{"id":2048822,"date":"2026-07-16T22:00:31","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2048822"},"modified":"2026-07-16T22:00:31","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T19:00:31","slug":"catfishing-victim-gets-payout-for-tinder-tiktok-and-instagram-profiles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2048822","title":{"rendered":"Catfishing victim gets payout for Tinder, TikTok and Instagram profiles"},"content":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/9eae\/live\/41baa380-81cf-11f1-b976-0b9c15b0ccfc.jpg”]<\/p>\n

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\"BBCBBC<\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Fake accounts pretending to be Sasha-Jay gained 81,000 followers on TikTok and 22,000 on Instagram<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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A 19-year-old woman whose images were used to create fake Tinder, TikTok and Instagram profiles leading men to believe she was their girlfriend is to be paid compensation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sasha-Jay Davies from Aberdare had her identity stolen by Elha Mai Weston who posed as the teenager to strike up romantic conversations on social media.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Weston amassed more than 100,000 followers, leaving Davies fearful to leave her home because she was being approached by men who thought they were in a relationship with her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She apologised and admitted the four-year campaign and agreed to pay Davies, a student, a reported \u00a310,000 in compensation, according to court documents.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The High Court in London was told Weston engaged in a “sustained campaign of online impersonation”, known as catfishing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Earlier this year, Davies told BBC Wales: “I used to go out a lot but now I hardly ever go out because I’m scared what man is going to approach me next.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It is terrifying to be confronted over something you didn’t do and to realise someone is using your face to manipulate others,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Images were posted on Tinder, Hinge, Snapchat, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook and SoundCloud, and used to deceive thousands of people across social media and dating apps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The court heard Weston used Davies’ images to create and run fake accounts between 2022 and 2026, calling herself “Sophie” and “Sophie Kadare”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She also used AI images based on Davies’ likeness, and used the fake profiles to strike up real-life romantic relationships.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Printouts<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Weston used Davies’ images to create and run fake accounts between 2022 and 2026<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Davies said she felt anxious whenever strangers appeared to recognise her in the supermarket.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“I’ve had boys approach me in person, harassing me and accusing me of texting them, leading them on, or making plans to meet up, alongside conversations I never had,” she said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The court heard one man approached Davies believing he was in a genuine relationship with her, after exchanging months of messages with one of Weston’s fake accounts.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Davies said about 20 men and several women had contacted her on social media, believing they knew her.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She said the first fake account emerged on TikTok in 2022 when she was just 16.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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She reported it, but said the problem quickly spread to other social media and dating apps.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Even after making her real accounts private, Weston continued posting older photographs and AI-edited images, the court heard.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“It’s really difficult and I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy,” Davies said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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My identity was stolen to catfish men<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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The court was told Weston accepted her “conduct was wrongful” and acknowledged the “very significant distress and suffering” caused to Davies.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The court heard she “deeply regrets her actions and apologises to Miss Davies wholeheartedly and unreservedly for everything she has been put through”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The court heard that Weston agreed to pay Davies a reported \u00a310,000 in compensation and agreed not to repeat her conduct in future, as part of a Tomlin Order – a form of binding civil justice agreement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Weston could be found in contempt of court if she breaches the agreement.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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What is catfishing?<\/h2>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Catfishing is when somebody creates a fake online persona with the intention of deceiving others.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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This could be for a variety of reasons, such as extorting money from them, to spark up a romance, or simply for their own satisfaction.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Catfishers often use stolen photographs, lie about their lives and avoid situations such as video calls, where they would be caught out.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/article>\n

[analyse_source url=”https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/articles\/cp8xn9exg8yo”]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[analyse_image type=”featured” src=”https:\/\/ichef.bbci.co.uk\/news\/1024\/branded_news\/9eae\/live\/41baa380-81cf-11f1-b976-0b9c15b0ccfc.jpg”] BBC Fake accounts pretending to be Sasha-Jay gained 81,000 followers on TikTok and 22,000 on Instagram A 19-year-old woman whose images were used to create fake Tinder, TikTok and Instagram profiles leading men to believe she was their girlfriend is to be paid compensation. Sasha-Jay Davies from Aberdare had her identity stolen […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[35,226],"class_list":["post-2048822","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics","tag-bbc-com","tag-crawlmanager"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048822","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2048822"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2048822\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2048822"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2048822"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2048822"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}