So, here's my messy situation. I got entangled with a supposed blackmailer on Facebook who I thought was a girl. After some chats, we moved to Telegram, and I naively shared some nude photos. Then, an African guy calls me, threatening to post these photos unless I pay him $500. He even took screenshots from my Facebook page, knows where I work, and threatens to send the pictures to my job and my three friends found there. I blocked him immediately after I hung up but he called me again the next morning from a different number, demanding money again, insisting he 'does not make empty threats.' I've blocked him yet again. I'm perplexed because after blocking him and reporting his page, he hasn't sent anything to my friends or job. So, what are your thoughts? Is he just bluffing?
4 Answers
Most scammers aren’t going to waste their time tracking down your job or family. They usually move on to find someone else who might actually pay. If they do send the photos, the worst that could happen is some embarrassment. Your workplace is unlikely to fire you over that. Just try to keep your head up!
For sure, if you pay even a little, you’re just opening the door for more demands. I’ve dealt with my fair share of fake threats like these while working in tech support. One of my coworkers had a clever way of handling them that involved messing with the scammers, which turned out to be pretty entertaining. But in the end, the best strategy is to ignore them completely and don’t give in to their demands!
Honestly, I’d just block all communications and stop engaging. The more you respond, the more you’re putting yourself at risk. People like this typically look for easy targets and won’t want to expend too much effort on someone who’s made it clear they’re not going to pay up. Just ignore them completely! And remember, nothing you did warrants embarrassment - you’re more than your mistakes!
I get where you’re coming from. I just feel really stupid about the whole thing.
Yeah, it’s really not a good idea to send sensitive stuff to anyone you don’t trust. Honestly, even if it does get sent to your job, it could just lead to some awkwardness, but you haven’t broken any rules, so why worry about it too much? Just learn from this and move forward!
That does make me feel a bit better, thanks for the reassurance.