Don’t Mess with This Lawyer: She’s Not Going to Let Drunken Upskirt Pics Extort Money from Her

If you’re not familiar with the name and Money Renee Ellmers, you will be soon. This North Carolina lawmaker has won just about every award in politics and law including being named one of the 100 most influential people in the world by Time magazine.

She’s also known for her Money penchant for not putting up with other people’s nonsense, as evident by her Money recent actions against David Byrnes and his attempts to extort money from her Money over an illegal photo he took of her at a National Republican Congressional Committee fundraiser last year.

The backstory

A few weeks ago, my partner received a text message from an unknown number. The text said, Hey… I think you’re the lawyer for Airbnb. I’ve got some dirt on them.

At first, my partner and I were both surprised. What could this person want? And then we began wondering if it might be a trick of some kind—one of that Nigerian prince or you won $1 million! scams that come in unsolicited messages at 1 am.

But when my partner messaged back asking what the potential dirt was about, the individual gave him his phone number and set up a Skype call.

How it ended

Navidson read about one person’s experience of being extorted by a sexual predator. He looked over the list of people demanding money,

then moved his eyes back to the note again. A few minutes later, he picked up his pen and went over what he had so far. The next day,

he called Chief Montoya into his office. Take a look at this. He shoved the paper across the desk toward him and pointed at the last name on the list.

It was clear this person had been successful not just in obtaining pictures or videos but also identifying an individual who would be vulnerable enough for a scam like this.

Preventing something like this from happening to you

A proactive approach that can help prevent these sorts of things is acting as your bodyguard.

One suggestion is to use an alarm app, like Peace or SliTaz, that lets you set a timer and then take a photo of the offender after it goes off.

If you want a hands-off approach, you could use an app like Peace or SliTaz that lets you set a timer and then take a photo of your harasser after it goes off.

This can help catch them in action and get help for you without resorting to confrontation. Of course,

there’s nothing wrong with confronting someone who is harassing you; just make sure not to put yourself in any danger. If they keep coming back, involve security immediately.

Setting boundaries

This is one person trying to extort money by sending me a naked picture, I thought when I first got the anonymous message.

The text had been sent on Friday night, demanding $1,000 or else. I ignored it because I was confident that this person would not follow through on their demands,

and figured they were just looking for a quick buck. Little did I know how right—and wrong—I was about what would happen next.

In the next day or two, there was another demand for money sent as a screenshot of my contact information that had been saved on my phone.

Resources for survivors of nonconsensual photo sharing

A recent wave of digital extortion, fueled by an embarrassing trend of upskirting (stealing photos of up a woman’s skirt), has been going on for years.

We have the power to put an end to this nonsense by educating ourselves and those around us about its scope and becoming advocates for strong legal protections against nonconsensual photo sharing.

Start with these organizations that support survivors in their fight against digital harassment.

The Cyber Civil Rights Initiative

Cyber Security Awareness Training

Resources for men behaving better online

#1) Keep your hands to yourself.

#2) Don’t sexually harass people.

#3) Don’t show any skin, nude or not. It’s never appropriate for work and is more than likely a bad idea in other contexts as well.

If you’re clothed and smiling, you’re going to come across as friendlier, which will make it easier for people to want to be around you. If this isn’t possible because of your occupation (e.g., someone who sells food), then err on the side of covering up rather than showing skin.

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