Last Updated on June 18, 2025

If you’re using Facebook, you need to be vigilant. Sextortion is growing at a rapid pace, and Facebook is one of the largest platforms for the crime. The social media giant is plagued with billions of fake accounts. In fact, Facebook estimates that 3% of their monthly active users are fake accounts. Though some of these fraudulent profiles are harmless, many of them are run by sextortionists just waiting to target their next victim. So, how do you protect yourself from Facebook sextortion, and how can you deal with it if you’re being targeted? Continue reading to find out.

How Does Sextortion on Facebook Work?

Sextortion is when a person threatens to expose someone else’s explicit images or videos unless the victim meets their demands. On Facebook, sextortionists will use a fake profile with stolen images or an account impersonating someone you know. They will initially use the profile to send you a friend request and a direct message, showing interest in you. Once you engage with their message, they begin spinning a deceptive web disguised as an authentic connection.

Gaining Your Trust

At this stage, the main goal of a sextortionist is to gain your trust. They will weaponize excessive flattery, provide constant attention, and fake emotional vulnerability to create the illusion of a deep connection. Mirroring is also a common manipulative tactic by perpetrators, adapting their interests, beliefs, and life experiences to match the victim’s.

After enough trust is built with the victim, they will attempt to fast-track the relationship to an intimate level and move the conversation off Facebook to instant messaging platforms. Many of these messaging platforms have less oversight, ensuring that there is no disruption to their scheme.

A Cruel Trick

This is when the sextortionist will suggest trading explicit images or videos, typically offering to go first to dispel any suspicions. However, this is their cruel trick. They lure unsuspecting users into sending explicit images or videos of themselves, at which point they drop their friendly façade and threaten to publicly expose the content. The only way they offer to keep the content private is if the victim meets their demands.

How To Deal with Facebook Sextortion

When your privacy is weaponized against you, it creates a sense of violation, betrayal, and fear that can have long-lasting effects. Victims may feel a loss of control over their own body image and personal life. If you are dealing with Facebook sextortion, you may feel isolated, helpless, and afraid. However, you can take back control. Here are some steps to take when facing sextortion.

• Do Not Cooperate: A sextortionist will have demands that they want you to meet. They will also expect a response to their threats. However, you should never comply with the perpetrator and instead cease communication when the threat of sextortion is made. Any further responses will only encourage the culprit to continue targeting you.
• Preserve Evidence: Cybercrime experts in law enforcement and private firms rely on evidence to perform an investigation. That’s why it’s essential to preserve the proof of sextortion. You can do this by taking screenshots of the messages and profiles used, along with anything else that is relevant to the case.
• Notify the Platform: Facebook has an anonymous, built-in system for reporting any behavior that violates their community standards. Threats of sextortion can be flagged on the platform, and in many cases, Facebook will respond by removing the account.
• Notify the Authorities: Local law enforcement is an essential resource for victims of sextortion. They can help you file an official complaint, which may be used to launch an investigation or serve as evidence in future court proceedings.

How Widespread Is Sextortion on Facebook?

Facebook has transformed into a hub of online activity, offering functions like Marketplace, Dating, and Groups for community building. However, all these features have also provided scammers with more ways to lure in potential victims. A key statistic comes from a 2024 Sextortion Study from Digital Forensic Corp.

The private security firm analyzed 1,000 sextortion cases in late December 2024. Of the sextortion cases that originated on social media platforms, 42% of them were traced back to Facebook. Sextortion has become one of the fastest growing cyber threats, and Facebook is one of the primary platforms used to commit the crime.

How Facebook Is Addressing the Rise in Sextortion

Meta has been combating sextortion and non-consensual intimate image abuse on their platform for close to a decade. In 2017, Meta partnered with Thorn to launch ‘Stop Sextortion’, a guide for sextortion victims, and to create educational articles about sextortion on Facebook’s Safety Center.

Meta also co-founded Lantern, the first cross platform signal-sharing program for online platforms to improve enforcement on child safety policies. The program brings tech companies together to investigate the activity of predators across platforms, allowing these platforms to uncover the full picture of harm.

Preventing the Spread of Intimate Image Abuse

Meta has taken many steps to fight intimate image abuse, but one of the most effective initiatives was supporting tools that proactively prevent the spread of nudes.

• For those under the age of 18, Meta co-founded the Take It Down tool, a platform run by the NCMEC to get rid of and prevent the reposting of CSAM on online platforms.
• For those over the age of 18, Meta has continued to support StopNCII.org, a tool created by the Revenge Porn Helpline to get rid of non-consensual intimate images and videos posted online.

Removing Fake Accounts

To reduce the number of scammers, Facebook is using automated systems to identify and get rid of fake accounts preemptively. In both the second and third quarters of 2024, they took action against over a billion fake accounts, many of them created with malicious intent.

Meta is also using investigative methods to discover malicious accounts before they can do harm. In the summer of 2024, Facebook found over 7,000 assets on the platform that were linked to a small group of Nigerian scammers. Despite all these efforts, Facebook sextortion has continued to rise and is only becoming more of a problem.

