Sextortion: how to report threats and get help

A message threatens to expose an intimate photo unless you pay. Another asks for more images, or claims to have a recording you have never seen. That pressure is meant to make you act before you can get help. You can report the threat without paying, negotiating or proving yourself to the person making it.

This guide separates three jobs: stopping contact, reporting the blackmail, and requesting removal if content appears online. You do not need to finish one before starting the others. If someone is in immediate danger, contact local emergency services rather than waiting for an online report.

If this is happening now

NCMEC's sextortion guidance recommends reporting and blocking while retaining the profile and messages. The FBI's guidance for young people also emphasizes getting help rather than sending money or more images. If someone you know offline is threatening you, consider whether changing account settings could affect your physical safety and get help from a trusted person or local specialist.

What counts as sextortion?

Sextortion is blackmail involving a threat to expose intimate images or sexual information to obtain money, more sexual content or another demand. It can involve a stranger, someone pretending to be a romantic contact, or a person you know. The image may be genuine, stolen, altered or entirely fabricated.

A threat does not prove the sender has the material they describe. Do not send an image to check, agree to a video call, or open a file they say contains proof. An AI-generated image can still be used to abuse someone: TikTok's sexual-abuse guidance, for example, covers real and generated content, including sextortion.

Consenting to take or privately send a photo does not mean consenting to blackmail or public distribution. Describe what happened accurately; you do not need to use legal terminology to report it.

Preserve useful details without spreading images

Keep a short timeline and the information already available to you. Police.uk explicitly says you can report before gathering evidence, including when an image is no longer available.

• The platform, exact username, profile URL and account or user ID, where visible.
• The threat's wording, dates, times and timezone. Save text-only messages or notes without including intimate imagery.
• Links to the specific message, post or video, if the service provides them.
• Payment demands and any transactions: amount, recipient, method, receipt and cryptocurrency transaction ID if relevant.
• Report confirmations and reference numbers, stored privately.

Do not download, screenshot, screen-record or forward sexual images of anyone under 18, or whose age you are unsure of. Preserve the account identifiers and text of threats separately, leave existing material where it is, and ask police or NCMEC how to handle it. Do not ask a friend to send you a copy. Police.uk's guidance explains this distinction.

Keep records in a secure location, not a public folder or group chat. You do not need to investigate the offender yourself, buy tracking services or keep reading distressing messages to make your report credible.

How to report sextortion on social media

Report the threatening message as well as the account. If a separate post contains your images, report that post too: an account report may not identify every item that needs review. Describe the demand, lack of consent and any child-safety concern. Menu wording varies by version and country; the official links below are the starting points.

Instagram, Facebook and Messenger

Use the relevant message, chat, profile or post's reporting controls. Choose the closest option for threats to share private images, sexual exploitation or intimate-image abuse, when offered. Explain that the message is blackmail, rather than reporting only an unwanted contact. Meta documents a dedicated reporting option for DMs threatening to share private images, alongside safety resources. A published image and a private threat may need separate reports.

Snapchat

Press and hold the threatening Chat message and select Report. A Snap or Story has its own report control. Snapchat also documents an account-report route from the Chat screen through the person's name and friendship-management menu. See Snapchat's reporting instructions. Its sextortion guidance identifies an option under the sexual-content category for leaked or threatened intimate images. Do not make new copies of intimate content to support the report.

TikTok

Use the content or message's reporting menu. TikTok's official sexual-abuse support page identifies Violence, abuse, and criminal exploitation, followed by Sexual exploitation and abuse for adults or Exploitation and abuse of people under 18 for young people. Choose the relevant available route and explain the threat. The guidance also warns against downloading or resharing abuse material.

X

Report the post or threatening message. X's current non-consensual nudity policy directs post reports through Private or Non-Consensual Content, then the relevant intimate-image option. The policy covers threats and manipulated images as well as actual sharing, and links to a web reporting form. Identify the exact material and whether you are the affected person or reporting for someone else.

Reddit

For a post or comment, open its menu, choose Report, then Non-Consensual Intimate Media and answer the follow-up questions. Use the reporting control on abusive chat or private messages as well. Reddit's guidance covers sharing, threats, solicitation and fabricated intimate media. Reporting only to a community moderator does not replace the platform's safety-reporting process.

Discord

On mobile, hold the message; on desktop, right-click it. Select Report Message and the relevant violation, following Discord's reporting instructions. Keep the message link if available. You can ask a server moderator for practical help, but also report to Discord itself. Do not forward intimate attachments to another server or moderator as evidence.

YouTube

Report a violating video through its reporting controls. Where the upload identifies you and violates your privacy, review YouTube's privacy-complaint process; include the video URL and relevant timestamps. That process has eligibility and representation requirements. Do not re-engage with a blackmailer to ask for removal. If another account is also pretending to be you, our impersonation guide explains that separate reporting issue.

Add the person's age when the images were created if relevant, and state if material is fabricated. Do not include intimate images in an ordinary email or support chat to make the report more persuasive.

How to report sextortion to the FBI and IC3

For US readers, the FBI's sextortion page directs victims to a local FBI field office, tips.fbi.gov, local police or 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). These are reporting routes, not an emergency response service. In immediate danger in the US, call 911.

For cyber-enabled blackmail and financial sextortion, the FBI also operates the Internet Crime Complaint Center, IC3. Its homepage directs crimes against children to NCMEC, so a child-exploitation report should not rely on IC3 alone.

1. Start at the official IC3 website and select its complaint process. Check the domain before entering information.
2. Provide your contact details, the platform/account identifiers, a clear timeline, the threat and any payment details. Report what you know without guessing the offender's identity.
3. Keep the original records securely. IC3's complaint system does not accept evidence attachments.
4. Save or print the submitted complaint before leaving the confirmation page. IC3 says it will not email you a copy.

