Sextortion and Blackmail Scams: What to Do and How to Stay Safe

This is a hard topic, so let us start with the most important thing: if this is happening to you, it is not your fault, you are not alone, and there is a clear path forward. Sextortion is a blackmail scam in which a criminal threatens to share private images, messages, or information unless you pay. The threats feel urgent and deeply personal, which is exactly how the scammer pressures you.

This guide explains how these scams work and, most importantly, what to do, calmly and safely.

What it is

Sextortion is a form of online blackmail. A scammer claims to have private or embarrassing photos, videos, or information about you, and threatens to send them to your family, friends, or the public unless you pay, usually in cryptocurrency or gift cards. Sometimes the scammer has real material gathered through a fake online relationship, and very often they have nothing at all and are bluffing.

The scam runs on fear and shame. The scammer wants you too embarrassed to tell anyone and too scared to stop and think.

How it works

1. Contact begins online, sometimes through a dating site, social media, or even a mass email that claims to have hacked you.
2. The scammer either builds a relationship and obtains private images, or simply claims to have compromising material.
3. They threaten to share it with your contacts unless you pay quickly.
4. They demand payment in cryptocurrency, gift cards, or wire transfer, and often come back for more after the first payment.

A very common version is a bluff: a mass email that includes one of your old passwords from a data breach and claims the sender has watched you through your camera. The password is real, taken from a breach, but the rest is a lie meant to scare you into paying.

A real example

A scammer claims to have private or embarrassing material and threatens to send it to your family, friends, or the public unless you pay. In a very common version, a mass email arrives quoting one of your old passwords and insisting the sender recorded you through your webcam. The password is genuine, lifted from a past data breach, but there is no recording. The whole message is engineered to make you panic and pay before you stop to think. Whether the threat is a bluff or based on real material, the playbook is the same, and so is the response: do not pay, stop communicating, and report it.

By the numbers

• The FBI’s IC3 received more than 75,000 sextortion-related reports in 2025 (FBI IC3).
• Extortion against older adults rose about 134 percent year over year (FBI IC3).
• Older adults are sometimes approached under the guise of romance or professional interest before the threats begin (FBI IC3).

Red flags to watch for

• A threat to release private images or information unless you pay.
• A demand for cryptocurrency, gift cards, or wire transfer.
• An email that quotes an old password and claims to have recorded you.
• Pressure to act within hours and to tell no one.
• A new online romantic interest who quickly moves to private images or video.

How to protect yourself

If it is already happening, take these steps first:

1. Do not pay. Paying rarely ends it and usually invites more demands.
2. Stop communicating with the scammer. You do not owe them a reply.
3. Do not delete anything yet. Save messages, usernames, and payment requests as evidence.
4. Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov, and you can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI for guidance.
5. Tell someone you trust. The scammer’s power comes from your silence, and a calm ally helps you through it.

To lower your risk going forward:

1. Be cautious with new online contacts who move quickly toward private images or video.
2. Use strong, unique passwords and two-step verification, so a breached old password cannot be used to scare you.
3. Cover or disconnect webcams when not in use if it gives you peace of mind.
4. Reduce your exposure. Scammers gather names, contacts, and breached passwords from data-broker sites and breach dumps. Removing your information from broker sites and monitoring for exposed accounts, which a privacy or identity-protection service can do for you, lowers your risk.
5. Talk openly with family about this, so that if it happens, the response is support rather than shame.

If you’ve already responded

This is a sensitive and stressful experience, and many people feel ashamed, even though they did nothing wrong. If you are feeling overwhelmed, reach out to someone you trust or a professional for support. For the scam itself, the FBI and the FTC can help, and you do not have to handle it alone. Stop communicating, save the evidence, do not pay, and report it to the FBI at ic3.gov or by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI.

In the news

• FBI: sextortion warning and guidance
• Elder sextortion: the emotional and financial toll (Abrigo)

Sources

• FBI: Sextortion
• FTC: How To Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams
• FBI IC3: file a report
• FBI IC3: Elder Fraud