Social media

When someone threatens to leak your photos

Do not pay and do not send more photos. Save the chat, block the account, and tell someone you trust.

The chat often starts in a friendly way, on Instagram, a dating app, or WhatsApp. Then the person demands money and says they will send photos to your family, school, or office. Sometimes they already have an image. Sometimes they only claim they do.

What actually helps

  1. Do not pay. People who pay are usually asked again.

  2. Do not send more photos, and do not open a video call to “settle it.”

  3. Save the profile name, the number, and the messages. Then block the account.

  4. Tell someone you trust. Carrying it alone is how the demand continues.

  5. Report the profile in the app, and report at cybercrime.gov.in. If money already moved, call 1930.

If the person being threatened is under 18, a parent or another trusted adult should take over. Do not send money or more images. Save what is already on the phone and report it.

A threat is not proof they will stop if you pay. The useful record is the chat you saved, not another transfer.

If money has already left your account, call 1930 or report at cybercrime.gov.in. This page is awareness information. It does not file a complaint.

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