A fitness and lifestyle coach who found a “disturbing” catfish dating profile in her photo said her image could be used to “put someone in a potentially dangerous situation.” I am worried.
Sarah Harker, who has a happy relationship, says she initially found it interesting when her friend noticed her on the dating app The Tinder.
However, when she shared a screenshot of her profile with her followers, more fake accounts using her photos were revealed.
A 32-year-old woman from Newcastle upon Tyne said:
“To be honest, I was more angry that they made my age 38, but when I shared the photo with 7,000 followers on Instagram, people said they saw me on other sites. Started sending me a message.
“You can think of it as a form of flattery, but people may believe that these profiles are my representation, and what the messages sent from these accounts say. It’s also very dangerous for my business because I don’t know.
“One of the messages I received was that this catfish was trying to arrange a meeting. At that time, I lost all the humor about it.”
(Image: I have the story you say)
Sarah noticed twelve fake profiles set using her image in a bikini during the holidays and snuggled up to Border Terriers Baxter and Dagal.
Images are taken from her Instagram page @sarahlouskitchen, where she promotes lifestyle and fitness coaching and nutritious home cooking recipes.
(Image: I have the story you say)
She said: “I was in Bumble and Hinge as well as The Tinder.
“I was worried about how dangerous this was, and that people might be talking believing that I was on the other side of these profiles.
(Image: I have the story you say)
“I don’t think my face could be used to put someone in a potentially dangerous situation.”
But when Sarah contacted all the dating apps and let them know she was impersonating, she said she was told by Tinder on the live chat feature that she couldn’t do anything without directly reporting that she wasn’t a member. rice field.
(Image: I have the story you say)
Sarah said: “You don’t have to be a member to be able to report a profile disguised as me.
“I was seriously concerned that these profiles could be configured without the use of any form of ID.”
(Image: I have the story you say)
Sarah has created an account to report what she knows, but is worried that more can happen at any given time.
She added: “Knowing that there is little protection when cloning online makes me feel really weird about the world of social media.
(Image: I have the story you say)
“These platforms need to implement stricter checks on the security of this era to protect everyone involved.”
A Tinder spokesperson said: “Cat phishing violates community guidelines and terms of use, and members who find cat phishing will be removed from the platform.
“If you think someone is impersonating Tinder, you need to contact our support team with relevant details here. From there, our team will quickly find and remove the matching profile.
“In addition, we encourage members to look for a’blue checkmark’that indicates that the member’s profile image is genuine and has been verified by Tinder through a photo verification program. “
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