The Lawyer in Blackmail or Extortion Actions Pursuing action against the perpetrator when the police remain out of the situation is generally necessary to recover from the crime. A lawyer may use the evidence against the blackmailer or extortionist to prove that he or she did cause the injury to the plaintiff.
Legal scholars have grappled with this question without reaching agreement on why the threat to do something that is not illegal is itself a crime. After touching briefly on the popular explanations of why blackmail is a crime, this article takes a look at …
Dec 15, 2018 · Blackmailing with photos can both be a civil offense and a criminal offense in India. A lawyer might help the victim by filing a civil case asking for an injunction from the court on the perpetrator. Once they are served with the notice, they might get a little worried and play on the defensive or might stop from ever doing such an act again.
Apr 28, 2021 · An attorney can help you figure out which options are in your best interest, given your situation. They can also serve as a confidant and trusted source of advice as you deal with the stress of blackmail. An attorney can also help you remove any explicit content that has been published without your consent.
A lawyer may use the evidence against the blackmailer or extortionist to prove that he or she did cause the injury to the plaintiff. Then, the strength of the case increases significantly.
Most legal recourse for blackmail that does not elevate to the level of a criminal court case requires the services of a lawyer. The victim may need to push the matter into the civil courts depending on how severe the matter is and how much the blackmailer caused in damage.
In a civil suit against a blackmailer or extortionist, the judge may award punitive damages if the perpetrator acted in certain ways. Intentional harm, distribution of harmful information or documentation even after the victim supplied the demand or grievous bodily harm could result in aggravating factors in favor of the plaintiff. These punitive damages for aggravating factors are rare, but the judge will provide them if he or she feels the perpetrator should receive punishment above the usual compensation for his or her behavior.
However, the blackmailer may force the victim to influence others, change a situation to the criminal’s favor or to help with a plan that affects others. The information or items the perpetrator has against the victim often will either embarrass him or her or lead to a criminal investigation.
By using intimidation, force, threats or physical harm, the blackmailer will force the person to do something. Often it is to provide money to keep a matter secret.
The action of helping the criminal could lead emotional or psychological scars that require therapy from which to recover. The claim the victim pursues may require additional compensation to help the person become whole after the illegal activity.
Refusal of Police Involvement. Officers of a local enforcement agency usually will not become involved in a dispute between two parties that does not affect others. Additionally, if there is no evidence that blackmail occurred, this could shift from a criminal matter to a civil one. However, the more proof there is that wrongdoing took place, ...
Some theories make blackmail a crime because it victimizes the person being threatened. Viewing the threatened person as a victim makes blackmail almost like extortion, because victims are people who are on the receiving end of a criminal act (the threat). But on closer examination, this explanation might not hold up.
Another way to understand blackmail is to view it as a triangular balance of power, among the threatener, the subject, and a third party whose power has been co-opted by the threatener. This makes blackmail not a crime against the recipient of the threat, but against whatever party would have received the blackmailer’s information had the threat not been made. Here, the blackmailer’s acts either violate the blackmailer’s moral or legal duties towards the third party; or the blackmailer is usurping the third party’s power to regulate or discipline the threat, for the personal gain of the blackmailer. Here are some examples of this theory:
How States Define Blackmail 1 Blackmail includes a broad range of threats, with many exceptions. Most states take this approach, including threats that demand property or money, as well as coercing the victim or a third party to take a particular action. Exceptions are numerous, such as excusing the person who acts (threatens) only to make the other side correct a wrong, stop misbehaving, or return stolen property. 2 Blackmail includes a broad range of threats, with few exceptions. Here, a very narrow group of threateners are given a pass: they are the ones who act only in order to get restitution for a harm done or to get paid for services rendered (“Repay the money you took or I’ll sue,” or “Pay your bill or I’ll file in small claims court”). 3 Blackmail as threats to gain property only, with few exceptions. Here, the demand is for property, excepting only those who demand restitution for harm done, or payment for services rendered or property given. 4 The outliers. A few states, who define blackmailing threats either broadly or narrowly, provide for no exceptions at all.
The blackmailer is “ stealing” their power to act on the information, using it to extract payment for silence. But the problem with this theory is that it’s not at all clear or accepted that reporting all crime is legally required, let alone morally necessary. Usurping others’ power to use or receive the information.
Most states take this approach, including threats that demand property or money, as well as coercing the victim or a third party to take a particular action.
How States Define Blackmail. Although every state has a blackmail statute, they vary widely in two respects: the range of demands, or threats, that are criminalized; and the exceptions that make the conduct not criminal. Here’s a run-down. Blackmail includes a broad range of threats, with many exceptions.
The outliers. A few states, who define blackmailing threats either broadly or narrowly, provide for no exceptions at all. Needless to say, to understand your state’s approach to the crime of blackmail, you’ll need to look closely at the statute and the cases that have interpreted it.
