As the title says, yes, I lost a lot of money.
I met someone online through Instagram. We exchanged explicit pictures, then moved to Telegram and continued there. Almost immediately after that, the person started threatening me. They showed screenshots of my pictures and my followers/family accounts and said they would send everything to my family and post it publicly while accusing me of talking to minors.
I panicked badly and, out of fear, sent them a lot of money. Even after paying, the threats continued and they kept demanding more. Eventually I had no money left, so I deactivated my Instagram and deleted my Telegram account.
It’s been a while since it happened and I’m still terrified they might leak everything.
At this point I’m mentally accepting that the money may be gone, but I wanted to ask if anyone here has actually managed to recover any amount after a sextortion scam like this. I paid through debit card/Zelle/Cash App type transfers.
I’ve already reported the accounts and saved screenshots of the threats and payments.