Last Updated on September 6, 2023
The message came out of nowhere and seemed almost too good to be true. There they were – sexy, interested, and very “down” if you hear what we’re saying. They sent some intimate images your way – you sent some theirs, and then some. Everything seemed like it was pointing towards some very interesting times – and right you are, they will be interesting, to say the least, when that hunky stud or sultry lady turns around and begins demanding money from you, in exchange for keeping those intimate images from before to themselves. What should a sextortion victim do then when they find themselves in a situation like this? They should listen to the experts – and that’s why we’re here today with this guide on the steps you should do.
What Should a Sextortion Victim Do? A Guide from the Experts
Your first reaction to your situation will most likely, be to enter into a state of panic and anxiety. Sextortionists tend to harass frequently when early on in engagement – this is a two-fold tactic. It can both keep your attention occupied with them, and to keep your mentality off-balance. A mind under duress is, frequently, more open to suggestion and direction from outside stimuli than when centered and calm. The first thing you must accomplish is a state of calm before making any other decisions or taking any actions.
This may be easier said than done – you may be experiencing strong surges of self-blame and doubt. You might be beating yourself up for ‘how stupid’ you feel – and while we understand that urge to do so, remember that sextortion online is, first and foremost, a crime of confidence. You might have made a poor judgment call in hindsight, but we’re also talking about criminals who actively convince scores of people each day they’re not who they really are – you are the victim of online sextortion. Even if the sextortionists try to reframe the scenario, or threaten to make you the one who’ll be in trouble for the situation you’re now in, know that this is not true – again, you are a victim.
In short, you’ll have a much better time working through your situation from a place of collectedness and calm than from mania and anxiety. This may be easier to accomplish with our next piece of advice:
Don’t Shoulder It Alone
Despite any embarrassment you might feel or panic you may have, when you are being sextorted you should never go through your situation alone. Talking to a close, trusted friend or family member may be the ticket to both finding your modicum of peace in the storm, as well as having a second set of eyes and ears on your situation. All the better, having someone familiar with your situation can help in other ways when it comes to monitoring if sextortionists have sent your intimate images or videos out to the world. A shoulder to cry on, somebody to lean on, a mentor to guide you – talk with however many people in your life you trust to support you how they can while you deal with being sextorted.
Document Everything
Yes, we do mean EVERYTHING. Have a copy of any and all communications with the sextortionists on hand. Screen-shotting is the best and preferred way to go about this. If you’re worried that a Snapchat sextortionists may see that you’ve taken a screenshot, we’ll let you know now that there are many apps out there on both the iTunes Store and the Google Play Store that allow for screen recording and screenshotting without triggering Snapchat’s internal screenshot alerts.
Make sure to get receipts if you’ve sent them any money at this point (don’t send them any money, or any more if you already have…we’ll talk more about this as a topic in a few sections) as well as any interactions from other communication outlets, if your conversation didn’t take place on just a single outlet. Phone numbers, profiles, conversations, receipts – those should be your main focus, because having as much of a record of the situation on hand as you will only make your life easier later on.
File Reports
While they may not be able to assist directly with your situation, you will absolutely want to file a police report with your local station. Given that many sextortionists are located outside the country, your local boys in blue may not have much in the way of jurisdiction or ability to pursue your case, but filing a report makes certain that you are on record as a victim. This is important, as some sextortionists may take extra steps with your content to try to re-frame your conversation and content as being targeted towards someone other than who you even thought you were talking to, much less to the sextortionists.
We also highly recommend submitting your situation to the FBI’s Internet Crimes Complaint Center (or IC3), which is the Bureau’s online reporting tool for all cyber-crimes. Again, not much may come of it, but any information can be helpful in the pursuit of the agency’s goals in stopping these situations from occurring, and may even lead to preventing others from online sextortion
Responding to the Threats
When it comes to what a sextortion victim should do in regards to actually interacting with sextortionists, first and foremost and most important is this: DO NOT PAY THE SEXTORTIONISTS. This is the number one mistake that many people being sextorted make; you might believe that negotiating the demand down to something manageable is the way to go, and paying them little-to-nothing might help make your situation evaporate. This couldn’t be further from the truth – the moment you pay sextortionists, that’s the moment they believe that they have you by the hand. They will only keep coming back for more, because by paying them you have signaled that you A.) Have some kind of money with which to pay them, and B.) that you are concerned enough with the situation to pay them at all. So again: DO NOT PAY THE SEXTORTIONISTS.
WHAT SHOULD A VICTIM OF SEXTORTION DO? To block or not to block a sextortionists?
Further, do not completely block sextortionists on your communication platform of choice. This advice we see frequently from other sources – to just ignore them, and they’ll go away. This is, in fact, true – sometimes. There is no guarantee that blocking a sextortionist will take you out of their sights. While some may give up and move on to another victim, others may become more aggressive and even begin to release your material until you reach them again. To keep your odds even and avoid risks, we recommend only engaging with sextortionists if the purpose is to stall for time, and not to block them while you work to find further assistance.
What you certainly can and should do, however, to help safeguard your privacy is to lock down your privacy and information. Change your privacy and security settings on all the social media platforms you know they have access to. This can help limit the breadth of a perpetrator’s release routes. Don’t deactivate accounts, yet, unless instructed by a specialist. That brings to our final tip…
Seek Out Expert Assistance
Being a sextortion victim is hard. Knowing what a sextortion victim should do when it comes to seeking out help for their situation may not be immediately evident. There are many companies out there, who pride themselves on being some of the few that deal with these kinds of situations. Directly on behalf of their clients. We suggest doing your research. Each route you might take in this way is different, and you should go with the assistance that you trust.
Here at Cyber Investigation our team of experts have an over 90% effective success rate at handling cases of sextortion. The proof of deletion of our clients’ content being our end goal. Our team is available 24/7 to take your case both by phone and by chat online. If you faced with online sextortion, consider giving us a call at 1-888-210-2373 today. We can help you with different types of online sextortion such as blackmail
We have proven experts for fighting sextortion on facebook, snapchat, instagram, whatsapp and other popular social media platforms and messengers
In any case, we hope that you now know what a sextortion victim should do, and how to proceed. You may also like to read:
Can Sextortion Ruin Your Life?
Do Sextortionists Give Up?
