Men are sending explicit pictures to random women on public transport using a feature of the iPhone in a disturbing new trend that has emerged in New York.
Women in the city have told how men send them explicit photos of the genitals using AirDrop, an iPhone feature that allows people to share pictures over Bluetooth.
The trend was first reported in London in 2015, but has reportedly seen a rise as the popularity of the Apple feature grew in the United States.
Britta Carlson, 28, was riding a subway train to a concert on July 27 when an unwanted message popped up on her phone.
She told the New York Post: “It was just a huge close-up picture of a disgusting penis. It really felt like someone had actually just flashed me.
“It never even crossed my mind that someone may use it to send stuff like that”
Ms Carlson was unable to stop the perverted messenger when she scanned the subway station, with people able to send anonymous messages over the feature.
Users of the iPhone have to manually switch their settings so that people outside their contacts book can send them the pictures.
But Ms Carlson had switched her settings so that she could share pictures with people in work, while some people have reportedly received the messages not realising they have changed their preferences.
Frankie Navisch, 35, was at New York’s Penn Station when she received an invitation to view 'Eduardo’s picture'.
She was horrified to find he had sent a picture of his genitals.
The Harlem resident said: “I wanted to punch him in the mouth for carelessly buckshotting genitalia to phones that could potentially be owned by children.
“Was he looking for interaction, or is all he wanted was someone to look at his mini-monstrosity?”
Apple has declined to comment.
