What to Do If Someone Threatens to Leak Your Photos

If you are in immediate danger, call 112. If you are under 18, please tell a parent, teacher or another adult you trust today. This guide is general information, not legal advice.

1. What is happening?

Threatening to share someone’s intimate images unless they pay or send more is often called sextortion. It can start with a flirty chat, a video call that is secretly recorded, a hacked account, or even fake images made with editing tools. It is a crime, and the person being threatened is not the one who did something wrong.

2. Don’t pay, and don’t send more

Paying rarely ends the threats. People who pay are often asked for more. Sending extra photos or videos gives the other person more to threaten you with. You don’t have to reply at all.

3. Save evidence before you block

• Take screenshots of the threats, showing the username or number and the date and time.
• Copy the link to their profile and any posts.
• Note any payment details they send, such as a UPI ID or account number.

Don’t forward, re-upload or share the intimate images themselves, even as proof. Describe them instead.

4. Block and report the account

After saving evidence, block the person on every app where they can reach you and report the account. Check your privacy settings, and consider making your social media accounts private for now so they can’t message your friends or family.

On BeAnon, you will be able to block and report a user from the chat. See the Safety Center.

5. Report it to the authorities

Report the threat on the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal, or visit your nearest police station or cyber cell. If you have already paid, call 1930 as soon as possible. You can also report the calls or messages on Chakshu on Sanchar Saathi. Our guide to reporting online harassment in India covers each step.

6. Get the images taken down

• Report to the platform. Under India’s IT Rules, 2021, as amended in February 2026, platforms must take reasonable steps to remove content showing nudity, sexual acts or morphed images of you within 2 hours of your complaint. If the in-app report doesn’t work, contact the platform’s grievance officer. For BeAnon, email grievance@beanon.app; the deadlines for each complaint type are in our Community Guidelines.
• Adults (18+): use StopNCII.org. It creates a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device, so the image isn’t uploaded, and participating platforms use it to detect and block matching copies.
• Under 18: use Take It Down, which works in a similar way for images taken when someone was under 18, and report on cybercrime.gov.in.

7. If the images are fake

Some people threaten to share edited or AI-generated images. These are also covered by the takedown rules for morphed images, and you can report them in the same way. Save evidence, don’t engage, and report.

8. Look after yourself

This is a stressful thing to go through. Tell someone you trust, even if it feels embarrassing. You don’t have to handle it alone. If you feel overwhelmed, you can speak to a trained counsellor at Tele-MANAS by calling 14416.

9. Lowering the risk in future

• Don’t share intimate photos or go on intimate video calls with people you have only met online.
• Be wary of someone who moves quickly to flirting and wants to switch apps. Read how to spot an online friendship or romance scam.
• Turn on two-step verification for your accounts.

FAQ

Should I pay if someone threatens to leak my photos?

No. Paying rarely stops the threats and very often produces more of them: once someone knows you will pay, the demands usually continue and grow. Sending further photos or videos in the hope of calming the situation has the same effect, because it hands the other person more material to threaten you with. You do not have to reply at all. Stop responding, then save your evidence before blocking: screenshots of the threats showing the username and timestamps, links to their profile, and any payment details such as a UPI ID. Do not forward or re-upload the images themselves, even as proof. Block and report the account everywhere the person can reach you, and report the threat on cybercrime.gov.in. If you have already paid, call 1930 as soon as possible. None of this is your fault, and threatening to share intimate images is a crime. Call 112 if you are in danger.

How do I get my photos removed from a website or app?

Start by reporting the content to the platform hosting it. Under India’s IT Rules, 2021, as amended in February 2026, platforms must take reasonable steps to remove content showing nudity, sexual acts or morphed images of you within 2 hours of your complaint. If the in-app report does not work, escalate to that platform’s grievance officer, whose contact details are published in its terms, privacy policy or help centre. Alongside the takedown request, adults aged 18 and over can use StopNCII.org, which creates a digital fingerprint of the image on your own device — the image itself is never uploaded — and participating platforms use that fingerprint to detect and block matching copies before they spread. If the images were taken when you were under 18, use Take It Down instead, which works in a similar way, and report it on cybercrime.gov.in. Keep a record of every report you file.

What if I’m under 18?

Tell an adult you trust today: a parent, a teacher, an older relative or another adult who looks after you. This is the one situation where handling it alone is the wrong approach, and telling someone early almost always makes it easier to stop. You are not in trouble for asking for help, and you have not done anything wrong — an adult who pressures a young person for images is the one committing a crime. Report it on cybercrime.gov.in, which has a specific focus on crimes against children, and use Take It Down, a service for images taken when someone was under 18, which helps get copies detected and removed by participating platforms. Do not pay, do not send more images, and save the evidence before blocking. If you are in immediate danger, call 112. BeAnon is for adults aged 18 and over only.

What if the photos are fake?

Treat them exactly as seriously, and report them the same way. Edited, face-swapped and AI-generated images can be reported and removed through the same routes as real ones, and India’s IT Rules specifically cover morphed images of you, with the same requirement on platforms to take reasonable steps to remove such content within 2 hours of your complaint. You do not need to prove the image is fake before reporting it, and you should not feel you have to explain or justify yourself to the person threatening you. Do not engage, do not pay, and save your evidence first: screenshots of the threats with the username and timestamps, and links to anywhere the content has been posted. Then block and report the account and file a complaint on cybercrime.gov.in. An image being fake does not make the threat less real or less of a crime.