Sextortion - What to Do (and What Not to Do)

Infopackets Reader Steve C. writes:

" Dear Dennis,

I've managed to get myself caught up in Instagram sextortion and I don't know what to do. A few weeks ago this beautiful woman DM'd me on Instagram, claiming to be 21. After a bit of harmless back-and-forth, we exchanged some photos. Later on, things got a little more heated and I sent some nudes (but only after she initiated). She's got my phone number, though for the past week we've been communicating on Snapchat.

A few days ago, her 'father' called me on the phone (from a New York area code) and claims she's under age and threatened to go to the police. He texted me again today and says his daughter broke her phone and smashed a window in defiance, and they wanted me to pay it. I've just sent $1250 through cash app, but now he says their lawyer is involved and they want to settle for an additional $5000, otherwise they will go to the police. They're also threatening to contact all of my friends and family on Facebook and Instagram, claiming that I like little children. This is a nightmare. PLEASE HELP! "

Related:

• Being Blackmailed for Money on Facebook? Here's What to Do
   
• How Long Does Sextortion Last?
   
• Do Blackmailers Follow Through?  (And What to Expect)

My response:

What you're referring to is the "angry father scam", otherwise known as the "she's underage scam."

Before I get into explaining this, let me introduce myself. My name is Dennis Faas and I run this site, and I've been online for 21 years helping people with technology-related issues. I've been working closely with victims since 2019 and have completed over 1,000+ sextortion cases and have lots of information to share. I'm also available for hire if you need help getting out of this mess - contact me here - you won't regret it! I'm happy to answer your questions.

With that said, this type of scam is a twist on the classical sextortion scam, but the "angry father" gets involved. This tends to make the scam "more real," as verbal threats are made to pressure you by phone to send cash ASAP. (For the record, I never recommend talking to a scammer on the phone or by video call because they don't leave you time to think - which is why this type of scam is very convincing).

Sometimes it's not obvious, but the angry father is usually a scammer from another country - usually Africa, Philippines, Morocco, India, or Columbia. It's quite rare that it takes place in the US or Canada, but sometimes it does.

This article is lengthy, but will hopefully help wrap your head around some commonly asked questions and situations people find themselves in when it comes to sextortion. At bare minimum you might want to read about hiring me because I have an excellent plan to get you out of this mess based on all the cases I've worked on. If you don't have time to read it, you can skip to a certain section below, or contact me here (paid support).

I offer up to 15 minutes free consultation by phone - ask me anything - up to 3 questions.

In this article, you will find answers to the following questions:

Sextortion - What To Do

1. Hire me to fix this problem for you (read why)
    
2. Report the profile on social media (won't work)
    
3. Block the scammers and shut down your social media accounts (not likely to work)
    
4. Make an announcement to family and friends that your account got hacked (limited results)
    
5. Tell the scammers you're on life support (limited results)
    
6. Call the police (not going to work)
    
7. Hire a lawyer (waste of money - most of the time)

Sextortion - What Not To Do

1. Pay the blackmailers and trust that they will leave you alone (won't work)
    
2. Pay the scammers and "buy yourself some time" (not recommended)
    
3. Hire a dark web hacker to "delete" your pictures or videos (won't work - scam)
    
4. Hire a company to "scare" the scammers away (limited results with intangible promises)

Sextortion - What To Do

Here are some real-word options:

1. Hire me to fix this problem for you (read why)

Let's start with some shameless self promotion before considering the other options.

When it comes to facebook and instagram blackmail, I can tell you firsthand that scammers are incredibly imaginative and can do some very evil things if they decide to expose you. Simply put: you'll never see it coming because quite often what they say and do are two different things (and I have proof of this based on previous cases I've worked on).

The scammers are masters at this game and if you haven't had the luxury of experiencing their dirty tricks and traps ahead of time, then you'll likely fall victim to their sinister plans. The good news is that it's all completely preventable with my help.

As I briefly mentioned above, I've been working very closely with sextortion victims since 2019 and have amassed quite a bit of knowledge on the subject. I understand fully and completely what scammers are capable of doing, what they can't do, and how to stop all of it from happening to you - even if they're threatening to contact all of your family and friends through social media (wife included).

