What to Do If You Are a Victim of Sex Extortion

If you’re reading this, chances are you’ve sent someone a nude or lewd photo at some point in your life – and you’re not alone. A third of Americans have shared nude photos , a sex expert and certified sexologist told the New York Post. In fact, according to a Bad Girls Bible survey, they send 1.8 million nude images per day (20 per second). This gives scammers a lot of people they can easily blackmail, whether they have your naked body or not.

There are two types of nudity scammers: one throws a wide net to see who they get, and the other is more deliberate and personal. The first is playing a number game; they know a third of Americans have nudity circulating somewhere, so they use this to their advantage by threatening to “release” their nude images to their friends and family unless they are paid (also known as a sextortion). The latter actually has your naked bodies and wants money in exchange for not sending it to your friends and family.

How sextorsion scammers work

No matter what type of criminal we are talking about, the scam works the same: the scammer will contact you via email, social media or text messages and threaten to release your photos unless you pay them a certain amount of money. This will be through a payment application that cannot be traced or refunded, such as cash, cryptocurrency, prepaid cards or gift cards, disguised credit cards or PayPal.

The problem is, law enforcement doesn’t care if you paid someone $500 to stop them from posting a photo of your junk (unless you’re of legal age). Of course, they will write a report and register it, but it is unlikely that they will start an investigation. They don’t really have the digital forensics tools or skills to hunt down these scammers; they just have bigger fish. Fortunately, there are still ways to prevent falling into such a situation, as well as guidelines to follow if you are involved in a sextorsion case.

How not to become a victim of sextortion

It goes without saying that you should never send nude photos to someone you have never seen in person. There are an incredible number of fake accounts on the Internet ( especially on dating apps ) whose main purpose is to collect nude images of people and sell them to scammers or deceive the people themselves. Giving away your naked bodies is playing Russian roulette with your money, privacy, and mental health. Even if you send photos to people you ‘ve met in person, they might share them with others or just hack their phones.

Thus, the best line of defense is one that may no longer work for most people: never take a naked body. Notice the word take instead of send . While this may be a last resort for some, there is a good reason for this. It’s just that any phone can be easily stolen or hacked. You might think that having your photos in a “safe” folder or app might mean they’re safe, but the reality is that no app or phone is 100% secure.

Even if you only want them for yourself or your partner, avoiding nudity is a surefire way to live without the stress that can come in the worst case. This way you will know that every scammer who claims to have nude photos of you is bluffing.

What to do if someone says they have nude photos of you

The best way to deal with someone will depend on what type of scammer they are. The first and most important thing to do is determine if they are bluffing or if it is a scammer who actually has your photos: so start by asking them to show you the photos. Bluffers will come up with a reason why they have the pictures, but they can’t show it to you, but you will know they are bluffing.

If the scammer shows you evidence of your nude photos, you have several options, depending on your condition.

How to deal with sextortion if your net worth is over $150,000

If you choose to make the first payment to a scammer, Andrew Garrett, CEO of Garrett Discovery , a digital forensics consulting firm that handles sextorsion cases and acts as an FBI consultant, says people with a net worth of $150,000 or more should never make second payment to scammers. You will most likely be invisible if you make the first small payment as the scammers deal with multiple victims at the same time, but as soon as you make the second payment you will be flagged and scrutinized. If they find out that you are a wealthy person, they will most likely ask for significantly larger amounts of money, and they will not stop. Wealthy people should seek help from law firms that specialize in sexual extortion cases as soon as possible before paying scammers. Help from a law firm can cost at least $5,000 to $10,000.

How to deal with sextortion if your net worth is lower

For those with a lower net, there are two options: You can pay the amount requested (most sextorsionists ask around $500, according to Garrett). Garrett says all sextorsion businesses ironically follow a strict code of conduct that keeps their business model running. If the scammers don’t keep their promise not to post your nude images after they’ve been paid, their entire business model could collapse as people learn not to pay them. On top of that, they don’t want to risk the victim being invested in catching the scammers by hiring digital forensics experts to hunt them down.

If you want to be more secure, your best bet is to seek professional help from digital forensic firms. Garrett recommends that you do some digging before hiring someone because not all of them have a good reputation and some are even scammers in disguise who put your photos on a website and then charge a fee to remove them.

Here’s what to look for when hiring a sextortion expert:

• If a company regularly testifies in sex extortion court cases, they are legal. The courts determine if they are trustworthy companies and if they are good enough for the courts they will be good enough for you.
• Check out their Better Business Bureau reviews.
• Call them and ask them for recommendations, especially from law firms they have worked with. Then ask these law firms to give you a summary of their work. Have they dealt with them before? What do they know about their work in the sextortion? Are they legal?

If you are an underage victim

If you (or your child) are underage (or were underage at the time of the nudity), your best bet is to contact law enforcement as this is considered child pornography.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC), a private non-profit child advocacy organization, also provides a free Take It Down service, which helps stop the online distribution of explicit images of children under 18. or prohibit the online sharing of images or videos of a sexual nature to minors.

If your nudes have already been published

Sexual extortion cases rarely get to this point, according to Garrett, as once they post your nudity online, they no longer have any influence over you. Most of these cases are revenge porn scenes from people the victim knows. At this stage, it is best to hire a law firm or a digital forensics firm to make a nudity removal notice.

You can also call the FTC Consumer Response Center at 877-382-4357 and the AARP Anti-Fraud Network at 877-908-3360 to report sextorting and find out what they can do for you.

The FBI provides guidelines for online content sharing as well as resources for victims of sexual extortion on its website . They also encourage victims to report exploitation by calling their local FBI office, 1-800-CALL-FBI, or reporting it online .