Blackmail is one of the most complex and least studied crimes. The complexity of this phenomenon is reflected in the ambiguity of its understanding, in the inclusion of blackmail in the social communication processes that ensure power relations. Power, the ability to exert a decisive influence on the behavior of other people, based on blackmail, is often the basis of organized and corrupt crime. Blackmail ensures the involvement of those individuals in a criminal group who would not otherwise take part in its activities. Blackmail ensures the involvement of those individuals in a criminal group who would not otherwise take part in its activities. And unlike violence and bribery, incitement using the threat of disseminating compromising and other information is more latent. This study considers the four elements of the crime of racketeering and provides an explanation for each element. It also analyzes the criminalization of the crime in the criminal law of the Republic of Moldova, but also in the legislation of other countries.