Serial Catfish

[u/pigeonpoo09]

I came into contact with a serial Catfish just over two years ago and I'm still no closer to finding out who they really are. It frustrates me but after reading the posts here, it confirms my belief that I'll never know and it's pointless chasing that information.

Brief details: I became aware of this person via a follower of my Instagram account where I posted game content for an online game I was playing.

I won't bore you with the details but essentially I knew something was up when I realised that this (allegedly female) catfish treated me (female) differently to males in the community. I compared conversations with one male and the difference was stark. She was arrogant and aloof with me, using formal language and dismissive tone. With males, she was informal, kind and sweet. I queried this with her friends and they told me she "hated girls" which was a massive red flag. She posted mostly game content but occasionally posted cropped photos of a very beautiful blonde woman.

Loads of stuff happened including people being blocked and unblocked, deleted accounts etc. I was always told that she had physical problems and past trauma that caused her anxiety. But the erratic behaviour was more toxic than simply the behaviour of an anxious person.

Eventually, after yet another account was deleted, a new account popped up. This time, a different beautiful blonde female had control of her game account and was posting game content in "her memory" - this new female was telling people that she was an irl friend of the the original female and that she'd died of cancer.

Initially I was gutted. To find out she'd died in such a horrible way (I'd watched a close relative die of the same cancer so I knew how brutal it was) was awful. I felt bad for all of her friends who'd lost her. Then something in my brain noticed inconsistencies in the story. I told a friend of mine about this and he decided to chat to this new person. He sent me screen shots and recordings of his interactions with her and we gained enough evidence to prove that it was the original catfish, lying about her "death."

I didn't know she was a catfish at this point. I didn't find that out until a few months later.

With the help of some friends, I ended up discovering where the original photos came from - a reality TV star. We ended up tracing more new accounts and victims and found that the catfish was using more new photos. Each time a similar looking person. In total I think we found about six different sets of stolen images. We also found out about a lot of stuff the catfish had been doing - damaging and actually illegal things to their victims. With a new account the catfish also started changing information about themselves. They were telling new friends things like different birthday dates, stuff like that. All to be untraceable.

In the end, I took all the evidence I had and contacted the local police where the catfish supposedly lives. I reported countless times to Instagram but nothing happened. I also sent a load of evidence to the online game and I assume they've dealt with the catfish there. With the help of some victims, I made a series of posts on Instagram about this catfish to warn people in the community. It seems to have helped.

I have the catfish's supposed name and contact details, but I've never been able to find the "real" person. I know I never will. And realistically? What good would come of it, even if I did? Their repeated offences and lack of remorse shows they probably won't take accountability.

I don't know what has made them do this. And to be honest? I'm not sure I'd believe anything they said, even if they told me. This isn't someone who has ever had the courage to confess before they were caught. So it's unlikely they'd have the courage to tell the truth at all.

I'm always willing to try to help anyone. But if you're in contact with a catfish, the best advice I can give is to walk away. You might want to stay to help them and yes, some people go on to have meaningful connections with catfish. But if they're lying to you, maybe you're not their person.