The IC3 FAQ says people outside the US may also submit complaints. That does not replace reporting to police where you live. Complaints may be referred to an appropriate agency; an investigation or personal response is not guaranteed. For time-sensitive threats, contact local police directly. If you provide new information later, follow the FAQ's instructions and identify the earlier complaint.

If the image was taken when you were under 18

Report suspected child sexual exploitation to NCMEC's CyberTipline, including threats to share images. Tell a safe adult who can help with the process. You do not need to wait for a public upload.

Take It Down is a separate, free image-protection tool for material taken before you turned 18, even if you are now an adult. It can be used internationally. On your device, it creates a digital fingerprint called a hash; the image itself is not uploaded.

Use only material already on the original device. Do not download an image or ask someone to send it to you to use the tool. If you do not have it, seek NCMEC's help through the CyberTipline. Hashing helps participating platforms detect material on public or unencrypted services. It does not cover the whole internet, replace a crime report or guarantee that every existing copy disappears.

If the image shows you as an adult

If you are 18 or older and the image was taken when you were an adult, consider the free StopNCII.org tool. It hashes an intimate image or video on your device and shares the hash with participating platforms, not the original file. Keep the case number and PIN securely so you can check or withdraw your case.

StopNCII's FAQ also covers eligible synthetic images depicting you. Its coverage is limited to participating platforms and does not extend to encrypted messaging. Edited copies may not match the original hash. If content is already posted, report the actual post as well. If an image depicts you under 18, use the child-image route above instead.

If the content is already online

Record its URL without downloading or circulating it, then use the platform's intimate-image or child-safety reporting process. Ask anyone who receives it not to forward it, comment on it or repost it to warn others. They can report the original item without reproducing it.

For US readers, the FTC explains the TAKE IT DOWN Act's notice-and-removal process. Covered platforms must provide a removal-request process and remove qualifying intimate depictions within 48 hours of a valid request, with obligations concerning known identical copies. Use the platform's designated process and retain the notice and submission time; do not assume any generic account report is a valid statutory notice.

If a covered platform's process is missing or broken, or it fails to comply, the FTC directs reports to TakeItDown.ftc.gov. This is a report about platform compliance, not the same service as NCMEC's Take It Down tool or a police report about the blackmailer. It is not a worldwide guarantee of removal within 48 hours.

If the material appears in search results, Google's personal sexual-content removal process covers relevant real and fabricated imagery. Search removal and removal from the hosting website are separate. Do not submit screenshots containing sexual imagery of someone under 18; Google's guidance expressly prohibits them.

Reporting outside the United States

Use your local police for the blackmail itself. These additional official or specialist routes can help; a platform report is not a substitute for a crime report.

• India: use the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal and contact local police or a cybercrime unit. If money was transferred, act promptly through your bank and the 1930 cyber-fraud reporting number. The Ministry of Home Affairs confirms these routes; investigation is handled by the relevant State/UT authorities.
• Canada: the RCMP's sextortion guidance directs people to local police, the platform and Cybertip.ca for child-exploitation concerns.
• United Kingdom: use your local police's reporting route. Police.uk's sextortion page links to online reporting and the CEOP Safety Centre for under-18s.
• Australia: report criminal threats to police. The eSafety Commissioner's image-based abuse process can also assess eligible reports about sharing or threats to share intimate content, subject to its Australian connection requirements.

After reporting: protect your accounts and money

Keep confirmation numbers and a brief record of each response. Report a genuinely new account, threat or upload with its new identifier and reference the earlier report where possible. Use an appeal or follow-up route if offered. Repeatedly sending the same report is not a reliable way to speed review.

From a trusted device, secure your email and social accounts with unique passwords and multi-factor authentication. Review active sessions, recovery details, public contact information and who can message or tag you. Do not give a supposed investigator remote access to your device or your login codes.

If you paid, contact the bank, payment app, card issuer or exchange immediately and ask what fraud-recovery options exist. Keep receipts. The FTC's payment-by-payment guidance explains the steps; repayment is not guaranteed.

The FBI warns sextortion victims against fee-charging offers of help. Be especially cautious of promises to hack the offender, delete every copy, recover money or guarantee silence. You can use the official reporting routes and free tools in this guide directly, without hiring a removal company.

If a child or friend tells you

Listen without blaming them or demanding to see the images. Help them contact a safe adult, police or NCMEC and take one step at a time. Do not contact the offender to bargain, threaten them or run an investigation. NCMEC's guidance emphasizes that responsibility lies with the blackmailer.

If the person feels unable to stay safe, stay with them and seek immediate local emergency help. Otherwise, offer practical company while they make reports and find qualified support. There is no need to turn their experience into a warning post or share it with people who do not need to know.

Common questions

Can I report it if I already sent money or images?

Yes. Include what happened accurately and stop further payments or content. Previous compliance does not prevent you from seeking help.

What if there is no image, or it is a deepfake?

Report the threat and say what you know. Do not manufacture evidence or send more material to test the claim. Use the platform's relevant threat or synthetic-image route.

Will reporting guarantee the images stay private?

No service can promise that. Police reports, platform review and hashing tools serve different purposes. Use the available routes without relying on a promise about the offender's next move.

Should I delete my account?

Avoid permanently deleting the account or messages before getting advice, because records may be lost. You can block contact and review privacy settings. If you need to step away, ask about deactivation while preserving evidence.

Sources reviewed on 15 October 2026. Platform wording and eligibility can change. TikTok's official indexed guidance was readable, but direct retrieval was restricted; this guide links to it and avoids promising a fixed interface. Reporting information is general and does not replace advice about a particular jurisdiction or immediate emergency.