After we posted yesterday about a T-Mobile customer being greeted by pictures of topless women when he logged into his account to pay his bill, some of you asked, “What’s the problem?” Several readers’ stories answer that question. (Censored but not exactly tasteful pictures inside.) UPDATE: T-Mobile response inside.
It could get you in trouble at work:
I have a company supplied T-Mobile blackberry. Very unfortunately, when my phone wasn’t working, one of the women in our IT department went to my T-Mobile account page to correct the issue and found a very graphic and clear picture of a woman’s breasts. It created a terrible situation. No one – and I mean NO ONE – would believe me when I told them that I did not take the photo, nor did I put it there. I finally had to just drop it because the more I insisted that it wasn’t mine, the more guilty I sounded. The problem here is that I am the head of the Human Resources Department. I wish it had turned out to be a funny situation, but it didn’t take that path. For many other people, this could be humorous. In my situation, it wasn’t.
It could arouse spousal suspicion:
I stumbled across this article this morning, and the same thing happened to me!!!!!!! I was actually sitting at the computer with my wife, looking at my bill and trying to add ring-back tones, and all of a sudden, there was a picture of some girls butt with a caption reading “kiss this”. WTF!!?!?? She FLIPPED! To this day, she STILL talks about it! I can understand how she would accuse me of this, but I KNOW for a FACT this picture was never, ever on my phone!!!!!!! How does this happen?!?!
Or you could see something a little more graphic than what our original reader saw:
Dear Sir or Madam:
I am contacting you regarding the highly offensive pictures that have appeared on myTMobile home page. Please see the attached screenshots from last night. As of now, those photos still appear on my homepage whenever I access my account.
I have attempted to resolve this matter via the proper channels, ending in a conversation with TMobile tier-2 technical support. The answers I have received so far are unsatisfactory, and to be frank, somewhat condescending.
I was first told that I had somehow unknowingly uploaded these photos myself, or that I had left my phone unattended and a nefarious person of mystery had uploaded them via my handset without my knowledge. I use an unlocked handset that is not sold by TMobile, and thus do not have the software installed to access TMobile’s proprietary MobileLife service. Additionally, I have never used the MobileLife service, nor have I accepted the EULA for the service. Therefore, it is impossible that I have uploaded these offensive pictures, or that someone did so using my handset without my knowledge.
Following that, I was told the photos must have been taken by the TMobile customer who first had this number, and were somehow leftover in the MobileLife folder attached to this number. Again, that is impossible- I have had my number since 2004. It was a Nextel number, then SunCom, then became TMobile when SunCom was purchased. It has never been a TMobile number before now.
Next, the technical support rep told me that this had never happened before, and that the user who took these pictures must have simply transposed digits of intended recipient’s phone number. I pointed the rep to http://consumerist.com/5395978/reader-paid-my-t+mobile-bill-saw-some-boobs, indicating that this is not a rogue occurrence. She replied that, even after seeing this article, it still was not TMobile’s fault and I should just delete the pictures and move on.
These are the offending pictures (the originals were sent to us as uncensored screencaps of the browser window, but we’ve cropped them and added cats to obscure the naughty bits).
Another reader wrote in:
just got a new iPhone. Unlocked it and then checked my account online. I thought it was just some weird fluke thing because they couldn’t even put a picture up of my phone. Where did the pictures come from? I have no idea. I don’t even what “MobileLife” is. My images were both wrong and Oh My God!
The reader who sent this one in said, “I’ve never uploaded photos to tmobile’s website, this picture isn’t
from my phone.”
Additionally, after the Huffington Post picked up this story, they received a complaint and a different picture from one of their readers: 
The question is, why is it only porn? Why aren’t people seeing pictures of strangers birthday parties and goofy faces and so forth? And what is Tmobile going to do about fixing the problem? And how are they going to win their affected customers’ trust back?
We’ve reached out to T-Mobile and passed these complaints and pictures on to them, and they’ve promised that they’ll have a statement ready for us soon. UPDATE: T-Mobile’s statement:
T-Mobile is aware of reports from a few customers who have seen inappropriate or unwanted pictures in their online “MyAlbum” section within their MyT-Mobile account. We are taking these reports seriously and actively investigating these issues.
Our initial analysis of the reports leads us to believe that pictures were likely sent to some customers’ mobile number by a third party, whether the customers knew the sender or not. If a customer has not had picture messaging enabled on their handset, a picture sent to them may be delivered only to their online MyAlbum account. For this reason, some customers are surprised when they see the picture for the first time in their MyT-Mobile account.
We will continue to investigate the reports but if customers would like to avoid receiving picture messages in the future they can explore using T-Mobile’s Message Blocking features which are accessed through their MyT-Mobile account online.
