ET

ISSUE 2223 Tuesday 26 June 2001

Boyfriend in red panties sparks internet mystery

By Robert Uhlig Technology Correspondent

TWENTY-ONE photographs of a man in a red bra and pants sparked a trail of global gossip yesterday as thousands tried to discover whether the pictures were the internet's most humiliating act of revenge yet, a hoax or a marketing gimmick.

Where the pics were--Get Revenge Forum

GetRevenge.com

Xermout.com--what goes around, comes around--Home of Revenge Master

It began five days ago with an email sent by a woman who called herself Pimptress to Karen, a friend. Yesterday it ended with Pimptress removing the revealing pictures of her former boyfriend from the internet and claiming tabloid newspapers were offering her money to tell her story.

Beneath a picture of a young man dressed in women's underwear and pulling on a pair of high-heeled cowboy boots, Pimptress had written in an email to Karen: "Thought you might enjoy this. Tom asked me never to show these to anyone...VENGEANCE IS MINE!!!!!!"

Within hours the email, with a link to a website containing an intriguing gallery of pictures, had been forwarded to dozens of people. By yesterday, thousands had looked at the humiliating pictures.

Pimptress wrote: "He shouldn't have cheated with my best m8." Dressed in Pimptress's red lacy pants and bra, a man was seen sprawled on a bed. "This is Tom Shepherd. He lives in Caerphilly and likes to dress in ladies underwear. Girls, beware, he is a liar and cheat."

Five pictures showed a pretty fair haired woman thought to be the jilted Pimptress but these were swiftly withdrawn yesterday when newspapers attempted to trace Pimptress. Pimptress revealed she was a 22-year-old from Newport in Wales and that her hobby was: "My ex, cheating bastard extraordinaire."

To make matters worse for two-timing Tom, the website had links that enabled visitors to send a text message of its details to any mobile phone and a facility to view the pictures on the latest cellphones. By last night more than 3,600 people had looked at the pictures, many leaving comments in a "guestbook".

Among the comments were: "U are one kick ass girl! The best 'get back' at an ex I've ever seen." In an email to The Telegraph, Pimptress refused to reveal her identity. She said: "Do you think I want my mum to know? She'd flip."

-- Anonymous, June 26, 2001

Answers

Rats! it was a marketing gimmick. You can see the photos here

-- Anonymous, June 27, 2001