Somebody you have been talking to
Somebody you met online has been kind and interested for weeks. Now they are asking for a photo, and saying it would show you trust them.
What do you do?
Step 1: What Would You Do?
There is often more than one good answer. Pick one and see what happens.
It has already happened
You sent something. Now they are threatening to send it to everybody you know unless you do what they say. You are terrified.
What do you do?
Step 2: What That Was
The name for what you just worked out.
Never send photos of yourself that you would not want anybody else to see. Not to a stranger, not to somebody you like, not to somebody who says everyone does it.
What pressure sounds like
"If you trusted me." "Everyone sends them." "I sent you one." "Just this once." Somebody who needs to say those things is not asking, they are working on you.
If somebody threatens to share something
This happens to a lot of people, including adults. Stop replying. Do not send money and do not send more images — it never ends it, and it always makes it worse. Tell an adult now.
There is a service for this
Childline’s Report Remove and the Internet Watch Foundation can get images of under-18s taken down. Report it to the platform, and tell an adult or the police.
This is the important one
If somebody tricked or pressured you, it is not your fault. Not even if you sent something. Adults who deal with this are not shocked and they are not there to tell you off.
Step 3: Try It
These ones do have right answers.
If It Happens
Tap the steps in order.
Somebody is threatening to share something of yours.
- 1Screenshot the account and the messages
- 2Tell an adult you trust
- 3Report it to the platform and to Report Remove
- 4Block them
- 5Stop replying to them
Step 4: Quick Check
Two questions, then you are done.
Question 1 of 2
Somebody says they will share your photo unless you send money. What do you do?
Question 2 of 2
Somebody was tricked into sending a photo. Whose fault is it?
Step 5: Your Life Mission
Something to do away from the screen. Nobody is checking.
Decide now, not then
- Name the adult you would tell if this happened.
- Save Childline’s number, and look up Report Remove so you know it exists.
- Decide now that you would tell them, whatever had happened first.
Why: Deciding in advance is the whole protection. In the moment, fear and shame argue for silence.
For a grown-up: Tell them plainly, before anything happens, that they can come to you and you will not be angry and they will not lose their phone. That promise is what makes the difference, and it has to be made in advance.
Step 6: What You Learned
- Never send images you would not want shared. Pressure is not a reason.
- If somebody threatens you: stop replying, keep evidence, tell an adult.
- Never pay and never send more. It never ends it.
- If you were tricked or pressured, it is not your fault.
For the grown-up
Financially motivated sextortion targeting teenagers has risen sharply and moves fast — often from first contact to threat within hours. Young people who have been told what to do in advance act very differently from those who have not.
The single most protective thing you can say, before anything happens, is that they can come to you and you will not be angry. Shame and fear of losing their phone are what produce silence, and silence is what the threat depends on.
Practical routes: report to the platform, use Childline’s Report Remove (for under-18s, run with the Internet Watch Foundation) to get images taken down, and contact the police. Preserve evidence before blocking. Never pay.
If your child tells you this has happened, the first response matters more than anything else. Calm, no questions about why they sent it, straight to the practical steps.