Sextortion & Blackmail 

You never thought you would need a lawyer’s help and protection for such a predicament, but now you know first hand how sextortion threats and blackmail demands bare their teeth in the most frightening and debilitating ways. When former lovers, affairs, sugarbabies, escorts, or one time flings threaten to expose their former lovers, partners, johns, or sugar daddies with intimate images, messages, and private communications, or through made up lies or “truths” about alleged personal, sexual or intimate exploits, life spirals out of control and in ways that can absolutely decimate lives. Whether humiliating you before your family members, business associates or online for the entire world to see, these stalkers find you – their prey – both online and off. Websites such as Seeking Arrangements, Grindr, and sites catering to transgender men or women give these predators a sense of power through anonymity while former affairs or flings from a one night stand hide less in the shadows but come at you with the same emotional violence and force.  Regardless of who is weaponizing it, extortion and blackmail serves one purpose: whether you work in finance, law, the medical field, corporate world, or have a public facing professional persona, sextorters want your money and will pursue it and you through just about any means possible. If you and your family are collateral damage, they do not care. So be it…

• Victim Representation and Protection: Blackmail, Extortion, Revenge Porn, Harassment, Coercion and Stalking
• Unlawful Disclosure of an Intimate Image
• Blackmail, Extortion, Harassment & Coercion Victim Representation: Representative Matters

Though most victims don’t think of sextortion as a range of state and federal offenses, that is exactly what blackmail is. At the same time, from extortion and coercion to harassment and fraud, when you are facing financial, familial or career ruin, it really doesn’t matter how anyone else describes it or the title of a particular crime as long as it’s stopped. That is where Saland Law, led by Jeremy Saland, a former Manhattan prosecutor who prosecuted a seven figure extortion of a former NBA AllStar, and an attorney who is one of only a handful of lawyers with real world experience shutting down would be blackmailers, steps in to put an end to your victimization.

At its core, the root of your victimization is that someone attempted to gain, aka, steal, money, property, or influence through threats to reveal private information, compromising photos or messages, or personal conduct. In New York, these cases often implicate statutes covering larceny by extortion, coercion, aggravated harassment, unlawful dissemination of an intimate image and even identity theft. When messages or transactions occur across state or international lines, federal charges under extortion or cyberstalking laws may follow. In fact, anytime phones and emails are used, and money is transferred through banking apps and other means, your abuser exposes him or herself to federal offenses such as wire and bank fraud.

Though certainly not exclusively, allegations often arise from online communications, dating apps, or private exchanges that later spiral into criminality. A consensual relationship, a brief online interaction including the notorious and infamous “dick pic”, or a misunderstanding about intentions evolve into sextortion schemes where sometimes the threat to expose a behavior is worse than the behavior itself. Many cases begin when someone later regrets an exchange or feels embarrassed about what occurred, and others evolve for outright nefarious and selfish reasons. False accusations, edited screenshots, or incomplete chat records can distort context and create criminal exposure for conduct that was never coercive or criminal. No matter how or why, to you, the victim, it makes no difference. It simply has to end and in a manner that protects your privacy, life, family, and future. 

As you may unfortunately be aware, sextortion that occurs in the real world, aka, offline, is no less debilitating. Even when communications were mutual or consensual, an extorter may later use them as the basis for their purported victimization by you and/or as a threat or demand because it confirms or corroborates an embarrassing or illicit relationship. The difference between a criminal charge and a civil disagreement often depends on timing, tone, and interpretation of the messages, but when you are the target of this potentially decimating fraud, it really makes no difference. Protecting against these blatant attacks on your career, name, and family requires immediate and careful attention to building evidence, protecting your privacy, and implementing the strategy to shut your abuser down. This is what Jeremy Saland has done for countless people, mostly men, and will continue to do for future clients caught in a sextorter’s crosshairs.

