Blackmail and extortion

Blackmail is when someone threatens you to make you do what they want or to get something from you - usually money. The threat might be to reveal something about you, to accuse you of something, to damage your property, or to endanger your safety. 

People who use blackmail often try to create fear, shame, embarrassment, or a sense of urgency to control a situation. If this is happening to you, it is not your fault. 

Blackmail is a serious criminal offence in New Zealand. It can be a crime even if the information the person is threatening to reveal is true.  

If you are being blackmailed, you do not have to deal with it alone. Support and advice are available, and police can help assess your situation and talk about options for keeping you safe.

Blackmail and extortion can take many forms. Common examples include: 

• demands for money in exchange for not sharing photos, videos, messages, or personal information
• threats to contact your family, friends, employer, colleagues, or community unless you meet the person's demands
• threats to make accusations against you, whether true or false
• demands that escalate — paying once is followed by new demands
• threats made through social media, email, text messages, dating apps, gaming platforms, or other online services
• pressure to keep the situation secret or not seek help. 

Image-based sexual abuse

Threats to share intimate images or recordings, sometimes called sextortion, are a form of image-based sexual abuse. Specific support is available, including help to have content removed or limit its distribution. 

Find more information here: Image-based sexual abuse

• do not pay. Paying rarely ends the demands - it usually confirms that the threats work, and new demands often follow
• do not negotiate or try to reason with the person. Stop responding if it is safe to do so
• keep everything: screenshots of messages and demands, usernames, phone numbers, email addresses, payment requests and any payments already made
• do not delete the conversation, even if you feel ashamed of what it contains. It is evidence
• report to NZ Police, call 105, or 111 if you are in danger
• if the threats are happening online Netsafe(external link) can provide advice and support with online harm
• if you have already paid, call your bank's fraud line. There may be a short window to recall a payment. 

Reporting blackmail takes courage, particularly when the threat involves something private. Police deal with these situations regularly and their focus is on the person making the threats, not on judging you. 

If you have paid, recovering the money is difficult, and the most important step is stopping further payments. Demands often stop when they stop working but keep records in case contact starts again. 

Being threatened is frightening and isolating, and the pressure to keep it secret is part of how blackmail works.

Feeling ashamed, trapped or panicked is a normal response to being deliberately intimidated. Talking to someone you trust, or to a support service, can help.

Even if you have already paid money, shared information, sent images, or responded to the person, support is still available.
 
You do not have to manage this situation on your own. Support is available, and reporting what is happening can help you understand your options and take steps to protect yourself. 

Find more information about fraud, scams & financial crime