Blackmail over private photos or video

Someone is demanding money over a recorded video call or chat, or an edited photo, and threatening to send it to your family.

Call 1930 nowFile a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in

Do this now

  1. Step 1.

    Within 2 minutes

    Do not pay, and stop replying. This is not your fault and you are not alone — it is a scripted, organised operation that happens to people of every age, every day. Paying does not end the demands; it increases them.

  2. Step 2.

    Within 10 minutes

    Before you stop, screenshot the chat, the profile and the number. Then block and report the account — but do not delete the chat.

  3. Step 3.

    Within 5 minutes

    Call 1930 right now. It is the national cyber-crime helpline and runs 24 hours. The sooner the complaint is on record, the better the chance the bank can freeze the money — the first hour matters most.

    Call 1930
  4. Step 4.

    Within the first hour

    File the written complaint at cybercrime.gov.in and save the acknowledgement number. The phone complaint lands on the same portal, but only you can add the written account and the documents.

    File at cybercrime.gov.in
  5. Step 5.

    Within 2 hours

    Make your social accounts private for a few days and hide your friend list, so it is harder for them to reach your contacts.

  6. Step 6.

    Within 4 hours

    If anything has been posted, report it to that platform for takedown; the portal also allows an anonymous complaint. Keep one person you trust in the loop.

  7. Step 7.

    Within 24 hours

    Go to the nearest police station or cyber cell, give a written complaint and take the acknowledgement. A cyber-crime FIR can be registered at any police station — you cannot be turned away on the ground that it is not their jurisdiction.

Do not do this

  • Do not pay anything at all. The demands never stop after a payment.
  • Do not delete the chat, call log, email or messages — not even out of anger. That is your evidence, and it does not come back.
  • Do not stay silent out of shame. The crime is theirs, not yours — and delay is the only advantage they have.
  • Do not argue or negotiate, and do not give them any more information about yourself.

Preserve this evidence

  • Screenshot every screen with the date and time visible — the chat, the payment screen, the email, the profile.
  • The sender's phone number, UPI ID, email address, WhatsApp profile, and the link to any social-media account they contacted you from.
  • The link and username of the profile or page that contacted you — and a screenshot taken before it disappears.
  • The UTR or reference number of every transaction, the amount, the time, and the full details of the account or UPI ID the money went to.
  • Any call recording you have, plus a screenshot of the call log showing the number and duration.
  • Leave the original messages, mails and files exactly where they are — the original counts as evidence alongside the screenshot. Delete nothing.

Similar cases

  • Sextortion

    Sextortion: blackmail with a recorded video call

    This is a composite illustration drawn from many similar complaints, not the record of one real case; the amount only indicates the usual order of magnitude, while the method, the warning signs and the sections cited are real. Two things about this crime are clear: paying never stops the demand, it only increases it, and staying silent out of shame is the blackmailer's greatest strength. Being targeted is nothing to be ashamed of — speaking up and reporting is what stops it.

    Amount lost
    ₹40,000
    Not recovered

National helplines

State cyber cells

Start over

This is educational information, not legal advice. For anything serious, speak to an advocate.