you should never send them to anyone. Do not delete the messages before you report. ### 3. Report the Account, Then Block Do not argue or negotiate. The FBI's order is: save the profile or messages, report the account through the platform's safety feature, then block the sender ([FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion/financially-motivated-sextortion)). Many platforms prohibit sextortion and intimate images shared without consent and have a report option for it. ### 4. Report the Crime In the US, report it to the FBI at [IC3.gov](https://www.ic3.gov/) or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or contact your local police; these are the routes the FBI lists in [PSA230407](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/PSA230407). IC3 cannot reply to every report, but your report is on record. Outside the US, contact your local police. Bring the evidence you saved. ### 5. Secure Your Accounts Change the passwords on your creator platforms, email and social accounts, turn on two-factor authentication, and remove devices and apps you do not recognise. ### 6. Block Your Images Before They Spread If you are 18 or over and still have the images, [StopNCII.org](https://stopncii.org/) creates a hash (a digital fingerprint) of each image on your own device; the image itself is not uploaded. StopNCII shares the hash with participating platforms so they can block exact copies; it only accepts hashes from the person in the image, it works on participating platforms only, and an edited copy needs its own hash. For images taken before you turned 18, use [Take It Down](https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/) instead. ### You Do Not Have to Deal With This Alone In the US you can call or text 988 ([988 Lifeline](https://988lifeline.org/)), free and confidential at any hour, or call the [CCRI Crisis Helpline](https://cybercivilrights.org/ccri-crisis-helpline/) on 844-878-2274. In the UK, adults can contact the [Revenge Porn Helpline](https://revengepornhelpline.org.uk/), open 10:00 to 16:00, Monday to Friday. Threatening to publish someone's images to get money or more content is extortion, whatever you do for a living, and reporting it is the right step. If you are unsure about your own situation, ask a lawyer. Adult Model Protection is not a law firm and does not give legal advice. ![Six free steps for the first hour of sextortion: do not pay or send anything more; save screenshots of the threats, profile, links and payment details but not the images; report the account on the platform, then block the sender; report the crime to IC3.gov, 1-800-CALL-FBI or local police; secure accounts with new passwords and multi-factor authentication; block images with StopNCII for adults, hashed on the device, or NCMEC Take It Down for images taken under 18.](/images/blog/blog-sextortion-help-what-to-do-if-someone-is-blackmailing.webp) *The first steps after a sextortion threat are free and follow FBI and IC3 advice.* ## If Images Have Been Published: Free Removal Routes IC3 warns that once content is shared online, it "can be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to remove once it is circulated or posted by other parties" ([PSA230605](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/PSA230605)). These free routes are still worth using, and you can file all of them yourself: - **The TAKE IT DOWN Act.** Since 19 May 2026, covered platforms in the US must remove a reported intimate image within 48 hours of a valid request and make reasonable efforts to identify and remove known identical copies. A valid request is in writing and signed, identifies the image, states in good faith that it was published without your consent, and gives your contact details ([Public Law 119-12](https://www.congress.gov/119/plaws/publ12/PLAW-119publ12.htm)). It covers intimate images of an identifiable individual published without consent, including AI-made fakes. The crime in the Act does not apply to what you voluntarily exposed in a public or commercial setting, so a lawyer can say how it applies to content you sell. Our guide to the [TAKE IT DOWN Act](/blog/take-it-down-act-explained) explains it in more detail. - **Search engines.** Google accepts [removal requests for sexual images](https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16305143) in its search results, whether real or fake. Google can only remove the result, not the page on the site itself. - **Copyright notices.** If you created the images or videos, you usually hold the copyright (unless you signed the rights away) and can file a DMCA notice with the site that hosts them ([US Copyright Office](https://www.copyright.gov/512/)). For fakes, and for images someone else made, use the platform's intimate-image report route instead. - **StopNCII.** The same hash helps participating platforms block exact copies that are uploaded again. Copies can come back on new sites and accounts, so check again over the following weeks and report each new copy. ## Lowering the Risk Later No one can remove the risk completely, but a few habits help. Keep your creator identity separate from your personal identity, and keep your real name and location off public profiles. Be careful with requests from people you do not know. Use strong, unique passwords with multi-factor authentication. None of this means the blackmail was your fault. ## Where Adult Model Protection Fits The FBI warns about for-profit companies that charge sextortion victims for help, and says law enforcement and non-profit organisations help at no charge (IC3 public service announcement [PSA230407](https://www.ic3.gov/PSA/2023/PSA230407)). So, to be clear: Adult Model Protection never contacts or negotiates with the person threatening you, and we never ask you to send or upload an image that has not been published. AMP is a paid service for one part of the problem: finding copies of your content once they are published and requesting their removal. Our team runs regular scans of Google, Bing and Yandex and 500+ known leak and piracy sites, files copyright notices, intimate-image (NCII) reports and TAKE IT DOWN Act requests as your authorized representative, each checked by a person, then checks whether each page is gone and follows up when it is not. NCII and TAKE IT DOWN Act requests are on the Luxe and higher plans. Platforms decide each request, and results vary. See our [sextortion and blackmail help](/services/sextortion-blackmail-help) page for the details and plans, and [private information removal](/services/private-information-removal) if your personal details were published too. ## Frequently Asked Questions ### Should I ever pay a sextortionist? No. The FBI and IC3 advise against paying: paying does not guarantee the images stay private, and cooperating rarely stops the blackmail. Save the messages, report the account and the crime, and block the sender. ### What if they have already posted the images? Use the free removal routes: the platform's report option or TAKE IT DOWN form, Google's removal form for search results, a DMCA notice if you created the content, and StopNCII to block exact copies on participating platforms. Report the crime to IC3 or the police as well. ### Can I report sextortion anonymously? Usually not completely. Platform forms ask for contact details, and a TAKE IT DOWN request must be signed and include your contact information. Read IC3's privacy policy before you report there. ### What if the blackmailer is in another country? Report it anyway. The FBI says such predators "are usually located outside the United States" ([FBI](https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion/financially-motivated-sextortion)). Platforms apply their own rules wherever the offender is, though some sites outside the US ignore notices. ### Does the TAKE IT DOWN Act help with sextortion? It can. Covered platforms must remove an intimate image published without consent within 48 hours of a valid request, including AI-made fakes. For content you sell, a lawyer can say whether the Act applies; a DMCA notice is the usual route for your own paid content. ## Conclusion Sextortion works on fear and speed. You take that away by refusing to pay, saving the messages, reporting the account and the crime, and using the free tools that block exact copies of your images: StopNCII for adults, Take It Down for images taken before you turned 18. The helplines above are there if you need someone to talk to.