A woman has shared how she avoided a catfishing scam, started a relationship with the real man whose photos were stolen for a fake profile, and is now bringing awareness to the dangers of scammers.
When someone is a “catfish”, it most often means that they’ve set up a fake profile online, where they begin talking to different people and ultimately end up asking for or stealing money from them.
Nicole Hayden, based in South Florida, first received a message from a man named Marcus on Instagram. However, throughout their conversations, Marcus got very personal with Hayden.
“It started getting really hot and heavy,” she told NBC 6 South Florida. “I think he even told me he loved me after a day. He’s like, ‘I love you. I’m going to marry you. You’re the woman of my dreams.’”
Marcus then told Hayden that his mother was in the hospital and that he needed $6,000 for medical expenses. Hayden realised that the Instagram account was a scam and knew not to send any money. But by that point, she said that person got “belligerent” and claimed that they could get into her phone.
“That’s when they got really belligerent and said ‘we can access your phone, we can get all of your pictures,’” she explained.
Hayden told the news outlet that the catfished threaten to create pictures of her nude through photoshop and post them online. He also told her that her children’s safety was at risk and that she had two days to send the money, “or else.”
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