In the age of digital connection social media platforms like Snapchat have made it easy for friends, family members, and even complete strangers to connect by sending photos, videos, and direct messages across the internet.
With over 800 million monthly active users (MAUs) as of November 2024 (1), Snapchat stands as the ninth largest social media platform. But, while Snapchat’s user base continues to grow, it has also become a hotspot for scammers with exhortative intent.
Blackmail on Snapchat is on the rise with criminals targeting users for different financial scams including dating scams and sextortion scams creating financial and emotional distress for their victims.
If you have been targeted by a blackmailer on Snapchat, it is crucial that you take immediate action. While it may feel like this blackmail is threatening your life and reputation, you still have ways to fight back. Not only can you report the blackmailer, but there are direct steps you can take right now to put a stop to their threats and regain control.
What is Snapchat Blackmail?
Snapchat Blackmail is when a cybercriminal uses a fake account to connect with an unsuspecting victim. These criminals will lure their victim’s using flirtation and manipulation until they are able to gain information that they can use to blackmail their target. While this information can include confidential, sensitive, or embarrassing information, blackmail on Snapchat more often involves intimate or explicit content of the shared by the victim with their blackmailer in the form of nude photos or videos often referred to as “Nudes.”
The blackmailer secretly captures the shared images and later threatens to release the images to the victims family, friends, or co-workers. This is a type of blackmail known as Sextortion, and it is one of the most effective methods that blackmailers use to extort their victims for money.
How Snapchat Blackmail Works
Blackmail on Snapchat typically begins with a scammer creating a fake profile. These fraudulent accounts often feature a profile picture of an attractive person or even a celebrity, which the blackmailer uses to lure their targets into accepting the initial friend request.
For those unlucky enough to accept the request from the unknown/fake account, the blackmailer will begin a string of tailored messages to them. These messages usually start slowly but often accelerate as the scammer deploys the following format to achieve their initial goal.
- The Compliment Stage: In this part of the con, the blackmailer tries to build trust with their victim by complimenting the victim’s photos, videos, or profile.
- The Romance Stage: For those targets that respond to the messages in the previous state, the scammer will begin sending tailored messages that are meant to create romantic feelings with their targets. This action often involves sending multiple romantic messages in a role, often referred to as “Love Bombing.” But while sending these messages, the blackmailer is also researching their victim’s profile building the lists of followers, family members, and other acquaintances that will be used during the final stage.
- The Explicit Stage: Once the blackmailer has gotten their victim to develop romantic feeling toward their fake profile, they will begin asking for the victim to share explicit content with them. Often sending their own fake images to entice the victim and make them feel more comfortable. The blackmailer may even provide their victim with other ways in which to send these images or videos that is off the Snapchat platform. Regardless of where the images are sent, it is when those images are sent that the final stage begins.
- The Demand Stage: This is when the blackmailer reveals their real intentions. They then demand that their victim pays them through crypto currency or other digital payment platform. To ensure compliance with their demands, the blackmailer uses the information they gathered during the second stage and advise the victim that if they do not pay, they will send the content to the victim’s contacts. Even if the victim pays the blackmailer, the blackmailer will often continue to send demands hoping to extort more and more money from their victim.
While the process outlined above appears simple, it is incredibly effective tactic that was used to extort thousands of individuals each year according to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center’s 2023 report (2).
If you’d like additional information on how blackmailers use the Snapchat App please see our free resource “Protect Yourself From Snapchat Nude Scams.”
Why Do Blackmailers Choose Snapchat?
Individual blackmailers and international cybercrime rings see Snapchat as a prime app to conduct their schemes for many reasons, including:
- A lack of requirements when creating an account creates increased anonymity for the blackmailer.
- Snapchat provides quick ways to send messages, videos, photos
- Blackmailers can screenshot or screen record photos or videos their victims share
- Criminals can gain additional information, including contact information from their victim’s profile.
Potential blackmailers use these factors to not only fuel their fear-mongering tactics, but to protect their anonymity and thus evade detection and capture by legal authorities.
What To Do If Someone is Blackmailing You on Snapchat or another Photo App.
If you have fallen victim to any blackmail or extortion scam on the Snapchat app, here are some simple steps you can take to protect yourself from a blackmailer and keep them at bay until you are able to receive assistance from law enforcement and other cyber-crime specialists.
- Document every interaction you have had with your harasser; this includes photos, videos, messages, call logs, etc.
- Find a support system in loved ones like family members and close friends; victims of blackmail need all the support they can get.
