If someone is blackmailing you on Facebook, do not pay and do not keep replying. Save the messages and the blackmailer’s profile as evidence first, then block them, lock down your account, and report the person to Meta, your local police, and the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. Paying almost never ends the threats and usually brings higher demands.
Stop Paying and Stop Responding
Sending money, gift cards, or cryptocurrency tells the blackmailer that pressure works on you. They come back with higher demands, and nothing they promise about deleting images or walking away is enforceable. If you’ve already paid, stop now and move to the steps below. The payment doesn’t change the path forward.
Cut off contact completely. Don’t reply, don’t answer video calls, and don’t try to negotiate or reason with the person. Every response gives them more material and confirms you’re reachable. Silence is the single most effective thing you can do in the first hour.
Save the Evidence Before You Block
Document everything before you block the account. Once you block someone on Facebook, their profile and your message thread may no longer be accessible to you, and investigators will need what you capture now.
- Screenshot the full conversation, including threats and payment demands, with timestamps, dates, and the sender’s name visible in each shot.
- Copy the URL of the blackmailer’s profile from your browser’s address bar, and screenshot their profile picture, username, and any public details.
- Record the payment method they asked for — Venmo, Zelle, cryptocurrency, wire transfer. Copy the full crypto wallet address if they sent one. For bank transfers, note the account number and name on the account.
- Save copies of any images or videos they’re using as leverage to a separate drive or secure folder, not just your phone’s camera roll.
Keep screenshots whole. Include the platform name on screen and the URL bar when you can, and capture the full thread rather than isolated messages. Don’t crop or edit the images; alterations raise authenticity questions later. When you’re sure you have everything, then block the person on Facebook and on any other platform where they’ve reached you.
Lock Down Your Facebook Account
Blackmailers sometimes already have access to your account, or they use what’s visible on it to pressure you harder. Secure the account alongside preserving evidence.
Change Your Password and Turn On Two-Factor Authentication
Change your Facebook password right away, especially if you shared any login details or suspect the blackmailer got in. Pick a password you haven’t used anywhere else.
Then enable two-factor authentication. Go to Settings & Privacy, then Settings, then Password and Security under your Accounts Center. Tap Two-Factor Authentication, choose your account, and select an authentication app such as Google Authenticator or Authy. With 2FA on, a stolen password alone isn’t enough to log in. Save the recovery codes in case your phone isn’t available.
While you’re there, review active login sessions. Any device or location you don’t recognize, log it out. That tells you whether anyone else is in your account right now.
Tighten Privacy Settings
Limit who can send you friend requests to Friends of Friends instead of Everyone. Adjust message request settings so strangers can’t easily reach your inbox. Set your friends list and personal details to private. Blackmailers routinely threaten to contact your friends and family, and locking down what they can see reduces the leverage.
Report the Blackmailer to Facebook
Go to the blackmailer’s profile, tap the options menu, and select the option to report the profile. You can also report individual threatening messages inside the conversation by tapping on a message and choosing report.
Pick the category that fits best — harassment, scams, or nudity and sexual activity are the most relevant. Be specific in the description.
Meta’s review is separate from law enforcement. The outcomes available on their side are removing content and suspending the blackmailer’s account. You can track your report through Facebook’s Support Inbox. A platform report won’t produce criminal charges on its own, and it won’t stop the person from reaching you on other apps, which is why the police report below matters.
Stop the Images From Spreading
If the threat involves intimate images and you are 18 or older, use StopNCII.org, a free tool Meta partners with. It creates a digital fingerprint (a hash) of the image on your own device — the image itself is never uploaded — and shares that hash with participating platforms, including Meta, so they can detect and remove matches automatically.1StopNCII.org. Stop Non-Consensual Intimate Image Abuse
To use it, you must be the person in the image, be at least 18 both in the image and now, and still have a copy on your device. If you’re under 18 or the image shows a minor, StopNCII.org isn’t the right tool; use NCMEC’s Take It Down instead, covered below.2Meta. Intimate Image Abuse and Sextortion – Safety Center
Report It to Law Enforcement
Blackmail and extortion are crimes under state and federal law. Report it even if you’re embarrassed. Police and federal investigators work these cases constantly, and your report helps identify offenders who are often running the same scheme against many people at once.
Local Police
Start with your local police department. Bring your screenshots, the blackmailer’s profile information, and any payment records. Ask for a copy of the police report number — you may need it for follow-up with the FBI or your bank.
The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center
Online blackmail usually crosses state or national lines, which puts it in federal territory. File a complaint with the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center at ic3.gov. IC3 is the federal government’s central intake point for cyber-enabled crime.3Internet Crime Complaint Center. Home Page – Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3)
IC3 can’t respond individually to every complaint, but each report feeds broader investigations, and patterns across many complaints are often what produce arrests.
What Federal Law Says
Transmitting extortionate threats across state lines is a federal crime. When someone uses interstate communications to extort money by threatening to damage your reputation or expose private information — the pattern in most Facebook blackmail cases — the offense carries up to two years in federal prison and a fine. If the threats involve physical harm or kidnapping, penalties rise to as much as twenty years.4Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 18 USC 875 – Interstate Communications
A newer federal law goes directly at this conduct. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, signed in 2025, makes it a federal crime to share intimate images of someone without consent, including AI-generated deepfakes. Sharing images of an adult carries up to two years in prison; images of a minor, up to three years. Threatening to publish such images for extortion, coercion, or intimidation is separately criminalized — up to 18 months for threats involving adults and up to 30 months for threats involving minors.5U.S. Congress. Text – S.146 – 119th Congress (2025-2026) TAKE IT DOWN Act
The same law requires covered platforms, Facebook included, to set up a process for removing non-consensual intimate images within 48 hours of a valid request. That gives you a legal right to fast removal rather than only a hope that review staff act quickly.6U.S. Congress. S.146 – TAKE IT DOWN Act 119th Congress (2025-2026)
If the Person Being Blackmailed Is a Minor
The response path is different for anyone under 18. Report the situation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children through its CyberTipline at report.cybertip.org or by calling 1-800-843-5678. IC3 itself directs crimes against children to NCMEC.7National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. CyberTipline
To stop the spread of a minor’s intimate images, use NCMEC’s Take It Down tool, which works like StopNCII.org but is built for images of people under 18. Meta integrates both tools into its reporting flow.2Meta. Intimate Image Abuse and Sextortion – Safety Center
Penalties under the TAKE IT DOWN Act are higher when the victim is a minor: up to three years for sharing the images and up to 30 months for threats alone.5U.S. Congress. Text – S.146 – 119th Congress (2025-2026) TAKE IT DOWN Act
If you’re the young person in this situation, the thing to know is that telling a trusted adult won’t get you in trouble. The adults who handle these cases treat the blackmailer as the criminal, not you.
Where to Get Help
Blackmail is designed to produce shame and isolation, which is how it keeps working. You don’t have to deal with it alone. The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative runs a crisis helpline at 844-878-2274 for victims of sextortion and non-consensual image sharing, with guidance on takedowns, attorney referrals, and support.8NOVA (National Organization for Victim Assistance). Cyber Civil Rights Initiative Crisis Helpline
If you’re in a mental health crisis, call or text 988 to reach the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline. Sextortion-related suicides have been documented, and reaching out is the right call.