What To Do If Someone Threatens to Leak Your Nudes?

Is somebody threatening to leak your nudes? Are you being threatened with blackmail or sextortion? It’s a scary situation, but not the end of the world. You’re not alone and there’s help available. You can protect your online reputation and prevent the nude leak with proper action.

What is nude photo blackmail? Also known as sextortion, it’s online blackmail where the scammer threatens to leak your nudes if you don’t meet their demands. Most blackmailers ask for money, but they can also request other favors like more intimate content.

Keep reading to receive guidance and discover resources for anyone who finds themselves blackmailed with nudes.

Understanding The Threat of Nude Leaks: How This Type of Blackmail Occurs

Not every case of online blackmail is the same. This creates issues with reporting and prosecuting the crime.

Regardless of the circumstances, remember this is not your fault. You are a victim. Whoever they are, the person threatening you with nudes is breaking the law. They can be prosecuted and go to jail. You don’t have to face this alone. Help is available.

Legal Definitions and Consequences of Nude Leaks without Consent

Here are a few legal definitions of the circumstances that lead to nude leaks and the legal consequences.

• Sextortion is online blackmail where the scammer threatens to leak your nudes if you don’t pay them money or meet other demands. Typically, the victim does not know the scammer. The blackmailer’s primary motivation is financial compensation.
• Sexploitation doesn’t usually involve blackmail. Victims are coerced into providing more intimate content or other sexual favors. Unlike sextortion, sexploitation is more about extracting additional personal material under the threat of exposure.
• Nonconsensual intimate image abuse, or NCII, is when nudes are leaked without your consent. It can involve any nude or partially nude content.

The exact consequences vary depending on the state, but sextortion, sexploitation, and NCII abuse are illegal everywhere. You can prosecute your scammer and hold them accountable.

Common Blackmail Tactics to Leak Nudes

In the modern digital age, it’s extremely easy to fall for these scams and find yourself threatened with nudes. It’s not your fault and it can happen to anyone.

In cases of sexploitation or revenge porn, the victim usually knows the cybercriminal. More often than not, the perpetrator is a former partner of the victim.

Catfishing is another common tactic that often leads to sextortion and other forms of online blackmail. The cybercriminal creates a fake profile and pretends to date the target. They trick the target into sharing sensitive content, then use it as leverage to extort them.

Once the scammer obtains this content, they will threaten to share it with your contact list unless you meet their demands. This can include your friends, family, employers, or business partners. They may also upload the content to a website they create or existing adult content pages.

How Did the Online Blackmailer Get My Nude Photos/Videos?

There are five methods used by online blackmailers to threaten you with nudes.

1. Consensual sharing that was later exploited. This is common in cases of revenge porn or sexploitation.
2. Hacking or data breaches. Scammers can also hack into your profile, phone, or computer to steal nudes and threaten to leak them.
3. Malicious apps or websites that contain malware designed to steal and leak your nudes.
4. “Deepfakes” or AI-manipulated images could create content that isn’t you.
5. Stolen devices can contain sensitive material, leading to leaked nudes.

The Importance of Digital Forensics and Evidence Collection

If you are being blackmailed with nudes, evidence is crucial to bring the scammers to justice. Be sure to gather all proof of the crime, including any messages or emails. Take screenshots of any threats. Include the cybercriminal’s name and profile. Take timestamps of all evidence.

This evidence can be provided to police to prosecute the scammer and hold them accountable. If the case goes to court, prosecutors can use this digital evidence to reconstruct events that led to the scam, identify the scammers, and prove criminal activity.

How to Secure Your Devices and Prevent Leaked Nudes

If you feel the leaked nudes did not occur by hacking, catfishing, or other scams, we recommend scanning all your devices for malware.

Digital Investigation Inc. specializes in spyware detection and removal. Our cybersecurity experts can scan your devices and provide a thorough forensic report that is admissible in court. The evidence we gather will include detailed information about how and when your device was infected or tampered with. We can spot the malware, remove it, and ensure this never happens again.