- Cease contact with your blackmailer and do not give into their demands for payment. Paying a blackmailer often entices these criminals into increasing their harassment to extort more money from their victims.
- Lock down your online presence, which includes your Snapchat account, all your social media accounts, bank accounts, business platforms, email, etc.
- Seek out help from your local authorities, the FBI, and blackmail specialists and make a report.
If you are currently being threatened with online blackmail, it is important to reach out for help. We have a Blackmail Helpline available for victims to seek guidance on how to actively resist the demands of your blackmailer. Additionally, you should report the incident to authorities.
For tips on how to delay a blackmailer click here.
Do Snapchat Blackmailers Follow Through?
While it is not advantageous for a blackmailer to follow through with their threats of exposing your personal information to your contacts on Snapchat, it is important to remember that ignoring the threat will not make it vanish. While your blackmailer may hesitate to act, you must take the threat seriously and take the appropriate steps to protect yourself and stop the blackmail from escalating. If you’d like assistance with understanding your options, our team of digital forensics experts are available 24/7 to take your call through our blackmail helpline.
Does Snapchat Help Victims to Stop Blackmail?
Snapchat’s community guidelines (3) strictly forbid the use of the app to distribute any content which can be considered Pornographic and condemns in the strongest terms any content that exploits children. However, these current policies rely on their users to report when any content that is inconsistent with these community guidelines, rather than installing tools that prevent the sharing of suspected images featuring nudity.
As of June, 2024, Snapchat released system protections (4) which were focuses on protecting minors. These protections specifically focus on the inability of non-friends to send friend requests to minors to prevent the targeting of children for sextortion scams.
As a result, scammers are still able to use the application to entice users to share intimate content with potential blackmailers.
Where Should You Report Snapchat Blackmail?
If you find yourself a victim of blackmail on Snapchat, it is crucial to report the incident to the right channels. This will help protect you from further exploitation and help bring your perpetrator to justice. Here is a brief overview of the three steps you should take when reporting any type of extortion on Snapchat.
Report The Blackmail to These 3 Organizations:
- Report the Blackmail to Snapchat Administrators: Snapchat provides an in-app feature for reporting harassment, blackmail, and suspicious behavior.
- Contact Local Law Enforcement: While reporting the blackmail you are experiencing on Snapchat may not yield an immediate result, it is an essential step to stay safe.
- Lock Down Your Snapchat and Other Social Accounts: Do not continue any communication with the blackmailer either on the Snapchat application or any other messaging tools. Lock down your other social media accounts. If you want to understand your other options reach out to our Digital Blackmail Helpline.
If you would like additional information for any of the steps listed above, check out our detailed guide on “How to Report Blackmail on Snapchat.”
How Digital Forensics Helps Victims Stop Snapchat Blackmail
At Digital Forensics Corp. we work on behalf of our customers to ensure that their blackmailers do not win. Through our dedicated teams of digital forensics engineers and social engineering experts we work to ensure our customers issues with blackmail cease.
We do this by deploying our advanced systems to uncover your blackmailer’s identity, and location to force them to delete the images or videos they have gathered on you. We also deploy additional services to remove the threat of them releasing your content protecting your reputation and preserving your peace of mind.
If you or someone you love is facing issues with blackmail or sextortion, please contact our Sextortion Helpline for immediate assistance 24/7. You do not have to go through this alone, help is available.
Sources:
Snapchat reported MAUs users: https://newsroom.snap.com/
Federal Bureau of Investigations Internet Crime Complaint Center Report_-2023 (IC3): https://www.ic3.gov/AnnualReport/Reports/2023_IC3Report.pdf
Snapchat Community Guidelines Regarding Sexual Content: https://values.snap.com/privacy/transparency/community-guidelines/sexual-content?lang=en-US
Snapchat Launches New Features to Combat Teen Sextortion in 2025: https://abc7ny.com/post/snapchat-is-rolling-new-safety-tools-aimed-protecting/15000838/
DISCLAIMER: THIS POST IS FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY AND IS NOT TO BE CONSIDERED LEGAL ADVICE ON ANY SUBJECT MATTER. DIGITAL FORENSICS CORP. IS NOT A LAWFIRM AND DOES NOT PROVIDE LEGAL ADVICE OR SERVICES. By viewing posts, the reader understands there is no attorney-client relationship, the post should not be used as a substitute for legal advice from a licensed professional attorney, and readers are urged to consult their own legal counsel on any specific legal questions concerning a specific situation.
