Sextortion scammers are now targeting teens for intimate photos and making threats to spread them if their demands aren’t met. Others are sending photos to victims before switching to pretending to be family members of the person in the photo. One way to steer clear of these criminals altogether is to stick to online dating websites with nationally known reputations. Finally, the FBI advises not to send money through any wire transfer service to someone you met online. If you believe you are the victim of an online dating scam or any Internet facilitated crime, please file a report at

If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle. Pamela VanMeer is a two time winner of the prestigious Radio Television Digital News Association Award.

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If there is no form to report sextortion and other online attacks, emailing the website is your next best option. Every situation is different, and you may not know what content the sextortioner has in possession, or their willingness to publish it should they not get their way. If you have already engaged with a sextortionist or online blackmailer, we recommend blocking them on social media. Blocking these perpetrators can help prevent them from gaining further access to a list of your friends and family members. The easiest way to protect yourself from being sexorted is to avoid sending explicit content to anyone else via phone, tablet, or computer.

SMS two-factor authentication scam (verification code scam)

This is all a scam, of course, and victims often never hear from the scammers again after sending them money. Delete the account you were talking to the scammer on and block them. Change your social media accounts to private if you happened to share them. Tap or click here to see how to change your settings from public to private on social media. All major social media platforms have specific processes for reporting malicious online attacks. Contact information and removal forms can generally be found under a website’s Terms of Service or Privacy Policy.

Others will impersonate U.S. soldiers serving abroad, then ask for money to purchase laptops, international phones or a plane ticket home so their fake relationship can continue. Some even claim they need money for medical expenses from combat injuries. Now — six months later and $1,500 poorer — Best believes she was the victim of an online dating scam.

For sextortionists, the phishing email tries to convince the reader that the perpetrator has access to the victim’s computer, webcam, personal files, or browsing history. Sextortionists will often build up the victim’s trust before asking them to send explicit photos. Or, the perpetrator will convince the victim to join a video chat. They might use pre-recorded videos of an attractive person to trick victims into engaging in sexual acts or compromising positions. The perpetrator demands payment and threatens to reveal your intimate images or video if you do not pay them.

How Does Sextortion Differ From Other Forms of Extortion?

If you’ve been the victim of an extortion scam, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Submit a report to BBB.org/ScamTracker as well to boost community awareness and help others protect themselves. If someone you meet online needs your bank account information blackgentryapp.com to deposit money, they are most likely using your account to carry out other theft and fraud schemes. Beware of a girl calling herself Pamella Taylor, claiming to be from Ontario, Canada. She will add you on social media and then ask you to do video chat.

They claim they can’t get into an account and want to send you a verification code. They claim to have a high-paying or secure job but are unable to pay for basic necessities or access their bank account. They want you to send nude photos or videos and push for you to be identifiable in them (i.e., they can see your face).

This type of scam is becoming increasingly prevalent, with scammers targeting older or wealthier individuals who may be more likely to fall for it. They’ll usually target someone on a dating site that they think would be interested in investing money in some sort of scheme. Finally, if you are a victim of “pig butchering,” other online scams, or crypto-romance fraud, the FBI wants to hear from you. Report the incident to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at or call your FBI local office. The scammer says they need the victim to send them money to pay for flights to visit the victim’s country.

Spot extortion scams on LGBTQ+ dating apps

Since 2005, RomanceScams.org has been the authority on fighting romance scams around the world. We discuss all you need to know about romance scams and provide detailed reviews on scam-free dating services. In a lot of ways it’s easier for scammers to get compliance by threatening to reveal information to the victim’s boss because it’s so devastating. Even if the victim has a good relationship with the people at work, it’s somewhat harder to explain nude photos or sordid rumors to coworkers. And obviously the threat of getting the victim fired is bad, too.