Scam alert · September 20, 2026
An Intimate Image Was Posted. Here Is What to Do Next.
If a real or altered intimate image is shared without permission, act without blame. Learn the platform reporting steps, the 48-hour rule, and removal tools for minors and adults.
Read this in five minutes. Then talk about it with someone you care about.
Someone finds an intimate image online. It may be real, altered, or completely fabricated. The first reaction is often panic: Who has seen it? Where else was it posted? How do we make it disappear?
That panic can become even more intense when someone is using the image to threaten, shame, or extort the person pictured.
Start with this: The person in the image needs help, not blame.
The Federal Trade Commission issued a new reminder on September 17 that covered online platforms must provide a way to request removal of intimate images shared without consent, including qualifying deepfakes. The FTC says covered platforms must remove the reported image, and copies of it, within 48 hours of a valid request.
The law cannot erase the emotional harm. But it gives families a clearer action path when everything feels out of control.
First, make the room safer
If your child or another family member tells you an image is being shared, the first words matter more than the first technical step.
Try: “I am glad you told me. This is not your fault. We are going to handle it together.”
Do not begin with questions about why the image existed, who received it, or what rule was broken. Those questions can wait. Shame drives people into silence, and silence gives the person making threats more control.
If there is an immediate safety concern or the person may hurt themselves, call or text 988 in the United States and stay with them. Call 911 for an immediate emergency.
Report the image to the platform
Find the platform's reporting option on the post, image, or account. It may appear under the three-dot menu. You can also use the platform's help or support pages to locate its process for reporting nonconsensual intimate imagery.
Record the web address, account name, date, time, messages, and report confirmation. Preserve evidence without forwarding the image to friends or relatives.
If a covered platform does not provide a working removal process, or does not remove the reported image within 48 hours, the FTC says you can report the platform at TakeItDown.ftc.gov.
That FTC site is for reporting a platform that may not be following the federal removal requirements. It is different from the image-matching services described below.
Use the right removal tool
The person's age when the image was taken determines which tool to use.
If the image or video was taken when the person was under 18, NCMEC's Take It Down service can create a digital fingerprint, called a hash, on the person's device. Participating public or unencrypted platforms can use that fingerprint to detect matching copies and remove or limit them. The image itself does not leave the device, and the person can remain anonymous.
Do not download, forward, or ask someone else to send an explicit image of a minor just to use the service. NCMEC says Take It Down should be used only for an image already on the original device. If the file is not available there, make a report at CyberTipline.org or call 1-800-THE-LOST.
If the person was 18 or older when the image was taken, the FTC recommends StopNCII.org. It also creates a digital fingerprint on the device and shares the fingerprint, not the image, with participating platforms.
These tools help on participating services; they cannot guarantee removal from every place online.
If someone is making threats
An image-based threat may be part of sextortion. The person may demand money, additional images, or continued contact in exchange for a promise not to post.
Do not keep negotiating alone. Save the messages and account information, stop sending money or images, report the account to the platform, and contact law enforcement or NCMEC's CyberTipline when a minor is involved. Avoid deleting the account before evidence has been preserved.
The threat is designed to make the victim believe that immediate compliance is the only option. It is not. There are people and tools built for this moment.
The 60-second defense
Give your family this rule before anything happens: If an image or threat appears, tell us immediately. You will not lose your phone, and you will not face it alone.
That promise lowers the price of asking for help. A child who expects punishment may hide the crisis. A child who expects support is more likely to bring an adult into the room while there are still useful steps to take.
Talk about it tonight
Ask: “If someone threatened you with a private or fake image, who would you tell first, and what would you need to hear from them?”
Then listen. The goal is not to inspect anyone's phone. The goal is to make disclosure feel possible.
If you need help thinking through a suspicious conversation or threat, describe it in The Scam Hotline Scam Detector. Do not upload intimate images. Use the tool to slow down, identify the pressure, and plan the next safe step.
Scammers want silence. Families talk. Talk to yours today.