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Sextortion paid in crypto: what to do if you are being blackmailed
If someone is threatening to share intimate or explicit images of you unless you pay, usually in cryptocurrency or gift cards, do not pay and do not send anything more. Paying does not make it stop; it marks you as someone who pays. This is a crime being committed against you, not something you are in trouble for. Save the evidence, stop responding, and report it. If the person being targeted is under 18, this is a child-exploitation crime and there are services that can help remove the images.
First, the thing you most need to hear
You are not in trouble. You are the victim of a crime. Whatever was said or shared, whatever you feel right now, the person threatening you is the one breaking the law, and the people you can report this to have seen it many times before and will treat you as a victim, because that is what you are.
The panic is real and the shame is a tool the blackmailer is using. Set both aside for ten minutes and do the steps below. They work.
Do not pay, and do not send anything more
This is the hardest instruction and the most important one.
Paying does not end sextortion. It tells the person that threats work on you, and the demands continue, often escalating. Law-enforcement guidance is consistent on this point: paying rarely stops it and frequently makes it worse. The same is true of sending any further images or information in the hope of buying goodwill. There is no goodwill. Every additional thing you send becomes another piece of leverage.
Stopping contact feels dangerous, like it will trigger the thing you fear. It usually does not. Blackmailers want a paying target; when the payments and the responses stop, most move on, because the threats were always about extraction, not about you.
Preserve the evidence before you block
Before you cut contact, capture what you can. This is what lets someone act on it.
Save the account names and profile links, the messages and threats, any usernames or phone numbers, the wallet address or payment details you were told to use, and the dates and times. Screenshot rather than rely on the chat staying up. Our evidence checklist covers how to preserve this cleanly.
Then block the account, but keep everything you saved. Blocking stops the pressure reaching you; the saved evidence is what makes a report useful.
Report it, and who to report to
Reporting is the step that actually moves things, and there is more than one route depending on the situation.
For anyone, in the United States, report to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov, and you can call the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324). Outside the US, report to your national police or cybercrime line.
If the person targeted is under 18, this is a child-exploitation crime. Report to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) CyberTipline at CyberTipline.org or 1-800-843-5678, and tell a trusted adult, a parent, a teacher, a school counsellor. You will not be in trouble. The adults and services exist precisely for this.
Getting the images taken down
There are free services built for exactly this, and they work even if an image has already been shared.
If the images are of someone under 18, use Take It Down, a free service from NCMEC at takeitdown.ncmec.org. It creates a digital fingerprint, a hash, of the image on your own device, without uploading the image itself, and participating platforms use that fingerprint to detect and limit the spread of matching content. You can stay anonymous.
If the images are of an adult (18 or over), the equivalent service is StopNCII.org, which works the same way.
Neither can guarantee removal everywhere, and platforms differ in what they can reach, but both meaningfully reduce the spread, and both are free.
A note for parents
If your child comes to you about this, the most important thing you can do is make it safe for them to have come to you. They are likely terrified and ashamed, and they took a brave step. Do not punish, do not confiscate as a first move, do not make them feel it was their fault. It was not. The faster a young person can tell a calm adult, the faster this ends, and the research is clear that fear of a parent's reaction is exactly what blackmailers rely on to keep victims silent and paying.
Then do the steps together: stop responding, preserve evidence, report to NCMEC and the FBI, and use Take It Down.
Red flags that it is sextortion from the start
- A new online contact who moves quickly to intimate conversation or images
- Pressure to move to a private or encrypted app early
- A sudden switch from friendly to threatening once an image is sent
- A demand for payment in cryptocurrency or gift cards to stop a release
- Threats to send images to your family, followers, or contacts
- Claims they already have your contact list
What this guide cannot do
It cannot erase what happened or guarantee an image never surfaces, and it would be wrong to promise that. What it can do is lay out the response that gives you the best outcome available: stop paying, preserve, report, and use the takedown services. Thousands of people have been exactly where you are and come out the other side. Reaching one trusted person is the hardest step and the one that changes everything.
This is general information, not legal advice. If you are in immediate danger, contact your local emergency number.
Use Chain Pursuit's free tools to understand your options and preserve evidence. Do not share your seed phrase or private keys with anyone.
Sources
Federal Bureau of Investigation, Sextortion. https://www.fbi.gov/how-we-can-help-you/scams-and-safety/common-frauds-and-scams/sextortion, on how sextortion works, the guidance not to pay and to preserve evidence, and how to report.
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, Take It Down. https://takeitdown.ncmec.org/, a free service to help remove or stop the online sharing of explicit images of people who were under 18, using on-device hashing without uploading the image.
National Center for Missing & Exploited Children, CyberTipline. https://report.cybertip.org/, where to report the online exploitation of a child.
StopNCII, Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse. https://stopncii.org/, the equivalent image-removal service for people who were 18 or over.
Guidance reflects US FBI and NCMEC resources as of October 2026; equivalent authorities exist in other countries. Reviewed quarterly.
Frequently asked questions
Someone is threatening to share my images unless I pay in crypto. What do I do first?
Do not pay and do not send anything more. Save the evidence (the account, messages, wallet address, times), then block the account while keeping what you saved, and report it to ic3.gov, or to NCMEC if the person targeted is under 18. Paying does not make it stop.
If I pay, won't they just delete everything and go away?
Almost never. Paying signals that threats work on you, and the demands usually continue and escalate. Law-enforcement guidance is consistent that paying rarely ends sextortion and often makes it worse. Stopping payment and contact is what most often ends it.
I'm a teenager and I'm scared to tell my parents. What should I do?
Tell a trusted adult anyway, a parent, teacher, or school counsellor. You are the victim of a crime and you will not be in trouble. Report to NCMEC at CyberTipline.org or 1-800-843-5678, and use Take It Down to help remove images. Reaching one adult is the step that ends this fastest.
Can I actually get the images removed?
Often you can reduce their spread. If the images are of someone under 18, use Take It Down (takeitdown.ncmec.org); if of an adult, use StopNCII.org. Both are free, both fingerprint the image on your device without uploading it, and participating platforms use that to detect and limit it. Neither guarantees removal everywhere.
Should I keep talking to them to buy time or calm them down?
No. Every further message or image becomes more leverage. Once you have preserved the evidence, stop responding and block them. Engagement is what the blackmailer wants; withdrawal is what most often makes them move on.
What evidence should I save before blocking?
The account names and profile links, the messages and threats, any usernames or phone numbers, the wallet address or payment details you were given, and the dates and times. Screenshot it rather than trusting the chat to stay up. Then block, but keep everything.
Where do I report if I'm not in the United States?
Report to your national police or cybercrime reporting line. Many countries have a dedicated online-crime or child-protection service. The core steps are the same everywhere: do not pay, preserve evidence, stop contact, and report to the authorities.
My child told me this is happening. How should I react?
Stay calm and make it safe that they came to you. Do not blame or punish them; it is not their fault. Then act together: stop responding, preserve evidence, report to NCMEC and the FBI, and use Take It Down. A calm adult response is what ends it fastest.
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