A blueprint for handling extortion cases, from finding the perpetrator to (potentially) convincing police to prosecute
Extortion cases are on the rise, with recent FBI estimates of $33.5 million in documented losses. Actual losses are likely far higher. Some of its most effective practitioners operate online — no need to undertake a risky bank robbery when a modern criminal can rob someone from the safety of a laptop. While news stories have zoomed in on scam hubs run by sophisticated gangs in Southeast Asia that prey on elderly Americans with “pig butchering” scams, extortion rings exist in the United States as well.
Handling an extortion case should be in the wheelhouse of most investigators. These cases offer a real investigative challenge for true detectives. And because many extortionists target people with money, most clients tend to have financial resources that allow you to get creative and pursue all reasonable avenues of investigation. Most of our clients have been business owners, lawyers, doctors, and the like — people with verifiable presences or public licenses in well-paying professions.
While the language of extortion — federal and state statutes statutes, etc. — suggests these cases should be handled by a lawyer, I assure you this is not the case. Investigators are the first line of defense — and maybe the only line. Most lawyers have no idea what to do with an extortion case aside from calling a private investigator. Police departments often balk at investigating these cases because the extorter may live far from their jurisdiction. Plus, they often seem to feel these are more akin to civil matters, like embezzlement. But there is one big exception: if you do the investigation, police may become interested in a prosecution. As one police detective told me: “If you put a bow on this and package it up, we’ll charge her.”
Well, I love Christmas. We took him up on the offer.
Let’s jump into a quick example (details changed to protect privacy). A local business owner exchanged several text messages with an attractive Latina he met on a dating website. She sent provocative photographs and enticed him into sending explicitly worded messages that showed he wanted to meet. The extortionist began researching the man’s background and discovered he was married, had children, and owned a lobster wholesale business in Maine. Her tone shifted from flirty to threatening. She demanded a six-figure payout, or else she would send copies of the text messages to his family and business associates. The business owner was distraught about the possibility of exposure. He began calling around to different detective agencies.
What to Do if You Get a Call Like This
First, keep an open mind. Many of the extortionists in our cases have been women working alone. But we’ve seen countless variations: the woman may be assisted by a boyfriend. Or an old boyfriend gets a laptop with incriminating information from a professional escort and extorts her clients. The cases may involve traditional male-female relationships, but we’ve also seen cases involving same-sex couples. Extortion affects a wide range of people, but certain groups are disproportionately targeted. Minors and young adults are frequent victims. Men are often the targets in cases involving professional escorts.
You often have to delve into a deep level of shame here: the client did something stupid (cheating on a partner, sending nude photos, etc.) and may be reluctant to provide details. Be patient. Ask for verification of the messages to rule out the possibility that they are trying to harass someone. Ask questions and get proof regarding how and why money may have changed hands.
The shame and fear of exposure can be paralyzing, causing victims to comply with demands repeatedly rather than reporting — which is exactly what perpetrators count on.
Victims frequently experience severe anxiety, depression, social withdrawal, and, in tragic cases, suicide. The shame and fear of exposure can be paralyzing, causing victims to comply with demands repeatedly rather than reporting — which is exactly what perpetrators count on. The extortionist has targeted this person in the same way gangs often target a low-level marijuana dealer: a more violent or sophisticated criminal is preying on someone who made a mistake and won’t go to police for various reasons.
Extortionists will sometimes justify their actions by claiming they’re targeting a “bad person” who deserves what they get. Investigators and support professionals must approach victims with sensitivity and care, and avoid any language that implies blame.
How to Investigate Extortion
Extortion is the criminal act of demanding money, property, or other benefits from a person through coercion, typically through threats of violence, reputational harm, or the exposure of private information. It differs from robbery in that the victim is compelled to comply “voluntarily” (but obviously, under duress).
In most jurisdictions, extortion is a felony carrying significant prison time. In the United States, federal extortion charges can fall under statutes like the Hobbs Act (18 U.S.C. § 1951) or the Federal Extortion Statute (18 U.S.C. § 875), while each state maintains its own criminal code on the matter.
Note that in most jurisdictions, the extortionate demand does not need to be fulfilled. The act of making the threat itself constitutes the offense.
Most criminals who operate extortion schemes make contact through a veil of disinformation tools: burner phones, anonymous email accounts, and the like. Your first priority is to preserve all communications between the extortionist and the victim without alerting the perpetrator. This includes:
- All messages across every platform used (Instagram, Snapchat, WhatsApp, email, text, etc.)
- Screenshots of the perpetrator’s profile, including profile photos, usernames, and any identifying information
- Any images or video files received from or about the perpetrator
- Payment demands and receipts
Clients should screenshot everything before blocking the perpetrator, as accounts may be deleted once the scheme unravels.
