Threats
Sextortion: what it is, and exactly what to do
This is one of the fastest-growing crimes against teens. It moves quickly and relies on shame to keep kids silent. Speed and calm matter more than anything else here.
How does sextortion usually start?
Someone, often posing as a peer, builds trust quickly, gets a teen to send an explicit image or fakes one with AI, then threatens to share it with friends, family, or classmates unless paid, usually in gift cards or crypto. It can escalate from first contact to active threats within hours.
This is one of the fastest-growing crimes NCMEC tracks: financially motivated sextortion reports passed 50,000 in 2025, up from over 36,000 the year before, averaging more than 130 reports a day. Offenders are also moving faster to push victims onto encrypted apps early in the conversation, specifically to make it harder for platforms and investigators to intervene.
Most sextortion is financially motivated, but not all of it. Some of the same tactics are used by loosely organized groups the FBI calls violent online networks, which push past a payment demand toward coercing self-harm or violence. If threats involve anything beyond money, see our guide to violent online networks.
What should you do if it happens?
Stop talking to them
Don't pay, don't send more images, and don't negotiate. Paying almost never makes the threats stop.
Don't delete anything
Screenshot the messages, the profile, and the payment request before blocking. Investigators need this.
Block and report the account
Use the platform's report tool, then block. Don't post about it publicly while it's active.
Tell a trusted adult
This is the hardest step and the most important one. Nobody is in trouble for being targeted.
Report to the right place
See the reporting links below, and remove the image from circulation if one exists.
How should parents respond to sextortion?
- Stay calm. Your reaction determines whether your kid tells you the next thing that happens
- Reassure them directly: they are not in trouble, and this was done to them, not by them
- Don't make them relive details more than necessary before involving the people who can actually help
- Watch for signs of acute distress. Sextortion cases carry a real risk of panic and, in the worst cases, suicidal thinking
- If your child talks about self-harm or you fear for their immediate safety, treat it as a crisis and get help right away
Report it
In the US, report to the NCMEC CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org, remove images at takeitdown.ncmec.org, and see our contact list for the FBI tip line and the 988 crisis line. Outside the US, find your country's police, cybercrime unit, and crisis line on the full contact list.