How Can Sextortion Ruin Your Life?

You’ve probably heard about Sextortion. And if you haven’t, be sure to check out our previous article talking about what sextortion is.  Sextortion – the online cybercrime of our age. Its reach is sweeping the globe. Any kind of online scam can be harrying due to the fear and uncertainty of how sextortion can ruin your life. 

Sextortion, in particular, can take a toll on your mental health. The largest question we receive is regarding what might happen – how can sextortion ruin your life? After all, we’re talking about distant criminals who may or may not follow through with their demands.

However distant they may be and however serious they are about posting your content, sextortionists hold your reputation in their hands when you’re being sextorted. Today, we’ll discuss some situations, many of which we have seen in our own cases. Your life may be affected if sextortion scams are not taken seriously.

What Is Sextortion?

Rather than reiterating one of our previous articles, let’s first get the cliff notes version of what sextortion is. Online sextortion, a class of online blackmail, starts with sextortionists reaching out to individuals on an online platform, be it social media, dating apps, message boards, or even online games.

Typically, communication is established between the two parties quickly after the perpetrator adds or follows the new victim.  The conversation moves across the stages of the scam at varying speeds.

First, the sextortionists will make small talk and ask generally innocuous questions of the target. This conversation will typically see some discussion of non-vital topics to build rapport, as well as personal questions. 

These help sextortionists locate users on other platforms for potential spread later in the plot. The talk then turns more heavily toward romantic or sexual tones. 

Sextortionists will then drop the bait of “personal” content of their own (usually fake or stolen pics, screenshots, and webcam videos). They’ll ask for media from their target in return. 

Once received they’ll hold that media hostage with the threat of releasing that content.  Intimate images or video, to their friends, family members, or colleagues should the target not pay them off.  

When the Bomb Goes Off: The Fallout of Sextortion Scams

While many experts and organizations recommend ignoring sextortionists and online blackmail scams entirely, you may yet ask yourself, “If I ignore it, can sextortion ruin my life?” 

Unfortunately, the answer is yes, it could. But each scammer is unique, as there are as many who do not go through with their threats as there are sextortionists who do follow through. Some, in fact, become more likely to post your content when ignored; it’s the human factor at work.

Where the variable in question is likely halfway across the world, holding your intimate images and videos in their hands. With that in mind, there are many different topics to consider on how, if that media were to get out, it could ruin your life when you are being sextorted.

The first and most obvious consideration to be made is the effect it will have on your immediate friends and family. Some may not care, understanding that you are a victim. Some, on the other hand, may become emotionally distant. 

You may even come into points of conflict with people you once loved and trusted. The emotional toll isn’t strictly on just a sextortion victim when it also affects the people they love. This goes doubly, of course, for anyone in a relationship already – spouses, partners, and significant others are typically high on sextortionists’ lists of release targets.

Possible Outcomes

This goes similarly for your colleagues. Another way that your life may be affected is regarding your career. Thanks to the interconnectedness of social media platforms, it’s highly likely that a scammer will already know your place of work – and if they don’t, it will likely be one of their earliest questions in your initial conversation.

While it’s not as frequent that the threat to send nude photos and other media to workplaces occurs, it does occur still. Worse still, rather than sending it directly to your boss.

Sextortionists may set up one-page websites that are indexable by popular search engines, using your name and information as keywords. Your compromising material is the site’s primary content, potentially putting off future employers from hiring you.

These sites can also include additional claims that adjust the sextortion situation even further. It may make claims that could lead to even worse possibilities. This brings to our third possible outcome – criminal investigation.

A popular tactic among sextortionists who post these one-page websites is to levy a threat of doctoring the material to make it seem that your communications were far more taboo than they originally seemed. They may make claims ranging from untoward sexual harassment to flat-out framing you as a potential child predator by making it seem that you were initially and knowingly speaking to a minor.

If this should occur, and no prior reports to law enforcement regarding the situation have been made. It’s possible for investigations to open into you and your own life before it ever becomes clear that you, and not them, were the victim all along.

How To Stop Sextortion Before the Bomb Goes Off

Most of this information is partially anecdotal, but we’ve seen instances of each of these kinds of situations. A victim has called us far too late for us to assist them. 

Not every scammer will act in the same manner. Once again, there is a human element of ‘the unknown’ and unknowable variables in each situation. The best recourse, if you find yourself being sextorted or know someone who is a sextortion victim is, first and foremost, to remain calm. 

The next step, as soon as possible, is to file a police report with your local authorities.  (IC3). While you may not get direct responses from the FBI due to their volume or immediate assistance from local law enforcement (as they cannot typically do anything to extra-national criminals), there are yet other groups out there in our world today actively fighting against these felonious fiends.

The biggest thing you can do for yourself to stop sextortion on any platform is to seek professional assistance from such individuals and organizations.

How To Recover From Sextortion

Sextortionists will target people on several apps or social media platforms. The extortionist may choose dating apps like Tinder, social media apps like Snapchat, or communication platforms like WhatsApp. 

The online world allows for the layering of fake social media accounts so the scammer can protect their real identity and trick someone into providing sexual content. A victim of sextortion may be willing to initially engage with a fake profile if the sextortionist appears to have friends in common through their visible friends list. 

Victims of sextortion may feel shame and guilt for what they’ve done. Many victims fear talking about the experience because of the nature of sexuality in the perceived relationship with a stranger. 

The exchanges of nudes, explicit images, and other content may not be a comfortable topic for some. The deception tactics used by a scammer will often make someone feel foolish for not being able to distinguish between the scammer and the person they thought they were talking to. 

There are resources available to victims of sextortion, such as Without My Consent, and in cases involving children, the NCMEC (National Center for Missing and Exploited Children). These organizations offer support systems for the recovery side of such events. 

They also can help advocate for victims in a legal setting. Sextortion is a growing issue that is affecting more people every year. Victims are not alone and the growing resources can help provide a support system.

The reality is that relationships that exist online rely heavily on the perception of the person reading the messages. Those who are vulnerable make ideal targets; this will mean that these vulnerable people may become even more sensitive after the traumatic event. It’s important to seek out therapy, talk to loved ones, and learn more about the tactics used by scammers. 

How To Deal With Sextortion

Here at Digital Forensics, we are one such option; we have a success rate of over 90%. When it comes to handling sextortion cases and putting a stop to sextortionists, our team of experts and analysts strive for the discreet handling of your situation.  Our team is available 24/7 to hear your case.

If you or someone you know is being sextorted and you want help making the scammer stop, reach out to 1-888-210-2373, or chat with one of our digital experts online.

In the meantime, we hope that we’ve sufficiently answered for the multitude of outcomes in regards to how sextortion can ruin your life – more articles like these, make sure to check out our main blog page as well! 

Now you know the answer to the question, “Can sextortion ruin your life?” Its time to decide what to do if you’re a victim

Sources:

FBI finds sharp rise in online extortion of teens tricked into sending sexually explicit photos | PBS

Without My Consent

NCMEC