The FBI is investigating the founder of a “revenge porn” website, where scorned lovers were posting nude photos and videos of their ex-partners anonymously. click below to read the rest.
Officials would only confirm to Nightline that there was an investigation, but declined to comment further on any other details.
Hunter Moore, 26, used to run a website called IsAnyoneUp.com, which he told Nightline he had launched as a place for “public humiliation.” On the site, users could upload sexually explicit photos and videos without a victim’s permission, and include screen grabs of Facebook accounts and links to Twitter accounts. A section on the website also allowed people to comment on the photos and videos.
The site became so popular that Moore said he was getting nearly 5 million hits a month. But in April, Moore sold his website for less than $15,000 to BullyVille.com, a social website on which people can share stories about being bullied and seek help. IsAnyoneUp.com was taken down.
But before that, Kayla Laws, a 25-year-old aspiring actress, said nude photos of herself that she took but never distributed surfaced on IsAnyoneUp.com. Laws claims her computer was hacked.
“To be seen on that website is like, breaks my heart inside,” she said. “It ruins everything I’ve built up for myself. It’s embarrassing to know that they’ve seen that photo of me and they know what I look like topless because of that site.”
Her mother Charlotte Laws, who is a private investigator, said she was outraged and contacted the FBI after Moore refused to take down her daughter’s photos.
“We first asked him, we sent him a cease-and-desist and a take-down notice, and he basically said ‘screw off,’ in so many words,” Charlotte Laws said.
She said she convinced the FBI to launch an investigation into whether Kayle’s computer was hacked.
“The FBI, I’ve been extremely impressed with them,” Charlotte Laws said. “They’re highly competent and extremely responsive.”
Moore denied that he ever hacked anyone’s naked photos.
