Key facts
- FBI warned in February of women creating fake dating profiles to lure and dox immigration agents.
- Profiles used a 'tradwife' aesthetic to attract law enforcement personnel.
- The goal was to publicly expose agents and deter immigration enforcement.
- The FBI memo was shared with the Guardian by Property of the People.
- The memo stated it was 'not finally evaluated intelligence'.
- Doxing involves publishing private information online without consent.
The FBI internally warned that a group of women were creating fake online dating accounts with “tradwife” aesthetics in an effort to lure and “dox” US immigration agents, according to a memo obtained by The Guardian. The FBI in Chicago disseminated the brief memo to law enforcement officials across the US in February, stating that as of late January 2026, a small group of women allegedly were creating fictitious online dating profiles to attract and then dox law enforcement participating in immigration enforcement.
The profiles reportedly incorporated imagery of a ‘traditional wife’ aesthetic and listed specific interests to appeal to individuals in law enforcement. The objective was to lure affiliated law enforcement personnel into an online or in-person interaction under the guise of a date, after which the individuals would be publicly exposed online. The tactic is intended to generate public embarrassment and deter immigration enforcement activity.
Property of the People, a government-transparency non-profit, obtained the document through a public records request. The FBI’s “situational information report” did not list the dating sites allegedly used, where the women were located, or specify whether agents had actually been exposed. The memo aimed “to raise awareness” about this doxing “technique” and included a disclaimer that it was “not finally evaluated intelligence”.
The FBI declined to answer detailed questions about the memo, stating the bureau does not generally comment on intelligence briefings but affirmed its commitment to officer safety. The Department of Homeland Security did not respond to requests for comment.
The memo was sent weeks after the New York Post reported that “lefty TikTokkers” were allegedly orchestrating groups of women to dox ICE agents, citing the rightwing account Libs of TikTok. That report mentioned online posts discussing the tactic but did not include interviews with individuals claiming to be duping agents or evidence of agents being tricked.
Ryan Shapiro, executive director of Property of the People, called the FBI alert “absurd” and “thinly-sourced,” questioning the use of taxpayer dollars to protect agents from potential online ridicule. Mike German, a former FBI agent, reviewed the document and found it odd that the briefing lacked citations, suggesting it may have been inspired by media reports and reinforced a “paranoid ‘us versus them’ mentality within law enforcement.”
Internal law enforcement reports have increasingly raised alarms about officials, particularly ICE agents, being doxxed. An October 2025 US army report cited intelligence that cartels offered payments to dox or assault immigration officers. A November 2025 FBI report warned that AI and facial-recognition tools had increased the scale and accuracy of doxing attacks on ICE officers. A January 2026 NYPD terrorism brief warned of calls to 'hunt down', 'dox', and kill ICE personnel, and a May 2026 alert from CBP warned that smart glasses could be used to surveil and dox CBP personnel.