Sextortion help: blackmailed after a video call
If someone threatens to send an intimate recording of you to your contacts unless you pay, stop replying and do not pay. Keep the evidence, call NSRC 997 if money has already left your account, and make a police report. NetClearer watches for and reports any upload: RM133 per link, fixed price, no extra fees; work starts within 48 hours.
Published · Updated by Pierre Billard, founder of NetClearer
How the scam usually works here
Malaysian police describe the same pattern again and again. A friendly profile, often a young woman, adds you on Facebook, Instagram or a dating app and moves the chat quickly to WhatsApp or Telegram. A video call turns intimate, the screen is recorded, and minutes later you receive the recording with a list of your friends, family or colleagues copied from your profile. Some versions also send a link or an app that copies your contact list from your phone.
In the Johor operation known as Op Bugil (June to July 2025), police arrested nine people who used fake female profiles and phishing links and asked victims for RM500 to RM1,000 per demand. Teenagers are targeted too. This is an organised business, not one angry person, and being targeted is not your fault.
The first hour: a checklist
- Stop all contact. Do not argue, plead or negotiate. Every reply tells them you are worth more pressure.
- Do not pay. Payment is usually followed by a second, larger demand. It does not buy deletion.
- Do not delete the chat. Take screenshots of the profile, the username or number, the threats, any payment details and the time of each message. Then block the account.
- If you have already transferred money, call NSRC 997 straight away, ideally within 24 hours of the transfer. The National Scam Response Centre can try to freeze the receiving account, and a 997 call counts as a police report.
- Lock down your profiles. Hide your friends list and set accounts to private for a few weeks.
- Make a police report in person at a police station, bringing your screenshots.
- Report the account on the platform where the contact started, and file an MCMC complaint at aduan.mcmc.gov.my. MCMC lists extortion threats among the online problems it accepts.
Why the Online Safety Act only helps partly
The Online Safety Act 2025 makes licensed platforms answer reports quickly, but it excludes private messaging features, so a threat sent on WhatsApp or in a Telegram private chat is outside its deadlines. The Act does cover the moment the blackmailer publishes: a post on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or a public Telegram channel must be acknowledged within 1 hour and assessed within 12 hours. Speed on the day of an upload is what counts, which is why we watch for it.
What NetClearer does in a sextortion case
- Evidence pack for the police: a dated timeline, the accounts and numbers used, payment references and screenshots in order. You file the report yourself; we make sure nothing is missing.
- Reports against the blackmail accounts on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok or Telegram, and the MCMC complaint, which any user may file under section 24 of the Act.
- Upload watch: searches on the platforms where your contacts are, on public Telegram channels and on overseas video sites, with your name and photos.
- Immediate takedown requests if anything appears, at the source and on Google. For a recording already online, see leaked video removal.
- Advice on StopNCII.org when you have a copy of the recording: it creates a fingerprint on your phone so Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and other partners can block matching uploads, without the file leaving your device.
Price when nothing has been posted yet
The assessment is free. If the threat has not been carried out, you may only need the evidence pack and the account reports, priced as one link at RM133. If you want someone watching while the pressure lasts, the 20-link pack (RM1,600) includes monitoring for uploads, and monthly plans start at RM362. Work starts within 48 hours of payment; tell us if an upload is happening now and we prioritise it. See the pricing page.
The law, and where to get support
Sextortion is investigated as extortion under the Penal Code, and threats meant to cause fear or distress fall under section 507B. When the victim is under 18, the Sexual Offences against Children Act 2017 applies and the police should be the very first call. NetClearer is not a law firm and this is not legal advice.
You do not have to handle the shame alone. Befrienders Kuala Lumpur (03-7627 2929) listens 24 hours a day, anonymously. The Women’s Aid Organisation (+603 3000 8858) and Talian Kasih 15999 support women and young people facing online abuse. More on the overall process: intimate image removal.
Frequently asked questions
If I pay once, will they delete the video?
There is no way to check that they deleted anything, and a payment shows them you can be pushed to pay again. Keep the money, keep the evidence, and let us watch for any upload while the police and NSRC 997 deal with the extortion side.
Will the police blame me for the video?
You are the victim of extortion. The report is about the threats and the payments, not about what happened during a private call. Bring screenshots, not the recording. If you feel unsure, a support organisation such as the Women’s Aid Organisation can talk it through with you first.
They have already sent it to a few contacts. What now?
Messages in private chats cannot be pulled back, but they usually stop there. Tell close contacts briefly that you are being blackmailed and ask them to delete and report. We focus on public copies, which spread much further, and file reports as soon as any appear.
Do I need to give you my passwords?
Never. We do not log into your accounts and we do not need your recording. We work from screenshots, profile links and the details of the threats. You keep control of your accounts and choose which updates you receive and how.
Related services
Intimate image removal
Private photos or videos shared without consent in Malaysia: we report them to platforms and MCMC, ask Google to de-index them, and track copies on overseas sites.
Learn moreLeaked video removal
A private video of you circulating on Telegram, X, TikTok or overseas sites: we report each copy, de-index it from Google and look for re-uploads.
Learn moreDeepfake removal
AI-made nude or sexual images using your face: we report them as fake intimate imagery to platforms, MCMC and Google, and track the channels that copy them.
Learn moreFake accounts
Profiles using your name or photos on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, X, Telegram or dating apps: reported under each platform’s impersonation rules, then checked until they go.
Learn moreShaming posts in community groups, loan shark “funeral” posters, clone profiles and scam ads with your face: reported to Meta and group admins, then removed from Google.
Learn moreTell us what’s happening. We’ll take it from here.
Free, confidential assessment. Send the links through the form: we reply within 24 hours with the route and the fixed RM price.