MPs urged to pass law against online 'catfish' imposters tricking women into sex

MPs are to be urged to outlaw the practice of ‘catfishing’, which refers to online predators using fake dating profiles to trick victims into sexual relationships.

The increasingly common phenomenon involves perpetrators stealing the online identity of a good-looking man or woman, and creating a profile to lure multiple victims into having sex or sending explicit photos.

The practice is deceitful, but it is not illegal – despite victims complaining of mental harm, and saying they would never have consented to sexual contact had they known the catfish’s true identity.

In one case, police allegedly dismissed a complaint by comparing catfishing to “going into a bar and claiming you’re a millionaire when you actually work on the bins”.

On Tuesday, Labour MP Ann Coffey will use an adjournment debate to call for the introduction of a new law that will criminalise catfishing, by making it an offence to steal someone’s identity and pose as them online to lure people into sexual relationships.

She will also urge Facebook and online dating companies to be more proactive against catfishing by monitoring their websites more stringently, and by providing warning messages.

The Stockport MP has been prompted to act partly by the experiences of her constituent Matt Peacock, a male model who was briefly married to Jodie Marsh and who also dated Katie Price.

Mr Peacock, who is now remarried, says he was put under enormous strain after his identity was stolen by a catfish, with his new wife being repeatedly contacted and told he was cheating on her by going on dating websites and asking women for sexual photographs and videos.

Recounting the experience on his “killingcatfish” website, Mr Peacock said the catfish preyed on more than 30 women and used images of his niece and nephew to create the image of a family man.

“My family is a strong one,” said Mr Peacock, “But this created a lot of distress.”

He added: “My wife began to get messages from women. They told her that I was ‘cheating on her’ by sending indecent images and videos of myself.

“If the women questioned or doubted him, once he talked them round and they believed him, he tried to punish them. As ‘payment’ for their doubt, he wanted naked videos and pictures. To which the majority obliged.

“My catfisher would arrange dates with women. When I wasn’t there to greet them, he would tell them he was ‘my cousin’ and I couldn’t make it. Some would leave, and some stayed and had dinner with him.”

Mr Peacock said that with the help of a private detective, he tracked down the catfish and informed his victims that they had been deceived.

“A lot were heartbroken,” wrote Mr Peacock. “Three had fallen in love, and the majority didn’t believe they could trust anyone again. A lot of them had mental health problems and had opened up about their domestic abuse histories. To say I was ‘sickened’ is an understatement.”

Yet Mr Peacock claimed that when he and the private detective presented police with 30 pages of evidence and the catfish’s videoed “confession”, officers took no action.

He said: “The police told us ‘It’s the equivalent of going into a bar in the 1980s, [and] claiming you’re a millionaire when you actually work on the bins.’ I disagree. If I’ve told someone I’m a millionaire and I’m not, I haven’t stolen someone else’s identity to do so.

“My catfisher didn’t just take my face, he gave me the persona of a person [who] is manipulative, deceitful and in my opinion mentally abuses women for his own sexual gratification. In no way do I want any association to that kind of person.”

He was backed by Ms Coffey, who said: “Without a specific offence, ‘catfish’ who cause so much distress to individuals and their families will continue to exploit and harm other people.

“Catfishing is a modern day menace affecting the lives of many innocent people. It can cause years of heartache. We must do something to deter this, and a change in the law is the most effective deterrent.”

Ms Coffey has also been contacted by other victims of catfishing, including Anna Rowe, who collected 41,472 signatures for a Change.org petition calling for it to be made illegal to create a fake online profile with the intention of using it to lead others into sex.

Ms Rowe, a mother-of-two in her 40s said she was deceived by someone who used a slightly doctored photo of a similar-looking Bollywood star on his Tinder profile. Ms Rowe said he lied about his name, and the fact he was married.

After she publicised her case, she said she was contacted by many other women who said they too had been deceived by the same man.

Supporting her petition for catfishing to be made a criminal offence, Ms Rowe said: “He took advantage of my trust and took away my right to choose.

“Had I known, I would never have consented to a sexual relationship with a married man, let alone a man who was actively having relations with multiple women simultaneously.”

She added: “If this man had ‘asked’ me for money, he would have committed a criminal offence under the Fraud Act. But I gave him presents and bought many things that come with being in a long-term relationship.

“If this man had used his fake profile to cause distress by ‘trolling’ me or posting an intimate picture, he would have committed a criminal offence under the Communications Act. But he caused me distress by misrepresenting who he was.

“His behaviour was premeditated, yet the current law will not find his actions a criminal offence.”

Catfishing takes its name from the 2011 documentary Catfish, about a New Yorker who was duped by a woman who posed online as a younger love interest. An MTV series of the same name followed.

In the documentary the catfish’s husband related the story of how, when live cod were shipped from North America to Asia, their inactivity in the tanks turned their flesh mushy.

This changed when fishermen started putting catfish in the tanks, to keep the cod active and maintain the quality of their flesh.

This, the husband told the documentary makers, showed how everyone needed a ‘catfish’ in their lives to keep them alert and active.

Some psychologists think that catfish start deceiving to fill otherwise empty lives, and also to experience a thrill of “duper’s delight” when they succeed in their deception.

There are also fears that catfishing is being unreported, because many victims feel too embarrassed about being duped to say anything.