Matt said the ordeal had a devastating effect on his wife and the victims, many of whom have since contacted him after falling victim. With the help of a private detective, he tracked down and confronted one of the men using his pictures to dupe women. The man was apologetic and swore to stop, but continued just three weeks later.
"I am a fashion model by trade so there are a lot of pictures of me out there. I started getting messages from girls I had never seen before saying they had been talking to someone pretending to be me. There were 43 different profiles that used my picture, and it wasn't just one person doing it. It affected me and my whole family. We spoke to one girl who the catfish had targeted, pretending to be me. She told me she had felt like committing suicide after being deceived by this man. I vowed then to do all I could to sort this out. Something needs to be done and if people knew pretending to be someone else online was an offence then they might be put off. I am going to be a dad next year, and I don't want my children to come into a world where this goes on," Matt said.
The model informed the police but they said there was nothing they could do as the perpetrator wasn't breaking any laws. He has now launched a campaign to lobby for a change, so that people who steal people's pictures and create fake online profiles can be brought to justice.
Post a Comment