Sextortion email "I recorded you": what to do

What these emails look like

The wording changes, but the structure is almost always the same:

• A claim of hacking: "Your computer is infected", "I have access to your camera", "I watched you on adult websites".
• Proof that proves nothing: technical-sounding details, sometimes one of your old passwords, sometimes the email even appears to come "from your own address".
• A threat: the video or images will go to your family and colleagues, or be posted online.
• A deadline and a payment: usually 24–48 hours and an amount in bitcoin, sent to a wallet address.

The UK's National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) says the people behind these emails are guessing. They're relying on an emotional reaction – the email goes to thousands of people, and some of them will panic and pay.

Why it's almost certainly a bluff

• Thousands of people got the same text. There's nothing in it that only someone actually watching you would know – no still image, no specific video.
• A password in the email doesn't mean they're in your account. According to the NCSC, it most likely comes from an older data breach, when usernames and passwords leaked from some online service. Lists from these breaches circulate online.
• The sender address can be faked. An email that seems to come from your own mailbox doesn't mean anyone has broken into it. The sender can type whatever they like into the "From" field – much like the return address on an envelope.

What to do now

1. Don't reply and don't click anything in the email. A reply only confirms that the address is live and that you read it.
2. Don't pay.
3. Is your password in the email? If you still use it anywhere, change it now – on every account where it's the same. You can create a new one with our password generator. Turn on two-step verification for important accounts (email, banking, social media).
4. See where your address has leaked. Have I Been Pwned shows known data breaches your email address appears in – the NCSC recommends it for exactly this.
5. Report it and delete it. In the UK, forward the email to the NCSC's Suspicious Email Reporting Service at report@phishing.gov.uk. In the US, the FTC asks you to forward phishing emails to the Anti-Phishing Working Group at reportphishing@apwg.org and report them at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. Elsewhere, mark it as spam or phishing in your mailbox. Then delete it.

Already paid? Don't send any more. Contact your bank or the exchange you paid through, and report it to the police – in the UK on 101, as the NCSC advises; in the US to the FBI's IC3.

Worried that someone really has got into your mailbox (unknown sign-ins, sent messages you didn't write, changed settings)? Follow our guide Account hacked: how to get it back.

When the blackmail is real

It's a completely different situation if you really did have an intimate video call with someone you only know online, or sent them photos or videos. The pattern is well known: a friendly contact on social media or a dating app, a quick move to a video call or swapping images, and then a message saying everything was recorded – pay, or it goes to your family, friends or employer. The profile photos and identity are usually fake.

The UK's Revenge Porn Helpline warns that the amount is set to be "just enough" to make you pay, and that more demands are likely after any payment. What to do:

1. Don't pay or negotiate. Paying doesn't end it. If you've already paid, send nothing more and contact your bank or the payment service.
2. Stop all contact – don't reply, don't send anything else.
3. Save the evidence: screenshots of the threats, the blackmailer's profile and username, and any bank details or wallet addresses they gave you. Then block them and report them to the platform.
4. Report it to the police. In the UK, call 101. The Helpline notes that police options may be limited if the blackmailer is abroad, but your report still adds to the intelligence picture. In the US, report it to the FBI's IC3.
5. Stop the images spreading. If you're 18 or over and have the images on your device, StopNCII.org creates a digital fingerprint (hash) of each one on your phone or computer – the image itself isn't uploaded – and participating platforms use it to block matching content.

There's nothing to be ashamed of. Blackmail is a crime, and the person to blame is the blackmailer, not you.

Protect yourself in advance

• Don't reuse passwords. If one service leaks, attackers can't get in anywhere else – and an email quoting an old password won't scare you.
• Turn on two-step verification for your email and social media.
• Be careful who you share intimate images or video calls with, especially people you've never met and who push you to move fast.
• Cover your laptop camera if it puts your mind at ease. You don't need to because of mass blackmail emails, but it doesn't hurt.