Lorraine Crighton-Smith told the police about her unpleasant day at the train while she was traveling to get to work.
According to Smith, her iPhone display suddenly popped up an image of an unknown man's penis, which naturally gave her quite a shock. She immediately declined the image but then, she saw another one appear.
"I realized someone nearby must be sending them, and that concerned me," said Smith in an interview with BBC. "I felt violated, it was a very unpleasant thing to have forced upon my screen."
Smith added that she may not be the only intended recipient of the cyberflasher, who could also send the image to someone more vulnerable, such as a child.
"My name on Airdrop says Lorraine so they knew they were sending it to a woman."
The AirDrop feature is unique to Macs and iOS devices from Apple. Using Bluetooth and WiFi, the feature allows devices to talk or communicate so long as they are within a short distance from one another. Apple has set the default into "contacts only," which means that only those who are in the user's contacts list can send messages.
Smith said that prior to the cyberflashing incident, she was sharing some photos with a friend, which left the AirDrop feature of her device turned on. She quickly called the British Transport Police (BTP) after worrying about the cyberflasher would think about doing next.
The BTP investigated the incident and declared that since the woman did not accept the random image, they don't have any technological evidence on hand that they can use in solving the case. Furthermore, Smith's case, which involved iPhone's AirDrop feature is something that they have unheard of, as most of the cases they have dealt with in the past have involved Bluetooth.
"Receiving an indecent image from someone you don't know must be very distressing and something we would take very seriously," said Supt. Gill Murray.
Murray advised that if the same incident happens to anyone else, it is best that the person remains calm and that the person should keep the image and report it to the police the soonest time possible.
Changing the AirDrop settings on an iPhone can be easily done by simply swiping up the phone's lock screen. The user then needs to tap "AirDrop" and choose "contacts only" or "off" in order to prevent the device from receiving unwanted images from a stranger.
