Catfish much?

[verysimple]

I am really sorry this happened to you. What a world we live in that you have to be so cynical. I think they should engineer the image search into dating sites a system that says "This photo looks like Arthur Sales (male model) ... is that who you're talking to?"

Yea man, I still can't get over the fact that these photos belong to a different person... I have been living for months thinking that these photos belong to him and now a different person is supposed to fit the frame???

WHAT. THE. FUCK????!!!!

[Cinestry]

I'm really sorry all of this happened, but I also agree with some people saying that at least you got something out of it, as it helped you through things, right? Of course you're angry, I would be too and I think you should be, but what about you talk to him first and depending on how this conversation goes you can always contact the guy from the photos for more extreme consequences.
I used to have a friend who was online a lot, always told me he had a boyfriend in Spain. Then I found out my friend had been using fake photos when talking to that boyfriend. I'm no friends with him anymore because I felt like he wasn't a very reliable person after hearing all that, but I still believe he didn't have any evil intentions, as strange as that sounds because of course it is completely messed up.

Found this one too, and I still think it's a different guy, especially now looking a a bigger version of photo:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/8092474307136748/

This is definitely another person yes, hairline and especially ears don't match

[MikeW]

[MENTION=21000]verysimple[/MENTION] I know you appreciate it but I'm sorry I was the one who had to show you this. You asked about laws and I really don't now anything about that. A quick google perusal suggests it falls under the general heading of deception and fraud, so it depends on their intent. If, for example, there was *real damage* (he coned you out of money) *that* would be a criminal act. If, on the other hand, he's just screwing with your emotions, that might not be illegal, although it *could* be grounds for a law suit. Of course I'm talking about laws in the US… this is an international situation and we don't even know the nationality of your catfish.

SO… what to do . . .

I've been known to at times string catfish along. But I never had a cat fishing experience that went on as long as yours has and got as involved. Mine usually just stopped replying to me at some point…which was fine with me. My intention was to just string them along and see exactly where this went, figuring I'd play it by ear, one thing leading to another and so on. Anyway… I know you would like to, but I don't know that you *can* stop someone from doing this to anyone else.

For future reference, if you're getting involved with someone online romantically, one of the first things you want to do is Skype or FaceTime with them, to verify the person matches the pictures.

[ShiftyNJ]

@verysimple I know you appreciate it but I'm sorry I was the one who had to show you this. You asked about laws and I really don't now anything about that. A quick google perusal suggests it falls under the general heading of deception and fraud, so it depends on their intent. If, for example, there was *real damage* (he coned you out of money) *that* would be a criminal act. If, on the other hand, he's just screwing with your emotions, that might not be illegal, although it *could* be grounds for a law suit. Of course I'm talking about laws in the US… this is an international situation and we don't even know the nationality of your catfish.

SO… what to do . . .

I've been known to at times string catfish along. But I never had a cat fishing experience that went on as long as yours has and got as involved. Mine usually just stopped replying to me at some point…which was fine with me. My intention was to just string them along and see exactly where this went, figuring I'd play it by ear, one thing leading to another and so on. Anyway… I know you would like to, but I don't know that you *can* stop someone from doing this to anyone else.

For future reference, if you're getting involved with someone online romantically, one of the first things you want to do is Skype or FaceTime with them, to verify the person matches the pictures.

Agree that--unless you sent him money--there is not much in the way of a tangible claim. If anything, the subjects of the photos probably have more of a case, just because they are being misrepresented.

[Iceblink]

O to the mother effin M to the G !!!!!

U actually found him??! I am so overwhelmed and speechless, I mean I have always thought he was lying to me but to actually be 100% certain that he is!! Is just... idk... Super overwhelming! Damn
Thank you so so much! I rlly don't know how to thank you or if I could thank you enough cuz I have been wanting to find the truth and for half a year and you just did it.. So I rlly appreciate it.. I don't wanna confront him just yet, I wanna make sure that he doesn't hurt someone else or do worse... I'm not dumb but somebody else might fall for his crap.. any suggestions guys on stopping him? Is there a law in the US that can stop this kind of stuff??

For you, probably not. Under U.S. law you usually need to have some actual harm (financial), something more than just your pride or hurt feelings, in order to prevail. As for identity theft, you have to have standing, which means it would have to be the actual person, in this case the model, that would have to pursue those charges.

There is one thing to do. You should report this to the site to have them remove his profile.

[Iceblink]

I should have read through the thread before replying because I see others have pretty much said what I said.

About the model, I doubt he would probably care much about pursuing this. It is probably not the first time or the first person that has used his pics in a profile. This kind of thing happens all the time and many models would probably spend their life in lawsuits trying to stop this sort of thing. On a forum site I was once on, RealJock, fake profiles using some other person's photos was common. I remember once there were two different profiles using the same model's stolen pics at the same time.

[Borg69]

Real life is the same, but different in that guys with the same face turn out to be not whom you thought they were... misrepresenting themselves with a fake persona.

Finding those whom are genuine inside and out is the hard part.

[CellarDweller]

keep us posted on what happens!

[verysimple]

keep us posted on what happens!

I am currently posting a whole new thread about it because there is a HUGE twist in there