(Cat pictures: amboo who? and D.P. Rubino)
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wowww…that’s a scary picture…
T-mobile… classy!
They will blame hackers.
@dohtem: hackers probably did it.
@LostAtoll: Yeah, really you think T-Mobile is inserting FREE porn?
@veronykah:Oh no. Your being charged for it. It’s one of those hidden fees.
@dohtem: They’re probably being extorted, between this and their two massive outages.
I don’t think I’ll ever look at my cats the same way again. Couldn’t have used an Aye-Aye instead? You’d still need the brain bleach, but you wouldn’t need to have a repeat rinse when you get home.
@Barbobaggins: I thought it was super funny : )
I’m surprised about the number of pornographic pictures that are being reported. I realize that innocent enough pictures won’t generally be commented on, But now that this is getting more attention, are people seeing other, non-pornographic pictures there too, or is someone in T-Mobile’s IT department pulling a prank on their entire customer base?
@SJPadbury: I’ve got a logo for a sports team I’ve never heard of appearing in mine so it’s not JUST porn. I think it’s that porn gets noticed. If it was just some innocuous picture you would think it was an ad. I did, wasn’t till reading that original article that I double checked. Porn makes you say “hey wait a minute” and take a closer look.
@YardanCabaret: Scratch that, I think it’s a Porn company logo. It’s in the style of the Phillies but it says Philthy. The other images it shows are mine though. Very odd.
@YardanCabaret: You’ve never heard of the Phillies??? They just finished losing!
@iamlost26: No I had never heard of the Philthy’s. I just said it looks like the Phillies logo so I’ve obviously heard of them.
@YardanCabaret: I’m thinking it’s porn spam like the stuff that most ISPs filter out from our email accounts.
I like the ‘we’ve cropped them and added cats’.
@catskyfire: That just adds a whole new level of “Ick.” Expect an angry letter from PETA.
@diasdiem: Yeah, I’m really not sure why the Consumerist editors thought we’d rather see a cat being sodomized than a penis.
Kudos for the added kitties!
Every time i get someone else’s pictures, naked half the time.
@apollo46: 60% of the time it works all the time?
This seems like a situation of a hacker or unscrupulous employee doing some damage.
That being said, I am strongly inclined to join this MobileLife thing. Apparently all the hip cats are on there – pun not intended… oh what the hell, it was.
That is one heck of an all you can eat buffet. Bleh!!! My T-Mobil is due by the tenth but I think I will wait as long as possible to let them get this resolved.
I wouldn’t be offended. Send them my way T Mobile.
You covered the naughty pits with Pussies? Interesting strategy.
On a more serious note, I like how the standard company line is “its not our fault, its yours”. Instead of “looking into it” they just blame the customer. Slick.
@Fuzz: I blame Lords of Acid.
(Linked for dubious NSFWness.)
HOLY CRAP! It’s on mine too! I just looked just to see what might be and OH CRAP! I’ll be sending mine in to Consumerist as well.
“It could arouse spousal suspicion…”
I see what you did there, Alex. Unfortunately, it doesn’t lead to spousal arousal.
It’s strange that it’s only porn that people are getting. Or is it just that people only notice porn? I would imagine that if it’s a problem with the system in general, then people should be seeing innocuous pictures as well and not just porn.
@G.O.B.: Come on!:
I guess the lesson is that 93% of cell phone pictures are of naked people.
I wondor if they’ll start charging $19.99/month to ‘pay your bill’.
Classic Johnny Carson to Zsa Zsa Gabor:
“I will if you move that darn cat!”
What if your 10 year old daughter logged in and got that picture. I think that would spell LAWSUIT in a heartbeat!!!
@Aaronjk: Distributing obscene material to a minor is a felony. I’m a liberal enough guy that just a topless woman doesn’t automatically trigger my obscene flag, but some of these followup pics? Yeesh! Say what you want about it being the customer’s fault, T-Mobile, it’s your funeral.
If someone has a child who also shares their T-Mobile account, they should send the F.C.C. and the AG a couple sample pictures of what T-Mobile doesn’t consider to be their problem.
@ludwigk: I was under the impression that this only shows up on the bill pay screen. How many people are having their 10yr old go pay their own cell phone bill online.
@SteveZim1017: While I agree with that idea in theory, I know a lot of people who are trying to get their kids more involved with finances early (a great idea), in some cases as young as 7 or 8. So they could very well be sitting with their parents as they pay their bill online.
Those poor poor kitties.
Checked my own bill and all the photos are those that I have taken with my own phone. I’m almost disappointed.
Almost.
