Police in Dundee are investigating allegations hundreds of nude and intimate images of women and girls as young as 14 have been uploaded and shared online.
Teenagers across the city raised the alarm after seeing private images of themselves on a mobile phone app and website.
Links to the images, which were accompanied by the names of those said to be in them, were also being shared on an online message board.
School children, as well as adults, took to social media to express shock and disgust with some believing images of themselves to be among the cache on the file-sharing platform.
The Tayside division of Police Scotland say they have been inundated with complaints from the public and are currently investigating.
The data is believed to have been removed after several hours on Tuesday but brazen males have since taken to Twitter to ask for the files to again be shared.
Sometimes devastating consequences
A spokesperson for the child protection charity NSPCC Scotland spoke out over the data breach, saying: “This is seemingly another example of the dangers that children all too frequently face in the online world.
“Young people must understand that once they share their images online they lose control over where they appear in the future – with sometimes devastating consequences.
“It is vital that parents and schools talk to young people about these dangers as soon as children have access to the relevant technology.
“If a young person is worried about an image they have shared they can contact Childline on 0800 1111 or at Childline.org.uk.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said: “We have received a number of complaints regarding this matter and are making relevant enquiries.
“As of 6am Wednesday we had 16 complaints made, and we expect more.”
