Sextortion follows a consistent pattern in Pakistan: contact is made on a social platform, a conversation moves to video, the call is recorded or images are obtained, and a demand for money follows with a threat to send the material to the victim's family or contact list. It also occurs between former partners, where the images were shared consensually during a relationship.
The response in the first day determines almost everything that follows.
What to do immediately
- Do not pay. There is no documented pattern in which payment ends the demands. It confirms that the threat works and establishes you as a paying target. Where payment has already been made, say so to the investigators - it is a transaction trail and it helps.
- Do not delete anything, and do not block yet. The conversation is the evidence. Screenshot the full chat, the profile, the URL and profile ID, the payment demands and any account numbers or wallet details given.
- Record the financial details. Bank account numbers, easypaisa/jazzcash numbers, crypto wallet addresses. These are frequently what identifies the offender, because the account is opened on a real CNIC.
- Report to the FIA Cybercrime Wing - through the online portal, the helpline, or in person at a Cybercrime Reporting Centre. In person is fastest for an active threat.
- Tell someone you trust. The entire leverage of this crime is the victim's isolation and the fear of exposure. Once a family member knows, the threat loses most of its force. This is difficult advice and it is the single most effective thing a victim can do.
The offences involved
Under the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016:
- Section 21 - offences against the modesty of a natural person: distributing or threatening to distribute intimate images without consent, and superimposing a photograph over explicit material. Punishment is enhanced where the victim is a minor.
- Section 24 - cyberstalking, which covers repeated contact causing fear or distress.
- Section 20 - offences against dignity, where the material is published.
- Section 16 - unauthorised use of identity information, where an account was impersonated.
Under the Pakistan Penal Code, extortion and criminal intimidation apply independently, and the money demand is itself an offence regardless of PECA.
Getting the material taken down
Run this at the same time as the complaint:
- Report to the platform under its non-consensual intimate imagery policy. All major platforms have an expedited process for this and act within hours, faster than any legal channel.
- StopNCII.org generates a hash of the image on your own device and shares only the hash with participating platforms, which then block matching uploads. The image itself never leaves your device.
- Ask the FIA to seek blocking through the PTA.
If the material has already been sent to your contacts
The blackmailer's remaining leverage disappears at the moment of publication, which is worth understanding: after the threat is carried out, they have nothing left. Report the content on each platform, ask the FIA to pursue distribution as a separate offence under section 21, and consider a civil defamation claim.
Circulating such material is itself an offence - the people forwarding it are committing one too, and saying so tends to stop the spread.
Practical notes for the complaint
- Write the sequence of events with dates and times. Investigators work from a timeline.
- Provide the financial trail prominently; it is usually the most actionable item.
- Ask for the material to be dealt with confidentially; PECA proceedings can be conducted with protection of identity, and you can ask the court for in-camera proceedings.
- Get the complaint number and follow up in writing every week.
If the person being blackmailed is a minor
Treat it as urgent and report immediately. Section 22 of PECA deals with child pornography and carries the heaviest penalties in the Act. Do not attempt to handle it privately, and do not forward the material to anyone, including to prove the complaint - describe it and let the investigators take it from the device.
Where to get help
The FIA Cybercrime helpline, the Digital Rights Foundation's confidential cyber harassment helpline, and the provincial commissions on the status of women all handle these cases regularly and without cost. Reaching one of them on the first day is more useful than deciding alone at three in the morning.
This article describes general steps and the applicable law in Pakistan. It is not advice on any specific case. If you are being threatened now, contact the FIA Cybercrime Wing or a helpline before responding to the blackmailer.