New Delhi, Aug. 12 -- perpetrators are not only stealing victims' private photographs and videos. In some cases, they are advertising the stolen content on the victims' own social media pages. The bureau says that tactic, combined with extortion and relentless harassment, has driven some targets to self-harm.

The FBI issued a public advisory Monday identifying a significant shift in how these attacks unfold. Rather than soliciting intimate images directly, criminals are breaking into social media accounts to take them without any contact with the victim beforehand, as TechCrunch first reported. The FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center, known as the IC3, warned that both adults and minors are in the crosshairs.

Three distinct attack vec...