It usually starts on WhatsApp, Snapchat, Instagram or Telegram, with a message from someone who seems to know you. Then a photo, a demand, and a deadline. The first hour decides most of what follows. This is the order I would follow if it were happening to me.
Do first
- Stop replying. Not one more word, and nothing more of yourself. Every reply is used to raise the price.
- Do not pay. Paying confirms that you will pay, and it almost never ends there. The second demand usually comes within days.
- Save everything. Screenshot the profile, the messages, the demand and the deadline, with the date and the handle or address bar visible. Do not delete the conversation.
- Lock the account it came through. Change the password, turn on two-step verification, and sign out every other device. Then do the same on the email behind it.
- Do not block yet. Blocking hides the evidence and pushes them toward your family and friends. Mute the conversation, and block only after you have reported it.
- Tell one person you trust, or write to me. The deadline is built on your silence.
Do not
- Do not send a smaller amount to make it stop. There is no final payment.
- Do not ask for proof that they deleted it. No such proof exists, and asking tells them you are still negotiating.
- Do not delete your own account. It removes your evidence and your ability to report.
- Do not threaten them back, and do not contact their family or friends. It escalates, and it can be used against you.
Where to report it
- Saudi Arabia: the anti-extortion service of the General Presidency for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, on the unified number 1909 or through its service page, and reports with attachments through the Kollona Amn app of the Ministry of Interior. Online extortion is a crime under the Anti-Cyber Crime Law.
- The UAE: the Dubai Police eCrime service and the Dubai Police app, the Ministry of Interior line 800 CYBER (800 29237), or the Abu Dhabi Police Aman service on 800 2626, which keeps the reporter's identity confidential. The law is Federal Decree-Law 34 of 2021 on combating rumours and cybercrimes.
- Qatar: the Ministry of Interior's cybercrime department through the Metrash app, by phone on 2347444, on the hotline 66815757, or by email to cccc@moi.gov.qa. The law is Law 14 of 2014 on combating cybercrimes.
Reporting is your decision, never a condition of my help. In some cases it is the right first step. In others it is better once the material is contained. I explain what it would mean in your case before you decide, and I can prepare the file in the form each channel expects.
The platform routes
- Instagram and Facebook: report the account from its profile, choosing that it is pretending to be someone or is being used for blackmail. Meta removes accounts used for sextortion, and a report from a second account helps when yours is compromised.
- Snapchat: press and hold on the chat or the profile and tap Report. WhatsApp: open the chat, tap the name, and choose Report. Telegram: report the account from its profile and write to abuse@telegram.org with the links.
- If you are over 18 in the images, StopNCII.org lets you create a fingerprint of them on your own device, so partner platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Reddit and Snapchat can block them before they are posted. If you were under 18 when they were taken, use Take It Down instead.
When to bring in a specialist
When the deadline is hours away. When it has already been sent to one person. When the account behind it keeps changing. When you cannot face the reporting yourself. The work is a leak case run in reverse: contain the material, cut the routes it could travel, and take away the leverage. Most extortion ends when the other side understands there is nothing left to sell.
If this is you right now, skip the rest. Write to me with a screenshot of the demand and the handle it came from, and I start while you finish reading.
