Reclaiming Your Digital Safety After Being Threatened With a Nude Leak

When we share our intimate photos with someone, we become completely vulnerable to however they choose to handle them. We place absolute trust in the recipient, and the fallout from being blackmailed and extorted with these very images is earth-shattering.

Whether it’s a former lover threatening a retaliatory release of your nudes or a cybercriminal who lured you in with repurposed racy photos, your sensitive selection of snapshots can be weaponized in a variety of ways.

This betrayal can make you feel like your world is crumbling, but it’s possible to piece it back together with the proper procedure and assistance of experts such as the ones at Digital Investigation Inc. Read on to learn how you can take control back after being met with the threat of having your nudes leaked.

Understanding the Threat

There are multiple ways that your nudes can be used against you, and all of them carry the potential for cataclysmic damage. Criminalized uses of intimate images include:

• Sextortion: This occurs when someone has their intimate images used as blackmail leverage in an extortion campaign with financial motivation.
• Sexploitation: This is similar to sextortion, but the motivation is different. Instead of demanding payment, the perpetrator is after additional sexual material or favors in exchange for not leaking the victim’s nudes.
• Non-Consensual Intimate Image (NCII) Abuse: This includes the production, publication, or recreation of intimate images without the depicted party’s consent. This is often referred to as “revenge porn”, although the two terms are not completely synonymous.

Regardless of the circumstances, remember this is not your fault. The person threatening you with your nudes is breaking the law. You are a victim, and you don’t need to go through this alone. There are organizations who can help you go after the blackmailer, whoever they may be.

Immediate Steps to Take

Whether a sextortionist is threatening to leak your nudes or a disgruntled ex wants to ruin your reputation with revenge porn, you should consider it seriously and act quickly. Try to remain as calm as possible and proceed with the following actions. Remember, this is not your fault and there is a way to get through this.

Document Everything

People often say, “A picture is worth a thousand words,” but your words are worthless in a court of law without pictures to back them up. You need to carefully document and preserve proof of the atrocities that have been actuated against you.

You should take screenshots of the profile or phone number contacting you, messages that contain threats, and any other evidence that will help you construct an accurate timeline of the events. It is important that you do this in accordance with legal regulations.

Do Not Engage

You may feel that the sextortionist’s demands are small potatoes compared to the potential ramifications of your private photos going public. However, paying the perpetrator will not make them go away. In fact, it will likely embolden them to keep coming back for more.

Instead, you should halt all communication with the individual leveraging your nudes, but don’t block them until after you’ve completed your investigation. Blocking can impair your ability to collect evidence and may result in requital from the perpetrator.

Report To the Right Organizations

You should always report intimate image extortion to protect yourself and others from future online harassment. Begin with reporting to the platform that it occurred on. You should be able to find out how to report to the system administrator through their community guidelines policy.

If that doesn’t resolve your issue, you should next report to law enforcement. Start with a local police report and work up to your national agency in charge of cybercrime. In the United States, this is the FBI’s IC3. Remember that law enforcement is there to help, so you shouldn’t fear any judgement and should report your case without any embarrassment or shame.

Secure Your Accounts

Make sure you update your passwords and end any unauthorized sessions on any accounts that may have been compromised. Regular password updates should be conducted even outside of cases of online harassment, and a password manager can help automize this task.

You should also utilize two-factor authentication (2FA) on any of your accounts that allow for it. This can help protect your accounts that a sextortionist may have gained the password to and inhibit them from accessing your intimate images to use for extortion.

Seeking Professional Help

Intimate image abuse such as sextortion and revenge porn can make the victim feel like they have nowhere to turn, but you are not alone in this battle. You should work in coordination with law enforcement and cybersecurity professionals for the sake of the online safety of you and others.

Law Enforcement

As we discussed earlier, you should always report threats to leak your nudes or any other online harassment to law enforcement for the good of yourself and others. Blackmail and NCII abuse are criminal acts and should be handled as such.

Always begin with your local police. You can typically file a police report in person, online, or over the phone through a non-emergency number. You will want to make sure you include the evidence you gathered and documented beforehand.

If this doesn’t end the harassment, you should move forward with a report to the IC3. This is the FBI taskforce responsible for handling cases of cybercrime. You can file a report by using the IC3’s online form, calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or in person at your local FBI field office.

Digital Investigation Inc.

The team of experts here at Digital Investigation Inc. is ready to help you uncover who is blackmailing you with your nude photos, remove their leverage, and document the evidence in a legally admissible report.

We have years of experience handing thousands of cases of sextortion, revenge porn, and other forms of intimate image abuse. We’ve developed cutting edge techniques to discreetly uncover your blackmailer’s true identity, recover your data and remove it from the wrong hands, and provide security consultations to prevent future attacks.

Support Organizations

In addition to resources that will help you investigate, report, and legally pursue the individual threatening to leak your nudes, there are also organizations who can assist you with the mental toll that crimes like sextortion take on their victims.

The South West Grid for Learning (SWGfL) is a non-profit organization that is part of the UK Safer Internet Centre (UKSIC). SWGfL operates both the Revenge Porn Helpline and its online tool StopNCII, which helps remove the leaked nudes of victims by using hatch-based matching.

Additionally, there is the Cyber Civil Rights Initiative (CCRI) which is a non-profit organization leading the fight against nonconsensual distribution of intimate images in the United States. Starting in 2011 with the online grassroots campaign End Revenge Porn, the organization helps provide guidance to victims, tech providers, and legislative bodies on combating NCII abuse.

There is Hope

While things may seem bleak if you’re being blackmailed with your nude images, there is hope for a resilient resolution. By properly documenting and reporting the crime and utilizing the resources at your disposal, you can mitigate the damage of NCII abuse and regain control of your life.

That’s where Digital Investigation Inc. can help. Our experts see numerous cases of intimate image abuse and extortion every day and know how to identify perpetrators and remove your nudes from their possession. We will make sure your report can be used in future legal proceedings and help provide you with continual security and support.

If your nudes are being leveraged for revenge or reimbursement, you don’t need to suffer alone. Reach out to Digital Investigation Inc. today and let us help you restore your peace of mind.