Experts warn of photos online as boudoir photoshoot leads to leak

BRYAN, Texas (KBTX) – Shaming and extortion through revenge porn isn’t new, with state laws created almost a decade ago to help cut down on incidents. But, experts are finding it’s not just scorned exes illegally sharing images online.

Investigator Donnie Manry says bad actors and hackers are now taking advantage of unsuspecting lovebirds.

Manry has spent years watching the ever-changing ways people are taken advantage of on the internet. The FBI has linked over a dozen suicides to sexual exploitation online and even more cases have led to victims going into hiding. This is exactly what Manry says he witnessed.

“The person was a businessperson. And next thing you know her employees, her employer and coworkers, are having these images emailed to them. It totally ruined this person’s business to the point of shutting the business down and moving for security reasons. Just horrible,” he said.

The alarm he’s ringing is on boudoir photoshoots.

“When they’re getting married and setting up for their photographer, it’s very common for the photographer innocently to try to do in an up sale,” Manry says an innocent, common and fun offer. “They try to convince her that ‘hey why don’t you do a boudoir shoot for your husband? We’ll put it in a book and you pick the images and we’ll give that to him on the wedding day as his gift.’”

Manry says even if the photographer is a professional, a friend, or even yourself, these photos have to be uploaded to a third-party to bind everything together.

“That photographer has those images. But, they are not necessarily the ones that are going to make this book for you,” he said.

This is where Manry says hackers are ready to strike on third-party websites.

“[Hackers] obviously know what the company does and so they will hack those servers and they will download all of those ladies’ images. I mean we’re talking about dozens and dozens of ladies. We’re talking about thousands of photos and the next thing you know, those photos are uploaded on the dark web,” Manry said. “I have seen shaming situations where that exact thing right there happened. And then once they got out there on the dark net, they rolled around for about two years, two and a half years from the darknet before they ever bumped over to where they were hit by the search engine.”

Manry says this is when his client discovered the hack had even happened. The FBI says online extortion schemes just like these are on the rise and tough to avoid in a connected world.

“There are a lot of services out there now that are encrypted, there are some services that are outside of the scope of the federal government,” Special Agent Torrance White said. “I don’t think there’s anything that we talk about in technology that doesn’t touch the internet. So I would just be cognizant of your use and what information that you put out on the internet as well as who you communicate with.”

Manry says when going in to take any photos or considering a boudoir shoot, it’s best to go in assuming the photos you take will end up on the internet.

“There are people out there that do nothing more than hack those sites and get those photos and put them out there,” he said. “It’s something you’ve got to worry about and there’s no way to get them down.”

Manry says experts have found ways to prevent Google searches from matching with stolen images. But, the ability to save and download things off the internet has complicated their ability to fight extortion.

The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has ways you can get information and images taken off the internet. This is specific for content showing people under the age of 18 and is a free tool to use.

Numerous services are offered for a fee to remove and keep up with uploads of previously removed photos. This is available for victims of any age.