We live in an age where digital connectivity has brought everyone together from all around the world. And we already know that where there is interconnectivity, there are chances of blackmailing activities. While you may already have an idea of being safe from blackmail attempts, you always need a comprehensive overview of how to get rid of blackmail.
The attempts at blackmail and giving digital threats are increasing steadily. That’s why parents need to take extra measures to protect their kids at all times. This article will give you a complete understanding of such negative attempts and will also guide you on being safe and unaffected.
Understanding online blackmail and its impact
Before we go further, let’s first understand what online blackmail is. Online blackmail is the act of forcing someone to do illegal or unsafe activities by threatening to reveal or expose his or her private information or data.
Before learn how to get rid of blackmail. Let’s briefly discuss one common example of online blackmail. If an online blackmailer has a girl’s private photos, he can threaten the girl to reveal or leak those photos online if she doesn’t do what the blackmailer wants. The blackmailer’s demand may be money or any other material gain.
A person suffering from online blackmail usually goes through multiple psychological and emotional distresses. Let’s briefly discuss some of them below:
Stress: A person going through online blackmail usually suffers stress. He or she may be subject to overthinking that may ultimately lead to high forms of stress.
Fear: People who go through online blackmail often experience high levels of fear. They may constantly keep thinking about the outcomes of the blackmailing activities that he or she is going through. As the final decisions from online blackmailers are usually uncertain, this increases their fear.
Isolation: Forcing oneself into personal isolation is a common outcome of online blackmail. A person who is under online blackmail attempts may start behaving like an introvert. That’s because they are afraid of sharing their feelings with their loved ones out of respect. They may also not want their family members to know about their blackmailing experiences.
Lost focus: Almost all people who go through online blackmail experience lost focus. This uniformly applies to both kids and adults. The loss of focus can affect the professional activities of adults and the studies of kids. That’s because they cannot stop thinking about the threats from online blackmailers.
Common types of blackmail you might encounter
You may have a broad idea of online blackmailing by now. So, let’s now discuss some of the common types of blackmail you might encounter in your life.
Online blackmail:
The word “Online” is very broad. You or your kids may encounter blackmail via multiple online channels. For example, social media is a platform where people interact with each other online. The same threats and risks are always present in online chatting apps. If you start interacting with an unknown person and he gets your private data, you may be in trouble. That blackmailer could always use that information to blackmail you.
Sextortion:
If a blackmailer has got hold of your private photos or videos, they can use them to blackmail you. They may ask about sexual factors in return for keeping your data private with them only. This is a common practice in the blackmail world. That’s why you must also follow the instructions regarding keeping your private data safe and secure. If you easily trust strangers and share your private media with them, the chances of encountering online blackmail multiply manifold.
Financial blackmail:
If a scammer, hacker, or general blackmailer gets hold of your financial details (like banking information), they may also start blackmailing you to keep your financial data safe with them. Or in other instances, you might also get instructions from the blackmailers to give them financial favours. They may tell you to give them a specific amount of money; otherwise, they will leak your personal data.
Emotional blackmail:
This kind of blackmail is also common, especially since the advent of the online boom. People who interact with each other online often get into quick relationships. In some cases, these relationships may turn out to be emotional blackmail activities. For example, a new couple who have just started interacting online may share their private pictures with each other. In this case, the threat from online blackmailers comes in the form of threatening to break relationships if their demands are not met.
Child and teen blackmail:
This is what parents would worry about. As kids and teens are innocent, they are more prone to experiencing online blackmail. Their online interactions with strangers may turn into trustworthy relationships overnight. That is how they become soft targets for online blackmailers and scammers. Children and teens may encounter all kinds of blackmailing activities, including sextortion, financial, and emotional blackmail. Kids also take the negative effects of such activities more seriously. They experience stress, anxiety, fear, and isolation more easily compared to adults.
According to a 2024 study by the Cyberbullying Research Center, every 1 out of 6 children experienced online blackmailing.
Monitor their online activity and engage in healthy conversations about internet safety.
Immediate steps to take if you’re being blackmailed
Whatever the case may be, you must always be prepared and ready for the worst conditions. Let’s suppose you have blackmail threats. What should you do? Let’s discuss briefly below:
Don’t comply:
You must not agree to any of the illegal demands of the blackmailer. Make it a rule of thumb forever. That’s because you don’t know if the demands are going to stop ever or not. If you start complying, the demands are most likely to increase in the future. Moreover, you still don’t have any guarantee that your data will be secure after you agree to the demands of the blackmailer.
Ignore carefully:
You can start ignoring the demands that the online blackmailer puts in front of you. Try to check what information he has and how he got it. This would lead us to our upcoming guidelines for saving all the information and evidence. So, you have to ignore hi,m but you need to carefully interact with the purpose of getting all the information from the blackmailer.
