Blackmail is a crime in which a person, using written or spoken threats of force or fright, demands money or property to which the person is not entitled. The most common method of blackmail is to threaten to expose the victim to the public by telling the public about certain past misdeeds, whether real or pretended. The threat can also be to the physical well-being of the victim or a member of the victim’s family. Blackmail is punishable by imprisonment or fine, or both.
