INDIANAPOLIS — The FBI and the NCAA announced a collaboration on Monday to combat sexual exploitation of college athletes. The program aims to educate college athletes on how to confront, prevent, and respond to sexual exploitation online.

The initiative responds to increased digital vulnerability among student-athletes, whose public profiles have expanded through name, image, and likeness (NIL) activities. Bad actors typically target athletes through phishing, password and PIN targeting, and by impersonating social media customer service representatives with urgent requests to reset passwords.

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, said Shohini Sinha, assistant director of the FBI Victim Services Division. Sinha noted that this dynamic creates specific psychological pressures for those targeted.

There is a pressure to protect the clean image of their school, team and themselves, she said. This pressure can complicate reporting, as victims may fear reputational damage alongside personal harm.

Hackers can steal images and post or sell them, leading to sextortion where athletes are harassed, stalked, or have stolen content posted on their own social media pages. The collaboration is intended to offer support and guidance rather than serve as an investigative arm.

The NCAA aims to create awareness, educate athletes on protecting their information, and serve as a liaison to connect victims to available resources. FBI field offices offer victim advocates to assist those who have been exploited. The National Center for Victims of Internet and Cyber Exploitation provides support and tools to help victims remove images from the internet.

If we can 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, said Jon Duncan, NCAA Vice President of Enforcement. Neither the NCAA nor the FBI provided specific numbers of athletes victimized by sextortion plots.

The announcement follows high-profile legal cases involving the theft of athlete imagery. A former Michigan football staffer was arrested a year ago and accused of stealing more than 3,000 images and videos of athletes. Matt Weiss is alleged to have hacked into the accounts of athletes, mostly women, from more than 100 universities.

A judge denied Matt Weiss’ motion to dismiss most of the charges last month. These cases illustrate the scale of potential victimization across collegiate sports programs.

This joint effort addresses a growing threat vector where athletic fame intersects with digital security risks. Research titled Factors influencing college basketball players to attend selected NCAA Division I colleges, NCAA Division II colleges or NAIA colleges or NCAA Division III colleges shows the competitive landscape that drives athletes to maintain strong public personas. Such visibility, while beneficial for recruitment and branding, creates entry points for malicious actors seeking to exploit personal data.

The partnership establishes a formal channel for prevention and victim support without replacing existing law enforcement investigative processes. By focusing on education and resource connection, the agencies aim to reduce the leverage bad actors hold over athletes concerned about their public image and institutional standing.

Why It Matters

This collaboration addresses a specific vulnerability where name, image, and likeness activities expand athlete exposure to sextortion and harassment. By offering education and victim advocacy rather than investigation, the program seeks to overcome the pressure athletes face to protect their institutional reputations while reporting crimes. The initiative establishes a formal support channel following allegations that bad actors have already targeted individuals across more than 100 universities.