My plan and ideas are based on 1,000+ cases I've worked on, based on tough situation clients have been put in and had to deal with.

If you decide to hire me, I'll share with you my plan on how to stop sextortion, plus you'll also receive exceptional 1-on-1 consultation whereby I answer all of your questions by phone, including custom advice per your circumstances.

I've heard over and over again from my clients that when they finish talking to me, their anxiety levels come way down. If you want the best possible outcome, you'll probably want to talk to me. Don't forget - a phone call is free up to 15 minutes. Ask me anything - all you need to do is send me an email.

Rest assured - we are Better Business Bureau A+ accredited and have been online for 21 years.

Now let's move to other approaches commonly used to when answering the question "Sextortion - What to do?"

2. Report the profile on social media (won't work)

You can report sextortion to Facebook or Instagram, but this has zero effect on the outcome.

Here's why -

Based on my research, I know that scammers own multiple fake accounts on all social media platforms. If the scammers left a trail of evidence when they threatened you (whether it's in chat, group chat, or on a public post, etc) it will all immediately disappear if they decide to "permanently delete" the account in question.

There are some important caveats, however.

Technically speaking, the scammer's "permanently deleted" social media account is not deleted, but instead goes to sleep for 30 days and then is later deleted by the system - so long as the scammer doesn't log back into the account before the 30 days is up (but they usually do). This means that the scammers can keep on coming back to you from the same account if they really wanted. But, what usually happens is that they'll simply use another one of their multiple fake accounts they already own to contact you again.

With that in mind: if you reported the scammer's account to Facebook, Instagram, etc, it is up to moderators to investigate the issue. The problem here is that there are billions of Facebook and Instagram users and complaints of this nature don't get investigated immediately. So, by the time a moderator gets to it, the scammer's account "no longer exists," including the trail of evidence they left when they were exorting you. Thus, moderators will simply report back that nothing can be done and the scammer usually ends up contacting you through other means.

The end result: nothing is achieved.

3. Block the scammers and shut down your social media accounts (not likely to work)

Most clients I speak to tell me they shut down their social media and blocked the scammers thinking that the problem is going to go away on its own. In most cases, this ends up doing the exact opposite and the blackmailers end up escalating. As such, I don't recommend you block the blackmailers.

That sounds counter intuitive, but let me explain.

The moment you said "hello!" to the scammers, they downloaded an offline copy of all your social media accounts, researched your name online, did a reverse lookup on your phone number, paid third party websites like beenverified.com to get information on you, etc. If you don't stay in communication with the scammers, then they can't achieve their goal of extorting you for money. This usually pisses them off, and so they start reaching out to friends and family to prove a point. Oftentimes they will send you pictures to show you that's exactly what they are doing.

Ask me how I know!

Don't want that to happen? I have a much better way to deal with this situation that doesn't involve paying the scammers anything, and allows to walk away from this nightmare with very little or no impact. Contact me now - ask me anything - up to 15 minutes FREE. You won't regret it. The quality of the information contained within this article should already convince you that I'm the real deal.

Related: Do blackmailers give up if you ignore them?

Related: How long does sextortion last?

4. Make an announcement to family and friends that your account got hacked (limited results)

Many of the sextortion victims I talk to inform me that they've made an announcement on social media that their account got hacked and have instructed family and friends not to open up messages from strangers.

Speaking from experience: this is definitely not going to work.

Here's why:

1. The scammers have witnessed other victims do this and they know how to get around this issue.

2. Quite often, the scammers end up finding out that you made a post warning others because they've secretly infiltrated your friends list and can see everything you do. Or, you've previously "friended" other fake women profiles on Facebook, and you have multiple scammer accounts listed as "friends" on your Facebook page, in which case they'll be notified when you make a post.

There's so many things that people don't realize when it comes to sextortion. If you want all the tips, just send me an email and I'll call you back ASAP.

5. Tell the scammers you're on life support (limited results)

A lot of clients told me that during the pandemic, they told the scammers that they were on life support (or similar) in order to evade payment.