How to Stay Protected While Using Facebook

Facebook has been taking proactive steps to combat sextortion and scammers on their platform. They have also implemented many safety features to prevent scammers from reaching users. Consider the following tips on how to stay protected while using Facebook.

• Lock Down Your Account: Make sure your profile is set to private to limit who can view your posts. You can also limit who can send you friend requests by enabling the ‘Friends of Friends’ setting. Lastly, make sure your ‘Friends List’ is set to be viewed by ‘Only Me’. These privacy settings lower your risk of being targeted.
• Be Cautious with Friend Requests and Messages: Perpetrators will send unsolicited messages and friend requests to hundreds of people, looking for anyone to respond.
• Enable Two-Factor Authentication (2FA): If your password gets compromised, 2FA protects your account from being taken over. Make sure you have it enabled in your settings for extra protection.
• Stay Up to Date on Sextortion: Our blog at Cyber Investigation Inc. is full of educational articles that inform internet users of what they need to know about cybercrime. You’ll find valuable resources on how to prevent, respond to, and recover from sextortion as well as other common scams. Visit our blog to stay aware of the sextortion trends and the latest developments in cybercrime.

Last Updated on June 3, 2025

Many victims ask the question: “Can you sue someone for distributing your nudes without consent?” In most jurisdictions, the answer is yes. With the right support, you can pursue justice and limit the damage of your nudes being distributed.

It takes a team to unmask these scammers and bring them to justice. With the right professional assistance, you will have access to experienced cybercrime experts that can follow the digital trail left by the perpetrator and support your legal efforts.

Is It Illegal to Distribute Someone Else’s Nudes?

Where can you sue someone for distributing your nudes without your consent in the United States? Notable progress has been made at both the federal and state level when it comes to non-consensual intimate image (NCII) abuse, also commonly referred to as revenge porn. Nearly every state has passed laws against NCII abuse. However, there are nuances to the different state laws.

Understanding “Revenge Porn” and Non-Consensual Image Sharing Laws

Whether you can sue someone for distributing your nudes without consent or not depends on what jurisdiction you live in. The general legal definition of revenge porn is the intentional distribution of intimate images without consent. However, many states have minor variations in their definitions that can have a major impact on the legal process.

California requires an intent to cause emotional harm in their legal definition. On the other hand, New Jersey does not have that requisite. Another difference is in Ohio, where the legal definition of NCII abuse includes a requirement that the victim must be identifiable in the intimate content.

There are also sexual deepfakes that are being used for NCII abuse, and only 30 states have passed laws against non-consensual creation and distribution of deepfakes.  However, the TAKE IT DOWN act has recently been signed into law, making both deepfake and organic NCII abuse a federal offense.

Civil vs. Criminal Consequences

While criminal courts are for the government to punish citizens for behavior that violates the law, civil courts are used to resolve disputes between individuals or organizations. Revenge porn cases can involve either legal path. However, a lawsuit for unauthorized nude distribution often has a greater chance of success. Many victims sue their offenders for violation of privacy, for example.

Criminally, the punishments for non-consensual image sharing range from fines to years in prison. In Illinois, revenge porn is a felony, with those charged serving up to three years in prison. However, in Florida it is a misdemeanor. You should always consult with a legal professional for revenge porn legal help.

Platform Policies on Explicit Content

Social media and porn websites are commonly used for NCII abuse. With quick action, victims can remove their intimate content from the platform before it receives too much traffic. Most social media platforms have policies against non-consensual intimate image abuse, and victims can use these policies to protect themselves. You can report the scammer’s profile — along with the content they are attempting to distribute non-consensually — to the platform’s administrators.

Can You Sue Someone for Distributing Your Nudes?

We’ve established that you can sue someone for unauthorized distribution of your nudes in most places. However, identifying the criminal responsible is also an important step. This is why many cybercriminals protect their anonymity. Here are the three main factors to consider before you file a lawsuit for unauthorized nude distribution.

• Legal Grounds for a Lawsuit: Victims can sue for privacy violation, defamation, emotional duress, or violation of specific revenge porn laws, depending on the jurisdiction.
• Who Can be Held Liable: Sharing an intimate image that was sent to you is against the law. However, things can get complicated when it comes to resharing explicit content without consent. Not every state has clear laws about secondary distributors, which can make legal action unclear.
• Statute of Limitations: Typically ranging between one to four years, the statute of limitations also varies by jurisdiction. New York is a unique example. Victims have three years from the date the image was distributed non-consensually or one year from the date they discovered the image.

