London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 16, 2025

'Fake accounts used my pictures to sell sex'

'Fake accounts used my pictures to sell sex'

"I felt so shocked, I was scared of what everyone would think of me."

When Nicole Peterkin received a message from an old friend on Instagram asking about her account she thought it was a mistake.

But the 20-year-old retail worker from Aberdeenshire soon discovered photographs of herself on an account she did not recognise, and it was advertising sex work.

"I was just scared for family members finding out about it, people I went to school with, even work colleagues," she told BBC Scotland's The Nine programme.

"What would they think of me?"

Ms Peterkin found pictures she posted on her personal Instagram account were being used in a fake social media profile that impersonated her. It advertised a scam website promising explicit images of Ms Peterkin in exchange for money and personal information.

"I don't have anything against anyone associated with stuff like that, but I don't want people to think I do that," she said.

Fake profiles


Instagram said it does not allow inauthentic activity on its site and blocks "millions of fake accounts every day".

But the scam Ms Peterkin fell victim to was made simple through the use of social media and free website services, and is affecting more and more young women.

Nicole says she was shocked by how easily scammers can impersonate people online

Scammers search social media for public profiles they want to copy, downloading the photos to use later.

Using free website services like Wix they create a page that poses as a sex work site such as OnlyFans or AdmireMe, promising explicit images in exchange for money and personal information. These explicit images do not exist.

Scammers use social media platforms such as Instagram to sell the page by impersonating the original account.

The original user is blocked from the fake account meaning they can only ask others to report the account using Instagram's in-app tools.

Ms Peterkin's account was public at the time of the scam and the fake account was removed, but although she has now made her account private, she wants social media companies to do more to prevent these scams.

"I do feel a relief it's gone, but I still get people messaging me to this day, like total strangers. They say, 'I'll send you money if you send me some pictures and videos'", she said.

"It does have a really bad effect on me. They need to look into it and do something about it because there are heaps of people making fake profiles of young girls and using our images."

'No control over images'
Jess McBeath advises young people on how to stay safe online
Online safety consultant Jess McBeath, who represents the UK Safer Internet Centre in Scotland, said sexual content often drives new technologies online, and new scams.

"The person who's had the imagery stolen - if we think about the impact on them, that could be quite profound in terms of how they feel about themselves, how other people view them," she said.

"As well as the fact that they've got images out there and they have no control over them."

Ms McBeath explained that while these women were able to report the fake accounts and have them taken down, proving illegal activity is difficult.

"Bringing somebody to justice is probably a more complex matter," she said.

Annabel Turner says these crimes affect women more often than men
Former barrister and founder of CyberSafe Scotland, Annabel Turner, said the law does not protect young women like Nicole whose identity was impersonated.

She said fraud would be committed if someone paid money or gave information to the fake profiles, but it was not clear what other crimes were involved.

She said: "The people that society should be most concerned to protect, in this case the young women whose identities have been copied and misused, they don't really have any choice apart from trying to get that material removed as quickly as possible.

"The scale of it surprises me, not that it's happening."

'It's horrible and shouldn't happen'
Heather uses her social media accounts for work with different companies
Heather MacFarlane, who grew up in East Lothian but now works for a technology company in Manchester and promotes brands on social media, said she never expected to be the victim of this type of scam.

But in August last year, the 23-year-old started receiving messages from friends which pointed to a fake account using her photos to offer sex work.

"People actually did think that I was promoting it and that I made a separate account because maybe I didn't want my family to see it," she said.

The account impersonating her was removed after she and her friends reported it.

But Ms MacFarlane is worried that without more protection, it will happen again.

"It's horrible that it happens and it shouldn't happen, but this is the world we live in," she said.

Heather wants social media firms to do more to protect people from becoming victims of these scams

She said those behind the scam "saw an opportunity to exploit me and other young women that it's happened to, which is very sad to see".

She added that social media sites like Instagram need to force users to verify their identity before they can make an account on the platform.

A spokesperson for Facebook, the company which owns Instagram, said: "We do not allow inauthentic activity on Instagram and we block millions of fake accounts every day.

"If someone is being impersonated on our platform, we encourage them to report the account using our in-app tools or online form, so we can take action."

