FBI WARNS SEXUAL EXPLOITATION ACTORS ARE STEALING AND SELLING PRIVATE EXPLICIT CONTENT THROUGH ACCOUNT TAKEOVERS

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is warning that sexual exploitation actors are using social engineering, phishing, password attacks, and account takeovers to steal private explicit images and videos from both adults and minors before distributing or selling the material through criminal marketplaces.

The warning was issued in FBI Public Service Announcement I-081026-PSA on August 10, 2026. According to the bureau, offenders are targeting social media accounts and other personal online accounts to obtain non-consensual intimate images, commonly referred to as NCII, without the victim’s knowledge or permission.

The FBI said these offenders may target specific individuals whose personal information has already been collected, or broader targets of opportunity identified through social media, leaked databases, and other publicly accessible information.

Once an account is compromised, offenders search for sexually explicit photographs or videos and may share or post the material in community forums or sell it through illicit marketplaces.

The stolen content is often accompanied by personally identifiable information, including a victim’s name, date of birth, email address, phone number, or social media username. The FBI warned that combining explicit material with identifying information can expose victims to continued harassment, stalking, sextortion, and other forms of repeated victimization.

One method identified by the FBI involves high-volume password and PIN attempts against social media and personal accounts.

Sexual exploitation actors may build curated lists of possible passwords using information obtained from data leaks, social media profiles, and open-source material. When a victim is specifically targeted, the lists may incorporate names, birth dates, name variations, or other information connected to that person.

The FBI also identified customer-service impersonation as a recurring technique.

In these incidents, offenders send text messages claiming that a victim’s social media account is about to be disabled or locked unless the victim provides a verification code.

The attacker then initiates a legitimate password-reset request against the victim’s account. The platform sends the real verification code to the account owner, who is manipulated into giving that code to the offender.

Once the code is surrendered, the attacker can reset the victim’s password and take control of the account.

Phishing represents another access method documented by the FBI.

Offenders create look-alike domains and fraudulent email accounts designed to impersonate legitimate social media support services. These messages contain a malicious embedded link that, once clicked, can provide the offender with access to the victim’s account.

The theft itself may occur without the victim immediately realizing that an account has been accessed.

The FBI said stolen intimate material may be posted on criminal marketplaces, community forums, or even advertised on the victim’s own social media page, often without the victim’s knowledge. In some cases, the stolen material is then used as leverage for sextortion or further harassment.

The bureau is urging users to reduce the amount of sensitive material stored on Internet-accessible services and strengthen account authentication.

The FBI recommends using unique and complex passphrases and PINs, enabling multifactor authentication where available, and avoiding passwords or security codes derived from easily identifiable personal information.

Users are also advised to avoid clicking embedded links in unsolicited emails or text messages. When an account warning appears, users should navigate directly to the official website or application rather than following a link contained in the message.

The FBI also warns users not to provide temporary passwords, PIN-reset codes, login credentials, or access codes to anyone claiming to represent an online platform or service.

An unexpected verification code, temporary password, PIN reset, or access code should be treated with caution if the user did not request it.

Users receiving such a code should access the service through its official website or application and review the account directly.

For victims, the FBI is asking for detailed reporting that can help investigators identify the scope and mechanics of the compromise.

Reports should include when the content was accessed or stolen, whether the victim was under 18 when the images or videos were created, how the material may have been obtained, which social media or cloud-storage platforms were involved, account usernames or registered contact information, and the locations where the stolen material was posted.

Victims are also asked to report any accompanying harassment, extortion, stalking, telephone calls, emails, text messages, social media contact, or in-person targeting connected to the incident.

The FBI directs victims of stolen or leaked intimate content to ncii.ic3.gov and continues to accept reports of fraud, cyber threats, and related criminal activity through the Internet Crime Complaint Center.

Individuals facing an immediate threat to life are instructed to call 911.

The bureau also identifies additional victim-support and child-protection resources, including the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC’s NetSmartz Initiative, the National Center for Victims of Internet and Cyber Exploitation, and the Federal Trade Commission’s Take It Down portal.

The warning shows that sexual exploitation schemes are no longer limited to offenders obtaining intimate content directly from victims.

Account compromise itself has become a pathway to sexual exploitation, allowing attackers to turn ordinary credential theft into a mechanism for stealing highly personal material and exposing victims to repeated abuse.

For users, protecting access credentials now carries consequences beyond account privacy.

A compromised social media, cloud-storage, or personal account can provide an offender with access to private material that may be copied, redistributed, sold, or weaponized long after the original account is secured.

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Document Source: Federal Bureau of Investigation, Internet Crime Complaint Center — Public Service Announcement I-081026-PSA, Sexual Exploitation Actors Stealing and Leaking Explicit Content, August 10, 2026. (Free Download)

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