France and US dismantle NudeLeaksTeens network after theft of 17,000 victims' intimate photos
Authorities in France and the United States took down three websites that distributed stolen private images of over 17,000 women and minors, arresting two suspected administrators in northern France.
Franco-American operation closes illicit domains
Law enforcement authorities in France and the United States dismantled a cybercrime operation that sold stolen intimate media belonging to more than 17,000 women and girls across the globe. On Wednesday, 7 October 2026, the Paris prosecutor's office announced the seizure and shutdown of three websites operated by the network. The targeted web properties included nudeleaksteens.com, nltvids.com, and nlthub.pk. On Tuesday, 6 October 2026, French police arrested two brothers, aged 21 and 25, in northern France on suspicion of serving as the primary administrators of the service. The investigation is led by the cybercrime division of the Paris prosecutor's office in direct coordination with the National Cyber Unit of the French National Gendarmerie and American law enforcement partners.
- French police arrest two brothers aged 21 and 25 in northern France.
- The Paris prosecutor announces the shutdown of three illicit domains and the seizure of 700,000 euros in digital currency.
Acquisition methods and victim profiling
The NudeLeaksTeens infrastructure operated as a commercial service that compiled and sold bundles of stolen private images and videos. The material originated from several unlawful methods, including the unauthorized hacking of personal social media accounts, revenge porn submissions, and grooming operations in which adult perpetrators trapped underage victims online. The catalogued victims included adult women and underage teenagers of numerous nationalities. Beyond offering pre-packaged digital media files for direct purchase, the administrators established an interactive system that incentivized registered users to expand the database with personal identification data in exchange for cryptocurrency bounties. The platform indexed each victim by real name, geographic location, age, occupation, and an arbitrary physical appearance score graded on a ten-point scale.
Site users were incited, in exchange for rewards in virtual currency, to provide identifying information for each victim, recorded individually under their real name, indexed by age, place of residence, profession and beauty level rated out of 10.
Cryptocurrency seizures and criminal charges
Following the arrests in northern France, French investigators confiscated approximately 700,000 euros worth of digital assets held by the two suspects. The seized cryptocurrency holdings included balances in Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and the stablecoin USDT. Judicial authorities opened proceedings covering several formal offenses, including the possession and dissemination in an organized gang of pornographic images of minors. The brothers also face charges for money laundering and the unlawful provision of an online platform designed to enable illicit transactions and file sharing.
Global outreach to victims and investigative follow-up
Following the domain seizures, the Paris prosecutor's office issued a public appeal directing victims to contact investigators handling the case. The National Cyber Unit of the National Gendarmerie established a dedicated contact point to receive reports from victims seeking legal assistance or removal of their stolen content. The prosecutor confirmed that the notification channel is open to victims of all nationalities, whether residing inside France or in other countries.
People who are victims of the non-consensual distribution of intimate content on the NudeLeaksTeens platform, French or foreign, are invited to contact the National Cyber Unit at the address victimesNLT@gendarmerie.interieur.gouv.fr.
