Blackmail & extortion. What's the difference?

Answer 1

Extortion is a simple act of using force, or the threat of it, to exact money or some such.

Blackmail implies threatening a person with revealing something he/she doesn't want revealed to certain other people - and exacting a price for not revealing it.

Answer 2

Blackmail is the possibility to divulge some thing that the sufferer needs to maintain secret except money is paid. Extortion is the possibility to do any form of harm except money is paid. protection rackets are a typical form of this. Pay up or your save might have an unintentional fireplace, or your knee will come into unintentional touch with a goon's baseball bat.

Answer 3

Extortion is a criminal offense, which occurs when a person obtains money or property from another through coercion or intimidation. Euphemistically, refraining from doing harm is sometimes called protection. Extortion is commonly practiced by organized crime groups.

Extortion is distinguished from blackmail. In blackmail, the blackmailer threatens to do something which would be legal or normally allowed.

Extortion is distinguished from robbery. In robbery, the offender steals goods from the victim whilst threatening him with immediate force. In extortion, the victim willingly turns the goods over to avoid a threatened later violence or other harm.

The term extortion is often used metaphorically to refer to usury or to price-gouging, though neither is legally considered extortion. It is also often used loosely to refer to everyday situations where one person feels indebted against their will, to another, in order to receive an essential service or avoid legal consequences. For example, certain lawsuits, fees for services such as banking, automobile insurance, gasoline prices, and even taxation, have all been labelled "extortion" by people with various social or political beliefs.

Answer 4

blackmail is a subset of extortion. Extortion is threatening someone so you can help yourself to their money. Blackmail is extortion where the threat is spilling dirt.

Hence Paddy Ashdown's revelations way back when - he knew someone had dirt on him and didn't want blackmail to be a possibility. So he spilt his own dirt.

Answer 5

Blackmail is when you force someone into doing something by threatening to do something they don't want you to do. Such as a guy is sleeping with another guys wife and someone threatens to tell the guys wife that he is sleeping around if he does not do what they ask.No money is usually involved. Extortion involves money. Ususally a threat to kill or injure someone or maybe destroy a business if money is not paid to prevent this.

Answer 6

Blackmail is like paying someone to do a dirty spying on him or her.
extortion is in the law and is like a very bad threat.
unlike black mail extortion can be way more serous.

Answer 7

Blackmail...you have secrets about them that they don't want found out so you can do them whatever you want and get them to do whatever you want them to do, and extortion.. you just taxing me for my business....i think

Answer 8

None.