Risks
Sextortion
A form of online exploitation in which someone threatens to share sexual images of a person, often a teen, unless they pay money or send more images.
- Parents
- Educators and school leaders
What parents should know
Sextortion is a threat: someone says they will share a sexual image unless the victim pays or sends more. Teens are targeted often. The steps that help are simple and hard in the moment. Do not pay. Do not send more. Tell a trusted adult. Report to NCMEC. This page does not describe how offenders operate.
On this page
What is sextortion?
NCMEC and the FBI describe sextortion as a threat to expose a sexual image in order to get more images, sexual activity, or money. The image may be one the teen sent, or a fake made from an ordinary photo. The threat is the crime to interrupt. You do not need to see the image to start helping.
Offenders push speed and shame. They want the teen alone with the phone. Warning signs are a sudden panic about a device, a demand for payment, a refusal to say who they were talking to, and a new insistence on secrecy. Money requests tied to a photo are a sign even when the child will not show you the photo.
Why sextortion matters
Paying does not end the threat. It shows that payment works, and the demands often continue. Sending another image makes the leverage worse. The FBI's public guidance tells victims not to pay and to stop the contact. A parent who leads with punishment teaches the next teen to pay in secret.
Fake images mean a child who never sent a nude can still be threatened. That is why an ordinary photo posted years ago can become a weapon. Report the threat. Do not forward the file to relatives or a group chat to prove it.
How it shows up in practice
- A teen is frantic about a message and will not hand over the phone until you promise not to lead with punishment.
- A demand for gift cards or cash arrives with a threat about a photo.
- A parent reports to the CyberTipline and blocks the account without a revenge reply.
- The school is told if classmates received the image, and is asked not to display it.
How HeyOtto helps
HeyOtto is not a sextortion-detection product. Parents can read chats, which is one way a threat becomes visible, and distress can trigger a real-time alert plus crisis resources in the chat. HeyOtto does not auto-contact emergency services. Image tools are age-filtered, and public sharing needs parent approval. If a child is being threatened, stop, do not pay, and report to NCMEC. Otto cannot negotiate with an offender.
- Do not pay, and do not send another image.
- Report at report.cybertip.org. NCMEC and the FBI publish what to do next.
- If the child is in distress, stay with them. In the United States, 988 is the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
For families
Try freeFAQs
What do I do if my child is being threatened?
Tell them they are not in trouble for telling you. Do not pay. Do not send more images. Stop contact. Report to NCMEC's CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org. The FBI's sextortion page gives the same public steps. If they are in immediate danger, contact emergency services. If they are in despair, call or text 988.
Should we pay so the image disappears?
No. Payment does not reliably delete anything, and it marks your child as someone who will pay. NCMEC and the FBI both tell families not to pay. Use the reporting tools instead of a private deal.
What if the image is fake?
Treat the threat seriously anyway. A fake intimate image of a minor is still something to report, not to circulate. NCMEC's Take It Down service helps with removal of intimate images of people under 18. Do not forward the file while you are asking for advice.
Who else can help?
NCMEC's sextortion page and the FBI's sextortion page are written for this situation. A school counselor can support your child if classmates are involved. This glossary entry is not a report, not a counselor, and not legal advice.
Sources
Last reviewed September 26, 2026. This entry is reviewed twice a year.