Why you should never share your pictures with strangers

Identity theft through the internet is made easy when we give away images of ourselves.

In 2016 the BBCreported that identity fraud in the UK had increased 57 per cent, in part because of the availability of images and personal information on social media.

Imgur theft:

According to Bored Panda and Mail Online, one woman was a victim of photo snatching in late July when a photo of her was posted to imgur, apparently without her knowledge.

The story, which could easily have been faked using multiple imgur accounts, nevertheless serves as cautionary tale for identity theft.

Little Red Riding Hood teaches us to stick to nature trail paths in National Parks, without the necessity of believing your grandmother was cut out whole from the stomach of a talking wolf.

Picture: FilthyLeBasturd/Imgur

The photo as posted om imgur was captioned:

One month clean. No meth. No heroin. No alcohol. No Marijuana.

The online handle shown in the screenshots taken of the post (now deleted) was 'StartingAnew'.

One user, named 'FilthyLeBasturd' claimed to be the woman's cousin and that this was not the poster, nor was the woman a former addict.

Screenshots allegedly between the subject of the photo and shared by imgur user 'FilthyLeBasturd' state it may have been taken from dating website Tinder.

Picture: FilthyLeBasturd/Imgur

'StartingAnew'is no longer an account on imgur.

Of course, all of these interactions could easily have been created using multiple accounts.

A reverse Google image search of the original photo of the woman, only brings up results relating to this account of the story.

Both the Mail Online and BoredPanda quote a Facebook post, from the unnamed woman.

BoredPanda:

After a long, valient fight, the post and user have been deleted. I made a post calling them out and the Internet demanded justice

Mail Online:

If anyone found this image online?!? It's fake. Someone hacked it. I never did or done any of these things my life except pot... I'm gonna find you a**hole !!

A beautiful twist would be if the woman were to come forward now, and say her image has been used in this hoax, itself a story about a hoax.

Tinder advice

Tinder provides guidance for using the device, to avoid identity theft.

Protect Your Personal Information

Never give personal information, such as: your social security number, credit card number or bank information, or your work or home address to people you don’t know or haven’t met in person.

Note: Tinder will never send you an email asking for your username and password information. Any such communication should be reported immediately.

In addition, indy100 has previously compiled tips for information you should never share on Facebook, such as your boarding pass, winning lottery tickets, and of course, nudes.

HT BoredPanda, Daily Mail

More: Here's how to delete yourself from the internet - at the click of a button​