Video Call Deepfake Extortion Scam

A stranger video calls you out of nowhere (FaceTime, WhatsApp, or similar), keeps you on briefly while secretly capturing your face, then contacts you later with an AI-manipulated image designed to falsely implicate you in something serious — demanding payment to keep it quiet.

The scam starts with an unsolicited video call from a number you don't recognize, sometimes with the caller claiming it's a wrong number or pretending to know you. The call is often brief, and the scammer's real goal is just to get a few seconds of your face on camera, which they screen-record. Days or weeks later, using AI image-generation tools, they digitally alter the captured footage into a fabricated image meant to make it look like you did something illegal or deeply shameful. They then contact you demanding immediate, untraceable payment — usually gift cards, wire transfer, or cryptocurrency — threatening to send the fake image to your family, employer, or the police if you don't pay.

• An unexpected video call from an unknown or international number that ends abruptly.
• The caller seems more focused on getting you on camera than having an actual conversation.
• Sudden contact later, out of nowhere, with a threatening message and an attached image.
• Extreme urgency paired with a demand for immediate, anonymous payment.
• The person refuses to slow down, answer questions, or let you verify anything — pure pressure.
• The call often opens with a 'wrong number' or 'do I know you?' pretext to get you talking on camera.

• Don't accept video calls from unknown or unfamiliar numbers — let them go to voicemail.
• Cover your camera when it's not in active, intentional use.
• Never send money because of a threat alone — the image is fabricated, not real evidence, and paying almost never makes it stop.
• Save screenshots of every message and the threat itself as evidence, then block the sender — don't negotiate or engage further.
• If a fabricated intimate image is involved, StopNCII.org (for adults 18+) can help get it removed from participating platforms without ever uploading the image itself.
• Report it to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center (ic3.gov) and your local police — you are the victim of a crime, not a suspect, and this is a recognized, well-documented scam pattern.