Extortion & Blackmail Scams

Mass-spam emails falsely claim the sender hacked your webcam and recorded you watching adult content, then demand payment to suppress the footage. The footage does not exist.

Someone who holds real intimate images of a victim — obtained through a relationship, deception, or hacking — threatens to share them publicly unless demands for money, more images, or continued contact are met.

Criminals send threatening emails claiming they will flood a business's servers with junk traffic (a DDoS attack) and take them offline unless a ransom is paid, usually in cryptocurrency.

A scammer threatens to publish a victim's private personal information — home address, workplace, phone number, family details — unless a ransom is paid or demands are met.

Criminals post false negative reviews on a business listing and then offer to remove them for a fee, or threaten to flood the listing with further fake reviews unless money is paid.

A scammer sends an email claiming to be a hired assassin contracted to kill the recipient, but offers to call off the hit in exchange for payment. The entire scenario is a fabrication.

Mass-distributed emails or messages claim a bomb has been planted in the recipient's building and will be detonated unless a payment is made within hours. These are fabricated threats with no explosive device.

Criminals claim to have stolen an organisation's or individual's sensitive data and threaten to publish it unless a ransom is paid. The threat may be genuine or fabricated.

Scammers send false copyright infringement notices threatening to have a website, social media account, or content removed unless a licensing fee or settlement is paid, often to a fraudulent entity.

Scammers generate AI-fabricated intimate images using the victim's real photographs and threaten to distribute them unless money is paid, despite the images being entirely artificial.

Callers claim to have a recording of the victim agreeing to a debt or contract, and threaten legal action, arrest, or exposure unless immediate payment is made, often for a debt the victim does not owe.

A scammer who gains access to — or convincingly claims to have access to — a social media account demands payment to return it or threatens to lock out, delete, or expose its contents.

Scammers delivering any type of blackmail or extortion threat specifically demand payment in gift cards, directing victims to buy cards and read the codes over the phone or via message.

Scammers impersonate police, federal agents, or government officials and claim they possess evidence of illegal activity by the victim, threatening to arrest or publicly expose them unless a bribe or settlement is paid.

A caller, texter, or social media contact claims your device's camera has been compromised by malware and demands payment to stop them releasing footage that was never captured.

Malicious software encrypts a victim's personal phone, tablet, or computer and demands payment for a decryption key to recover photos, documents, and other files.

A criminal contacts a small business claiming they will flood the company's website with spammy backlinks, fake reviews, or search-engine penalties unless the owner pays a recurring 'protection' fee.

A scammer claims to have compiled a detailed 'open-source intelligence' dossier on the victim — home address, workplace, family members, daily routine — and threatens to publish it unless paid, when in reality the information is ordinary public data dressed up to sound alarming.

Someone who has learned about a victim's extramarital affair or secret relationship — a former partner, a third party, or a criminal posing as one — threatens to expose it to a spouse, family, or employer unless paid.

During an online gaming dispute or livestream, a rival threatens to send an armed police response ('swat') to a gamer's or streamer's home address unless a payment is made or a demand is met.

A scammer claims to have obtained a victim's private subscription or purchase history on an embarrassing or sensitive platform and threatens to expose the list to contacts, family, or employers unless paid.

A caller impersonating police, a court, or a government agency claims there is an active arrest warrant against the victim and demands immediate payment to avoid arrest.

A scammer posing as a friendly peer on social media or a gaming platform tricks a teenager — most often a boy — into sharing an intimate image, then immediately threatens to send it to friends and family unless money is paid. If this is happening to you: it is not your fault, do not pay, do not delete anything, and tell a trusted adult now.