A single mother-of-one has spoken out about how she was left devastated after a ‘romantic’ father she’d met online turned out to be a catfish.
Leila Stead, from the Gold Coast, said the man named ‘Vincent’ appeared keen to share every aspect of his life with her, including his son after she met him on the dating app, Hinge.
The 33-year-old said she sent a nude picture of herself after he made her feel ‘safe’ following ‘weeks of talking’ – only to realise her ‘lover’ wasn’t who he said he was.
‘I got catfished and yeah, they got me good,’ Ms Stead said on Instagram.
‘They pretended to be this guy – stole photos of him and his son, sold me a very romantic and believable story and yep I f***ing fell for it.’
The mother said she discovered she’d fallen victim to the catfish after a picture of his unique tattoo on his chest led her to finding the ‘real’ man on social media.
Mother Leila Stead (pictured with her daughter Ever), from the Gold Coast, has spoken out about her online romance after she met a man on a dating app who turned out to be a catfish
The mother said the man named ‘Vincent’ appeared keen to share every aspect of his life with her, including his son after she met him on Hinge
‘The tattoo on his chest gave it away when I searched the hashtag and found the real account,’ she said.
Ms Stead said the man made her feel ‘safe enough’ to send nude pictures of herself – but she quickly discovered she had been chatting to a catfish.
‘Some predator of a person groomed me, they stole photos and the identity of someone else, sent photos of that persons child so that I felt safe enough to send photos of my own. They sent nudes pretending to be that person to lure me into sending my own in return and it worked,’ she said.
‘After weeks of talking they sent nudes of him and I sent a shirtless pic back. Yep… some catfish looking person out there has a shirtless pic of me somewhere.
‘I’m not proud of it but also I looked damn fine so if ya going to try and bribe me with it, I wouldn’t… because I’m pretty sure over 30,000 people have already seen every intimate detail of my life for the last four years…. so jokes on you.
‘I caught onto it quickly thankfully but not quick enough, and they were good at it and I fell for the lies they fed me.’
The 33-year-old, who blogs under The Single Mum Diaries, said she sent a topless picture of herself after he made her feel ‘safe’ – only to realise her ‘lover’ wasn’t who he said he was
Ms Stead said the man made her feel ‘safe enough’ to send nude pictures of herself – but she quickly discovered she had been chatting to a catfish
Ms Stead also fired back at critics who shamed her for sending nude pictures.
‘I’m a mother, a solo mother, I raise my daughter alone… I’m also dating, I’m also allowed to stand in my sexual power,’ she said.
‘I’m free to send nudes if I feel the urge to but there is a bigger problem at play here… Victim shaming.
‘This is why we as women don’t come forward because of the judgment, the shaming, the fear, the “what will people think of me mentality”.
‘Own who you are, and if you are going to send nudes online make sure they are fire and you are confident in your safety.’
The ‘real’ father, who’s an American musician, has been made aware of the incident after the catfish posed as him by using his pictures.
‘Thankfully the real guy whose photos were stolen is actually a pretty rad and lovely guy, who felt really bad about the whole situation and we have since decided we should be homies,’ Ms Stead said.
By speaking out about her experience, she wanted to warn women about the potential dangers of falling victim to a catfish online
By speaking out about her experience, she wanted to warn women about the potential dangers of falling victim to a catfish online.
‘I don’t care what people think and I’m not ashamed of it, but I sure as hell don’t want any other person to fall pray to online predators,’ she said.
‘It’s super embarrassing but I had to come forward to show other women that we shouldn’t hide from it, we should out it and build awareness for how common it is.
‘This story is not about me, this story is about the fact that vulnerable people are being targeted online by sexual predators.
‘We talk about the online safety of our children but it’s time to talk about the online safety of ourselves as adults.
‘This is your reminder – stay safe online, remember it’s not a place we should trust, do your background checks.
‘I don’t know about you but photos of my daughter are going to be far and few between now because I’ve realised how deep this web can go.’