Sextortion

Overview

Financially motivated sexual extortion or 'sextortion' is a type of blackmail. Criminals threaten to share nude or semi-nude images, videos or details about someone online in order to get money. They might also exploit their victim in another way, such as by getting them to share more images.

Sextortion is a distressing crime which can often occur through catfishing, where a person uses a fake identity to gain trust. It may be committed by individuals or a group of people working together. 

It is important to encourage vigilance and support victims.

How to report sextortion

Supporting people affected by sextortion

It’s important to remember that a victim is never to blame if they have been blackmailed online. They will have been tricked, groomed or manipulated into sharing an image.

If a child has already shared an image with someone trying to exploit them, the National Crime Agency advises taking the following steps: 

• Reassure them that they’ve done the right thing by telling you.
• Make sure they know they are not to blame for what has happened and they have done the right thing to ask for your help.
• Report any images or videos that have been shared.

How to remove an image of a child shared online without consent

If the child’s image or video has been shared without their consent and they are under 18 you can help them to get it removed.

• Use Report Remove, a tool from Childline and the Internet Watch Foundation to remove images that have been shared or might have been shared.
• Use Take It Down, a tool from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, to remove or stop the online sharing of images or videos.
• Report it to the platform or app that the incident has occurred on.

You’ll find further guidance below to:

• help recognise the warning signs 
• have sensitive, supportive conversations with children and young people about this issue

Support for young people

Support for schools

Support for families

Views from the experts

Help and support

The Welsh Government and Hwb are proud partners of the IWF. The IWF are a not-for-profit organisation and registered charity. They exist to eliminate child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from the internet, and can support victims of sextortion.