A link promised "locked" private videos and sealed leaks, and you ended up on 988xy.com. Here is what the site is really built to do.
988xy.com sells itself on secrecy. Its tagline invites you to watch exclusive leaked videos, private videos and viral clips, and calls itself the "official" 988xy.com, where "hot drops open first." But every "Watch Now" button leads somewhere else. If a friend, a comment or a group chat sent you here, read this before you tap anything.
The homepage is built from cards. A "Private drops" section promises exclusive private videos, and another advertises locked private videos and "sealed leaks." The site's own description sums up the layout: cards first, with a Watch Now button on every tile.
There is no information about who uploaded the videos, when they were filmed or whether anyone in them agreed to be shown. Words like "locked," "sealed" and "private" are there to make you curious, not to describe real content you can verify.
Tap Watch Now and the video does not play. Instead, the site sends you on a chain of redirects, from one domain to the next. Each stop can bring a new ad, a pop-up, a "tap Allow to continue" prompt or a fake "verify you are human" check. Where the chain ends depends on your device, browser and location, but it rarely ends with the video you were promised.
On phones, these chains often finish at a subscription page, a fake prize offer or a push notification request dressed up as a play button. On computers, they may push a "video player" download or a browser extension.
The redirect chain is the product. Sites like 988xy.com get paid by ad and affiliate networks for traffic: every page view, every notification permission and every click on a fake button counts. Showing you a real video would end the chain, and the earnings with it. So the "locked" content stays locked, and the next tile simply starts another round of redirects.
988xy.com is not alone. Its tagline, word for word, matches the one used by the sister site 662xy.com: exclusive leaked videos, private videos and viral clips, from an "official" site where hot drops open first. Only the number in the domain has changed.
The same idea runs through other short domains that ScamAdviser has covered, including 618xy.com, Vira3.com and Vira5.com. A grid of tempting thumbnails, a promise of exclusive or leaked clips, and a play button that leads to a redirect chain.
This matters because the names rotate. When one domain is reported or blocked, a near-identical copy can appear with a new number. A website checker only rates the exact address you enter, so a fresh domain may look clean simply because it has not been reported yet.
No. The site is designed to keep you clicking, not to show you anything real, and each redirect is a chance to land on something harmful. Allowing notifications can flood your phone with spam and scam links that are hard to stop. Any download that appears along the way has nothing to do with the video you were promised.
There is a bigger problem, too. "Leaked," "private" and "sealed" videos describe material that was never meant to be shared. Content like this is often stolen from phones or cloud accounts, recorded without permission, posted by an ex-partner, or faked with AI. Sharing intimate images without consent is a crime in many countries, and such material can involve people under 18, which is illegal to view or share almost everywhere. Every visit adds traffic and ad money to sites that profit from it.
Close the tab, then remove notification permission for 988xy.com, and any site it sent you to, in your browser settings. That is often the damage that lasts longest. If you downloaded anything, delete it and run a scan with security software you trust. If you entered a password, card number or phone number along the way, change the password, contact your bank and watch your accounts and phone bill for unexpected charges.
If you find a video of yourself or someone you know, keep the page address and screenshots, report it to your national cybercrime service, and use StopNCII.org to help stop intimate images from spreading. If the person is under 18, report it to the police or the NCMEC CyberTipline (or the Internet Watch Foundation in the UK), and never download or share it.
Not sure how sharp your scam radar is? Test your Scam IQ with ScamAdviser's Scam IQ Test and see how you score against real examples like this one.
This article has been written by a scam fighter volunteer. If you believe the article above contains inaccuracies or needs to include relevant information, please contact ScamAdviser.com using this form.
Adam Collins is a cybersecurity researcher at ScamAdviser who operates under a pseudonym for privacy and security. With over four years on the digital frontlines, he specialises in translating complex threats into actionable advice. His mission: exposing red flags so you can navigate the web with confidence.
