Fbi and french authorities target deepfake csam sites

The FBI and French authorities arrested a 25-year-old French resident and seized two websites, NudeLeaksTeens and NLTVIDS, which distributed child sexual exploitation material, including AI-generated deepfake media. The sites were identified in 2024 and shut down this week after law enforcement discovered they advertised stolen CSAM of young girls. The FBI executed a search warrant on VeriSign, seizing servers and materials. One site sold 189GB of material on 315 girls for $64.90, with some content from hacked social media accounts. John Bamford, an FBI cybercrime task force member, noted that material was compiled by individuals serving prison sentences, including Andrew Venegas, sentenced to 30 years in April 2026. Another collection was named after Reuben Oswaldo Yeverino Rosales, who received over 34 years in prison in 2022 for similar crimes. The sites claimed they did not host files but linked to other sites, encouraging payments in cryptocurrency and personal contact for certain material. The sites posted disclaimers disavowing child pornography while advertising and selling CSAM. Administrators often urged users to contact them directly for content rather than posting it on the site. The TAKE IT DOWN Act, passed last year, empowers the Federal Trade Commission to enforce the law and allows courts to order websites to remove such content. Law enforcement learned that Venegas obtained images through extortion and unauthorized access to victims’ social media accounts. The seizure highlights the ongoing challenge of combating deepfake CSAM and the legal measures being taken to address it.