Thanks to a pretty popular film and TV show, we all know about the perils of Catfishing.
Whether it’s out of loneliness, or something more sinister, taking other people’s images can cause a lot of heartache… and in this case, bullying.
UK student Amelia Perrin had a terrifying experience when she was contacted by a photographer on Facebook, telling her he’d found her pictures on an amateur modelling site.
The 19-year old was then asked if she had ever sent explicit nude shots of herself to an ex – but the teen denies she’s the one in the images.
Speaking to The Tab, Amelia said: “The photographer sent me all the photos he had of ‘me’, asking if I’d sent these nudes to anyone who might want revenge. Fortunately, the nudes could only have been me if I’d somehow gained about nine stone overnight (I’m not quite sure how he didn’t put two and two together). However, the (clothed) pictures were mine.” The photographer later told Amelia he had been lured to a fake address under the premise of a photoshoot – but when nobody else turned up he decided to track down the real girl in the pictures to tell her what had happened. Amelia then did a reverse image search of her snaps on Google, which landed her on a second account named “Beccathompson1996”.
The account user had posted stolen images from Amelia’s Instagram page, changing her name and location: “When I commented on the photos asking her to stop, she simply blocked me as well as all my friends who tried to do the same.” The account was only shut down after Amelia threatened the catfish with legal action via direct message. Amelia now regularly does a photo search, and has also started using watermarks on some images.
She has also refused to put her account on private or to stop taking selfies: “Some people will say I should just stop uploading selfies if I don’t want them to get stolen, but why should I change myself just because there are arseholes out there in the world? That’s like saying if you don’t want to get robbed, don’t own things.” Amelia has said one of the toughest parts of her story is the abuse she is facing since coming out with her story. Labelled a ‘narcissist’, ‘slut’ and being attacked on social media, Amelia tweeted:
do u know what it’s like to go on uni lad and read 1000 comments saying you’re an ugly slut hahah ok back to bed I go, thank you & goodnight — amelia (@perrrrin) October 21, 2015
Whether or not you want to post selfies on your personal social media accounts, nobody has the right to try and make you feel uncomfortable in your own skin.
Catfishers or public commenters alike.
H/T Cosmopolitan UK