How Scammers Gain Access to Your Nudes

Of course, there are circumstances where perpetrators use the previous access they had to their former partner’s nudes for unauthorized distribution. However, many scammers are strangers, and they use digital tools to gain access to their victim’s nudes. There are four main methods that cybercriminal strangers use to gain unauthorized access to their victim’s nudes:

• Catfishing Scams: Using social media and online platforms, scammers will create false online personas to lure unsuspecting users into a sexually intimate relationship, eventually obtaining private, explicit material of the victim.
• Brute Force Attacks: Cybercriminals can gain access to your online accounts by using publicized login credentials from data breaches. They can use tools to try all possible combinations of usernames and passwords until one works.
• Using Malware: Many cybercriminals use malicious software — or malware — to access their target’s computer system or device. It is an effective tool to steal information and, in some cases, can even provide control over a device’s files and webcam.
• Phishing Scams: This is when scammers trick unsuspecting users into revealing sensitive information. Phishing scams often consist of the perpetrator posing as legitimate organizations on online platforms. They may spoof trusted emails, create fake profiles, or send text messages posing as trusted entities.

What To Do If Someone Has Your Nudes

If someone has your nudes, you need to assess the potential risks. Ask yourself questions like whether these people are dangerous to you, if they obtained these nudes non-consensually, and what you should do if someone has your nudes. There may be signs that the people with your nudes are willing to distribute them without your consent.

For example, the person may make demands in exchange for keeping your nudes private. Or the person may be a cybercriminal that gained access to your nudes illegally. If you think that your nudes are in danger of being distributed without your consent, you need to take action to protect yourself. You can sue someone for the unauthorized distribution of your nudes, but there are also many other ways to tackle NCII abuse.

Preserve Evidence

Preserving evidence is an essential practice when seeking justice against your offender. You will need solid evidence to file a lawsuit or if you want the perpetrator arrested. However, if the offender obtained your nudes consensually, legal actions available may be limited unless they distribute the nudes or explicitly state their intent to do so. Many cases of NCII abuse consist of a prior relationship and messages exchanged between the victim and perpetrator. Make sure to take screenshots, save messages, and document everything before it’s deleted.

Report to Platforms and Authorities

Law enforcement is a valuable resource for victims of NCII abuse. Local authorities can take action against known perpetrators and launch an investigation into anonymous ones.

Online platforms — like social media and dating apps — typically have reporting systems in place to address any behavior that goes against their community guidelines. Victims can use these tools to report NCII content or scams from cybercriminals.

Consult a Lawyer Specializing in Privacy or Cyber Law

Before you sue someone for the unauthorized distribution of your nudes, you should always work with a legal professional. A professional attorney can advise you on your legal options. They are vital to have at your side when taking action such as a restraining order or suing for privacy violation. They can also provide revenge porn legal help for DMCA takedown requests.

Contact Cyber Investigation Inc. for Support

You don’t have to experience NCII abuse alone. Cyber Investigation Inc. has a team of digital investigators who work with you to prevent any further violations of your privacy. We specialize in removing non-consensual content quickly off the internet. We also use digital forensics to analyze the data left by the perpetrator and unmask their identity. Our experts work alongside you through every step of the process, even collaborating with your attorney or local law enforcement.

How Cyber Investigation Inc. Helps Victims of NCII Abuse

Our experts have a well-established track record in the cyber field. They are highly skilled at protecting the privacy of cybercrime victims and identifying the responsible perpetrators. Here is a look at the services we provide.

• Uncovering Identities Through Digital Forensics: We have a team of forensic analysts dedicated to following the perpetrator’s digital footprint. From tracing IP addresses to metadata analysis, we can discover the geolocation of the criminal responsible and — eventually — their identity.
• Content Takedown and Disclosure Prevention: By working with online platforms like social media or search engines, we can quickly work to remove any NCII abuse on the internet. We can also assist in filing a DMCA takedown notice to any website that fails to respond to our requests.
• Supporting Legal Action with Evidence: Whether you are suing for privacy violation or damages, a lawsuit for unauthorized nude distribution can be a lengthy process and the same can be said about criminal cases. You will need solid evidence to support any legal action you take, and we can provide our digital investigation as evidence against the offender.

Real Case Example: A Meteorologist Possessing a Victim’s Sexually Explicit Content

Josh Fitzpatrick, a former Virginia meteorologist, was accused of filming a consensual sexual encounter without the victim’s knowledge and attempting to intimidate the victim with warnings that he would release the footage. The victim went to the police and the authorities began investigating the meteorologist. Fitzpatrick left his job and fled to Ohio once he learned about the investigation. However, in April 2025, Ohio law enforcement caught Fitzpatrick and is holding him for extradition to Virginia. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted.

Don’t Stay Silent: Take Legal Action and Protect Your Future

People who experience NCII abuse typically just want the problem to go away. They may ignore the issue and avoid reporting the abuse to the authorities. Not only does this response empower cybercriminals, but it also gives them free rein to damage your online reputation.

Victims must act quickly in the face of any abuse to report the explicit content and hold the offender accountable. However, pursuing legal action requires the offender to be identifiable, and that’s where Cyber Investigation Inc. can help. Whether you are facing revenge porn or someone who has your nudes, we can work to trace the digital footprint of the perpetrator and unmask their identity.

If someone has distributed your private photos without your consent, you don’t have to face it alone. Contact Cyber Investigation Inc. today to start your fight for justice and privacy.

Last Updated on November 9, 2023

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Last Updated on October 30, 2023

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Last Updated on October 30, 2023

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Last Updated on October 13, 2023

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