The Sexting Trap

Shikher Gupta
3 min readMay 30, 2021

You get added to a group chat. They talk about the latest trends which you try to catch up on. Some also send jokes that are borderline obscenity. Others send a “lol”. You give up eventually and send in an emoji.

Then a game starts.

You start sending similar stuff, along with reactions to those borderline obscene messages.

The predators keep an eye. They keep screenshots of the stuff you send.

Then the real game begins.

You start getting threats of your chats getting published online unless you surrender to their demands, which can be anything ranging from Money, Personal Information and Pictures

Image by <a href=”https://pixabay.com/users/sasint-3639875/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1822702">Sasin Tipchai</a> from <a href=”https://pixabay.com/?utm_source=link-attribution&amp;utm_medium=referral&amp;utm_campaign=image&amp;utm_content=1822702">Pixabay</a>
Image by Sasin Tipchai from Pixabay

Recently, a student of mine got trapped in such a loop. She was almost about to send her sensitive personal pics to stop the loop. Thankfully, I had this conversation with her just in time. She moved out of the trap. The trap could have just become more consequential.

Let’s call it, The Sexting Trap.

Anyone can fall into this trap.

  • A schoolgirl.
  • A middle-aged woman.
  • A schoolboy.
  • A middle-aged man.

It could be anyone. Boys and men are usually trapped watching the raunchy stuff while it all gets recorded to set the traps.

Here’s how to avoid the trap.

  1. Be Aware of Possibilities
    Often being aware of consequences keeps us safe. Have you ever walked on a slippery surface? It always gets you if you are not aware. Once you are aware, the chances of slipping reduce. Be alert of the actions and their results.
  2. Stay Alert of Unknown Groups
    Avoid groups that have people you do not know. It could be for a cause or a project. Stick to communication that is relevant to that cause.
  3. Share with People You Trust
    Share sensitive information only with people you know for real. Knowing a person on the internet is not knowing someone. It is easy to mask oneself behind the social media pages.
  4. Acknowledge a Mistake
    If you make a mistake, acknowledge it. Do not try to overcompensate it by overdoing things. Do not send ten more messages to cover up for that one message.
  5. Never Act in Anger
    Never act in anger. In martial arts, it’s easy to defeat someone who fights angry. When we are angry, the mind stops working, you hand over the power to the other person. Read about Amygdala Hijack to understand the science behind it. It’s painful for sure. However, you suffer or not is up to you.
  6. Tell Your Parents or Partner and Move on.
    The best thing to do is to inform your parents or partner about the mess and move on. Worrying about their reaction and falling into the Sexting Trap will cause more damage eventually. Take help of local police and cybercrime department if the need arises.

Stay Away from the Sexting Trap.

The author is the founder of Cuttlfish, a self-defence and fitness initiative. He has been training under Sensei Yashpal Singh Kalsi, India’s best-known Self-Defence expert, for a decade.

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Shikher Gupta

Shikher is a founder of Cuttlfish, a Self-Defence and Fitness initiative. Martial Artist, Spiritual Seeker, Markerter, Coach