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What online sextortion is
Sextortion is sexual coercion carried out through an online service. An offender uses, claims to have, or threatens to expose a sexual image or video to force a young person to send more material, pay money, meet a demand, or do something else. It can start on a game, social network, messaging app, dating service, or any other place where people communicate.
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The offender may pretend to be a peer, suggest a romantic relationship, offer a gift or other benefit, or claim that an intimate picture already exists. After obtaining an image—or merely claiming to have one—the offender may threaten to publish it to family, friends, classmates, or the public. Some offenders threaten violence. Financially motivated offenders may demand payment immediately and continue threatening exposure after receiving money.
A threat does not have to be true for the situation to be serious. Do not make a teen prove that the offender really has an image before offering help. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) states that young people being exploited are victims of a crime and should report it.
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Sextortion can involve one message or weeks of manipulation. The offender may switch accounts, use several identities, or claim that a payment or one more image will end the matter. Those changes do not make the teen responsible, and they do not mean the teen must keep responding. Any demand tied to sexual material, exposure, money, or a threat deserves help.
Recognize the warning signs
Pressure that escalates quickly
- A new online contact pushes for secrecy, moves the conversation to another app, or asks for sexual images.
- The person presents themselves as the teen’s age, claims romantic interest, or offers money, game items, followers, or another reward in exchange for images.
- After an image is sent—or after the offender says they have one—the requests become urgent, repeated, or threatening.
- The offender insists the teen must act immediately, stay online, or keep the conversation secret from parents and friends.
- The person asks for passwords, access to other accounts, payment details, or names of family members after obtaining an image.
Threats involving exposure or harm
- The offender says they will send an image to parents, siblings, friends, teachers, or an employer.
- They demand additional images, money, or another action to prevent publication.
- They threaten physical violence, doxxing, account takeover, or harm to someone the teen knows.
- They send screenshots of contacts or claim to know the teen’s school, home, family, or friends to make the threat seem more credible.
Signs a caregiver may notice
- Sudden fear when checking a phone, unusual secrecy, withdrawal from friends, or repeated requests for money.
- Deleting or changing accounts, staying awake to answer messages, or panic about school and family seeing something.
- Statements such as “I ruined everything,” hopelessness, or talk about self-harm.
- Unexplained gift-card purchases, money transfers, or attempts to hide online activity.
These are warning signs, not a test. A teen can ask for help even if no image was sent, the account was anonymous, the offender later disappeared, or the teen agreed to an earlier request. The first contact may look friendly or harmless; coercion can become clear only after the offender has gained trust.
What to do in the first few minutes
Use a calm, non-blaming response. A useful opening is: “I’m glad you told me. This isn’t your fault. We’ll get help and work through the next steps together.” Then follow this order.
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- Move the teen to a safe conversation. If the offender is threatening immediate physical harm, or the teen may hurt themselves, stay with them and contact local emergency services or law enforcement. Do not leave a distressed teen alone.
- Tell a trusted adult immediately. A parent or caregiver is one option, but it is not the only one. If approaching home is unsafe or impossible, tell another relative, school counselor, teacher, coach, health professional, local law-enforcement agency, or the FBI.
- Stop the exchange. Do not send more images, money, passwords, or personal information while trying to satisfy the offender. FBI guidance says that cooperating or paying rarely stops the blackmail and harassment.
- Preserve what exists. Keep the offender’s profile, username, account address, messages, payment demands, dates, and the surrounding conversation. An adult can photograph or capture the screen if that is the safest way to record details. Do not forward an explicit image to friends or family.
- Report the account inside the service. Use the platform’s safety or reporting function and select the category for sexual exploitation, intimate-image abuse, threats, or a minor being targeted.
- Block the offender after reporting. Blocking reduces direct contact, but it does not replace a report to law enforcement or a child-exploitation reporting service.
- Make an official report. Contact local law enforcement, an FBI field office, or the FBI’s online tip service at
tips.fbi.gov. In the United States, the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline is another reporting and guidance route.
Do not delete the profile or messages before an adult or investigator has had a chance to preserve useful information. If an account has already been deleted, report what you remember: usernames, display names, links, dates, payment instructions, and what the offender threatened.
Keep a simple incident log. Record when the contact began, each account used, what was demanded, whether money was sent, and which reports were filed. Give the same timeline to the platform, law enforcement, the FBI, or NCMEC so the teen does not have to repeat the story to every person.