Gather and save all evidence:
Try to get all the information that he has against you. You must start to keep a full record of all of his messages. You should take screenshots of the conversations you had with him so that you can use them later on. If you are talking on a platform where screenshots are not allowed, you can take pictures of those conversations from other phones. If he demands any payments, you must also gather that record with you.
Avoid deleting any communication:
Most people who get threatening messages may start deleting those conversations. You don’t have to panic and start dealing with the situation by being calm. If you delete any messages or conversations, you will lose the record or proof. There are very strict rules and laws against online blackmail all around the world. Even if you don’t know what to do at the start, you must not delete any conversations from the start.
Secure your online accounts:
This is very important, and you must ensure it at all times. You must be very protective of your online accounts. Never take them lightly because these accounts may be misused by scammers and blackmailers. You must ensure that you secure your emails, social media accounts, and cloud storage where your personal data is present. Consider changing and updating your passwords and security questions to ensure your accounts are safe.
Be open with your loved ones:
If you start getting threatening messages, it’s time to share them with your loved ones. Your family would understand and know what to do in those situations. Scammers and fraudsters always exploit this fear and trap kids for illegal demands. You have to develop a strong bond with your family. It would be highly appropriate if you could tell all the details to your parents. They would certainly guide you about how to get out of this situation.
How to report blackmail safely?
Before learning how to get rid of blackmail. Then, if you want to report the blackmail attempt to the appropriate authorities. That’s a great idea and a step in the right direction. Let’s discuss how you can report blackmail attempts to official authorities:
Reporting to local police or cybercrime units: Cyberbullying and online blackmail are serious crimes. You must always keep the option to take legal action if you get threatening messages from someone. You can always call emergency numbers in your country. Governments have introduced units. Try to find the contact details of cybercrime units in your country. Tell them about all the information you have against the blackmailer. They have the right tools and access to track blackmailers.
Reporting on major online platforms: Most online platforms take blackmail activities seriously. They usually have dedicated teams to deal with such situations. You must report blackmail activities to all social media accounts you use. Platforms like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok ,and email give you options to report suspicious activities. If you report on these platforms, they will surely take action to keep their platforms safe from such activities.
Contact your country’s online crime reporting service: Consider taking legal support and victim protection options. You can also talk to lawyers in your country. If you do a little research, you may find legal experts who specialize in providing legal support related to cyber crimes. These experts can guide you through the steps that would help you get out of blackmail situations. Present yourself as a victim of online crime, and they would do the rest to pull you out of it safely.
How to get rid of blackmail in the future?
If you have encountered online blackmail once, you would be naturally careful in the future. But you must consider taking proactive measures in advance as a usual practice. This will prevent you from being a victim in the future.
Let’s go through some quick guidelines to learn how to get rid of blackmail:
Strengthen privacy settings on all apps:
You must make full utilisation of the privacy settings on your devices. Whether you use a laptop or phone, try to check what privacy options you have. Turn on the privacy options to remain protected from online blackmailers. You must also utilize privacy features on social media platforms (Instagram, Facebook, emails, etc).
Be cautious about sharing personal content:
Never share your personal or sensitive information online. This is especially for strangers. No matter how close you feel with each other, you must always maintain a line regarding personal content. That way, only you will be able to remain safe from encountering online blackmail. You must never share your account passwords with anyone under any circumstances.
Don’t log in on unknown devices:
If you don’t have access to your device, try avoiding logging in to unknown devices. You may forget to log out, and your social media account may remain open and exposed on those devices. So, instead of logging in from other devices, you must always prefer to use your own devices for your personal accounts and information.
Educate your children:
As parents, it is your prime duty to educate your children about digital safety and online predators. Don’t think that they have this information already. You must keep interacting with your kids about such informative topics. If you keep telling them to adopt the right procedures, there are high chances that they won’t get stuck into blackmailing activities in the future.
Use a parental control app:
A good and reliable parental control app is absolutely necessary in today’s age. You may consider using the FlashGet Kids app because of its unique features and benefits for you and your kids. It helps parents to have timely intervention to save kids from online threats. You can have a live view of your kid’s chatting so that you can have clarity about the situation. And you can also detect harmful or unsafe content on your kid’s phone by using this amazing app.
You can refer to the above to learn how to get rid of blackmail.
Conclusion
Online blackmail is the dark truth of the digital world, but it remains a reality. So, we have to face it and learn how to get rid of blackmail, fighting it with our reactions and preventive measures. All you need to do is stay calm, report on time, and always ensure to stay digitally safe.
Prevention is always the number one choice. So, as the best preventative actions, you must consider using privacy features and the parental control app called FlashGet Kids. Nevertheless, you must always keep your kids connected with you by giving them thorough guidelines and information about online blackmail.
In conclusion, learning how to get rid of blackmail is crucial.
