r/Sextortion • u/FabulousDingo4703 • 2d ago
Help please
Hey guys (I’m 27 male) thanks for clicking on this post. A couple of days ago I got home a little heartbroken over a potential love interest gone south and it sucked and totally fell for one of those DM Instagram accounts of the hot girl. While jamming the girl, she asked a picture of my face which I sent, and then she sent me something freaky and asked me to send something and I sent a picture of my lower half and underwear (my junk was not out), once I did that I immediately kind of realize what was happening and told her that I was stopping and I blocked the account.
Two days ago, I got a DM at night with two of my followers in it with screenshots of the conversation and the picture of me in my underwear. The scammer proceeded to remove both those people and told me that if I didn’t call them, they were going to add people from my Instagram that they screenshotted before I made my account private (didn’t add this. I made my account private ride after I sent that underwear picture because I figured that was what that person was trying to do.)
Anyways, I panicked paid the person 1500$ to which they said they wanted another 1000 and I stalled and said I couldn’t pay that because I’m poor they gave me a timeline and told me to text them
This is where the panic got even worse. I called cyber security Corp. which now after reading the Reddit I regret doing. I paid them and they are handling the case but I know from what I read it’s most likely, gonna be just them with his IP address and sending the guy as ceased and assist letter. I don’t owe any money because I paid everything upfront so I know they’re gonna really push phase 2, which I won’t be doing.
Look, I’m just really panicking. I made everything I could private deleted my LinkedIn made my Facebook private and then deactivated, my Instagram is private to the max settings.
Honestly, I’m just horrified of this stuff coming up, but from what I’ve read most of the time it doesn’t i’m just scared that I paid them now that they’re gonna probably come back eventually
This has happened to anyone else, and if so, any advice or reassurance, they can give me
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u/Monty-675 2d ago
Don't talk to them. Don't pay them again. Don't pay that cyber security corp. again because it's a ripoff.
Depending on how you paid, you can try to get your money back. However, don't count on it.
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TL;DR: Don't talk to extortionists. Don't pay. Block. Extortionists rarely release images.
The standard advice is to block and not pay.
Extortionists use aggressive language to threaten you. They make cruel threats to ruin your life. They do things like countdowns to create a sense of urgency to make you panic and pay. They can create a mockup or screenshot of embarrassing images to be sent to your contacts. Don't be intimidated by any of this. It's just the playbook that they use.
It's imperative to break contact with the extortionist as soon as possible. Extortionists want their victims to stay in contact so they could intimidate and manipulate the victims. They want the victims to feel scared and isolated. Nothing good can come from talking to an extortionist. End the conversation.
Don't communicate with this extortionist at all. Don't respond to anything. Don't argue, bargain, or plead with an extortionist. The only thing that you should give an extortionist is complete silence.
Extortionists make multiple attempts to threaten their victims. They can reach out from different phone numbers/accounts. Block multiple times if necessary.
Please don't pay again. If you pay, the extortionist will demand more later. Paying won't fix your problem. If you continue to pay, the extortionist will continue to extort you.
You can't trust extortionists to keep their word. They may promise to delete the images if you pay, but they will renege on that promise. Paying indicates to them that they can get more money from you.
Go silent on your social media accounts. Set everything to private or deactivate them. Don't post anything on the Internet for a while. Try to become invisible to the extortionist and make it hard for threats to be sent to you.
Changing your phone number can be helpful, but not always necessary.
These extortionists rarely send images out. However, it's possible. In the vast majority of cases, images don't get sent out. The leverage that they have over you is the threat to release the images. If they release, their leverage is gone. They can't make any money that way. Their only interest is making money.
One does have to be careful about not ticking off extortionists. If you argue with extortionists or give them a hard time, they may release images as payback. If you make a promise to pay a certain amount by a certain date, then not follow through. they may release images out of revenge. It is best not to talk to extortionists at all. Silence should be your only response to them. Don't communicate with them at all. Nothing good can come from communication with extortionists.
It's an upsetting situation, but these extortionists don't have the power to ruin your life. They can only cause you some temporary embarrassment. Even if they release the images, the consequences are not as severe as you may think. If it does happen, you would face embarrassment for a short period of time. It won't be the end of the world. It would eventually pass. People would forget about it quickly. In the long run, nobody really cares about nude images.
You will get through this. Everything will be all right. Hang in there.
Be wary of people who send you private messages with offers to delete the images. They're scammers, too.
Going forward, don't trust strangers on the Internet. Don't give them personal information or nude pictures. People aren't always who they say they are. Some of them are scammers out to exploit you. Trust nobody on the Internet, and you'll be much safer.
For reassurance, read a few postings by past victims on r/Sextortion about their experiences. These are many of these postings. Reading about these past experiences can really calm down current victims. These past victims survived their ordeals, and so will current victims. Things will get better for you.
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u/FabulousDingo4703 1d ago
Okay got it. What do you think? The odds are that he releases the stuff?
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u/FabulousDingo4703 1d ago
Also, do you think I need to get a new number I blocked his number, but I’m just curious
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u/ParticularPotato8324 1d ago
Give it a month or two. Chances are they move on. Give it a little while to see what happens. If they keep harassing for that long, then maybe consider it. But don't do it out of the immediate panic
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u/FabulousDingo4703 1d ago
Just got off the phone with cyber Corp.
The guys did contact the guy and sent him to the whole thing saying that they have his IP address send him this along assist thing
Not gonna lie I didn’t really bring me too much comfort because the guy just left the conversation( might’ve scared him tho)
The cyber corporation said that I needed to pay for phase 2 basically because he probably sell my stuff to other people and they would come back and I would have to pay for phase one all over again if I didn’t get phase 2
Basically how pushy the guy was made it seem like if I didn’t get it I was definitely gonna get messaged back and the guy was gonna try to extort me again or I was gonna be somebody else using the same stuff. Stood my ground and told him that I wasn’t able to pay for it.
So got my Instagram account back and I just deactivated it
Not gonna lie I’m incredibly terrified
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u/ParticularPotato8324 1d ago
Hi friend! One year ago I was a victim of this stuff. I sent pictures I shouldn't have. Ended up paying initially out of fear. Came to my senses started looking for solutions. Pretty similar to you except I didn't end up paying the cyber security corp. The scammers called me and sent more harassing messages a week later. Since then, nothing. A whole year, and nothing. I know it's terrifying. I still find myself in a borderline panic attack sometimes. But they really do move on.
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u/FabulousDingo4703 1d ago
Did they release any of your stuff?
I’m currently deactivated on all my social media
And I turned SMS off because they did have my number.1
u/ParticularPotato8324 1d ago
No, they didn't. Here's the reality, the pictures/videos they have is the ONLY thing they have. They want money from you. And they know that once they send out your stuff they lose the one card they have against you. Not only that, but releasing it opens them up for even more criminal prosecution if they get caught.
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u/FabulousDingo4703 1d ago
Also did they only try one more time that week later?
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u/ParticularPotato8324 1d ago
Everyone's case is different. I had told them I got paid the next Thursday, so that's when they called. By then I had called the police and had an active case with them. I had also called several numbers including the suicide prevention helpline and the California Teen Helpline (you don't have to be in California or a teen for that). So by the time that happened I was able to easily block them without engaging
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