If someone is threatening to publish intimate images, do not pay, send more material, or meet them. Save the threats and account details, secure your accounts, report the extortion, and start removal requests for every image or video already online. This safety-first guide explains how to remove blackmail images from websites and Google Search while reducing the risk of re-uploads.
If images are already posted, survivor support opens a confidential removal case with no card, and Google image removal covers search results while the source is pursued.
Immediate danger: contact local emergency services. If the material depicts someone who was under 18 when it was created, use the child-safety route below and do not download, forward, or make a new copy of the image to report it.
Remove blackmail images: the short checklist
- Stop engaging long enough to preserve the threatening messages, usernames, payment demands, phone numbers, and URLs.
- Do not pay or send more images. Payment cannot prove deletion and may lead to further demands.
- Change compromised passwords from a trusted device, enable multi-factor authentication, and sign out unknown sessions.
- Report the threatening account through the platform's extortion, intimate-image abuse, or safety process.
- Report every published copy to the website or platform that hosts it.
- Request removal from Google Search separately; search removal does not delete the source page.
- Use an age-appropriate hash-matching service and continue monitoring for re-uploads.
1. Preserve evidence without spreading the image
Save enough information to show what happened and where the content is located. Keep the full message thread, account handle, profile URL, payment instructions, dates, visible timestamps, and exact URLs of any published copies. Record each item in a simple log with columns for the URL, platform, date found, report number, response, and current status.
A screenshot of the threat is useful, but avoid repeatedly downloading or forwarding the intimate image. If the image depicts a minor, do not save a new copy merely for reporting. The FBI's sextortion guidance advises victims to report the account and preserve information that can help identify the offender. For a more formal record, follow our digital-evidence checklist.
2. Secure the accounts the blackmailer may be using
From a device you trust, change the password for your primary email first, then cloud storage, social accounts, and messaging apps. Use a unique password for each account, enable multi-factor authentication, review recovery email addresses and phone numbers, revoke unfamiliar connected apps, and sign out sessions you do not recognize.
If the person is impersonating you, report both the impersonation and the image abuse. Ask trusted contacts not to negotiate with the offender or repost the material while trying to help.
3. Report the threat and any published copy separately
A threat report and a content-removal report solve different problems. Report the threatening account under sextortion, extortion, harassment, or intimate-image abuse. For content that is already online, submit a separate report for each exact post, page, or media URL. Choose the platform's non-consensual intimate imagery option when it exists; it normally reaches a more relevant review team than a generic abuse form.
If you decide to contact law enforcement, bring the preserved messages, account identifiers, payment demand, URLs, and report confirmation numbers. Laws and reporting channels differ by country, so a local survivor-support organization or lawyer can help with jurisdiction-specific options.
4. Remove blackmail images from Google Search
Google provides a request flow for personal sexual content, including real or fake sexual images involving you and pages that incorrectly associate your name with sexual content. Use Google's personal sexual-content removal guidance and submit the exact result URLs requested by the form.
Removing a result from Google does not remove the image from the hosting website. Submit both requests: one to the source platform or host, and another to the search engine. If the source page has already been deleted but an outdated result remains, use the search engine's outdated-content process.
5. Use the correct stay-down tool for the person's age
If you were 18 or older when the image was taken
StopNCII.org can create a digital fingerprint, or hash, on your device and share that fingerprint with participating platforms. The image itself does not leave your device during hashing. StopNCII does not cover the entire internet, so continue direct URL reporting and monitoring.
If you were under 18 when the image was taken
Use the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children's Take It Down service. The service can be used even if you are now an adult, as long as the image or video was taken before you turned 18. Do not download or ask someone to resend the material in order to submit it.
6. Use copyright only when it applies
A DMCA notice may be an additional route when you own the copyright or are authorized to act for the owner. Copyright and consent are different: being the person shown in a photograph does not automatically mean you own the copyright. If someone else took the image, use the platform's intimate-image-abuse process first and seek advice before making a copyright claim you are unsure about.
