Many name, image and likeness deals require college student-athletes to post pictures and videos on social media, promoting brands and products. As a result, these athletes may find themselves at an increased risk for digital exploitation.
The NCAA has partnered with the FBI to combat the growing problem of sexual exploitation of student-athletes on the internet. The partnership aims to educate student-athletes on best practices to stop their images from falling into the wrong hands.
"Student-athletes maintain large public-facing social media followings and in many cases expanded further by name, image and likeness activity," FBI cyber division section chief Taushiana Bright told ESPN. "That visibility increases both their exposure to targeting and the leverage an offender believes they hold when threatening to expose an athlete to a coach, team, school or sponsor."
Related: NCAA Partners With Venmo to Tackle Online Harassment of College Athletes
This exploitation may include bad actors hacking into student-athlete social media accounts to impersonate them, hold the account hostage or steal sensitive information. The bad actors may blackmail the student, threatening to release sensitive information or explicit content if the student-athlete does not pay them or give into other demands.
"The criminal behaviors we talk about here, like stealing explicit images and using them for financial gain, are sickening," said Jon Duncan, the NCAA’s vice president of enforcement. "Tragic as those acts are, we know they occur and more often than anyone would like."
There has also been an increase in bad actors selling AI-generated sexual images of student-athletes alongside real images, adding to the online risks.
While not specific to student-athletes, the FBI reported that in 2025, the Internet Crime Complaint Center received 75,000 submissions regarding sextortion. The FBI and NCAA have created a website for student-athletes to report stolen content or threats, and created a list of recommendations to safeguard content, including frequently changing passwords, using unique pins with multifactor authentication and not sharing login information with anyone.
