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If you are in severe distress and are thinking about harming yourself, call 999 immediately. You should also call 999 if you are worried about someone else who has been a victim of this crime.
You can also find help for suicidal thoughts at the NHS.
‘Sextortion' is the short name for 'financially motivated sexual extortion’. It is a type of online blackmail where criminals threaten to share sexual pictures, videos, or information about you. They may be trying to take money from you or forcing you to do something else you don’t want to.
Anyone can be a victim of sextortion. However, young people aged between 15 to 17, and adults aged under 30 are often most at risk.
Sextortion can be committed by individuals, but organised crime gangs are usually behind it.
Criminals often target people through dating apps, social media, webcams, or pornography sites. They may use a fake identity to befriend you online. If a person you’ve just met online chats to you in a sexual way, or asks for sexual images, it might be an attempt at sextortion.
You should be wary if someone you’ve met online:
Sextortion attempts can happen very quickly, or they can happen over a long time. You should never share sexual images or information about yourself if you are not comfortable.
If you are chatting to new people online:
If you are a victim of sextortion, it’s not your fault. There is help and support available.
Most social media sites have rules against sharing intimate content without consent. You should be able to get the material removed.
If you’ve paid the person, consider telling your bank. They may not be able to get any money back but it helps us and the banks to know it’s happened.
We understand that it might be difficult to report this type of crime to us. We're here to listen and support you in any way we can.
You can report intimate image abuse to us:
Revenge Porn Online gives free, confidential help to victims living in the UK.
Stop NCII (Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse) is a free tool to help detect and remove images from being shared online.
Samaritans is a free, confidential listening service for any issue.
Get safe online provides factual and easy to understand information on online safety.
Victims First gives emotional and practical support for all victims and witnesses of crime living in the Thames Valley, as well as family members. It can offer support for victims of sextortion of all ages.Report Remove allows you to confidentially report sexual images and videos of yourself and get them removed from the internet.
Childline gives free, confidential support for young people under the age of 19.
Young Minds is a mental health charity for children and young people with 24 hours a day, seven days a week text support.
Child Exploitation and Online Protection Command (CEOP) Education gives advice for parents, children, and young people on staying safe from sexual abuse and online grooming.
National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) can help if you’ve been the victim of phishing or hacking, or need advice on protecting your data online.
Action Fraud – Romance Fraud can help if you think a partner you met online is trying to get money from you but isn’t threatening or extorting you. This is known as ‘romance fraud’.