Empowering Digital Safety.
Supporting Mental Well-Being.

I am an independent advocate dedicated to sharing essential digital hygiene practices, raising awareness about cybercrimes like sextortion, and connecting you to professional lifelines when you need them most.

Understanding Sextortion: Take Back Control

If you are being blackmailed with intimate images, understand this: you are the victim of a coordinated criminal attack. The criminals rely on your panic and shame to control you.

Breathe. Follow these steps.

  1. Nearly half (44%) of sextortion victims indicated the imagery that was used to extort them was acquired through a recording or screenshot without their consent.
  2. Catfishing was a concept many respondents were familiar with, with half (53%) of all young people surveyed believing someone online had used a fake or misleading persona (like a fake profile or lying about their identity) to trick them into connecting or interacting with them, including half (50%) of teens.
  3. Alarmingly, 1 in 6 (17%) young people reported they were first sextorted while aged 12 or younger.
  4. In 2024, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) received approximately 100 reports of financial sexual extortion (sextortion) each day.
  5. Only 17% of youth and 11% of parents could name a specific authority, e.g. police, FBI, the CyberTipline, and internet service providers, to which they could report an internet crime.

Reporting Resources

  1. Local Police Department: For immediate danger or physical threats, advising victims to call 911 is paramount.
  2. FBI (USA): Report the incident to your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324)
  3. FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3): The central hub for reporting all internet-facilitated crimes. Victims should file a report online at www.ic3.gov.
  4. Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI): Call the Crisis Helpline at 844-878-CCRI (2274
  5. National Sexual Assault Hotline (RAINN): Call 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or chat online for free, confidential support 24/7.
  6. Thorn (Stop Sextortion): Text “THORN” to 741741 to chat anonymously with a trained Crisis Text Line counselor.
  7. Crisis Text Line: A free, 24/7 text-based support line. Text “HOME” to 741741 or “4HOPE” to 741741.
  8. National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) – CyberTipline: The premier resource for reporting cases involving individuals under 18. Reports can be made at report.cybertip.org or 1-800-THE-LOST.
  9. Homeland Security Investigations (HSI): Specifically for reporting child exploitation and sexual abuse, they can be reached at 1-866-DHS-2-ICE.
  10. RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): Operates the National Sexual Assault Hotline for confidential support. 800-656-HOPE or online.rainn.org.

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