Wix have not responded to a request for comment.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Australian Punter Archie Wilson Tears Up During Nebraska Press Conference, Sparking Conversation on Male Vulnerability
Australia Confirms U.S. Access to Upgraded Submarine Shipyard Under AUKUS Deal
“Firepower” Promised for Ukraine as NATO Ministers Meet — But U.S. Tomahawks Remain Undecided
Brands Confront New Dilemma as Extremists Adopt Fashion Labels
The Sydney Sweeney and Jeans Storm: “The Outcome Surpassed Our Wildest Dreams”
Erika Kirk Delivers Moving Tribute at White House as Trump Awards Charlie Presidential Medal of Freedom
British Food Influencer ‘Big John’ Detained in Australia After Visa Dispute
ScamBodia: The Chinese Fraud Empire Shielded by Cambodia’s Ruling Elite
French PM Suspends Macron’s Pension Reform Until After 2027 in Bid to Stabilize Government
Orange, Bouygues and Free Make €17 Billion Bid for Drahi’s Altice France Telecom Assets
Dutch Government Seizes Chipmaker After U.S. Presses for Removal of Chinese CEO
Bessent Accuses China of Dragging Down Global Economy Amid New Trade Curbs
U.S. Revokes Visas of Foreign Nationals Who ‘Celebrated’ Charlie Kirk’s Assassination
AI and Cybersecurity at Forefront as GITEX Global 2025 Kicks Off in Dubai
DJI Loses Appeal to Remove Pentagon’s ‘Chinese Military Company’ Label
EU Deploys New Biometric Entry/Exit System: What Non-EU Travelers Must Know
Australian Prime Minister’s Private Number Exposed Through AI Contact Scraper
Ex-Microsoft Engineer Confirms Famous Windows XP Key Was Leaked Corporate License, Not a Hack
China’s lesson for the US: it takes more than chips to win the AI race
Australia Faces Demographic Risk as Fertility Falls to Record Low
California County Reinstates Mask Mandate in Health Facilities as Respiratory Illness Risk Rises
Israel and Hamas Agree to First Phase of Trump-Brokered Gaza Truce, Hostages to Be Freed
French Political Turmoil Elevates Marine Le Pen as Rassemblement National Poised for Power
China Unveils Sweeping Rare Earth Export Controls to Shield ‘National Security’
The Davos Set in Decline: Why the World Economic Forum’s Power Must Be Challenged
France: Less Than a Month After His Appointment, the New French Prime Minister Resigns
Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán stated that Hungary will not adopt the euro because the European Union is falling apart.
Sarah Mullally Becomes First Woman Appointed Archbishop of Canterbury
Mayor in western Germany in intensive care after stabbing
Australian government pays Deloitte nearly half a million dollars for a report built on fabricated quotes, fake citations, and AI-generated nonsense.
US Prosecutors Gained Legal Approval to Hack Telegram Servers
Macron Faces Intensifying Pressure to Resign or Trigger New Elections Amid France’s Political Turmoil
Standard Chartered Names Roberto Hoornweg as Sole Head of Corporate & Investment Banking
UK Asylum Housing Firm Faces Backlash Over £187 Million Profits and Poor Living Conditions
UK Police Crack Major Gang in Smuggling of up to 40,000 Stolen Phones to China
BYD’s UK Sales Soar Nearly Nine-Fold, Making Britain Its Biggest Market Outside China
Trump Proposes Farm Bailout from Tariff Revenues Amid Backlash from Other Industries
FIFA Accuses Malaysia of Forging Citizenship Documents, Suspends Seven Footballers
Latvia to Bar Tourist and Occasional Buses to Russia and Belarus Until 2026
A Dollar Coin Featuring Trump’s Portrait Expected to Be Issued Next Year
Australia Orders X to Block Murder Videos, Citing Online Safety and Public Exposure
Three Scientists Awarded Nobel Prize in Medicine for Discovery of Immune Self-Tolerance Mechanism
OpenAI and AMD Forge Landmark AI-Chip Alliance with Equity Option
Munich Airport Reopens After Second Drone Shutdown
France Names New Government Amid Political Crisis
Trump Stands Firm in Shutdown Showdown and Declares War on Drug Cartels — Turning Crisis into Opportunity
Surge of U.S. Billionaires Transforms London’s Peninsula Apartments into Ultra-Luxury Stronghold
Pro Europe and Anti-War Babiš Poised to Return to Power After Czech Parliamentary Vote
Jeff Bezos Calls AI Surge a ‘Good’ Bubble, Urges Focus on Lasting Innovation
Japan’s Ruling Party Chooses Sanae Takaichi, Clearing Path to First Female Prime Minister
×