What to do if someone is blackmailing you with nudes

If someone is threatening to share your nudes unless you pay or send more, take a breath: you have more power here than the blackmailer wants you to believe. This is a crime called sextortion, federal law is firmly on your side, and there are concrete steps that work, starting right now. Here is exactly what to do, in order, and what to avoid.

What To Do First: The Four Immediate Steps

If someone is blackmailing you with nudes, do these four things immediately: stop responding, don’t pay, preserve every piece of evidence, and report the account. The FBI and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children are clear on the first point: cooperating or paying rarely stops the blackmail, and it usually invites escalating demands [1, 2].

1. Stop all communication: Don’t negotiate, don’t plead, and don’t send anything else. Every reply signals that pressure works on you [1].
2. Do not pay or comply: Ignore their demands entirely. Don’t send money, more images, or access to your accounts or devices [3]. Payment marks you as profitable and the threats typically continue.
3. Preserve the evidence: Screenshot the profile, usernames, messages, threats, and any payment demands before anything disappears. Block the person, but do not delete the conversation, because it helps law enforcement identify them [2].
4. Report the account: Use the safety or reporting feature on the platform where they contacted you so the account gets reviewed and removed [1].

Report the Blackmail to Law Enforcement

Sextortion is a serious crime, and reporting it is how the threats actually get shut down. You can report to the FBI three ways: online at tips.fbi.gov, by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or through the Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov [1, 3]. Your local police department can also take a report, which matters if you later need documentation.

Federal law now backs you specifically. The Take It Down Act, signed in May 2025, makes it a federal crime to publish or even threaten to publish intimate images without consent, with penalties of up to two years in prison for threats involving adults [4]. Blackmailers rely on your silence; the law is built for your report.

How To Keep Your Nudes Off the Internet

Two free tools can block your images from spreading, even before anything gets posted. If you’re an adult, use StopNCII.org, a free tool that creates a digital fingerprint (a hash) of your intimate image directly on your device; the image itself never leaves your phone [5]. Participating platforms use that hash to automatically block and remove matching uploads, and the program reports a removal rate above 90% [5].

If any image was taken when you were under 18, use NCMEC’s Take It Down tool instead, at takeitdown.ncmec.org, which works the same way for minors’ images [2]. And if content has already been posted somewhere, the Take It Down Act requires covered platforms to remove reported intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request [4]. Report it directly through the site’s abuse or removal process, and keep a record of your request.

What Not To Do When You’re Being Blackmailed

Panic pushes people toward moves that make things worse, so here are the mistakes to avoid while you work through the steps above:

• Don’t pay, even once: Complying rarely ends it. Demands typically escalate after the first payment [2].
• Don’t send more images: More material means more leverage, never less.
• Don’t delete the evidence: Deleting the chat destroys exactly what investigators need [2].
• Don’t handle it completely alone: Tell one trusted person. Isolation is the blackmailer’s best weapon, and support makes clear thinking possible [1].
• Don’t fall for “recovery” offers: Anyone who contacts you promising to delete the images or hunt the blackmailer for a fee is running a second scam.

What Happens if You Just Ignore Them?

In most cases, blackmailers move on when a target goes silent, because they run high volume scam operations and chase the people who respond. Many threats are pure bluff, and following through earns the criminal nothing while creating evidence against them. That said, ignoring them is step one, not the whole plan: pairing silence with reports and image hashing through StopNCII closes the door properly [1, 5].

If the worst happens and an image does get shared, you still have strong options: the 48-hour platform removal process, hash-based takedowns, and criminal charges against the person who posted it [4, 5]. Devastating as it feels, it is recoverable, and survivors do recover, especially with support from people who care about them.

Getting Support and Moving Forward

Sextortion is designed to make you feel trapped and ashamed, so talking to someone helps more than you’d expect. A trusted friend, a counselor, or a victim advocate can steady you through the reporting process, and the FBI’s Victim Services Division exists precisely to support people through crimes like this [1]. You did nothing wrong by trusting someone.

When you’re ready to date again, take one lesson forward, not fear: keep intimate exchanges for people you’ve verified and genuinely trust, and let new connections earn access to your privacy slowly. The right person will respect that pace without complaint.

[1] https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion – Federal Bureau of Investigation, “Sextortion”.
[2] https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdin/pr/fbi-and-partners-issue-national-public-safety-alert-sextortion-schemes – U.S. Department of Justice, FBI and NCMEC national public safety alert on sextortion.
[3] https://consumer.ftc.gov/articles/image-based-abuse-what-know-and-do – Federal Trade Commission, “Image-Based Abuse: What To Know and Do”.
[4] https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/LSB11314 – Congressional Research Service, “The TAKE IT DOWN Act”.
[5] https://stopncii.org/ – StopNCII.org, operated by the Revenge Porn Helpline (SWGfL).