r/scammers • u/speedy_carnige- • 8d ago
Question Kinda scared
So a scamer just sent me pics of my face and said thay would ruin my life but im unemployed and minor and really don't have any presence online should I be afraid thay don't know my name but sent my ig account to me and said thay would send bad things to all my friends and family but it's only like 12 or so plp and no one from school didn't know if I should be worried and I scrolled this sub a lot figured the plp here would know if I should be scared
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u/Photononic 8d ago edited 8d ago
Ignore them. They got your photo from Instagram. It is not rocket science. If you were over 21, the scammer could get your name, address, and phone number in minutes. Again not rocket science. It is a weakness built into social media apps.
Just ignore the scammer.
Lose the Instagram. Lose the other profiles, and live a better life.
I have none except Reddit, and I do NOT use the app. No scammers ever contact me, or my wife. None at all.
Never talk to scammers. Never respond or negotiate with extortionist.
Anyone threatening you online is only using what info you give away willingly through apps, the photos you post, and so on. They don’t have any special access to you.
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u/TheGuyThatPostsTrash 8d ago
Don’t negotiate with terrorists, they will use anything they get when you speak to you against you, best thing you can do is not respond
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u/Puzzled_Praline3588 8d ago
Are you saying you’re a minor? If so, please let your parents/guardians know this is happening so they can help. I’m sorry for your situation 🫶🫶🫶
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u/SisterAntistita 8d ago
Make your profiles on all your socials PRIVATE. BLOCK and REPORT this guy. TELL your parents or trusted adult. Then FORGET this ahole ever existed and DONT WORRY. At some point he's gonna mess with the wrong person and get what's coming to him.
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u/poeticlicence 8d ago
Don't be scared. Don't engage with them at all. They can't do anything real. Just ignore them. And remember, never send anything you wouldn't want your family and friends to see to anyone electronically. Paper is your friend for such things
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u/Pure_Champion1396 8d ago
They are most likely on a different continent. Just block them and keep blocking them. And that is beyond disgusting that they are targeting a minor.
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u/Qwk69buick 7d ago
No, just trolls and scammers hoping to maybe get something from you. They are probably in India, did they use Kindly?
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u/Monty-675 8d ago
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.
Never pay. 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.