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  3. Sextortion

Sextortion

Sextortion, sometimes called webcam blackmail, is a form of online blackmail involving intimate or sexual images or videos.

Someone may threaten to share your intimate content with your friends, family, colleagues or online contacts unless you give them money, send more sexual content or meet another demand.

Sextortion can happen to anyone. If you're being threatened, don't pay or negotiate with the person responsible. There are steps you can take to protect yourself, report what's happening, and get support.

What is sextortion?

Sextortion is when someone uses intimate images or videos of you to blackmail, exploit or pressure you.

It often begins when someone makes contact through social media, a dating app, messaging service or another online platform. They may use a fake profile and build trust before encouraging you to send intimate images, take part in sexual activity on a video call or move the conversation onto another platform.

The person may then reveal that they have saved or recorded the content and threaten to share it unless you meet their demands.

This could include:

Demanding money in exchange for not sharing your intimate images or videos

Threatening to send the content to your friends, family, partner or colleagues

Showing you screenshots of your social media contacts to make the threat feel more immediate

Demanding more intimate images or sexual content

Repeatedly demanding more money after an initial payment

Threatening to post the content publicly online

Using several accounts or platforms to continue contacting you

Making frightening allegations, including claiming that the person you were communicating with was under 18

Sextortion can usually be linked to organised crime groups, including perpetrators operating outside of the UK.

The pressure can feel very immediate, and the person responsible may give you little time to repsond in an attempt to frighten you into paying.

What does the law say about Sextortion?

There isn't one specific criminal offence called “sextortion” in UK law. However, the behaviour involved can amount to a number of criminal offences, including blackmail and intimate image abuse, depending on what has happened.

Sharing or threatening to share intimate images without consent can be a criminal offence. If someone is demanding money, more intimate content or something else from you in exchange for not sharing your images, this may also amount to blackmail.

The Online Safety Act 2023 places duties on regulated online services to protect UK users, including adults, from illegal content and activity. Platforms also have their own rules against sexual exploitation, blackmail, threats and non-consensual intimate image sharing, so you can report the account, messages or content even if you're unsure which law applies.

Many sextortion cases involve criminals operating outside the UK, which can make it more difficult for UK police to identify and take action against the person responsible. This means there may sometimes be limitations on what the police can do directly.

However, it is still important to report what has happened. Reports can help the police build a wider picture of sextortion and identify patterns of offending, while also ensuring you can access appropriate advice and support.

What should I do if I'm being sextorted?

If someone is threatening you with intimate images or videos, try to remember four things:

Stop → Block → Report → Don't Pay!

Stop communicating

Once you've collected the evidence you need, stop communicating with the person responsible.

Don't negotiate or try to persuade them to delete the images. Continuing the conversation gives them further opportunities to apply pressure or make new demands.

Don't pay

Don't send money or meet their demands.

Paying doesn't guarantee that your images will be deleted or kept private. The person responsible may simply return and ask for more money.

If you've already paid, DON'T SEND ANY MORE.

Save evidence

Before blocking the account, try to collect evidence of what's happened.

This could include:

  • screenshots of the threats and messages
  • usernames and account names
  • profile links
  • phone numbers or email addresses used
  • details of any bank accounts or payment methods you've been given
  • dates and times of contact

Block the account

Once you've saved the information you need, block the person responsible and stop responding.

If they contact you through another account, avoid engaging. Save the new account details, report it and block it too.

Report the account to the platform

Report the profile or account on the social media site, dating app, gaming service or messaging platform where the threats are being made.

Where possible, report the threatening messages as well as the account itself.

Check your social media privacy

Consider temporarily making your accounts private and reviewing what information is publicly visible.

You may also want to hide your friends or followers list where the platform allows this. Sextortion perpetrators may use publicly available information about your contacts to make their threats feel more convincing.

Report it to the police

Sextortion is a crime and you can report what has happened to the police.

You can report a non-emergency by:

  • calling 101
  • online through your local police force, or
  • at a police station

If you or someone else is in immediate danger, call 999.

Further Support

Sextortion can feel frightening and overwhelming. The person responsible may deliberately use embarrassment, fear and urgency to pressure you into doing what they want.

Support is available.

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