To make sure you never miss out on your favourite NEW stories, we're happy to send you some reminders

Click 'OK' then 'Allow' to enable notifications

Estate Agent’s Window Displays Porn After Advertising System Is Hijacked

Estate Agent’s Window Displays Porn After Advertising System Is Hijacked

The display was up overnight

Claire Reid

Claire Reid

An estate agent's window ended up displaying porn after someone managed to get into the electronic advertising board and take over. Not ideal.

The digital advertising board at the Whitegates Estate Agents in Mirfield, West Yorkshire, usually features a selection of properties for sale or rent, but a clip posted on social media showed it broadcasting a lot more than some prime real estate earlier this month.

In a statement, the estate agent blamed an 'opportunistic individual' passing by was able to take advantage of a power cut that meant the display board returned to the Google homepage.

The person was then able to search for porn and leave it to display overnight.

The company reassured customers its systems hadn't been hacked.

MEN Media

In a post on Facebook, Whitegates Estate Agents said: "After spending the last few days looking at the systems in the back we have not found any hacking evidence or breaches in the systems.

"We took the decision of plugging in the monitor today to find that after a power failure and restart, the screen defaults to a Google search page for a short time whilst rebooting where the touchscreen can be operated from the front.

"Therefore, we believe an 'opportunistic' individual who was passing searched for the image to leave on the screen.

"Whilst far from acceptable, we are happy the rear was not compromised and entry was via the front.

"Thank you for your understanding Mirfield, we have had some very supportive messages from clients.

"The screen will remain off until we are sure this cannot happen again."

This isn't the first time a company has ended up with unwanted X-rated content on display.

Last December, a Christmas shopper at John Lewis in Oxford came across a smart fridge displaying Pornhub.

The fancy Samsung fridge has a screen to allow users to get online while in the kitchen; but while it's most likely designed to display a recipe or meal idea, someone in John Lewis got creative and fired up Pornhub.

Jam Press

Alex Michie, who spotted the display, said at the time: "I saw a bunch of teenagers laughing their heads off when they saw it, which drew my attention to the fridge.

"I suppose retailers are having a tough time at the moment with Covid so they need to go that extra mile to make sales.

"I'm not really into that sort of thing but I can see why some people might like the idea of having something to watch while they're waiting for the kettle to boil."

Featured Image Credit: Google Street View

Topics: UK News, Weird