Sextortion scam

Sextortion comes in two flavors. The first is bulk email blackmail — the sender claims to have hacked your camera, recorded you watching adult content, and will release the footage unless you pay in crypto. They almost never actually have anything; they're hoping shame produces payment.

The second is targeted — the scammer befriends a victim (often a teenage boy), persuades them to share intimate images, then demands payment to prevent distribution. This variant is genuinely dangerous and has been linked to multiple teen suicides. The FBI has flagged it as a national crisis.

Both variants escalate quickly. Both demand crypto, gift cards, or wire payment.

Bulk email variant — often arrives with a real old password of yours pulled from a data breach to add credibility:

"I know your password is X. I hacked your camera while you visited adult sites. I have a recording. You have 48 hours to send $1,500 in Bitcoin to the wallet below or I send the recording to all your contacts."

Targeted variant — usually starts on Instagram, Snapchat, or Discord:

"Hey! You're cute. Let's chat on [other platform]." Within days, intimate exchange. Then: "I have screenshots and your contact list. Pay $200 in Apple gift cards in 12 hours or your mom sees these."

• Email claims to have video from your camera but provides no proof clip.
• Old password from a data breach used to scare you.
• Payment demanded in Bitcoin to a specific wallet, gift cards, or wire — within hours.
• "Your contact list will receive it" without showing any actual list.
• For targeted variant: the new friend pivots quickly to intimate content.
• The threat is repeated with escalating urgency — pay or it goes public.
• The wallet address appears verbatim in many bulk-scam reports online.

• Email blackmail. Bulk, with an old password as "proof" of hacking.
• Romance + intimate image extortion. Often targets teen boys on Instagram or Snapchat.
• Deepfake sextortion. Scammer fabricates intimate images of the victim using AI from social-media photos.
• "Hitman" variation. "Someone hired me to harm you, but I'll back off for crypto." Not technically sextortion but the same mechanic.
• "I'm a stalker who has your home address." Combines threat of violence with payment demand.
• Webcam-recording on dating apps. "I have the screen recording of our chat. Pay or I send it to your family."

1. Don't pay. Don't reply. Paying confirms the address is active and invites more demands. Replying confirms you read it.
2. Check the password against known breaches. Visit haveibeenpwned.com — if the password they have appears in a public breach, that's where they got it. They didn't hack your camera.
3. Search the Bitcoin wallet address. Bulk sextortion wallets receive thousands of payments. Plug it into blockchain.com or search the address online — you'll see the same wallet across many victim reports.
4. For targeted variant: stop communicating, preserve everything, tell a parent / spouse / trusted adult immediately. The shame is the leverage; breaking secrecy breaks the scam.

• Stop paying. Additional payments do not end the demands. Many victims pay multiple times.
• Preserve evidence. Screenshot everything before blocking — the messages, the user profile, the wallet address.
• Block the sender on the platform. Report the account to the platform.
• Report to the FBI / IC3. Sextortion is a federal crime. The FBI has a dedicated unit.
• For minors: report to the NCMEC CyberTipline (1-800-843-5678) and use the Take It Down service to remove images from major platforms.
• For adults: use StopNCII.org to register hashes of images that should be removed from participating platforms.
• Talk to someone. Sextortion's primary harm is psychological. Crisis lines: National Suicide Prevention 988; The Trevor Project (1-866-488-7386) for LGBTQ+ youth.

• Do not pay. It does not end the demands; it confirms you're a paying target.
• Do not keep the threat secret out of shame. The scammer relies on your isolation.
• Do not reply, even to insult them. Any reply confirms the address is live.
• Do not click any "verify the leak" link they send — it's a phishing attempt.

• FTC: reportfraud.ftc.gov — the broadest US fraud intake; reports flow to thousands of law-enforcement agencies.
• FBI IC3: ic3.gov — the right destination when the scam is internet-enabled (phishing, BEC, romance, crypto).
• CFPB: consumerfinance.gov/complaint — for complaints about banks, money transmitters, payment apps, credit cards, debt collection.
• IdentityTheft.gov — if any identity information (SSN, driver's license, account credentials) was shared.
• Your bank or payment platform. Call the number on the back of your card or use the app's in-product help. Time matters — wires can sometimes be recalled within hours; ACH and Zelle are harder but worth trying.

They had my actual password. Doesn't that prove they hacked me? No. The password came from a public data breach. Billions of password/email pairs are floating around — your password from an old account is probably in one of them. Visit haveibeenpwned.com to see which breaches you appeared in.

Will the scammer actually send the video / images to my contacts? For bulk email variants: almost never. They have no video; they're playing the percentages. For targeted variants with real images: sometimes yes — but paying doesn't stop it, and reporting + image-removal services give you options. The scammer wants money, not your distribution.

I'm a teen and I'm terrified. What should I do? Tell a parent or trusted adult right now. The shame feels infinite; it's not. Use Take It Down to get images removed. Call the NCMEC CyberTipline (1-800-843-5678). You are not in trouble. You are the victim of a crime. Many teens have been through this and recovered.

What about deepfake sextortion — they made fake images of me? StopNCII.org and Take It Down both accept hashes of fabricated images. Report to the FBI / IC3. Several states now have specific laws criminalizing deepfake sexual imagery.