Model and former reality television star Matt Peacock has been dubbed the "most catfished man in Europe" after 15 years of fake profiles using his pictures. He appeared on BBC's Crimewatch Live on Friday morning to raise awareness about catfishing, where someone creates a fake online identity using another person's picture to deceive or defraud.
Initially, Peacock found the situation amusing when friends alerted him to fake profiles. However, it became more sinister, with women coming forward with stories of intimate messages, explicit photos, and relationships with a man they believed was Matt. He teamed up with a private investigator to uncover one of the main people behind the deception.
From Laughs to a Serious Threat
Speaking to presenters Rav Wilding and Michelle Ackerley, Peacock said: "It started around 12 years ago when I was getting messages from people online asking if I knew I had a fake profile. At first I laughed it off and told people it wasn't me, but after the 50th, 60th one it became less funny."
He explained how it escalated: "About four years in, the same four different names kept cropping up, so it seemed to be the same person. He was asking girls for names and pictures. He was talking to them on the phone and it all culminated in one case with a vulnerable mum. She thought she was in a relationship with him for two years, but he was grooming her."
Sting Operation and Its Aftermath
After teaming up with the private investigator, they staged a sting operation and confronted the impersonator. Peacock described how the man would arrange to meet women and pretend to be his cousin or brother when they turned up. The team set up a fake female profile, and when the man arrived at a hotel, Peacock was waiting for him.
"I said to him 'you might recognise me pal and I suggest you get out of car and have a chat'. After a bit of persuasion he did and he actually broke down," Peacock said. He added that he had just been on the phone to a victim who had tried to take her own life over the ordeal. They found the man had been receiving pictures and videos from around 20 different women. "He was basically living a full life as me," Peacock said.
Two weeks later, the fraudster sent a picture of Peacock with his dog Barney to another woman. Peacock called the police but was told the man hadn't broken any laws, so there wasn't much they could do.
Advice for Others
Peacock wants to warn others, saying: "If it feels like it is not quite right then it probably isn't. If you are talking to someone you can FaceTime them. People are getting scammed. They choose vulnerable people, but trust your gut and look after yourself."
Official advice includes stopping all communication, preserving evidence by taking screenshots of chat logs and profile pictures, blocking the user on all platforms, and never sending money or personal data, especially if they cite a fake emergency.