Be careful here - the scammers will call your bluff and demand photographic proof you're in the hospital. Believe me - they will - I've seen them do it. They hear excuses all day long from their victims and can cut right through the bullshit. If you don't have the proof, they will go mental and threaten to expose you.

(On the other hand: I've got this completely covered with multiple ready-to-go made up excuses with pictures you can use to get these third-world sacks of poo off your back - but only available if you purchase my plan. Interested? Contact me here).

6. Call the police (not going to work)

In most cases the police will tell you to not pay anything and/or block the scammers. I've already explained why shutting down social media won't work per #3 reason above.

On the other hand, if you want proof that you filed a report in order to save your job: this is a good approach because it shows you're concerned, but it won't do anything in terms of preventing your exposure. If you want help with that, you can hire me.

7. Hire a lawyer (waste of money - most of the time)

You can hire a lawyer to scare the blackmail scammers away using a cease and desist letter, but this will have extremely limited results.

This is really important to understand, so please pay attention.

Unless you met the person who's scamming you face-to-face in the same room together, chances are you are dealing with an overseas scammer (usually from Africa, Philippines, Morocco, India, etc). Showing an overseas scammer a cease and desist letter from a lawyer will likely result in them escalating your exposure because the scammers are in another country and simply don't care about the law. These are criminals, after all.

Speaking from experience, I know that there's an online law firm that charges $3,000 dollars for a cease and desist letter, plus $400 an hour to speak to them. Keep in mind what I said in the previous paragraph before you blow the money on a lawyer. The only time it's worth hiring a lawyer is if you know 100% who's scamming you and they live in the USA or Canada.

Want a cheaper and better alternative? Contact me here - I've got a MUCH better plan to offer.

Sextortion - What Not To Do

1. Pay the blackmailers and trust that they will leave you alone (won't work)

In 100% of all cases I've worked on where the victim pays money, the scammers ALWAYS turn around and ask for more once payment is received. Unfortunately, most people that contact me say they've already paid.

From the scammer's perspective: there is no reason for them to stop extorting you for money because they own your pictures and videos and will keep using it to blackmail you, no matter what promises they make.

Think about this: you got caught up in this scam because you were lied from the get-go. There's no reason to believe anything the scammers tell you will be the truth moving forward. This is blackmail after all!

2. Pay the scammers and "buy yourself some time" (not recommended)

Most victims I talk to say that they paid "a little bit" to make the scammers go away in order to "buy some time". In rare cases, this works - but not for long.

Here's why: the scammers work in groups and pass your information to other scammers within the group. Sometimes your name sits in a pool with other victims and you're talking to 2-3 scammers at the same time. Ask me how I know!

If you paid the scammers money today and they promise to leave you alone for a week - THINK AGAIN - because you'll most likely be talking to someone new tomorrow. That's when they will start demanding more money regardless of what agreement you had yesterday.

Don't want to pay anything to the scammers? I have ways to fake payments with proof to help get them off your back. Contact me here.

3. Hire a dark web hacker to "delete" your pictures or videos (won't work - scam)

If you've researched "sextortion - what to do" online, you've most likely come across posts on Quora and similar where someone claims to have hired a dark web hacker to magically leap into the sextortionist's devices and had their explicit pictures and videos deleted.

THIS IS 100% A SCAM.

If it was as easy as hiring a "hacker" to change things around every time something goes wrong in life, then the world would be upside down because no one would be able to do any kind of online banking in confidence. Think about it!

I recently spoke to a client that hired a supposed dark web hacker, in which case the "hacker" demanded that the client pay a substantial "tip" for the service. The client refused. Now the "hacker" is threatening to expose him, plus the original blackmailers!

In this case, the client went from one scam to the next. You've been warned!

Want a real help with this problem? Contact me here.

4. Hire a company to "scare" the scammers away (limited results with intangible promises)

Some clients have told me they spoke to a company that claimed to scare the overseas criminals away and/or incarcerate the overseas criminals and/or force the overseas criminals to delete the client's pictures and videos. With promises like that, it almost sounds too good to be true.

