Bengaluru college student alleges private photos leaked online, AI deepfake threats; cyber…

In late June 2026, a 21-year-old college student in Bengaluru discovered that approximately 50 of her private photographs had been uploaded to adult websites. Following the leak, she was targeted by a self-proclaimed hacker who demanded additional intimate images in exchange for removing the content, later threatening to release fabricated AI-generated sexually explicit material if she refused.

What happened

The incident began on June 26, when the student was notified by a friend that her private photos were circulating online. She subsequently filed a complaint through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal. Two days later, she received messages from an international WhatsApp number identifying the sender as a hacker, who claimed to have uploaded a second batch of images to another website. When the student requested the removal of these photos, the individual demanded more intimate images as a condition for deletion. Upon her refusal, the perpetrator threatened to publish a "part 2" consisting of deepfake sexually explicit images and videos, asserting that the public would believe the fabricated content was genuine.

The student reported that these images were originally shared in confidence with modelling agents between 2023 and 2024 for portfolio assessment and were never intended for public circulation. The leaked photographs were further shared across various forums, causing the victim severe mental trauma and humiliation. The East CEN Crime Police Station has registered a case and initiated an investigation into the matter.