BLOGGERS BEWARE: Lovefreund, Benjamin Jorgensen, and the photo credit scam

Back in late 2020, I came across a scam whereby a scammer trying to generate links to their site falsely claimed credit for a photo I used, and asked for the photo credit to be switched to one that pointed to their site. Turns out it was a scam that ran pretty deep on Wikimedia Commons. The story ended up getting picked up by a bunch of tech blogs.

Well, it’s happened again. This time the scam originates from a sex toy affiliate site in Germany. I will name them, but won’t link them directly. After all, that’s what they want! It began when I received the below email. I’m posting it in full in case others try to Google the text of emails they’ve received. I’ve edited out the direct links, but here is a screen shot so you can see it in full with the links intact:

Hello,

I’ve noticed, that you have used one of our images from Lovefreund’s Stock Image Library on your page here: http://ericsanjuan.com/what-to-look-for-in-a-successful-music-manager/

First of all, thank you for using it – but I will have to ask you to credit us appropriately by inserting the correct credits:

Photo by Lovefreund

The image in discussion is attached to this email, and you can also find it on our Unsplash account here.

Please let me know when you have inserted the appropriate credit.

When that is done, you are also free to use any other images from our Stock Image Library.

Wish you all the best.

With Kind Regards,
Benjamin Jorgensen
Co-founder, Lovefreund

As a creator myself, I take giving credit seriously, and if I ever slip up in that regard — and there’s zero question I have — I am always quick to address it.

However, this was curious. The article was from a contributor, and a legitimate one careful to use royalty-free images. I know the source of the image, too, and it’s a credible site (Pexels). I checked my original credit link and it appears to be dead, but the photo is still on Pexel’s servers.

Our friend Benjamin Jorgensen of Lovefreund provided links to prove the photo was his, but something smelled off, so I decided to look closer.

First, the credit line he requested linked to a site that had nothing to do with photography. They are sex toy manufacturers. They wanted a photo credit to link back to a business site. HUGE RED FLAG.

Next, their supposed page of stock images was a mere 13 photos seemingly chosen at random. Why would a sex toy manufacturer be offering stock photos, anyway? Their welcome message is in German, but when translated it’s clear they are claiming to have taken the photos: “From personal experience we know how hard it can be to find high quality free stock images, that’s why we created free and copyright free stock images – free for everyone!” Except by now I was all but certain they didn’t create any of them. (Here are some of the photos they claim are theirs.)

Oh, and scrolling down, the page is copyrighted 2022, though it was registered way back in 2009.

Third, not a single image on their Unsplash page was posted before 2022, either. Also, their whole page is asking for links back to their sex toy site. The specific photo in question was posted just 12 days ago, too (see the bottom of the screenshot):

Somehow, the photo I used in December 2020 was only just uploaded by the creator less than two weeks ago? That hardly seems possible. Further, when I conducted a Tineye search, I found examples of the photo dating back to 2018. The original photo no longer appears on Pexels, the credited source on my article, but I was able to track down photos from the same series. Note the credit: Andrea Piacquadio.

So I looked Andrea up. This is a successful Italian photographer with thousands of credits to their name, and they have tons of work on Pexels. Plus, as noted, they took other photos in the same series as the one Benjamin Jorgensen of Lovefreund is claiming to have taken.

I was pretty sure I’d found the real photographer, but just to be certain, I reached out with an email:

Good morning,

I am trying to find the original photographer of the photo below. I often see the photo credited to you (Andrea Piacquadio), or to someone named Bruce Mars, who then links to your page.

Can you confirm whether or not this photo is one of yours. The style is much different than the examples on your website, but I understand skilled photographers can shoot in many styles.

This is the image I am inquiring about. It was originally found on Pexels

The response was quick: Yes, it is their photo.

So again, it looks like we have a scam where someone tries to get a photo credit switched so it points to their for-profit website. In this case, they even created a fake “Stock Image Library” to sell the idea, but you’ll be just shocked (sarcasm) to learn that when I looked up the other photos on their gallery, all were older photos taken from a variety of other sources, too, many of them dating back years. For example, the search results for another led me to photographer Mateusz Dach, NOT our friend Ben the scammer.

Not sure yet if I’m going to spend the time tracking them all down and altering the photographers … but I might, because people like “Benjamin Jorgensen” of Lovefreund are awful. (I have already reached out to Mateusz.)

So for the sake of the Google algorithm, let’s remember this: Benjamin Jorgensen of Lovefreund is a photo credit scammer.

(More screenshots and links are available for anyone interested. I have not yet alerted the scammer that I am on to them.)