Sextortion help: stop the threat from spreading

First 24 hours: do not pay, keep evidence

• Do not pay, and do not send anything more. Paying rarely ends the threat: it usually leads to new demands.
• Stop replying, but do not delete the chat yet. Screenshot the profile, the demands and any payment details (GCash number, bank account).
• Copy the profile link (Facebook, Instagram, dating app, Telegram username), not only the display name, which can change in seconds.
• Lock down your accounts. Make your friends list and followers private: blackmailers often threaten to send the images to the people they can see there.
• Then block and report the account on the platform, once you have your evidence.

Pre-emptive blocking with hash-based tools

If you still have the photos or video the blackmailer holds, you can stop them being posted on major platforms before anything happens. StopNCII.org, a free tool run by a non-profit, creates a digital fingerprint (a hash) of each image directly on your phone or computer. Only the hash is sent, never the image. Partner platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Threads, Reddit and Bumble, use these hashes to detect and review matching uploads.

StopNCII is for images taken when you were 18 or older. For images taken before 18, the equivalent tool is Take It Down, run by the US National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Neither tool is ours, and neither covers every website: scandal sites, Telegram channels and most tube sites are not partners. That is where we come in.

If it gets posted: fast removal

If the threat is carried out, speed matters. Send us the links as soon as you see them. We report each one under the platform’s non-consensual intimate imagery rules, go to the website’s host when a site does not answer, and ask Google to remove the results. If it has already spread widely, see how we remove a leaked video across several sites.

1. Free assessment of the links you send on Messenger or through the form, with the price before you pay.
2. Reports at the source within 48 hours of your order, faster with larger packs.
3. Google de-indexing of the pages and images, including Google Images.
4. Follow-up and monitoring for re-uploads (included from the 20-link pack and in monthly plans).

Reporting to PNP-ACG, NBI and CICC

Sextortion is a crime, and reporting it does not depend on whether you shared the images willingly. You can call the CICC hotline 1326, the Inter-Agency Response Center run by the Cybercrime Investigation and Coordinating Center, or file a complaint with the PNP Anti-Cybercrime Group or the NBI Cybercrime Division. Bring your screenshots, the profile links and any payment details.

Depending on the facts, the Anti-Photo and Video Voyeurism Act (RA 9995), the Safe Spaces Act (RA 11313) and the Cybercrime Prevention Act (RA 10175) may apply. If the victim is a minor, report to the authorities first: the Anti-OSAEC and Anti-CSAEM Act (RA 11930) applies, and the case is handled as a priority. We are not a law firm and do not give legal advice; we organise the evidence list you bring to them.

Romance scams and fake profiles

Many sextortion cases start on a dating app or with a new “friend” on Facebook who quickly moves the chat to a video call. The profile is often built with photos stolen from someone else. If your own photos are being used to lure victims, we can also remove those fake dating profiles on Tinder, Badoo and PinaLove, and threats sent through Messenger can be reported with the account’s Facebook posts.

Private chats: what cannot be removed

• Messages already sent in Messenger, Viber, WhatsApp or a private Telegram chat cannot be deleted from outside. Reporting the account can still get it suspended.
• Copies on the blackmailer’s device cannot be erased remotely. Blocking tools and public-link removal limit where those copies can go.
• We do not negotiate with blackmailers or contact them. Our work is the public side: platforms, websites, hosts and Google.