Stolen Stories: Newcastle Residents Speak Out After Their Photos Appear on Fake Listings and Scam Profiles

Across Newcastle, a growing number of residents have found their personal photographs stripped from social media and reused to prop up fake listings, fraudulent profiles and scam advertisements, a practice known as duplicate image replacement, where genuine photos are substituted with stolen ones to lend credibility to deceptive content. The problem has become tangible enough that community legal services and digital rights advocates are now fielding calls from Hunter locals who had no idea their faces or properties were being used.

The issue has sharpened nationally after Sydney recorded its hottest June since 1859 this week, driving a spike in rental inquiries as people searched frantically for cooled accommodation, conditions that fraud researchers say create fertile ground for fake listings bearing stolen imagery. For Newcastle, a city where the rental vacancy rate has been under acute pressure for more than two years, that vulnerability is not abstract.

From Cooks Hill to Carrington: Local Voices on the Ground

Residents from several Newcastle suburbs have described discovering their home photos repurposed on unauthorised listings. In one documented pattern reported to Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service Hunter, people searching for rentals in the Cooks Hill and The Junction areas encountered listings using photographs that matched properties already lawfully occupied, the images apparently scraped and rehosted on secondary sites. A woman from Mayfield whose backyard photographs appeared on what appeared to be a Gumtree listing for a property she did not own described the experience as deeply unsettling, and said she felt powerless about what to do next. Her account was shared through the Hunter Community Environment Centre's digital literacy program, which does not name participants publicly.

Others have reported finding their profile photographs recycled on Facebook Marketplace seller accounts that were later flagged for scams. One Merewether resident, who contacted the University of Newcastle's cybersecurity outreach clinic earlier this year, said she only discovered the theft when a stranger messaged her asking whether she was selling a car she had never owned. The clinic, run through the university's School of Electrical Engineering and Computing, has recorded a rise in image misuse inquiries from Hunter residents since late 2025, though it does not publish individual case numbers publicly.

The Broadmeadow-based office of the NSW Small Business Commission has also noted complaints from local tradespeople whose business profile photos, often taken at job sites in suburbs like Lambton and Hamilton, have turned up on fake contractor listings. Small operators say the reputational harm is compounded because potential clients sometimes assume the original business is the fraudulent one.

What the Evidence Shows, and What Comes Next

The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner reported in its most recent annual report, published in late 2025, that image-based complaints formed part of a broader category of privacy breaches that rose year-on-year. Separately, the eSafety Commissioner has documented that image misuse reports from regional NSW increased between the 2023-24 and 2024-25 financial years, though the agency does not break data down to individual cities in its public releases.

In Newcastle specifically, the cost of acting on a misused image can discourage victims from pursuing formal channels. A basic cease-and-desist letter from a Hunter Valley law firm typically starts around $300 to $500, according to fee schedules published by several Newcastle legal practices, a barrier for renters or tradespeople already stretched by cost-of-living pressures.

Residents who discover their images being misused are advised to file a report with the eSafety Commissioner at esafety.gov.au, where the non-consensual image misuse reporting tool accepts screenshots and URLs as evidence. The Tenants' Advice and Advocacy Service Hunter, reachable through the Hunter Community Legal Centre on Darby Street in the Newcastle CBD, can assist renters who have lost money to listings that used stolen photos. Reverse image searching through tools such as Google Images or TinEye remains the fastest free method for anyone who suspects their photographs are circulating without consent. The University of Newcastle's digital literacy clinic accepts inquiries from community members via its Callaghan campus contact page, and does not charge for initial advice.

For now, the people affected are doing what communities tend to do before institutions catch up: warning each other, sharing screenshots in local Facebook groups, and figuring out the rules as they go.