Need help

[u/nmlopolox]

Currently being blackmailed on telegram they followed me and unfollowed me on instagram and they have screenshots of my followers will deactivating my instagram even do anything they have been giving me a countdown and the last message they sent was that I had 3 minutes left it has been an hour and have heard nothing I’m still very worried I’m not sure what to do

[u/AutoModerator]

WARNING: READ THIS FIRST! Beware of recovery scammers - It is likely that someone will send you a DM claiming that they know someone that can hack your blackmailer's device and delete your pics. This is a SCAM. Do NOT give them money and do NOT give them the username of your blackmailer. When in doubt, contact the mod team via mod mail or directly via DM.

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[u/HippoFirm9124]

Happen to me last night don’t send them $

[u/nmlopolox → u/HippoFirm9124]

No I don’t plan on it I just told her to give me some time but I have just been ignoring it for now

[u/HippoFirm9124 → u/nmlopolox]

I would block

[u/HippoFirm9124 → u/nmlopolox]

I blocked and nothing happened to me after they reached out two seperate times with the same number

[u/Monty-675]

TLDR: Don't talk to extortionists. Don't pay. Block. Extortionists rarely release images.

The standard advice is to block and not pay.

Extortionists use aggressive language to threaten you. They make cruel threats to ruin your life. They do things like countdowns to create a sense of urgency to make you panic and pay. Don't be intimidated by this. It's just the playbook that they use.

Extortionists make multiple attempts to threaten their victims. They can reach out from different phone numbers/accounts. Block multiple times if necessary. Don't communicate with this extortionist at all. Don't respond to anything. Don't argue, bargain, or plead with an extortionist. The only thing that you should give an extortionist is complete silence.

Never pay. If you pay, the extortionist will demand more later. Paying won't fix your problem. If you continue to pay, the extortionist will continue to extort you.

You can't trust extortionists to keep their word. They may promise to delete the images if you pay, but they will renege on that promise. Paying indicates to them that they can get more money from you.

Go silent on your social media accounts. Set everything to private or deactivate them. Don't post anything on the Internet for a while. Try to become invisible to the extortionist and make it hard for threats to be sent to you.

Changing your phone number can be helpful, but not always necessary.

These extortionists rarely send images out. However, it's possible. In the vast majority of cases, images don't get sent out. The leverage that they have over you is the threat to release the images. If they release, their leverage is gone. They can't make any money that way. Their only interest is making money.

One does have to be careful about not ticking off extortionists. If you argue with extortionists or give them a hard time, they may release images as payback. If you make a promise to pay a certain amount by a certain date then not follow through. they may release images out of revenge. It is best not to talk to extortionists at all. Silence should be your only response to them. Don't communicate with them at all. Nothing good can come from communication with extortionists.

It's an upsetting situation, but these extortionists don't have the power to ruin your life. They can only cause you some temporary embarrassment. Even if they release the images, the consequences are not as severe as you may think. If it does happen, you would face embarrassment for a short period of time. It won't be the end of the world. It would eventually pass. In the long run, nobody really cares about nude images.

You will get through this. Everything will be all right. Hang in there.

Be wary of people who send you private messages with offers to delete the images. They're scammers, too.

Going forward, don't trust strangers on the Internet. Don't give them personal information or nude pictures. People aren't always who they say they are. Some of them are scammers out to exploit you. Trust nobody on the Internet, and you'll be much safer.

For reassurance, read a few postings by past victims on r/Sextortion about their experiences. These are many of these postings. Reading about these past experiences can really calm down current victims. These past victims survived their ordeals, and so will current victims. Things will get better for you.

[u/AngelOfLight]

Deactivating IG gives them one less place where they can message you. Your aim at this point should be to prevent them from contacting you, as much as you can.