Where to report and what each route does
| Route | Best use | What it can address |
|---|---|---|
| Trusted adult or local law enforcement | Immediate support, safety planning, and local reporting | Protective help, evidence handling, and investigation within the local jurisdiction |
FBI field office or tips.fbi.gov |
Federal reporting, especially when the offender or victims may be in different states or countries | Information for a federal investigation and referral to the appropriate office |
| NCMEC CyberTipline | Reporting suspected online child exploitation and seeking guidance | A child-exploitation report that can be routed to law-enforcement partners |
| The platform’s reporting tool | Flagging the account, post, message, or threat inside the app or service | Possible account action, content review, or preservation of platform records |
| NCMEC Take It Down | Limiting circulation of qualifying explicit images made when the person was under 18 | Image-matching assistance intended to help participating services detect and remove copies |
| StopNCII.org | Image-removal assistance for adults | A separate image-matching service for adults; it is not a substitute for reporting a crime |
These routes have different jobs. Platform reporting addresses an account or content; law enforcement investigates threats and coercion; CyberTipline is a child-exploitation reporting channel; and Take It Down or StopNCII.org address the circulation of qualifying imagery. Use more than one route when appropriate. Image-removal assistance alone does not report the offender.
When making a report, explain that the person targeted is under 18, identify every platform involved, and state whether there were threats of violence, demands for money, or concerns about self-harm. Ask for the report number and the safest way to provide additional evidence. Do not wait for one route to respond before using another appropriate route.
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How to preserve evidence without spreading the image
Record identifying details
- Write down every username, profile name, account ID, profile link, phone number, email address, and payment handle.
- Keep the date and approximate time of each contact, the service used, and the exact demands or threats.
- Note whether the offender claimed to know the teen’s school, home, family, or friends.
- Save transaction receipts, gift-card information, cryptocurrency addresses, and payment instructions if money was requested or sent.
Capture the conversation safely
Save text messages and non-explicit profile information in a secure location accessible to the trusted adult. If a screenshot would include an intimate image of a minor, ask law enforcement or NCMEC how they want it preserved rather than creating additional copies or sending it to someone else. Do not post the image to prove what happened.
Protect accounts
Change passwords from a device the offender cannot control, turn on multifactor authentication, and review logged-in sessions. Make social profiles private and remove public contact details. These steps reduce further contact but should not delay reporting or safety help.
If the teen already paid or sent more images
Stop the exchange now and tell a trusted adult. Paying does not guarantee deletion and can lead to more demands; the FBI says cooperation or payment rarely ends the harassment. Do not negotiate alone or promise the offender anything. Preserve payment receipts, transaction IDs, cryptocurrency addresses, gift-card numbers, and messages, then provide them to law enforcement or the reporting service.
Sending an image does not make the teen responsible for the offender’s conduct. Do not punish, shame, confiscate the phone as a first reaction, or threaten to tell everyone at school. Those responses can push a frightened teen back toward the offender and make evidence harder to preserve.
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If an intimate image is already online or threatened
Ask for help through NCMEC’s Take It Down when the image was made while the person was under 18. The service is intended to help participating services identify and limit circulation of qualifying images. Adults can be directed to StopNCII.org. Neither service guarantees that every copy will disappear from every site, and neither replaces a crime report.
Report the specific post, account, or URL to the platform as non-consensual intimate imagery involving a minor. Do not pay a company that promises guaranteed removal. FBI guidance says victims should not have to pay for help.
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Tell the teen that an image being viewed or reposted does not change who is responsible. If classmates receive a threat, a caregiver can alert the school through a confidential safety process without distributing the image. Ask the platform and investigators how to handle any new URLs or accounts rather than repeatedly forwarding the material.
How a caregiver, educator, or friend can help
Start with safety and belief
Say that you believe the teen, that the adult or offender is responsible, and that asking for help was the right decision. Listen without demanding a perfect timeline. Fear and shame can make details emerge gradually.
Do not investigate by yourself
Do not impersonate the teen, threaten the offender, arrange a meeting, or circulate the image to gather evidence. Those actions can increase danger, destroy records, or expose additional people to illegal material. Let investigators handle contact and evidence requests.
Coordinate the next calls
Write down which adult will contact local law enforcement, the FBI, NCMEC, and the platform. Keep copies of report numbers and dates. Ask the teen’s school about a confidential safety plan if classmates may receive threats or if the offender knows the school.
Watch for a mental-health crisis
Ask directly whether the teen is thinking about self-harm. If the answer is yes, or the teen cannot stay safe, remain with them and contact emergency services or an urgent crisis professional. Sextortion can produce intense shame and fear; emotional support is part of the response, not an optional extra.
