Safety measures to protect yourself against online sextortion

• Never share any compromising images, posts, videos of yourself to anyone, no matter who they are
• Remember that the internet never forgets or forgives. If you have shared something once, it will remain present on the Net forever, in one form or the other.
• Never accept or request for friendship from unknown people on social media platforms.
• Enable privacy and security features on your social media accounts and instant messaging apps.
• Use “Report User” option over social media platforms to report any such
• Do not share your personal/private pictures publicly.
• Turn off your electronic devices and web cameras when you are not using them.
• Use two factor authentication with strong passwords and different passwords for different your social media accounts.
• During an online interaction or chat, if the person on the other side is trying to rush through the things and develop intimacy, then it is cause of alarm.
• Never allow anyone, however close to capture any private part or intimate activity with any device. Such a data can be misused at a later stage.
• Do not accept video calls or open attachments from people you do not know.
• Save the evidence and the screen shots for referring to the incident later.
• Do not suffer in silence, know that you are not alone, reach out and seek help from trusted family and friends.
• File a complaint against sextortion online or at your nearest cyber crime cell. Remember that you can also anonymously file an online complaint against such offence on the national cyber crime reporting portal cybercrime.gov.in.
• Avoid clicking intimate/nude/semi-nude photos/videos on your phone, which if leaked could cause embarrassment. There are several rouge mobile apps that could access your gallery/storage and can be used to blackmail you.
• Don’t hesitate in filing a complaint or contacting police due to shame, embarrassment and self-blame.