The remedy to blackmail 1 Neutralize the threat: Try and neutralize the threat that the perpetrator is trying to make. For example, the perpetrator may blackmail you that he/she would leak your private photos to your best friend, then you must directly go to your best friend and tell him/her about your plight. It is an uncomfortable thing to do but surely it is one way of avoiding it. 2 Call the police: Dial 100 and tell the police officials about everything that happened. The police officials will take your address, phone number, and ask officials from the local police station near your house to meet you. The police will help in tracking down the perpetrator via special tracking devices so that nothing is leaked at all. However, the police may be insensitive and rude to you at times and may cause leakage of photos themselves during an investigation.
But photos do get leaked, often as a ploy to take revenge from the person concerned. This might get used for pornographic purposes and completely shatter one’s reputation in social life.
Blackmailing is a serious offence, though not expressly defined under substantive laws in India. It needs to be reported quickly since the intensity of the same could get serious and have extreme consequences in store for the victim and for his near and dear ones.
The remedy to blackmail. No person would happily share private photos on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat where millions of users are active at the same time and data transmits from one corner of the world to another in seconds.
His phones and laptops are confiscated and he might be arrested too. Blackmailing with photos can both be a civil offense and a criminal offense in India.
Resist the urge to engage with the blackmailer; Do not try to negotiate or pay the ransom; Preserve all communications and evidence; Enlist support from a trusted person to document the evidence; Adjust your online privacy settings; Set up online alerts; Report the crime to law enforcement;
If someone blackmails you, they are breaking the law whether or not you comply with their demands. While state laws vary, 18 U.S.C. § 873 makes blackmail a federal offense punishable by fine or up to one year of imprisonment.
Wyoming recognizes the crimes of blackmail, but also recognizes aggravated blackmail as a greater offense, punishable by a minimum of 5 years in prison, although the maximum sentence can be as much as 25 years in prison.
Extortion is inherently stressful by design because the perpetrator is purposely trying to “rattle” you. The more you panic, the greater control the extortionist will have over the situation.
As a criminal offense, blackmail is the crime of threatening to reveal damaging information about a person unless payment or some other benefit is received. In some cases, the perpetrator seeks favors other than money, such as sexual favors or other benefits to gain power over their victim.
Because perpetrators often target those with a reputation to uphold and an ability to pay, celebrities are frequent victims of extortion. Here are just a few examples of the rich and famous facing blackmail:
The defendant must use or attempt to use the victim’s reasonable fear of physical injury or economic harm to convince them to give up property, The defendant’s conduct must actually or potentially obstruct, delay, or affect interstate or foreign commerce.
Blackmail is a term often thrown around somewhat loosely. Often it is used to mean that someone is making you do something you would prefer not to. That is not technically the definition of blackmail. True blackmail is a serious crime. It can have devastating financial and social consequences, subjecting the victim to intense psychological trauma. ...
In some states, blackmail must be in writing, and if it is not, it is called “extortion.”
In blackmail the threat might consist of physical injury to the threatened person or to someone loved by that person, or injury to a person's reputation. In some cases the victim is told that an illegal act he or she had previously committed will be exposed if the victim fails to comply with the demand.
An attorney can not only help you gain perspective while protecting your confidences, as described above, but he or she can also help guide you through the appropriate process of seeking assistance with your problem. Often, an attorney may be able to suggest solutions which would not have otherwise occurred to you.
In some cases, the threatened harm is not as bad in real life as it may seem in your own mind. Talk to someone you trust to get an outside opinion. This may be an attorney, who is bound by attorney-client privilege not to reveal your secrets, or a religious leader, teacher, or spouse.
True blackmail is a serious crime. It can have devastating financial and social consequences, subjecting the victim to intense psychological trauma. That is why it is important to know that if blackmail is happening now, or has happened in the past, there are things you can do about it.
The criminal term “blackmail” refers specifically to threats someone makes to gain anything of value, including money, property, sexual favors, and promotions. Blackmailing can describe any act in which one person threatens another with some type of punishment if the latter does not agree to the former’s demands.
Each term refers to a specific illegal action allegedly taken by the defendant.
Where it is true that you are allowed, according to law, to represent yourself in most cases, it is not recommended. You might be the best in your chosen field, but if you have yet to pass the bar exam and become a licensed lawyer , you likely do not know the ins and outs of the legal process.
In some states, “blackmail by a private individual” is technically larceny, under expanded extortion laws. Larceny differs from another theft term, embezzlement, in that larceny refers to the carrying away of property, in which the perpetrator never had the property in question. Embezzlement refers to the perpetrator possessing ...
When someone’s hunting you down for money, it’s tempting to cut off all ties, but this isn’t necessarily the best action to take, according to Lichtman.
Don’t go to the police just yet, Lichtman said.
If all else fails and your photos make their dreaded rounds on the internet, you can contact the website where the photos are published.