What the U.S. statistics show—and what they do not
A January 16, 2024 FBI and Homeland Security Investigations release reported more than 13,000 reports of online financial sextortion of minors during October 2021 through March 2023. The same reporting period involved at least 12,600 victims, primarily boys, and was associated with at least 20 suicides. The FBI also reported at least a 20% increase in financially motivated sextortion incidents involving minors in October 2022 through March 2023 compared with the same period a year earlier.
Those figures are historical reports for the stated periods, not a current annual prevalence estimate. They show why every threat should be taken seriously, including cases in which the offender claims to have an image but has not demonstrated it.
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Common mistakes that make a situation worse
- Paying to buy silence: payment may lead to another demand and does not ensure deletion.
- Sending one final image: it gives the offender more material and rarely ends contact.
- Deleting everything immediately: investigators may need account names, message history, and payment details.
- Confronting or threatening the offender: this can escalate threats and interfere with evidence collection.
- Waiting for proof: a claimed image or threat is enough to seek help.
- Sharing the image to ask for advice: additional distribution can further harm the teen and may create legal problems.
- Using a paid “removal” company: official guidance identifies free reporting and image-removal routes; victims should not have to pay for help.
What to do if the teen cannot safely tell a parent
Safety comes first. The teen can approach another trusted adult, school counselor, teacher, coach, doctor, child-protection professional, local law-enforcement agency, or the FBI. Explain that the concern is online sexual coercion and that the teen is under 18. A trusted adult can stay with the teen while reports are made and can ask officials how to preserve evidence safely.
Scope and location
The reporting routes described here are U.S. federal or national resources. Readers elsewhere should use their country’s child-protection agency, police, national cybercrime reporting channel, and local platform-safety process. Procedures and service addresses can change, so confirm the current instructions on the official service before submitting a report. This guide provides safety information, not individualized legal advice.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What should I do if someone is threatening to share my pictures?
Tell a trusted adult immediately, stop replying, do not pay or send more images, preserve the account and messages, report the account on the platform, and contact local law enforcement, the FBI, or NCMEC’s CyberTipline. You do not need to prove the offender really has the image before seeking help.
Should I pay if someone is blackmailing me with photos?
No. FBI guidance says cooperating or paying rarely stops the blackmail and harassment. Payment can lead to more demands. Save receipts and payment details, stop the exchange, and give the information to a trusted adult and investigators.
How do I report sextortion?
Use the platform’s reporting feature, then contact local law enforcement, an FBI field office or tips.fbi.gov, and NCMEC’s CyberTipline in the United States. These routes serve different purposes, so using more than one may be appropriate.
What if the offender only claims to have an image?
Treat the threat seriously. A teen is allowed to ask for help even when the offender has not shown proof, the account is anonymous, or no image was sent. Preserve the claim and report it rather than trying to test whether it is true.
How can I get an explicit picture of a minor removed?
For an image made when the person was under 18, ask for help through NCMEC’s Take It Down and report each known post or account to the platform. The service may help participating platforms detect copies, but it does not replace a crime report or guarantee that every copy disappears.
What if the person in the image is now an adult?
The FBI points adults to StopNCII.org for image-removal assistance. It is separate from NCMEC’s Take It Down and is not a substitute for reporting threats, coercion, or other crimes to law enforcement.
Should I delete the account or messages?
Do not delete them before a trusted adult or investigator has had a chance to preserve useful information. Record usernames, links, dates, demands, payment details, and threats. Report and then block the offender through the service.
Can I tell the teen’s school?
If the offender knows the school or classmates may receive threats, ask the school for a confidential safety plan. Share only the information needed to protect the teen; do not forward or post the intimate image.
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What if telling a parent is unsafe?
Choose another trusted adult, such as a relative, counselor, teacher, coach, health professional, local law-enforcement officer, or the FBI. The teen should not have to handle the situation alone or return to an unsafe home conversation.
Is the teen to blame for sending an image?
No. The teen is the victim of coercion and the offender is responsible for the threats and exploitation. Respond with belief and support, not punishment or shame, so the teen can stay safe and report what happened.
The Bottom Line
Remember: a teen targeted by sextortion is a victim, not the offender. Stop sending images or money, tell a trusted adult, preserve account details and messages, report the account, and contact law enforcement, the FBI, or NCMEC. Use Take It Down for qualifying images made under 18 and StopNCII.org for adults; image-removal help does not replace a crime report.
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