INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The FBI is teaming with the NCAA to start a program to combat sexual exploitation of college athletes whose private images are increasingly found and targeted online in an era when they use their name, image and likeness to enhance their own marketability.

The FBI, which unveiled the collaboration Monday, said bad actors typically target athletes through phishing, and also by password and PIN targeting and by portraying themselves as 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. “There is a pressure to protect the clean image of their school, team and themselves.”

The FBI said hackers can steal images, then post or sell them, which can lead to sextortion, in which athletes can be harassed, stalked or even have the content that’s stolen from them posted on their own social media pages.

Neither the NCAA nor the FBI had specific numbers of athletes who were victimized by sextortion plots. Their partnership will go toward educating athletes.

“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,” NCAA Vice President of Enforcement Jon Duncan said.

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AP college sports: https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports