Scams from fake content removal services: how to spot them and choose a trustworthy one

1. Why victims are targeted

When an intimate image or a fake profile is spreading, urgency and shame push people to accept the first help on offer. Scammers know this. The most exploited situations:

• After a leak of images or data: a message says the sender "found" your content online and offers to make it disappear.
• After a deepfake: someone contacts you with screenshots and a "clean-up" offer.
• During or after sextortion: a fake "expert" or "investigator" promises to get your images back from the blackmailer, for a fee. The Canadian reporting centre Cybertip.ca describes this as "recovery scams": fraudsters claim they can have intimate images removed for money, and victims end up harmed a second time.
• After a bad review or news article: a so-called online reputation specialist claims to wipe it from Google "within days."

A useful distinction: getting content removed at the source (the platform or host) is not the same as making it vanish from Google. Anyone who promises to erase "the whole internet" is promising something no provider controls.

2. Warning signs of a scam

One sign alone proves nothing, but several together should alarm you.

Another common trap is the advance that keeps growing: after a first payment you are asked for extra "file fees," "taxes" or "release fees." If the amount keeps rising, stop.

3. Checks to make before paying

a) Identify the company. Look it up in the official register of its country. In France, every business has a SIREN (9 digits) and each site a SIRET (14 digits), searchable free on the Annuaire des entreprises. In the UK, Companies House is a free search by name or number, but it says it does not check the accuracy of the information filed. In Germany, the Handelsregister portal covers the registers of all federal states. Compare what you find with what the site tells you. A number that does not exist, a company created a few weeks ago with no link to the advertised activity, or a mismatching address are bad signs. A valid registration number alone does not prove the business is serious either: identifiers of real companies can be copied by scammers.

b) Read the legal notice. A site selling services should show who it is: company or trader name, address, a way to contact them, registration number. In Germany this imprint (Impressum) is required by section 5 of the DDG. A missing, empty or copy-pasted legal page is a warning sign.

c) Read the terms before paying. They should state clearly:

• what the provider actually does (reports to platforms, formal notices, follow-up...);
• what you get if no action is possible;
• the refund conditions;
• the total price, and whether the subscription renews;
• how to cancel.

d) Know your right to withdraw. In the EU, consumers generally have 14 days to cancel a service bought at a distance (online, by phone). In France, the period starts the day after the contract is concluded. If you expressly ask for the service to start before the 14 days end, the business can charge you for the part already provided, provided it collected your request in writing or on a durable medium and told you about the costs. A service fully performed within the period with your agreement no longer carries a right of withdrawal. In France, the refund is due within 14 days of the seller learning of your decision, using the same payment method. A provider who avoids any talk of withdrawal or refunds should worry you.

e) Pay by card. It is generally the easiest payment to dispute with your bank. If you have already paid and the provider has gone silent, contact your bank quickly, keep proof of payment and report it (section 5). A crypto or instant transfer is far harder to recover.

f) Look for independent evidence. Search the company name with the word "scam," and be careful with reviews that are all new, all glowing or word-for-word similar. A review never replaces checks a to c.

4. What you can do yourself for free

Many basic steps cost nothing. A provider only helps if you lack time, strength or method.

1. Keep evidence: the address of each item, dated screenshots, messages received. See our guide on keeping evidence before reporting.
2. Report the content to the platform (social network, host, site) through its free report forms. Under the EU Digital Services Act (DSA), online platforms must offer a notice mechanism for illegal content and give reasons for their decisions (articles 16 and 17).
3. Ask for erasure of your personal data under article 17 of the GDPR, using our takedown request template.
4. Block the re-posting of intimate images: if you were an adult in the images and you have them, StopNCII.org creates a digital fingerprint on your device (the image never leaves it) that partner platforms use to block publication.
5. Report to the police or fraud service in your country (section 5).

Case-specific steps are in our guides on online impersonation, leaks and sextortion.

5. Where to report a scam

When you report, give the name or handle of the "provider," the address of the site or profile, the phone numbers and emails used, the amount and date, the payment method (crypto address, card, transfer), and keep screenshots and receipts.

6. If you have already paid

1. Stop all further payments, even if you are threatened or told it is a "last step."
2. Collect evidence: conversation, website, receipt, transaction number.
3. Contact your bank immediately if you paid by card or transfer.
4. Report the fake "service" (section 5). If someone is threatening to publish images, don't give in: see sextortion: what to do.
5. Change your passwords if you shared logins or installed something.
6. Tell someone. It may feel hard, but these scams target people in distress, and shame has no place here.

7. What the law says

In France, fraud, meaning deceiving a person through a false name or capacity, or through deceptive tactics, to obtain money or services, carries up to five years' imprisonment and a €375,000 fine (article 313-1 of the Criminal Code). The 14-day withdrawal right and refunds for distance contracts are set by consumer law. In the EU, platforms must handle illegal-content notices under the DSA. This page is general information, not legal advice: for your own case, talk to a lawyer.