Let's break this down.

(a) Can you scare an overseas sextortion scammer into leaving you alone?

Sometimes it can be done, but a lot of times it doesn't work. Here's why -

There's three commonly used ways to scare a scammer:

• using link tracking through instant messaging
• using an invisible tracking pixel in email, and
• using a cease and desist letter from a lawyer

When it comes to link and pixel tracking, you will need to convince the scammers to click on a link (usually through instant messaging), or email the scammer with an embedded image used for tracking. While this is not impossible to do, the fact is that some scammers will simply refuse to click on tracking links, or are uninterested in communicating over email. Moreover, if the scammer was using a VPN (virtual private network), the tracking methods would be invalid.

It's important to understand that an IP address only provides an approximate location of the scammer. IP addresses are not hard-coded to devices such as smartphones, and PCs. IP addresses are in fact leased by Internet Service Providers (ISPs) and delegated by nearby servers - typically up to a 400 km square radius. To suggest that a scammer can be pinpointed based on their geo-location is stretching the truth at best. Even if an IP was collected and passed onto authorities, they would need wait for the ISP to investigate. How much time do you have to wait for this to happen?

A third option is to purchase a cease and desist letter from a lawyer. Speaking from experience, I've had multiple clients do this. Most of the time, it doesn't work because the scammers are overseas, anonymous, and have no regard for the law. Even if you scared one away, another one is likely to come back because they share your information within a group.

(b) As for promises of incarcerating overseas criminals, that's really difficult to prove. What happens if this promise is not followed through? Are you going to pay more for continued protection that you can't see or touch?

Consider this: historically speaking, it took almost a decade for the United States government to hunt down and kill Osama Bin Laden, and that was with the entire US military and billions of dollars at their disposal. In contrast, how likely is it for a company to achieve this by first obtaining an approximate location of the scammer, and then making a phone call to overseas law enforcement hoping that they'll follow through with the request to catch the bad guys? This is not likely, especially considering this scam is on a massive scale and that overseas law enforcement have their own issues to take care of.

(c) Lastly, forcing the scammers to delete your nudes sounds like a fantastic solution - but the reality is quite different. Even if the scammers provided video proof that your information was deleted, you have no way of knowing if what you saw is true or if there's another copy floating around somewhere else within the group. This means you'll likely be contacted again in the near future with additional threats.

While it's nice to have a third-party manage your sextortion case, the fact is that you really don't know what's going on, and you just have to take their word that they are doing what they say that are doing. Also, what happens if the company isn't able to make good on their promises? Having to pay for protection that essentially leaves you in the dark the entire way through and with promises that are intangible seems inherently wrong.

Quite surprisingly, I've heard from clients that said they later "upgraded" their protection with a company for thousands of dollars more because they were told that the scammers might come back in the near future. (It obviously didn't work because they were now asking for my help at this point).

Comparatively speaking, the plan I'm offering is fully hands-on and 100% transparent. It's easy to follow, takes 2 hours the first day to complete, and 1 hour a day for up to 3 days in total. With my plan, you can start on it straight away without having to pay a premium price to start sooner rather than later. If the scammers come back again later, you can re-use my plan without having to pay for extra protection.

I think that's fair, don't you?

Contact me here if you agree. Leave your phone number if you want the fastest response. I'll send you a recorded call in the mean time in case I'm not available.

I hope that helps!

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About the author: Dennis Faas is the CEO and owner of Infopackets.com. Since 2001, Dennis has dedicated his entire professional career helping others with technology-related issues with his unique style of writing in the form of questions-and-answers; click here to read all 2,000+ of Dennis' articles online this site. In 2014, Dennis shifted his focus to cyber crime mitigation, including technical support fraud and in 2019, sextortion. Dennis has received many accolades during his tenure: click here to view Dennis' credentials online DennisFaas.com; click here to see Dennis' Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science (1999); click here to read an article written about Dennis by Alan Gardyne of Associate Programs (2003). And finally, click here to view a recommendation for Dennis' services from the University of Florida (dated 2006).