Get help
Who to contact, and in what order
Most people can work out roughly what to do. What is hard, straight after it happens, is knowing what to do first. Some of these steps have a time limit.
Step 1 · Where are you?
Step 2 · What happened?
- I sent money to someoneA transfer, a card payment, gift cards, or cryptocurrency.
- Someone got into one of my accountsEmail, social media, banking, or anything else you log in to.
- Someone is using my identityAccounts opened in your name, or your documents were taken or leaked.
- Someone is threatening to share private imagesSextortion, or images shared without your consent.
- Someone I met online is asking for moneyA partner, an investment tip, or a friend you have never met in person.
- I clicked a link or installed somethingYou are not sure whether any harm was done.
- I am not sure what happenedSomething feels wrong but you cannot name it yet.
Your next steps
In the next hour
Do not pay, and do not keep talking to them
Paying almost always brings another demand. Stop replying, but do not delete the conversation: it is evidence.
Use StopNCII to block the images being uploaded
It creates a fingerprint of the image on your own device and shares only that, never the image. Participating platforms then block matching uploads.
Tell someone today, and it does not have to be family
This is the situation where isolation does the most damage. A helpline counts. You have not done anything wrong.
Today
Contact Netsafe
They handle image-based abuse under the Harmful Digital Communications Act.
You are not the only one
My friend found a Facebook page full of AI deepfakes of her
“last night, i woke up to my friend spam calling me, and when i answered, i immediately heard sobs from the other side.…”
These organizations are independent of us. We list them because they are the right people to speak to, not because we are connected to them. If you are in immediate danger, call your local emergency number first.
The full directory
Everything we know about, including international options.
Report a crime
Police and government agencies by country.
Identity and accounts
Help with stolen identity and compromised accounts.
Still stuck?
Send us a message and a person will read it. We cannot recover money or investigate, but we can point you at the right place.