Threatened with Leaked Nudes? Immediate Actions to Take

If you are threatened or blackmailed with nudes, don’t panic. You don’t have to face this alone. Here are steps you can take to protect your online reputation and prevent the release of sensitive material.

Do Not Comply or Pay Your Scammer

Never pay your scammer. Giving in to their demands will only escalate the situation. The scammer will demand more money and continue to threaten to release the nudes. Paying your scammer by no means makes the problem go away. In fact, it does quite the opposite.

Do Not Block Your Scammer

Never block or cut off communication with your scammer. This can prompt the cybercriminal to retaliate and release the nudes.

Instead, tell the scammer you need more time to get the money. This buys you time to seek help. Contact the authorities and a cyber professional like Digital Investigation Inc.

Document Everything

Take screenshots of everything. Gather evidence of the threats to leak nudes, the profile name of your attacker, and any messages shared. Make sure to include timestamps to construct an accurate timeline of the crime.

Report to Law Enforcement Authorities

Report the nude leak to law enforcement. Start with local police and then contact the FBI. If you are threatened with nude blackmail, contact the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). It’s the FBI’s central hub for reporting cyber-enabled crimes like online blackmail, sextortion, and revenge porn.

Seek Additional Help

You can also contact cybersecurity professionals like Digital Investigation Inc. We help people blackmailed with nudes protect their online reputation. We’ll work to prevent the release of sensitive material and make sure this never happens again.

Famous Cases of Nude Leaks: Raising Awareness

Stories of nude leaks are common. In one of the most infamous cases, the 2014 celebrity nude leak released nearly 500 private photos of various celebrities. Dubbed the “The Fappening” or “Celebgate,” the hack attacked scores of famous people, mostly women, including Jennifer Lawrence, Kate Upton and her husband Justin Verlander, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Kaley Cuoco, Kirsten Dunst, and Jill Scott(1).

The nude leaks were obtained by a security flaw in the online storage platform offered by Apple’s iCloud.

Snapchatter Nathan McErlean found himself blackmailed with nudes after he shared intimate content of himself to a hacker. Rather than paying his attacker, he went public to raise awareness of the growing problem of online blackmail. He urged victims to use caution. “It’s not the end of the world. It’s just a body part we all have them. Roll with the punches, life gets better. It gets forgotten about, there’s no point doing anything drastic over it(2).”

It’s important to be aware of the dangers of online blackmail, sextortion, and revenge porn. Never share intimate content online, even if you know the individual. Many cases of revenge porn are perpetuated by a former partner.

What if the Content is Leaked? How to Manage the Aftermath

Being threatened with a nude leak is no laughing matter. Nude leaks have become so common they start to lose their meaning and significance, but that doesn’t make them any less harmful to the victim.

If you are blackmailed with nudes and the content is leaked, it’s not the end of the world. It can be hurtful and embarrassing, but there is a path forward.

Online Reputation Management

You can protect your online reputation by requesting content be removed from websites. Hiring reputation management services can help. Cyber security professionals will determine which sites have the leaked nudes and then work with those sites to remove the material.

The Road to Recovery: Work with Digital Investigation Inc.

If you have been blackmailed with nudes, Digital Investigation is here to help. We can protect your online reputation and even prevent the release of sensitive material. We work with victims reporting any type of NCII abuse.

• Our cyber engineers will use high-tech proprietary methods to track down the exact location of your attacker through their IP address.
• We’ll identify your attacker and their online credentials.
• We’ll then use this data as leverage to convince them to delete the material and stop harassing you.
• We’ll review your systems to protect your account and prevent this from ever happening again.

Contact Digital Investigation Inc. today.

Sources:

The Guardian: Naked celebrity hack: security experts focus on iCloud backup theory
BBC: Sextortion on Snapchat is not the end of my world, says victim