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Original poster

Stolen photo?

223 replies

fatgirlonthebeach · 15/09/2019 22:36

I recently went to a friend's birthday party and as you can imagine, lots of photos were taken by everyone there. I also took a lot of photos on my mobile phone and I have just noticed that someone else who was there has posted a photo which I took on the night onto a Whatsapp group.

The photo is definitely the one I took, there is absolutely no doubt about that.

I didn't send this photo to anyone and am completely baffled as to how someone else could have got it off my phone as it was definitely in my possession all evening. Does anyone have any idea how this could have been done please?

OP posts:
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PullingMySocksUp · 16/09/2019 22:16

Has anything else happened to make you think someone can access what’s in your phone?

Dyrne · 16/09/2019 22:20

Phones are actually pretty hard to break into nowadays - every so often a news story pops up of police/fbi etc needing evidence on a criminal’s phone and Apple etc refusing to unlock it. If the software existed it’d be 1) fairly complex and 2) difficult to get hold of. Anyone using this technology is going to be more along the lines of hacking into Putin’s emails; not stealing a photo from you only to immediately put it on WhatsApp... Or are you saying they’ve guessed the password to your iCloud/GoogleDrive account?

coconuttelegraph · 16/09/2019 22:31

I'm intrigued, I love a mystery, I assume you know who the photo stealer is as they have posted the photo to the group, why would they back you and why give themselves away so unnecessarily?

bruffin · 16/09/2019 22:39

So they are not the "sharpest tool in the book" but capable of putting spyware on their phone to steal data from others [confused[

custardlover · 16/09/2019 22:40

This is amazing. I'm here for support, not placemarking at all.

MaderiaCycle · 16/09/2019 22:46

Me too @custardlover me too.

64sNewName · 16/09/2019 22:50

I don’t know if the op will be back though. I think she has been bundled into the back of a van by Dark Forces.

Ironfloor269 · 17/09/2019 07:22

Or bundled into a white van in a straight jacket...

BentNeckLady · 17/09/2019 07:33

What you’re suggesting happened isn’t possible.

GlasshouseStoneThrower · 17/09/2019 08:25

Some possible options:

  1. The photo is the other person's and was automatically saved to your camera roll when they sent it via WhatsApp.
  1. You sent the photo to someone else and they shared it with the other person.
  1. If you have an iPhone, the photo was uploaded to the Cloud and the Cloud has been hacked by the other person. This is possible but requires fairly significant technical expertise.
  1. You left your phone unattended and the person found it, unlocked it, and sent the photo to themselves.
  1. You accidentally shared the photo via airdrop with people in the vicinity (very easy to do).
  1. The photo was taken by someone standing beside you and is identical.

There are probably other possibilities too.

It's certainly not impossible that your phone or cloud has been hacked, but I think it's probably a lot less likely than some of the other options, so hopefully that's reassuring to you!

OkayGo · 17/09/2019 08:47

I am.... so confused

BenWillbondsPants · 17/09/2019 09:00

OP - Do NOT eat cheese before you go to bed.

GoneToTheDock · 17/09/2019 12:12

Why do people always jump to the conspiracy theory?(op)

SillyMoomin · 17/09/2019 12:25

OP, why would anyone want to hack into your phone? What other photos do you have on there that are worth trying to steal? ;)

Nicolastuffedone · 17/09/2019 12:32

All that spyware for a photo of party poppers.....

georgialondon · 17/09/2019 12:42

We're all with @SkiingIsHeaven Grin

RavenLG · 17/09/2019 12:42

Why would that person go through the effort of some how remotely installing software that would allow them to access your information, just for a photo??
The money, time and actual opportunity to do that... really you think it would be wasted a pretty cheesy photo?

ThatCurlyGirl · 17/09/2019 12:52

OP: "Does anyone have any idea how this could have been done please?"
Everyone: Clear explanation
OP: NO YOU'RE ALL WRONG
Everyone: We really aren't
OP: Identity theft though

Nobody would have thought anything of it if you had just said oh yeah I hadn't thought of that, makes sense - cheers.

eenymeenyminyme · 17/09/2019 12:59

That would be an awful lot of effort to go to in order to 'steal' a party photo, then to share it back with the person you 'stole' it from would be a bit daft.

And that's an awfully big leap you've taken to assuming identity theft!

sits back and waits to be proved wrong

PancakeAndKeith · 17/09/2019 13:03

Why not just ask her?

Redglitter · 17/09/2019 13:13

Any photos sent to me on WhatsApp dont go in my camera roll folder. They go straight to a WhatsApp folder. There would be no mistaking a photo I took to one I received via WhatsApp

peachgreen · 17/09/2019 13:29

@redglitter it depends what phone you have and the settings.

JudgeGrudge · 17/09/2019 13:39

I am so confused.
How does a random person from your friendship group hack your phone, steal a photo and be stupid enough to post it with the idea of taking your identity details without having your phone?

I mean I know about Hackers or people who have had access to your phone but in this case just how?

Redglitter · 17/09/2019 13:40

Ah right. I didnt realise some phones defaulted to the camera roll. I know with any Samsung I've had it automatically creates a WhatsApp folder.