For teens, and for parents of a child under 18
This is not your fault.
You’re not in trouble, and you’re not alone.
If someone is threatening to share private or sexual images of you — or of your child — unless you pay or send more, that is a crime called sextortion, and it is happening to a lot of people. The person doing it is the one who did something wrong, not you. There is free help, you will not get in trouble for asking for it, and you can take your power back. Here is what to do.
What to do right now
- Stop and breathe.You don’t have to fix this by yourself, and you don’t have to fix it this second.
- Don’t pay, and don’t send more. Paying or sending more almost never makes it stop — it usually makes the demands worse. It’s okay if you already paid or sent something; you can still get help.
- Don’t delete anything.Take a screenshot of the messages, the username, and the profile. Saving them helps the people who can actually stop this — even though you may want it all gone.
- Stop replying and block them.You don’t owe them a conversation. After you’ve saved what they sent, stop responding and block the account.
- Tell a trusted adult.A parent, a relative, a school counselor, a coach, or a teacher — anyone you trust. If the first person can’t help, tell another one. This gets so much lighter once you’re not carrying it alone.
- Report it and ask for the images to be taken down. The free services below were built for exactly this, and they will not get you in trouble.
Free help, made for this
- NCMEC CyberTipline— report what’s happening to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children: 1-800-843-5678 or report.cybertip.org.
- Take It Down(for anyone under 18) — a free NCMEC service that helps remove or stop the spread of nude or sexual images of a minor, without you having to send the image to anyone: takeitdown.ncmec.org.
- StopNCII(for adults 18+) — the same kind of free image-takedown help for people who are now adults: stopncii.org.
- FBI IC3— report sextortion to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center: ic3.gov. You can also call 1-800-CALL-FBI.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline— if you’re overwhelmed or thinking about hurting yourself, talk to someone now: call or text 988, or chat at chat.988lifeline.org. Free and confidential, 24/7.
- Crisis Text Line — text HOME to 741741 to reach a trained crisis counselor.
- The app or platform itself— report the account directly to the app where it happened (Instagram, Snapchat, Discord, and others all have a way to report threats and remove the account).
If you or your child is in immediate danger, call 911.
Tap the red Quick Exitbutton at any time to leave this page fast. It sends you to another website, but it does not erase this visit from your browser history. If someone might check this device, you can open this page again later on a library, school, or friend’s computer.
Are you an adult being threatened over money? If everyone involved is 18 or older, our confidential sextortion response page explains how a forensic team preserves evidence and coordinates takedowns. For anyone under 18, please use the free services above first.
