Sextortion: Help When You Are Blackmailed With Nude Images

Someone is threatening to send intimate photos or videos of you to your friends, your family or your school unless you pay or send more. This is called sextortion. If it is happening to you right now: take a breath. It is not your fault, you are not alone, and help is available. This article explains what to do about sextortion now and what to avoid.

In acute danger? If you are being threatened or do not know how to get through the next few hours, call 110 (police) or 112 (ambulance and fire service), or the Telefonseelsorge crisis line on 0800 111 0 111. It is free and available around the clock (in German).

What is sextortion?

The word combines “sex” and “extortion”. The pattern is often similar:

• A profile contacts you, often attractive, friendly and quick to feel familiar.
• There is some flirting, then a request for a photo or a video call.
• Shortly afterwards the tone changes: the person has images or a recording and demands money or more material.
• To make it look real, they show you your follower list or names of your family members.

Sometimes there is no real image at all. The blackmailers are bluffing, or they used AI to create a nude image from an ordinary photo. You can read more in Deepfakes and AI Nude Images: What Is Illegal.

Sextortion: what to do – the four key rules

1. Do not pay

The police clearly advise against it. Paying usually does not end the blackmail. Anyone who pays once shows that pressure works and often receives the next demand.

2. Do not send anything else

No more images, no videos, no phone number, no address. Not even if they promise to delete everything afterwards.

3. Do not negotiate

Cut off contact and stop replying. Every reply gives them new ways to put pressure on you.

4. Do not delete anything

Do not delete the chat and do not reset your phone. The conversation is important evidence. You can block the person once you have saved what is listed below.

How do you secure evidence without saving the images?

For a police report, what matters most is who is blackmailing you and how. So save:

• the profile name, username and the link to the profile
• the chat with the threats and demands, as screenshots only of parts without nude images, or an export “without media”
• any payment details they give, such as account numbers or wallet addresses
• the date and time, the platform where it started and where the contact moved to

What not to do: do not screenshot nude images, do not download them and do not forward them to anyone, not even to friends to ask for advice. Instead, describe in words what the image shows and note where it is. If the image shows a person under 18, even forwarding it can be a criminal offence under § 184b or § 184c of the German Criminal Code (StGB). The police will deal with the material.

General tips on screenshots, links and timestamps are in our guide to securing evidence of online hate.

Is sextortion a crime?

Yes. Anyone who uses images to pressure you into paying money commits extortion (§ 253 StGB). The penalty is up to five years in prison, and in especially serious cases, for example when committed on a commercial basis or as part of a gang, one to 15 years (§ 253(4) StGB). Even the attempt is punishable, so this also applies if you do not pay. Extortion is prosecuted ex officio (Offizialdelikt): the police investigate on their own as soon as they learn about it.

If images are actually shared, further offences may apply, for example under the Art Copyright Act (§§ 22, 33 KUG) or, if the person shown is a minor, under §§ 184b and 184c StGB. The exact legal assessment is a matter for the police, the public prosecutor or a law firm.

You can file a report at any police station or online through the online police station (Onlinewache) of your federal state. Our guide to reporting to the police online explains how it works. The police know these cases and know how to handle the material.

How do you get images taken down?

• Report to the platform: many networks have a category for intimate images shared without consent. Report the profile and the content once you have secured your evidence.
• Under 18: the “Take It Down” service run by NCMEC, a US child protection organisation, creates a digital fingerprint of the image on your device. Participating platforms can use it to find and remove copies. The image itself never leaves your device. The service is also available in German.
• 18 and over: for images taken when you were already an adult, StopNCII.org works on the same principle.

These services only work with platforms that take part. They do not replace a report to the platform or to the police.

Are you under 18? This matters now

Many young people tell no one, out of shame or fear of getting into trouble themselves. That is exactly what the blackmailers count on. The crime here is the extortion, and the other person is the one committing it.

• Tell an adult you trust: a parent, an older sibling, a trusted teacher or the school social worker.
• If you want to talk anonymously first: the Nummer gegen Kummer helpline is on 116 111 (Monday to Saturday, 2 to 8 pm, free, anonymous, in German). At juuuport, young people counsel young people online.
• If an adult deliberately pushed you into sending images, this may also be cybergrooming. Warning signs are described in Recognising Cybergrooming.

For parents: stay calm and do not blame your child. Do not take the phone away as a punishment, or your child may not tell you next time. Secure the evidence together without the images, as described above, and go to the police together. The parents’ helpline of Nummer gegen Kummer is on 0800 111 0 550 (in German), Monday, Wednesday and Friday 9 am to 5 pm, Tuesday and Thursday 9 am to 7 pm.

If you are struggling right now

Sextortion puts people under enormous pressure. Feeling overwhelmed is a normal reaction to an exceptional situation. You do not have to carry it alone:

• Telefonseelsorge: 0800 111 0 111, around the clock
• Nummer gegen Kummer: 116 111, Monday to Saturday, 2 to 8 pm
• Helpline for violence against women (Hilfetelefon Gewalt gegen Frauen): 116 016, around the clock, counselling in 18 languages
• In acute danger: 110

Frequently asked questions

Will the blackmail stop if I pay once?

Usually not. The police advise against transferring any money. Paying shows the offenders that their pressure works.

What if the images are not even real?

Threatening someone with fake or invented images can also be extortion. React the same way: do not pay, secure evidence, file a report.

Should I save the images as evidence?

No. Save the profile, the chat and the demands, but no nude images. Describe them in words and leave everything else to the police.

Can I get help anonymously?

Yes. Nummer gegen Kummer and Telefonseelsorge are anonymous and free of charge. For a criminal report, the police will need your contact details later.

You can also report it through our form. Only upload screenshots of the chat and links there, never nude images. If you say yes, your report goes automatically to a suitable cooperating law firm (Kooperationskanzlei) as soon as one is available. If there is no suitable firm right now, you get an email with other places to turn to straight away. Deadlines keep running: you can always file a request for prosecution (Strafantrag) with the police yourself. The legal assessment comes from the law firm, not from us.