My horror as intimate images of me were posted online, by golfer Carly
ScotS golfer carly Booth has spoken of her horror after her personal photos were stolen by hackers and splashed across the internet.
Miss Booth has disclosed that she was the victim of hackers who stole intimate images stored online before posting them on the web.
the 26-year-old from comrie, Perthshire, said the incident led to her receiving abuse from women who had discovered her photos on their husbands’ mobile phones.
Speaking on the BBc’s the cut podcast, she said: ‘My icloud had been hacked and I never used to delete photos or anything, so thousands and thousands of photos that had been stored had leaked out onto the internet.
‘I was horrified, because personal pictures from past boyfriends or whatever have now been all over the internet.
‘It took its toll on me over the past year. I’d get people sending my own pictures to me and it went on for a long time, then it died down. And then it went back up again and it just makes you feel horrible.’
She added: ‘I’ve had messages from girlfriends or wives of men who have seen my pictures on their phone and they’ve messaged me threatening me for having an affair with their other half.
‘I’ve no idea who their other half is, so that’s also something that has come from this which has been a bit horrible.’
Miss Booth, a former pupil of Perth’s Glenalmond college who at 17 became the youngest Scot to qualify for the Ladies European tour, has won both the Ladies Scottish open and the Swiss open.
However, a rising profile in the sport and her presence on social media have made her a target for trolls and stalkers.
She said: ‘In the last three or four years I’ve had a stalker. I’ve also had a lot of people getting in touch via email pretending to be a certain athlete or celebrity.’ the golfer said she was almost duped by someone claiming to be heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua.
She added: ‘that was the first one. that was the first time that I fell for it. It was good to a point, but then I was quite aware that this was very wrong because he was very suggestive very quickly and then I was trying to ask to Facetime to see if this person was actually him, but he wouldn’t.
‘He said he was a big fan of my golf and had followed my progress over the past couple of months but didn’t actually follow me on any social media. And it was serious, as Anthony Joshua is a very respected athlete who I look up to, and that was my attraction in speaking to this person.
‘And obviously that person has got my number now and whether it’s the same person that’s doing it I don’t know.
‘I’ve had texts from people pretending to be Simon cowell or [former boxer] Floyd Mayweather or just other athletes or celebrities, so it’s kind of an ongoing thing.’
She said the incident had prompted her to trawl through her social media pages to delete ‘bikini pictures’ to avoid ‘giving them a reason’ to target her.
Miss Booth, who is also the youngest player to represent Great Britain and Ireland in the curtis cup, said she had had to learn to ignore abuse on social media.
She added: ‘Unfortunately, everyone is free to have their opinion and post their comment but I don’t understand why people are so negative towards other people.
‘I don’t feel like I want to bring someone else down because my opinion isn’t the same as theirs.
‘But unfortunately there are people out there who like to have their words seen, so it can be really hard.
‘I used to take it personally when I started out on social media and I hated seeing anything negative or anything that wasn’t in a positive light so it did affect me quite a lot, but I think I’ve learned as time has gone on to ignore it.’
‘Said he was a big fan of my golf’