Re: I don’t sell Viagra, honest

[laura-smithburg-byrne]

Thank you for posting this ugly issue, it is a real problem for everyone but especially for professional women.

I too have had my name and image hijacked by spammers and hackers who used my identity as a mule for their malicious activities.

SOMEONE took pictures from my web-site and advertised “sexy pics and videos” of me available with the click of a mouse.

Hmm, I never took any sexy pics or vids and yet there it is in cyber-world as if it were true.

SOMEONE also registered me with fake profiles on “dating sites” and I received innumerable unwanted e-mails from interested individuals. This has happened to me several times.

SOMEONE also took my name and profession and put a copyright symbol next to it and used it to blog on porn sites.

This blog was accompanied by several nude pictures of faceless women on the sidebar.

I don’t have a problem nudity, I have a problem with sexual exploitation and fraud. Because of the way the internet works, the more often your name/profession is recognized the more it gets used. So for all your advertising for gigs, the more well known you are, the more likely you are to get “used”.

However, there are malicious individuals who will target you and take your hard earned popularity and put a negative spin on it to achieve their own agenda.

It is very upsetting when SOMEONE USES YOU for their own malicious gain by attempting to destroy your reputation while cowardly hiding behind a computer.

Achieving success in the music business is hard enough, but it is especially hard when certain people try to force you to pay A NASTY PRICE !