Safety practices to avoid blackmail

To avoid being contacted by a scammer for blackmail, be sure to use the following tips:

• Set all of your social media accounts to private.
• Be sure to protect your emails against spam using spam detection systems.

To avoid having scammers gain control over sensitive information, we recommend you follow our safety practices to avoid hacks in our dedicated article.

To avoid falling victim to sextortion, be sure to use the following tips:

• Do not accept friend requests from (and subsequently engage with) users you do not know in real life.
• Never send compromising images of yourself to anyone (including your dog)—no matter how close you are to them
• Turn off your electronic devices and web cameras when not in use;
• On social media or dating platforms, be wary of unknown users who try to move the conversation to another platform very quickly
• Be wary of new online connections that send you unsolicited sexual images they claim are pictures of themselves. Sextortionists often use this tactic to guide the conversation in a sexual direction and lower their victim’s guard.

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