Blackmail / sextortion
Blackmail or sextortion: keep the evidence and end the exchange
Don’t pay and don’t send any new content. Keep the profile, the messages, the payment demands and the usernames used; paying almost always makes things worse. Then secure the accounts concerned and use the appropriate official reporting services.
We will never ask for your codes or your passwords.
Do this right away
Three steps, now: don’t pay and stop replying (paying brings more demands), put the evidence somewhere safe: screenshots, profile, links, dates, before blocking the person, and don’t give in to the countdown. The pressure is a weapon, not a real deadline.
How it usually happens
The mechanism is almost always the same: create fear, then demand money urgently. Recognising the method already helps you resist the pressure.
The attractive fake contact
A warm or flirtatious exchange on social media, a messaging app or a dating app. The conversation slides towards photos or a webcam, then suddenly turns into a threat.
The “supposed webcam” recording
An email claims to have filmed you without your knowledge and demands payment, sometimes quoting one of your old passwords to seem real. In the vast majority of cases, no video exists: it is a mass mailing, a bluff.
The threat and the demand for money
A countdown, a sum demanded in cryptocurrency, gift cards or by bank transfer. And, if you pay, a new demand follows. Fear and urgency are the only real levers.
Act fast, but in the right order
Six steps to stop the blackmail and secure your accounts. We always separate what is observed from what is assumed and nothing is so urgent that you should erase evidence.
Cut off contact, but save everything first. Stop replying and don’t enter into any negotiation. Before blocking the person, keep everything that may be useful: screenshots of the conversation, the profile and the username, links, dates and times, and the payment details you are being asked to use. These items are fragile and essential for the investigation.
Lock down your exposed accounts. From a trusted device, change the passwords of the accounts concerned, turn on two-factor authentication and tighten your privacy settings. If an old password appears in the threat, change it everywhere it was still used.
Don’t pay. Paying guarantees nothing and almost always brings more demands. Blackmail relies on fear: sharing the content is often threatened, but not carried out, especially without payment.
Are you under 18? Talk to a trusted adult straight away and call 3018 (free, anonymous). Suitable help exists.
Report it, file a police report, protect yourself
Several official services exist, free and confidential. Your screenshots and information help them.
PHAROS
Report illegal content and behaviour online on the official platform of the French Ministry of the Interior.
internet-signalement.gouv.fr →cybermalveillance.gouv.fr
The one-stop victim assistance service: it points you to the right procedure for your situation.
cybermalveillance.gouv.fr →File a police report
File a report with the gendarmerie or at a police station: sextortion and blackmail are criminal offences. A PHAROS report complements the police report.
Report the profile
Report the person’s account on the network or app concerned to get the profile removed and limit any sharing.
3018 & e-Enfance
The French national helpline against online abuse (free, anonymous), and the e-Enfance association for listening and support, especially for young people.
e-enfance.org →If you have already paid
Contact your bank without delay through an official channel (number on the back of your card) to try to block the payment, and keep proof of the payment.
The traps, and why you should hold steady
- Never pay: paying almost always brings new demands.
- Don’t give in to urgency: blackmailers play on panic and the countdown.
- Don’t delete the exchanges: they are essential for the investigation.
- Don’t stay alone with it: if you are under 18, talk to a trusted adult and call 3018.
- The feared sharing often never happens, especially without payment.
- These situations affect people of all ages: you have nothing to be ashamed of.
- Reporting and keeping the evidence remain the best protection; the investigation can succeed.
- Galyct Perso checks, secures, documents and advises, without ever promising a guaranteed result.
You don’t need to understand everything to act.
The free diagnosis assesses your situation, identifies the useful evidence and tells you whether you need to secure your accounts, put together a file or simply get support. Galyct Perso informs you and stands by you, but does not replace your bank, the police or a lawyer, and will never ask for your codes.
Useful guides & related situations
Preserving evidence
How to capture and keep what matters, step by step, before blocking or cleaning up.
See the guides →Identity theft
Accounts or applications opened in your name? Establish, trace and document in the right order.
See the situation →Hacked account
Email or social media out of your control? Take it back and close the open doors.
See the situation →Need to talk about it? All situations · All guides