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Scammers using artificial intelligence
Experts are issuing a warning about scammers utilizing artificial intelligence to target victims. LiveNOW from FOX's Jeane Franseen spoke with one expert about how to protect yourself.
The FBI and NCAA are joining forces on a new initiative aimed at protecting college athletes from cyber-enabled tactics that can lead to sexual exploitation and the theft of private images.
It’s a growing concern as athletes build larger online audiences and benefit financially from name, image and likeness opportunities.
FBI, NCAA partnership
Big picture view:
The FBI announced the partnership Monday, warning that athletes are increasingly being targeted by scammers and hackers who use phishing schemes, attempts to obtain passwords or PINs, and fake social media customer-service accounts.
In many cases, criminals create a sense of urgency by claiming an athlete’s account needs an immediate password reset.
What they're saying:
"Athletes have large social media followings, expended further by NIL activities that not only increases the exposure for targeting, it increases the leverage vendors believe they hold to exposure them," Shohini Sinha, assistant director of the FBI Victim Services Division, told The Associated Press. "There is a pressure to protect the clean image of their school, team and themselves."
A detail of a NCAA logo decal is seen at center court. (Credit: Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
NCAA Vice President for Enforcement, Jon Duncan, also added: "We hope to break down barrier so law enforcement can help prevent further abuse and connect college athletes who may be targeted with the right support …If we play even a small role in preventing these crimes or getting justice or appropriate support for the people impacted by them, we will do everything we can to help."
Sinha said athletes may also feel significant pressure to protect their reputations, as well as the public image of their schools and teams, making threats involving private content particularly powerful.
What is sextortion?
Dig deeper:
The FBI says victims may then face sextortion, harassment or stalking.
Sextortion is a serious form of blackmail involving threatening to release sexually explicit material to coerce a victim into providing money, additional explicit content or other demands.
In some cases, criminals may even upload stolen material directly to an athlete’s social media accounts.
What's next:
Neither the FBI nor the NCAA has provided specific figures on how many college athletes have been targeted by sextortion schemes. The new partnership will instead focus on educating athletes about common tactics, helping them recognize potential threats and encouraging them to take steps to protect their personal information and online accounts.
RELATED: Sextortion scams now feature photos of your home, personal information
"Our goal is to raise awareness so students can protect themselves and prevent further victimization," the FBI said.
Despite not having athlete-specific numbers, the FBI's 2025 IC3 report said it received more than 75,000 submissions regarding sextortion in 2025.
The FBI said that individuals who believe they have been targeted or victimized should not click any links or open unknown documents, cease all contact with the offender, decline to provide any payment or proof of identity, preserve all related messages and images as evidence, and report the incident.
The Source: The information for this story was provided by the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation and The Associated Press. This story was reported from Los Angeles.