EXCLUSIVE
Detectives are zeroing in on the perpetrator behind the nude photos scandal surrounding socialite pop singer Rebekah Behbahani amid an explosive rise in sextortion attacks on high-profile identities.
Daily Mail can reveal Victoria Police have spent six months investigating Ms Behbahani’s claims she was targeted by ‘malicious’ threats after ‘intimate images’ of her were posted online without her permission.
The high-profile fiancée of billionaire businessman Alex Waislitz initially contacted police after a trove of private photographs of her appeared on an anonymous social media account on June 20 alongside a menacing warning that more were to come.
The account posted a second cache of photos – some manipulated, others real -the following day before disappearing on June 22.
Ms Behbanhani claimed that she had been the victim of an orchestrated extortion attempt and that she was determined to help police catch the culprit behind the plot.
‘I am deeply distressed by this malicious invasion of my privacy. No one deserves to be subjected to such appalling acts,’ Ms Behbahani said in a statement at the time.
‘This unlawful conduct is part of a long running and escalating campaign which is now the subject of investigation by the police.
‘It has been a living nightmare. We will not give in to the extortion. I trust that the perpetrators will face the full force of the law.’
Ms Behbahani has remained tight-lipped about the investigation since reporting the matter to the authorities, and did not want to discuss it publicly when contacted this week.
Although it is understood detectives have closed in on a potential suspect, Victoria Police told Daily Mail ‘the investigation remains ongoing’.
‘At this stage, no charges have been laid,’ a police spokeswoman confirmed.
The incident comes as the 34-year-old singer and her 66-year-old billionaire fiancé continue to fight legal battles on multiple fronts.
The couple, who moved in together in February 2019 before welcoming a daughter, Storm, are being sued by Ms Behbahani’s sister, Real Housewives of Melbourne star Venus Behbahani, in Victoria’s Supreme Court.
The 40-year-old lawyer and mother-of-four claims her younger sibling promised to gift her a townhouse in Melbourne’s exclusive Toorak in exchange for helping her launch her pop career and caring for her and her daughter during her brief estrangement with Mr Waislitz four years ago.
However, in a counterclaim, Mr Waislitz accused his soon-to-be sister-in-law of living in the home with her family without permission since November 15, 2022 and sought orders to force her out and have the caveat she placed on the property removed.
That case has been listed for trial on May 27 and is expected to run for 15 days.
Meanwhile, Mr Waislitz’s ex-wife, billionaire cardboard heiress Heloise Pratt, has also launched legal proceedings against him, filing her own explosive claim in the Victoria’s Supreme Court last month.
She has accused Mr Waislitz of ‘acting ‘dishonestly’ by using the Thorney Investments firm she co-owns to pay himself and his charitable foundation $1.147m without her knowledge or approval.
Mr Waislitz hit back at his ex-wife on Christmas Eve when he filed his defence with the Supreme Court furiously rejecting her allegations.
In it, he described her case against him as ’embarrassing’ and insisted she had failed to involve herself with their business and that her claims against him were liable to be struck out.
There is no suggestion that Ms Behbahani’s sister, Mr Waislitz or any member of the Pratt family was responsible for posting the naked images of the singer.
The enduring saga comes after Carlton Football Club president Luke Sayers claimed he had become the latest victim of a sexually explicit hack attack last week after a lewd photo was publicly tweeted from his X account.
The graphic image showed a mystery man presenting his penis while lying on a bed alongside a caption that tagged the account of a leading senior female executive at one of the club’s official sponsors, health insurer Bupa.
Although the public post was directed at the executive’s social media account, the married mother-of-two does not appear to have used X since 2017 and does not follow Mr Sayers on the platform.
The photo was posted at 5.41pm on January 8 but only remained online for 12 minutes before Mr Sayers noticed, hastily deleted the image and apologised to his followers while saying he had been targeted by cyber criminals.
‘Sorry, my account has been hacked – please ignore all posts,’ the football club president wrote.
The married father-of-four’s account, which has more than 7,300 followers, was then deleted but the post had already been reposted and screengrabbed by other X users.
The incident occurred while Mr Sayers was on a family skiing trip in Italy, where the post went live about 7.41am local time.
The former PwC chief executive was quick to call out the hack at the time and announce he would do everything in his power to catch the person responsible.
‘This is outrageous. I’m investigating and will leave no stone unturned finding out who did this to me and my family,’ he said.
However, more than a week on, Mr Sayers is yet to confirm whether he intends to report the incident to police and Carlton Football Club would not respond to requests for comment about the hack.
Melbourne’s Herald Sun newspaper claimed the football club president had stopped returning messages from colleagues and clients at his private company, Sayers Group, and had since disconnected his phone.
The female executive tagged in the hijacked post was at a Carlton Respects luncheon six months ago. It was held as part of a program run by the club to help counter violence against women, six months ago.
Sources close to the executive told Daily Mail she was distraught over the incident and ‘completely shaken up’ but that had since returned to work full-time.
Her family are said to be furious that she has been dragged into the saga.
The incident comes little more than a month after the prominent Melbourne identity and his Cate, who have four daughters together, sold their sprawling mansion in the city’s inner east for more than $16.5million.
The Sayers snapped up the seven-bedroom home in Hawthorn East almost two decades ago for $4.84million.
The AFL’s integrity unit has now launched an investigation into the incident.
Leading cybercrime investigator Ken Gamble said sexually explicit hack attacks were on the rise on social media with rich public figures the prized target for sextortion criminals.
‘Scammers have become much more sophisticated, bold, and aggressive in their online crimes,’ the IFW Global chief told Daily Mail .
‘There has been a dramatic rise in sexually explicit hacking and sextortion in recent times – mostly because they have no fear of getting caught.
‘Sexually explicit hacking type crimes are perfect for a cybercriminal because most victims don’t want to report the crime.
‘Often, the perpetrators of these hacking crimes are working for organised scam syndicates.
‘Some of the syndicates carry out multiple scams from the same office, for examine, tech support scams, investment scams, job scams and sextortion scams all under one roof.
‘These operations run from call centres set up in poor countries so even a small payment from a victim is seen as profitable for these criminals.
‘As the internet offers significant anonymity for offenders, this crime type will probably continue to rise in the future.’
Mr Gamble said unscrupulous cybercriminals preyed on the fact their victims rightfully feared people would not believe they had genuinely been hacked – but that it was imperative attacks were immediately reported to the authorities.
‘The public often don’t believe that these types of sexually explicit hacking cases are perpetrated by hackers, but these cybercrimes are on the rise and are more prevalent now than any time in history,’ he said.