Flight attendant’s horror at ‘Catfish’ Facebook account using her photos to trick hundreds of men into sending nude snaps
A YOUNG woman was left horrified after discovering a fake Facebook account was using her photos to trick scores of men into sending naked snaps.
Vanessa, who does not wish to share her surname, was sent a link to a Facebook account under the name "Ellie Reece" on Saturday.
The 28-year-old, from Cork, Ireland, told The Sun Online: "A guy who had been speaking to the fake account for three months messaged me on Saturday night asking if my name is Ellie Reece.
"I searched the name and found an account with all of my photos on it, taken from my Facebook and Instagram."
Vanessa began telling men who had commented on photos they were speaking to a "Catfish" - someone who uses other people's photographs to start online relationships - and was horrified to learn many had received naked photos from the account.
The victims had even sent nude snaps in return - and are terrified to think who may have got hold of them.
Vanessa fears the Catfish could have collected photos of over 1,000 men - as she has more than 1,200 friends on Facebook.
She immediately reported the account and shared on Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat to ask her followers to do the same - but was stunned when Facebook mistakenly deactivated her account instead of the fake profile.
Vanessa, a travel blogger and flight attendant, was left without an account for three days and was unable to work on her blog as it is linked to her Facebook account.
She said: "I know people will think it's just pictures, but it's my life too and it's really scary to see someone using that as their own.
"She put me out of work for three days as I was unable to access my blog, which is a massive part of my work that I receive sponsorship for.
"I maybe could have got over it if it was just the photos - but going out of her way to block me out of my own account was so sinister and really stressful for me."
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Speaking about the naked photos, she added: "I know it wasn't my body, but it's so scary to think people could have these photos of random people's bodies and think they are me."
The account only ever sent photos from the neck down, so no face was ever visible.
Vanessa, who deactivated the Instagram account she uses for work after the discovery, said: "One guy told me she seemed so real, as she had sent him naked photos - so he sent her some back. She sent him a message saying 'get your n** out' and he actually sent her d*** pics
"I can only imagine these other 1,200 guys have done the exact same thing."
Chillingly Vanessa fears the fraudster may even have a similar fake account with a man's photos, which she uses to collect naked photos of women.
"I don't think it's pictures of her body she is sending. She probably has a few different accounts - one where she is a guy getting girls to send her nudes, which she then uses to send to guys off my fake account," she explained.
"I don't even know if it's a woman - one guy said he would often send her voice notes, but she would never send any back - so he never heard her voice. It's all so weird and scary."
What is Catfishing?
‘Catfishing’ is when someone creates fake profiles on social media sites to trick people into thinking they are somebody else.
They make up life stories and use photographs of unsuspecting victims to create fake identities.
Catfishers add life experiences, jobs, friends and photographs to the fake accounts.
Why do people make fake accounts?
The fake accounts are often used to spark up online relationships.
Unknowing victims will fall in love with women or men they meet online – with no idea the person behind the screen is someone completely different.
Catfishers use the accounts to give off a persona they wish they had – with plenty of friends, photos and attractive qualities.
How do I know if I’m being Catfished?
Schulman’s potential victims always have similar concerns.
These include:
- Why does he refuse to video chat?
- Why is she never able to meet in person?
- Why does it seem just to good to be true?
If you are in an online relationship and think any of the above – it could be happening to you.
Vanessa, a travel writer for the , slammed Facebook for their treatment of the situation, and says it was made "way worse" by them leaving her account deactivated.
She said: "I tried to get into my account on Sunday morning and found it blocked, so I wrote an email to Facebook to explain what had happened.
"They still hadn't contacted me three days later, and the only other way to complain is through your account - which I can't log into. It's such a joke!
"It's made me so stressed there is no way to contact them."
Vanessa contacted a friend who had been through a similar situation to ask for advice and after getting in contact with The Sun Online her Facebook account has been reactivated and the fake removed.
Facebook apologised for the mix-up and said the fake page was a violation of their policies.
They said this kind of fraudulent activity is not tolerated on Facebook and commended Vanessa and her friends for reporting the accounts.
Facebook urges anyone in a similar situation to report the account through the link on their site.
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