If a young person is being sextorted or groomed online, act quickly without blaming them.
Stop the offender's access, do not pay or send more sexual content, preserve useful information, involve a safe adult and use Canada's reporting and youth-support systems.
Part of our Online Safety resource series. See the main Online Safety guide for the wider topic and related resources.
Information reviewed September 2026. Platforms, reporting tools, school policy and online-harm tactics can change quickly, so use the linked PEI or Canadian source when current steps matter.
Cybertip.ca says the pressure can escalate very quickly.
Current Cybertip.ca information says youth can be manipulated into exchanging sexual content over a short period, sometimes within hours or less. In 2024, C3P received more than 2,300 sextortion reports, averaging about six per day. When gender was known, 83% of reported victims were male.
If sextortion is happening now, use these steps.
- Stop communicating. Do not argue, bargain or continue the conversation.
- Do not pay and do not send more images. Cybertip.ca says complying tends to make the harassment worse.
- Save useful evidence. Capture usernames, account information, threats and messages without forwarding intimate images around.
- Block the offender. Do not delete the youth's own account until important evidence and reporting needs have been considered.
- Tell a safe adult and report. Cybertip.ca and police can become involved, and NeedHelpNow.ca can help the youth work through image-removal steps.
Grooming can begin with attention, friendship or gifts.
Public Safety Canada describes online grooming as a process where someone builds trust with a child or teen, may isolate them from safe adults, normalizes sexual conversation, and then pressures them for sexual content or an in-person meeting.
Public Safety Canada caregiver discussion guide
Talk about secrecy as a warning sign.
Young people should know that a person online asking them to hide the relationship, move to a private app, delete messages, keep gifts secret or avoid telling a caregiver deserves extra caution. The goal is not to make every online friendship sound dangerous. It is to make manipulation easier to recognize.
Do not shame the young person for believing the person was real.
Offenders may impersonate another youth, send sexual content first, use several accounts or show the victim screenshots of friends, family or school contacts to make threats feel credible. Treat the youth as the person being targeted, not as the cause of the situation.
Financial sextortion needs the same child-safety response.
When money is demanded, do not treat the situation as merely a scam or banking problem. The offender is using sexual material and fear to control a young person. Contact the bank or payment service where relevant, but also use Cybertip.ca or police.
If the young person is in emotional crisis.
Sextortion can create intense fear and hopelessness. If there is immediate danger, call 9-1-1. In Canada, call or text 9-8-8 for suicide crisis support. Kids Help Phone is available at 1-800-668-6868 or by texting CONNECT to 686868.
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