Sextortion Help: What to Do After a Threat
If you need sextortion help, you do not have to work through this alone. Sextortion means someone is using a threat about intimate images to demand something from you. The responsibility for the threat belongs to the person making it. You can get support without explaining every private detail to everyone you know.
Stop replying and do not pay
Do not send more money or images. Save the threatening messages and the account details if you can do so safely, then block further contact. Australia’s eSafety Commissioner explains these first steps in its sextortion support guide.
If money has already been sent, contact your bank or payment service promptly through its official contact route. Ask what options are available. Avoid negotiating another payment with the person threatening you.
Ask someone to sit with you while you deal with it
You can start with a simple sentence: “Someone online is threatening me and I need a hand.” Choose a person you trust. They can stay nearby while you read the support information or help you organise the account details for a report.
You can ask them to read the threatening text without showing an intimate image. Getting support does not require passing the image around.
Report the account and keep the useful details
Use the reporting route on the service where the threat arrived. Keep the username and dates with the threatening text. Avoid deleting the whole account before checking what evidence you may lose. If the person has a SextingZone profile, see how to report a profile.
Write down any report reference you receive so you can find it later. A short note about what happened can help when you need to describe the situation again.
Look at tools that may limit image sharing
StopNCII.org can create a digital fingerprint of an eligible image on your device. The image itself stays there. Participating platforms can use the fingerprint to detect matching uploads under their policies. This does not cover the whole internet.
Check the eligibility guidance first. If you were under 18 in the image, even if you are an adult now, use the guidance from NCMEC’s Take It Down. Do not download or share an image to submit it; follow the service’s instructions for material already on your device.
Review account access if you shared a sign-in code
If someone also obtained account access, open the service’s official security and recovery pages. Our login code scams guide explains that separate problem. Keep recovery details out of conversations with anyone claiming they can fix the situation privately.
After the immediate steps, you can take time away from chatting. The consent guide is there if you want to read it later. There is no need to keep engaging with the person to justify your boundary.
What if I feel in immediate danger?
Contact local emergency services or a trusted person who can be with you now. You can ask for urgent help before you have collected every detail of what happened.