How Sextortion Allegations Arise Online

Dating and Messaging Platforms

Accusations frequently originate on dating or hookup apps even without an in person meeting, where conversations turn intimate. Why? Because these sites are set up for or lend themselves to  extorters while also allowing for anonymity and fraud. Platforms such as Grindr, Snapchat, Reddit, Seeking Arrangements, TikTok, Instagram, Eros, and many lesser known “niche” sites, repeatedly come across Saland Law’s desk, and we have shut down would be blackmailers hiding – or thinking they are hiding-  behind computer screens and cell phones. The course of conduct we see is routine: an online conversation escalates to sharing images, maybe even a “verifying” picture or an embarrassing “dick pic” and the other party threatens exposure to family, friends and colleagues. Alternatively, a Facetime or WhatsApp video call is recorded without knowledge or consent. Making things even more frightening, depending on what the sextorter knows about you, they make it clear they know how to find you and your family as they share contact information and screenshots of business associates, networks and friend groups, and other personal information. At Saland Law, Jeremy reviews the full record, including how conversations began, the communications themselves, the images shared, the means by which the monies are demanded, (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App, Apple Pay, etc.) and all contact information in an effort to identify your victimizer or their financial institutions and banking information utilized to perpetrate your victimization.  Our first rodeo, this is not. In the United States or overseas, we have tracked down violators before and have even put “boots on the ground” far outside the 50 states. We can, and will, do it again, if that is what it takes to protect you.

Cases Involving Transgender or Discreet Relationships

Some of our clients come to us after they have been engaged in extramarital affairs or online solicitation of transgender men or women. As a preliminary matter, we simply do not care about who you want to have intimate relationships with even if you feel shameful or it enhances your fear of public disclosure. Judge and jury of your personal life, we are not. All these matters require immediate and discrete responses regardless of the claims or background, and while law enforcement is not equipped to do so efficiently if at all, Jeremy Saland is prepared and equipped to respond immediately, effectively, and without judgment. Without any risk of disclosure to the press or any third party, Saland Law gathers the evidence, tries to identify the perpetrator and his or her financial accounts and information, and works with our own investigators to uncloak these bad actors to best ensure we can confront them in a timely manner with the full force of the law behind us and to put an end to their harassment. 

App-Specific Concerns

Each platform has its own data policies, which influence the available evidence, but know we can preserve and leverage that information if and as needed. Grindr logs location data and timestamps. Snapchat messages may appear deleted but can persist on servers. Reddit and other social sites keep metadata that may clarify who initiated or escalated contact. Simply, we will examine user names, cell phones, VOIPs, emails, screen names, handles, etc., and do our best to connect the dots. Depending where an investigation and shutdown takes us, these records are also critical in determining credibility, facts, and context, especially when one side deletes messages or fabricates screenshots. With this in mind, DO NOT delete your communications and online accounts before consulting with counsel. We know what we need and what we are doing. You do not, and your reactionary fear based decision may compromise our and your efforts going forward.

In-Person and Real World Affairs, Sugar Babies, Prostitutes, and Hookups 

Whether a former affair, intimate partner, co-worker, stripper, escort, or one-night stand, in-person relationships give rise to similar allegations, threats, harassment and demands for “compensation” for time, a purported pregnancy, STD, or simply to shut up about your alleged or real exploits. An ex-partner, coworker, or acquaintance may claim you pressured them with photos, texts, or knowledge of a relationship, and that anything that happened with you was born from your coercion. In other words, they will try to play the part of a victim when in fact they are victimizing you. Similarly, while some accusations involve clear threats, others are more ambiguous, such as heated exchanges about money, boundaries, or fidelity. Nuance, however, may not give your harasser the protection he or she thinks they have, just like they may not be protected by their perceived place of strength. Saland Law will pierce the veil to distinguish ordinary personal conflict from criminal extortion. If that means “wiring you up” or making “controlled calls”, we do whatever we need to within the law. Again, they may try to hide or be “cute”, but we will follow the proverbial and literal money to protect you and stop them within the four corners of the law. This is what we have done to extorters and we will undoubtedly do so again.

New York and Federal Laws

Relevant New York Statutes

Sextortion allegations typically rely on overlapping laws rather than a single statute, but let’s be honest…the goal here is avoid going to law enforcement even if having the full force of the law behind you is critical in stopping sextorters in their tracks. In New York, the foundation is Penal Law § 155.05(2)(e), defining larceny by extortion; obtaining property through fear of exposure or reputational harm. We may also invoke Penal Law §§ 135.60–135.65, Coercion, for alleged threats meant to compel behavior, and § 245.15 for Unlawful Dissemination of an Intimate iImage. Other potential charges include Aggravated Harassment, § 240.30, Scheme to Defraud, §§ 190.60–190.65, and even Identity Theft, §§ 190.78–190.83. When electronic access or password use is at issue, Computer Tampering, §§ 156.05–156.35, or Unauthorized Use of a Computer, § 156.10, may rear its head. Remember, the more that is demanded or paid – in excess of $1,000, $3,000, $50,000 and $1 million, the greater time in an “upstate” prison or local jail like Rikers Island, your sextorter faces.

