Educate · Report · Protect
The family toolkit
Everything you need in the moment that matters, in your pocket. An informed family is the hardest target there is — and nothing you type here leaves your device.
Do this immediately
First hour, right steps
If your child is caught in this, they need support, not blame. Work these four steps in order — then reach the right people below. You have not failed. You have found out, and that is the part most parents never get.
- 01Stop all contact
Do not pay and do not send another image. Paying almost never makes it stop — in most reported cases the demands simply continue. Block, but do not delete.
- 02Don't delete anything
Screenshots, usernames, profile links, message threads, payment receipts — that is the evidence, and once it is gone it is gone. Save it first, even if it is painful to keep.
- 03Report it
File with the NCMEC CyberTipline and with the platform it happened on. If explicit images of a minor are already out there, Take It Down can help get them removed without you having to send the images anywhere.
- 04Tell a trusted adult — and say the words out loud
“You are not in trouble.” Say it even if you are frightened. Especially if you are angry. The children who come out of this best are the ones who were believed first.
Three things not to do. Do not pay. Do not confront or message the person yourself — it destroys evidence and can escalate the threat against your child. And do not promise your child that nobody will ever find out; promise them instead that you will be there for all of it.
Reach the right people
Confidential · any phone, any stateYou will not get in trouble for calling. These lines exist to help you work out what to do next, and none of them require you to know the right words first.
Do this today · about 30 minutes
Lock down the devices
Harden the phones, consoles and apps children actually use. No technical knowledge required. Do it beside your child rather than behind their back — a lock they helped set is a lock they do not go around.
Every box you check is one less door left open.
Your ticks are saved in this browser, on this device only — never uploaded.
Do it again every season. Platform settings move, and an app update can quietly reset a control you set in March. Twenty minutes, four times a year. For click-by-click current instructions, see the full lock-down guide at dadsprotect.org.
A gut-check, not a diagnosis
If you notice these, pay attention
Tick anything you have seen lately. This is not proof of anything — it is a prompt to lean in, stay calm and open the door. No single sign means much on its own; a change from how your child normally is means a great deal.
Keeping the relationship open is the best protection there is.
Several of these at once does not mean the worst has happened — but it is worth a calm, no-blame conversation today. If money or explicit images are already involved, go straight to If it's happening now.
The conversation that stops it early
Have the talk
You do not need perfect words. You need an open door. Sextortion runs on a child's fear of being blamed — so take that fear off the table first, on an ordinary day, long before anything happens.
“If anything like this ever happens, you will not be in trouble. Come to me. We’ll handle it together.”
Three openings that actually work
Borrow them word for word- 01Sideways, not face to face
“Someone at work was telling me about a scam where a stranger pretends to be a kid, asks for one photo, then threatens them. Have you ever seen anything like that?” A car, a walk or a sink full of dishes does half the work.
- 02Say what you will actually do
“If that ever happened, here is exactly what I'd do: I'd help you save the messages, I'd make the report with you, and I would not take your phone away as a punishment.” Children hide because they are guessing at the consequence. Remove the guess.
- 03Ask about their friends, not about them
“Has anyone in your year ever had someone weird message them?” It is a far easier question to answer honestly, and it usually gets you the real answer anyway.
Watch how it works
Forty seconds · nothing autoplaysUsing the Family Safety Toolkit
Prefer to read or listen?
Every tab on this page has a Listen button and a written transcript, in the same warm voice as the film. Nothing on this page plays until you ask it to, and nothing you tick is sent anywhere.