"We made photos of you" — when the images are AI-fakes
The newest blackmail needs no recording at all. Criminals take ordinary photos from a public social-media profile and use AI to fabricate explicit images "of you" — then threaten to send them to family, church or colleagues unless you pay.
Because the picture *looks* real, the old reassurance ("they have nothing") doesn't land on its own. So hold on to the fuller truth: a fabricated image is the scammer's crime, not your shame. It proves nothing except that they own a computer. Police have warned about exactly this since 2023, and the targets are adults of every age, not only teenagers.
What to do: do not pay and do not negotiate — paying never deletes anything; it marks you as someone who pays. Keep the message as evidence, block the sender, and report it to the platform and to your local police number. Making your profiles friends-only shrinks the raw material a faker can work with.
Threat examples
Tap the outlined parts of the message to see the red flags
We have created photos of you that your family would not want to see. Look at the attachment — you know it looks real. Pay in cryptocurrency within 24 hours or everyone in your contact list receives them.