u/Giulianogames22c

Hey everyone,

I’m posting this because I genuinely don’t know if I’m overreacting or if I actually handled this right, and I could use some honest answers.

So basically I got caught in a sextortion situation a few hours ago.

I was on a video call with a woman I didn’t know and ended up doing something stupid and showed myself. After that, everything flipped immediately. She screenshotted my face and the explicit part and then started threatening me with a screen recorded video

She claimed she had my Instagram, showed me screenshots of my followers, and said she would send the video to people I know unless I paid. She kept escalating, saying she’d send it to my friends and she showed a screenshot what looked like an unofficial instagram dms of my crush with the video preview in the dms.

That’s when I completely panicked.

Here’s everything I did step by step:

I immediately stopped engaging emotionally and started trying to verify things instead of just believing her

I went to the police station and reported it

The officer told me it’s likely a foreign scam (they said the number was from the Philippines) and basically said they can’t directly track it, but advised me not to pay and to block everything

I blocked the number and then blocked a second number they used to contact me

I reported the accounts

I deactivated my Facebook and locked down all privacy settings

I deactivated then activated my instagram again for updates in case someone messaged me about it, God forbid.

I used StopNCII to register the content hash so it can’t be easily uploaded on participating platforms

I went to my best friend’s place because I was honestly freaking out and didn’t want to be alone

I had my friend call one of the people they claimed they already sent it to (a mutual friend of mine and my best friend), and that person said they received nothing

I also tried testing Instagram DM behavior with my friend’s account to see if you can actually send media to someone you don’t follow, and in my case it didn’t allow sending video/photo in a first message request, only text (at least in that specific test)

The scammers also sent fake-looking screenshots showing “sent messages” and previews like they were in the process of sending it to multiple people, including my crush. That part is what scared me the most.

Now my main question:

Is it actually possible for someone to send a video or photo as a first message on Instagram to a private account that doesn’t follow them and they don’t follow back? Especially in a way that would directly land in the inbox of someone like my crush?

Because from what I tested and what I saw, it seemed restricted, but I also know scammers lie a lot and I’m trying to figure out what is actually technically possible vs what is just manipulation.

Right now I’m still shaken, but I’m trying to think clearly instead of just panicking. I just want to understand how real their “we already sent it to everyone” claims actually are.

Any insight would help.