Many of the above crimes are felonies. If your blackmailer is a professional person who you met in a business setting, a young person in college or just starting out life, or even a person who is an escort by trade, a felony lasts forever, destroys careers and futures, and is incredibly shameful even without ever stepping foot in prison. Nobody wants to go down this path, and if they have a prior felony record, he or she may find themselves facing mandatory incarceration.

Federal Provisions

If online activity crosses state or national borders, or simply uses the banking system, phones, internet and other vehicles to communicate or transfer monies, Saland Law could present a case to the FBI or local US Attorney’s Office for prosecution. No, that may not be your first option and one that you would like to avoid, but not only is it available if your extorter was so foolish to let their stupidity and arrogance get out of hand, but it provides the leverage we may need to put your blackmailer in his or her place. Federal prosecutors could file charges under 18 U.S.C. § 875(d),Extortion by Interstate Communication, or § 2261A,Cyberstalking. In cases involving alleged hacking or data theft, 18 U.S.C. § 1030,Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, can apply. Again, other schemes may simply include Wire Fraud, § 1343. These cases often draw federal investigators such as the FBI Cybercrime Task Force or Homeland Security Investigations if needed. Again, it is Saland Law’s goal to avoid having to engage law enforcement and prosecutors, for practical reasons including an efficient, quick and discreet resolution to your abuse, but this weapon remains in our arsenal whether we pursue the option or not. 

Financial and Social Media Angles 

Some sextorters believe the long arm of the law may never reach them, whether they are in New York, California, Texas or England, Brazil, or the Philippines. Setting aside the fact that Saland Law has put “boots on the ground” overseas and even knocked on a blackmailer’s door (to her surprise) before making the error of her ways quite clear, understand the following: whether a blackmailer is ever prosecuted is somewhat irrelevant. After all, your likely goal is to live in peace, not have your day in court. Even without law enforcement or the possibility of arrest looming, Saland Law can and will reach out to banks, financial apps, and social media platforms to notify them of the criminality, whether money laundering and extortion on a state level, wire fraud and bank fraud on federal level, or some other crime, something wicked this way comes for your harasser. Criminal charges or not, your abuser should have no misgivings that the vehicles used to perpetrate their fraud will be shut down along with their ability to continue these crimes. It is not our objective to save the world from them, but to stop them from harassing you. From California to England and Manhattan to the Dominican Republic, when they can’t access their money and there is collateral damage to people around them due to their selfishness and greed, they will have no one to blame but themselves.

Protect Yourself 

Do not engage in a back and forth. Do not make admissions or confirm your identity. Secure all accounts and devices, preserve evidence, aka, do not delete anything, and refrain from contacting your extorter or third parties until you are advised how and when to do so by counsel. Sooner rather than later, seize control and the power dynamic. All of this, along with Saland Law, is your best path to stop your sextorter, protect your career, and preserve your name, and maintain the health of your family.

Former Prosecutor Insight

Attorney Jeremy Saland’s background as a Manhattan prosecutor who successfully prosecuted multiple men for extorting an NBA AllStar, a criminal defense attorney, and counsel to hundreds of mostly men who have been sextorted, blackmailed, stalked, harassed, or threatened by intimate partners, affairs, lovers, sugarbabies, strippers, former spouses and girlfriends, and both online and offline grifters, provides an incomparable understanding of how to identify sextorters, build cases to protect clients and for law enforcement if needed, maintain privacy, and work efficiently to stop these victimizers – and the harrowing anxiety they cause, right in their tracks.

Targeted, Confidential Action

Every action and every effort, whether a controlled call, reaching out online as if we were other potential victims in an effort to gain intel, or conducting field surveillance, we use the law, along with our experience and knowledge, to best secure two outcomes: resolving the threat quickly and quietly, and minimizing your direct and collateral exposure.

Protecting Your Future

Sextorters threaten more than just you; they endanger your career, relationships, and reputations, and they can cause the same trauma and heartache to those around you from friends and family to business partners and colleagues. A time for games or to act impulsively, this is not. Arm yourself with an experienced sextortion lawyer who has been in the trenches to resolve and put to bed extortions and blackmails in New York, across the United States, and abroad. Jeremy Saland will put you in the strongest position to intercept your abuser before he or she escalates, contain public exposure, and challenge the power dynamic so you get the upper hand. The sooner Jeremy is involved, the greater the opportunity and likelihood you walk away unscathed.

Safeguard your name, your career, and your future. When you are the target of a sextorter online or off, there is no substitute for the experience, knowledge and advocacy Jeremy has provided and will continue to provide to all his clients no matter what a selfishly arrogant blackmailer thinks she or he has over you. Contact Saland Law today and end your victimization now.