T-mobile just can’t catch a break these days.
Ok, now I see the problem.
It sounds like the problems are occurring specifically with people who don’t even use MobileLife. My guess is that there is a database somewhere of generic filler pictures that are supposed to be used if you don’t have any actual pictures in MobileLife. Some hacker or employee has probably gotten into that database and swapped out the pictures with the pornographic ones. The fact that they are almost all highly pornographic clearly indicates that it’s intentional.
@rhys1882: Exactly what I was thinking.
@rhys1882: Not just highly pornographic, but badly pornographic. I mean, the photos in the first article were fine. These are just gross.
@G.O.B.: Come on!: You’d be surprised what kind of things idiots send to each other.
@rhys1882: I just checked now… I don’t use MobileLife, and I don’t have any sort of pictures showing, not even the generic “wallet and pictureframe sample” types.
disappointingly, when i log into my account i get a picture of my cats. i was hoping to cash in on the eventual class action lawsuit this will instigate.
Has anyone with offensive pics checked the source code to see what server is hosting the images? Is it T-Mobile, or some other site?
My plan is now complete. Mwuahahahahahaha.
(No, for serious, though, I have nothing to do with this. Except for the “I (kitty) U.” That’s totally me in the picture.)
Just checked my account. Still no boobies…
Alas, no random boobies for me.
Just the ones that I took myself. Wonder if they ended up on someone else’s page . . . ?
Certainly, a hack is likely.
The most likely innocent explanation is a hash collision.
[en.wikipedia.org])
Whatever algorithm T-Mobile is using to identify a user for purposes of this preview, rather than the _correct_ user, the system retrieves the first pictures which are stored with a similar identifier.
This would explain why some people always see porn, and others do not.
I’ll add another vote for crappy programming.
I swear to got I thought the guy and the lady were wearing Stormtrooper helmets. Was saddened to discover otherwise.
I just checked my account and came across a photo of a naked man bent over with a cow’s nose up his bum. WTF, T-Mobile?
I realize it’s a serious issue…but when people get surprise boob/kitty shots in their bill pay window, the 12 year old in me takes over and starts giggling.
Think they fixed it or might just be mine. I logged into see if they changed the naked pic they gave me and now it just informed me to manage my album.
Dang! Just checked mt T-Mobile account page, and no free pr0n.
I’ve got one pussy sleeping between my legs and another 7 month old pussy sleeping beside me.
The kitten’s name is Pussy Galore.
For srs.
And now I’m never going to look at them the same again.
I wouldn’t be surprised to find out this all was perpetrated by 4chan
PORN RULES !
Hey, cool, maybe they’ll soon fix the issue and I won’t have to read Consumerist with porn pictures on the top stories bar. That would sure be swell.
I don’t have porn in my album, but when I look at my MobileLife Contacts I see phone numbers and people that apparently live in Texas. I’m in Minnesota. A couple of the people are labeled in “interesting” ways.
This gives new meaning to T-Mobile’s motto: “Stick Together.”
It would seem that at least one couple is.
Maybe they got some of the data from the Sidekicks back and mixed it back in.
Kitties not titties!
Maybe Consumerist should post a fully scrubbed (no pics) version of this story. I feel bad for the HR guy who tries to clear his name by forwarding this story to his whole office and then gets accused of distributing even more porn — and this time with those poor cats involved…
And why don’t they just turn that thing off until they can fix it!?
We’re sorry-My T-Mobile is currently unavailable while we work to improve the site for you. Please try again later.
Important message for T-Mobile customers
Some T-Mobile customers may be experiencing intermittent service
disruptions impacting calls and messages.
Our rapid response teams have been mobilized to restore service as
quickly as possible.
My guess is the site employs a sort of photo gathering software similar to a ‘random Flicker photo’ screen saver.
I think it might be intended to ‘build community’ to see pictures of other regular people, but somehow it is gathering photos from inappropriate sites. Could be something as simple as the web programmer sticking a few unauthorized photo feeds in there.
My bet is that it is automated software gone haywire. Alternatively, this space is sold to an advertiser, who is showing inappropriate content w/o Tmobile knowing (until now).
I keep logging in hoping to see something, but no. Just photos of pets and some guy with his motorcycle.
Funniest use of kitteh pics EVER!!!!
Man I am still laughing!!!!
Is it wrong to feel dissapointed to find no nude pics on my account page?
Side note: the cats are funny as hell. I especially like the one saying “NO!”
Nothing in my account under “My Album” – in fact it wanted me to agree to a pretty restrictive Terms of Service/Contract (arbitration, no jury trial) to even access the album- I disagreed and the account dumped me out to resign in again…