When copyright applies, identify the original work and each exact infringing URL, send the notice to the correct platform or host recipient, and keep the ticket number. Our NCII and DMCA workflow guide explains the required notice elements and escalation sequence.
7. Verify removal and watch for re-uploads
Check the reported URL from a signed-out browser and record the date it became unavailable. A removed source, a de-indexed search result, and a disabled account are different outcomes; track them separately. Continue searching known usernames, repeated captions, exact URLs, and representative images on a schedule that does not overwhelm you.
Our post-takedown monitoring guide provides a practical recheck schedule and explains the limits of reverse-image search and hash matching.
Is the threat itself a crime?
It can be, even if nothing is ever posted, but the offence and the legal threshold depend on the country. In the US, the federal TAKE IT DOWN Act creates criminal liability for certain non-consensual publication of intimate images, including AI-generated ones, and for threats to publish them to intimidate or extort someone. In England and Wales, section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 separately makes it an offence to threaten to share an intimate photograph or film.
Will the police do anything?
Reporting is worth it. The FBI's sextortion guidance says that cooperating with the offender rarely stops the blackmail, but law enforcement can. In the US, report at tips.fbi.gov, by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or to local police. Elsewhere, go to local police or your national cybercrime reporting service. Bring the saved messages, usernames, payment details and URLs.
If you were under 18 in the images, tell a trusted adult or report through NCMEC's CyberTipline. The person making threats is the one committing the crime.
Beware of paid "recovery" offers
The FBI warns that victims should never have to pay to get help or to have images removed, and that people or businesses offering to "recover" or delete images for a fee may be running a second scam. Nobody can delete images from the blackmailer's phone. Free routes exist: StopNCII, Take It Down, platform reports, Google's removal forms and our free survivor support.
When to get help
Get support immediately if the offender knows your location, threatens physical harm, targets a minor, has accessed your accounts, or keeps escalating after a report. In the United States, adults can contact the CCRI Image Abuse Helpline; reports involving minors can be made through NCMEC CyberTipline. Elsewhere, contact local emergency services, a cybercrime reporting center, or a specialist intimate-image-abuse organization.
You do not have to do this alone: the free survivor path covers the first steps, and Google image removal handles copies that stay in search results.
Frequently asked questions
How can I remove blackmail images from the internet?
Preserve the threats and exact URLs, report each source copy through the platform's intimate-image-abuse process, request eligible Google Search removals separately, and use StopNCII or Take It Down when eligible. Continue checking for re-uploads.
Should I pay someone who threatens to post my images?
No. Paying cannot verify deletion and may lead to further demands. Preserve the payment request, stop sending material, secure your accounts, and report the offender.
Can Google delete a blackmail image from a website?
No. Google can remove an eligible result from Search, but the source page may remain online. Report the website or platform as well as the search result.
What if the blackmail image is fake or AI-generated?
Report it as non-consensual or fake sexual content. Google's personal sexual-content policy includes fake content that depicts or falsely associates you with sexual material, and many platforms treat sexual deepfakes as intimate-image abuse.
Can a takedown service guarantee permanent removal?
No responsible service can guarantee removal from the entire internet. Compare source coverage, privacy handling, evidence records, search de-indexing, follow-up, and re-upload monitoring rather than relying on a permanent-removal promise.
Can the police do anything about sextortion?
Yes. The FBI says cooperating with the offender rarely stops the blackmail, but law enforcement can. In the US report at tips.fbi.gov or 1-800-CALL-FBI; elsewhere, go to local police with the saved messages, usernames and payment details.
Is it illegal to threaten to share someone's pictures?
It can be, depending on the country. In the US, the TAKE IT DOWN Act covers threats to publish an intimate image, real or AI-generated, to intimidate or extort someone. In England and Wales, section 66B of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 covers threats to share. Elsewhere, check local law or a helpline.
Should I pay someone who offers to delete the images for me?
No. The FBI warns that victims should never have to pay to get images removed and that such offers may be another scam. Nobody can delete images from the blackmailer's devices; use the free reporting routes instead.
