Blackmail
Blackmail is something to watch out for when contacting or meeting an Escort. Somebody gets your private number, finds your name or social media, then threatens to tell your wife or send everything to your family unless you pay. It could be somebody you met or a scammer using a fake escort advert. You don't even have to meet anyone to get caught by this.
Number one: don't give strangers your private information. If they start blackmailing you, don't pay! Once you pay, they know they can get money out of you. The next demand may come tomorrow. Paying does not mean they deleted the messages or pictures.
Private numbers and WhatsApp
Don't give out your work number or start chatting from a WhatsApp account showing your full name, company and a picture of your wife and kids. Have a look at what a stranger can see before sending that first message.
- Keep your surname, workplace, home address and family details to yourself.
- Restrict who can see your WhatsApp profile photo, About, status and last-seen information, and who can add you to groups.
- A separate number helps keep these contacts away from your everyday life, but don't assume it makes you anonymous.
- Don't send nude photos with your face in them. Tattoos and the background can identify you too.
- Don't trust disappearing messages. The other person may already have saved a copy.
WhatsApp encryption won't help if the person you are chatting with decides to share the conversation.
Hidden cameras
Have a look around the room before getting undressed, whether it is a Brothel, massage parlour, hotel or private flat. Look for visible cameras or an odd-looking lens facing the bed, massage table or shower. Small hidden cameras can be hidden in clocks, chargers and objects made to look like smoke detectors.
Don't assume every alarm on the ceiling is a camera. Never cover or dismantle fire alarms. Looking around is a sensible precaution, but it won't guarantee there is no camera. Nor should you assume that brothels or massage parlours routinely film their customers.
Watch where phones are pointing too. If the escort keeps holding a phone towards you or leaves it propped up facing the bed, ask for it to be put away. A screen that looks switched off does not prove the phone isn't recording. Make it clear that you don't want photos or videos, and don't secretly film the escort either.
If you think somebody is filming you, stop and leave safely. Don't start wrestling somebody for their phone. Report suspected hidden filming to the local police.
If they threaten you
Don't pay, even if you have already paid once. There is no such thing as a guaranteed final payment. They can keep the material and come back for more.
- Save the threats, numbers, usernames, advert links and payment demands before blocking them. Keep any payment receipts.
- Stop replying. Don't bargain or threaten them back.
- Report the account to the site or app and report the blackmail to local police.
- Already sent money? Contact your bank or payment service straight away and ask whether anything can be stopped or recovered.
- If pictures or videos are posted, report them to the platform for removal.
- Tell somebody you trust. Don't sit alone watching the phone and panicking.
Nobody can promise they won't send the material. Paying cannot promise that either.
If somebody is threatening immediate violence or won't let you leave, get to safety and call the local emergency services.
