Sextortion: What to Do if Someone Threatens to Share Your Photos

If someone is threatening to share your intimate photos or videos unless you pay or send more, here is what to do right now, in order: stop replying, do not pay, do not delete anything, and start saving evidence. The rest of this guide explains why, and what comes after.

This is not legal advice, and if you are a minor, or the person being threatened is a minor, involve a trusted adult and law enforcement immediately rather than trying to handle this alone.

Do this first

• Stop replying to the person making the threat, even to argue, negotiate, or beg.
• Do not send any payment, gift card, or additional images under any circumstances.
• Do not delete the conversation, the images, or the account; you will need them as evidence.
• Screenshot everything: the threat, the profile, the username, and any payment details they have provided.
• Lock down your accounts: set profiles to private and review your friends or followers list for the account making the threat.
• Tell one person you trust what is happening before you do anything else.

Why replying and deleting both make it worse

Replying, even angrily, tells the person running the account that a real, reachable person is on the other end, which usually increases pressure rather than reducing it. Deleting the conversation or the account feels like taking control back, but it destroys the evidence platforms and police need to act, and it does nothing to stop content that has already been sent from being shared.

Report it: platform, hash tools, and law enforcement

Report to the platform

Every major platform, messaging app, and social network has a reporting flow specifically for sextortion, threats, or non-consensual intimate imagery. Use it, and report both the account and the specific messages or content.

Use official takedown tools

• Hash-matching services, sometimes called StopNCII-style tools, let you submit a digital fingerprint of an image so participating platforms can block it from being uploaded, without you having to send the image itself to a stranger.
• If the person threatened, or the content involves, someone under 18, the NCMEC Take It Down service exists specifically to help remove that content from participating platforms.
• Report the account to the platform's law enforcement or trust and safety channel in addition to the standard user report.

Report to law enforcement

File a report with your local police and, where available, your national cybercrime reporting body. Bring your screenshots, the account details, and a timeline. This applies whether or not any content has actually been shared yet; threats alone are often a crime.

What usually happens after you stop paying and go quiet

Most sextortion accounts are running the same script against many people at once, and their business model depends on speed and fear, not on any individual target. When a target stops replying, blocks the account, and reports it, the account very often moves on rather than following through, because following through costs them time and exposes them to takedown for little additional gain. This is not a guarantee, which is why reporting and evidence still matter, but it is the common pattern.

The shame trap

Shame is the actual weapon in a sextortion attempt, more than the images themselves. The threat is built entirely around the assumption that you would rather pay, or stay silent, than have one trusted person know what happened. Telling someone, even just one person, breaks that leverage immediately, because the thing being held over you stops being a secret.

• You did not cause this by sending a photo to someone you trusted or believed you knew.
• This happens to people of every age, gender, and background, including people who are usually very careful online.
• Support services and platform reporting teams have handled this exact situation many times before; you will not shock them.

If you are a minor, or supporting one

If you are under 18 and this is happening to you, tell a trusted adult, whether that is a parent, teacher, school counselor, or another adult you trust, right away, and involve law enforcement. NCMEC's Take It Down service was built specifically for this situation and does not require you to explain everything to a stranger first to get help removing content.

Quick reference: your next five actions

• Stop replying and do not send any payment.
• Screenshot the threat, the profile, and any payment or account details before anything is deleted.
• Lock your accounts to private and review who can see your friends or follower list.
• Report the account and content to the platform and, if it applies, submit a hash to a takedown tool or NCMEC Take It Down.
• Tell one trusted person and file a report with local police or your national cybercrime unit.