Track the Extorter
The essence of these cases is simple: can you trace a phone number, email, or person back to the true extorter? Extortionists work hard to hide their identities, but you will have several avenues:
Reverse image search
Profile photos used by extortionists are frequently stolen from other people’s social media accounts or generated by AI tools. But you should rule out any obvious possibilities by using reverse image searches like PimEyes, Google Images, or TinEye, which can reveal where a photo originated and unmask a fake identity immediately.
Geofencing
In one case, we knew the phone of the extorter had been in several locations on different dates one summer (since our client had been there, too).
Phone number and email tracing
Run every email address, username, and phone number through commercial databases and OSINT tools (OSINT Industries, District 4 Labs, and the like) to develop leads. While many perpetrators use VoIP numbers or burner phones, we have seen physical addresses linked to the numbers.
Old-school detective work
All these cases may eventually require classic investigative techniques — surveillance and interviews — to narrow down leads to the correct person.
Set Up the Sting
This is the fun part. Once you take those first steps, you can usually tell if you have a case that will have an easy resolution. A minority of cases tend to get resolved this way. More often, the case will require deeper investigation or court involvement (and you as the detective “putting a bow on it,” as our detective at the police department called it).
A few examples will illustrate:
In one case, a fake username (the extorter was a Boston Celtics fan) was used across several profiles, which helped confirm a physical address in the town as the source of the threats. The case was easily resolved once we confronted the extorter.
In another case, a woman had set up a profile on several “sugar daddy” websites. (These sites blur the line between sugar dating and prostitution.) Our client, a local businessman, met the woman for a few sessions. She then turned the paid romantic meetings into hints that a five-figure payout would be appropriate. She was careful for a few days not to make any direct threats. (This is common — most extorters research the crime and think mere hints will not meet the legal threshold.)
Meanwhile, we had traced one of her phone numbers to a physical address and then to a Facebook account. We assembled a profile of a high school valedictorian who had left Las Vegas to seek a new life in California. Then the extorter’s patience ran out. She texted a direct threat at midnight. I contacted her and advised her that the next morning, a team of investigators would be interviewing her parents about what they knew regarding their bright young daughter committing a felony in a neighboring state. Her home address would be handed over to police for prosecution. (Fearing publicity, the client actually preferred not to go to the police.) Within 24 hours, the extortionist had deleted her profiles, quit two jobs in town, and left the state, never to be heard from again.
Other cases have required further steps. One involved a client who had contacted a young woman on a dating site. She then used the explicit texts and threatened to expose his affair to his family. He made numerous payments over several years, but the woman would always come back asking for more. She demanded a car, and he set up a rental car while pretending to look for a more expensive sports car to purchase. When she showed up to pick up the rental, we tracked the car to an apartment complex and identified her through databases and social media scans. The client was able to get police to pursue criminal charges because it was “gift-wrapped” for them — an easy prosecution. Once the woman was unmasked and served with a trial summons, the threats ceased immediately, and the client was grateful for the outcome.
No victim should have to face this alone. And no perpetrator is as untraceable as they want their victims to believe.
Sometimes, the police will not get involved. In one case, the Boston Police Department told us they felt this particular extortion case (again involving a wealthy businessman who had become involved with an extorter through a dating website) was better handled through civil litigation. So I brought in one of my law firm clients to file a “Jane Doe” lawsuit for intentional infliction of emotional distress in federal court, where further investigation was necessary to determine the true identity of the perpetrator.
Once we had the case filed, we sent subpoenas to the internet service provider and obtained a physical billing address. It took some interview work in that neighborhood (the extorter had jumped onto a neighbor’s network) to identify the woman. We served a trial summons in hand on the extortionist and advised that if she stopped the harassment, she would not have to appear. She was flustered at being identified and agreed to cease the harassment.
Conclusions
To be candid, in a few cases, we have failed to identify the perpetrator. If the veil of burner phones and usernames is carefully managed, even our extensive strategy of using all these techniques did not lead to a definitive conclusion (although our efforts became known to the extortionists, who seemed to fade away over time).
So, I hope this gives my fellow investigators a blueprint for handling these kinds of cases. While perhaps not common, extortion cases are quite interesting to work. The clients may have made some mistakes in judgment, but they have done nothing to deserve the vicious, relentless attacks on their peace of mind and family life. No victim should have to face this alone. And no perpetrator is as untraceable as they want their victims to believe.
About the author:
John Nardizzi is an investigator, lawyer, and writer. His Boston-based firm Nardizzi & Associates, Inc., focuses on civil and criminal trial work. His first crime novel, Telegraph Hill was lauded for “lyrical prose and intimate observations of lesser-known San Francisco neighborhoods.” His second novel, The Burden of Innocence, was a Shamus Award finalist.