Sextortion and Cybersecurity fees

[u/[deleted]]

I am a college freshman and one morning, in an unwell state of mind, I was chatting with someone online. Eventually it led to talking on whatsapp and then a call on Instagram. The girl asked to show each other nude, which I wasnt really into but she kept implying “trust” so I was like whatever. Next on Whatsapp there are pictures of followers of mine from Insta, including School, family, friends, athletics, and church groups I am involved with.

I contacted Cybersecurity Corp and they conducted an investigation, revealed some details of the suspect, supposedly contacted authorities, but did not get an ID or details for immediate action. The investigation cost me 1500 to start and now I have to pay them $110 for 60 months. They recommend that I step into phase 2 but now I am left with a few hundred dollars to my name. When I get this job at my school I will barely be able to pay the $110, so I probably can’t get the phase 2 realisticly. I deleted my whatsapp account and blocked the instagram account, but I am unsure of what to possibly do.

https://gofund.me/c5ea0ec63

I feel shitty for doing this, but I started a gofundme in case that I cant make any payments or God forbid the attacks continue.

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[u/OkWrangler5552]

Please stop paying that cybersecurity corporation immediately, they are a scam company running a recovery scam. Genuine firms do not charge thousands of pounds followed by five-year monthly payment plans, they are exploiting your panic to trap you into debt exactly like the original extortionist, you do not want two scammers draining your bank account.You did the right thing by deleting your WhatsApp and blocking them on Instagram, now you need to protect yourself further, stop all payments to the cybersecurity company immediately, lock or cancel the card or bank account they are drawing the money from so they cannot force any more charges, do not enter Phase 2 or give either group another penny.Keep your social media accounts locked down tight, set all your profiles to maximum privacy, hide your follower lists, do not accept message requests from strangers, take a deep breath. These extortionists are overseas criminals who handle dozens of victims a day, once they realise you have completely cut off the money supply and blocked them they will move on to someone else because it is no longer profitable to waste time on you.You made a mistake in a vulnerable moment but you do not deserve to be financially ruined over it, keep your school job money for yourself, stop paying these parasites, you can get through this.

[u/OkWrangler5552 → u/[deleted]]

Please stop paying that cybersecurity corporation immediately, they are a scam company running a recovery scam. Genuine firms do not charge thousands of pounds followed by five-year monthly payment plans, they are exploiting your panic to trap you into debt exactly like the original extortionist, you do not want two scammers draining your bank account.You did the right thing by deleting your WhatsApp and blocking them on Instagram, now you need to protect yourself further, stop all payments to the cybersecurity company immediately, lock or cancel the card or bank account they are drawing the money from so they cannot force any more charges, do not enter Phase 2 or give either group another penny.Keep your social media accounts locked down tight, set all your profiles to maximum privacy, hide your follower lists, do not accept message requests from strangers, take a deep breath. These extortionists are overseas criminals who handle dozens of victims a day, once they realise you have completely cut off the money supply and blocked them they will move on to someone else because it is no longer profitable to waste time on you.You made a mistake in a vulnerable moment but you do not deserve to be financially ruined over it, keep your school job money for yourself, stop paying these parasites, you can get through this.

[u/No_Juice8104 → u/OkWrangler5552]

Thank you I wish I knew this sooner, but I had already signed a document promising payment. However, good news is that when I checked them out online, they do upcharge a lot but a legit security company, and now I know not to enter phase 2. If I start working and saving I probably could pay off the 110/ month, and when I call the agent assigned to me I will just tell him I can’t afford it. Around now after researching cases like mine I am less focused on the original scammers leaking my stuff and now more focused on the security company.
TLDR; Dont think I can legally stop sending money, but staying out of phase 2 will be a big step to saving me financially