Glamorous women living luxurious lifestyles are not too hard to find on Instagram - most of them have thousands of followers who love their snaps of Veuve Clicquot, yachts and designer handbags.

However, a crop of dark new websites has emerged with the sole purpose of calling out the women as escorts or prostitutes.

The creators of such sites accuse women of using Instagram to find sex clients and of hiding the fact that their glamorous lifestyles are funded by men who pay them for sex.

Despite having no proof that the women are in fact sex workers, the sites expose their Instagram accounts and demand they identify their “sponsors”, a term used for the men who allegedly pay for their luxury dinners, holidays and possessions.

One so-called camgirl – a woman who performs sexual acts via webcam for cash – told The Independent that while she had not worked as an escort, a number of people she knew had done so.

The 22-year-old from Tennessee said: “It starts off as a safety thing. Women post photos to Instagram to show their friends and family where they are in the world. Obviously, the kind of hotels they stay at means there’s an urge to boast and show-off.

“Once they start doing that, I guess it feels like a mental line has been crossed - they convince themselves that this is their lifestyle, rather than the trappings of a job.”

But the sites that accuse these young women of prostitution have the power to ruin lives.

In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris Show all 8 1 /8 In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris A protester (R) holds a sign reading 'Prostitutes with fists raised against the penalisation of clients!' during a demonstration by sex workers and supporters near the French National Assembly in Paris In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris A protester wears a hat rimmed with red roses during a demonstration by sex workers and supporters near the French National Assembly in Paris In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris Sex workers hold signs during a protest against new bill against prostitution and sex trafficking In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris Transgender sex workers protest against a parliamentary vote to enforce the penalisation of solicitation, near the Assemblee Nationale (French parliament) in Paris In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris A protester wears a mask during a demonstration by sex workers and supporters near the French National Assembly in Paris In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris Protesters wear masks during a demonstration by sex workers and supporters near the French National Assembly in Paris, as French lawmakers take part in a final debate on a bill that would make it illegal to pay for sex. French lawmakers were poised on April 6 to pass a controversial law that makes it illegal to pay for sex and imposes fines of up to 3,500 euros ($3,970) on prostitutes' clients In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris Protesters hold up their fists and chant slogans during a demonstration by sex workers and supporters near the French National Assembly in Paris In pictures: Sex workers protest in Paris Protesters hold a banner reading 'Don't liberate me, I'll take care of it myself!'

“Escorting is legal in many countries, and doesn’t harm anyone. Sites that try to ‘expose’ people aren’t providing a service, they’re exercising power over women,” she added.

“Women who are targeted sometimes shut down their entire Instagram and social media. They’re distraught that their family and friends will disown or judge them. It can ruin their lives.

“I’m sure many of the women that appear on these sites are wrongly targeted too. It’s a sexist assumption that just because a woman doesn’t have an obvious source of income, it means they’re escorting.”

The people behind such websites seem to believe that any woman who is attractive and documents her glamorous life on Instagram simply must be a sex worker, because that is obviously the only way she might be able to enjoy such luxuries.

A man who runs one of the sites in question recently told Fox News: "For some reason these women need to brag about their facade; posting pictures on their Instagram of $25,000 purses, red bottom shoes, cash and of course the selfies from a yacht in the South of France or Dubai."

Of course, there are plenty of professional models who do post insights from their beautiful lives on Instagram, and many of them have no interest in seducing prospective clients with their selfies.

For the women who are escorts, being listed and slandered on such websites despite having done nothing illegal can have disastrous effects on their lives.