Catfish

What is catfish ? 

 

It started on a Saturday evening. That day, I received a message on Instagram from a friend who had seen my photo on a dating site.  I had never visited any of these sites, I immediately understood that it was a pirated photo. Knowing that someone was using my image without my knowledge really worried me is a rather special feeling. I kept thinking about it for the next few days, and then gradually I moved on.

 

I had gradually forgotten this story. But 6 months later I received a new message from a friend who again informed me that photos of me were circulating on a dating site. To try to gather information, I asked my friend to ask him questions. There, the fake account was immediately deleted, unable to obtain more information at that time.

 

Then the stress went up a notch when the same day, another friend asked me if I was passing through the South of France near Marseille, because he had seen me registered on yet another dating site.  I was overcome with anxiety again, really believed this identity-stealing story was behind me. I really started to panic. I didn’t understand why this happened to me, or why such ill-intentioned people would do this. What did they want, and what did they hope by using someone else's photos?

It was then that I realized how serious the case was. I immediately stopped posting photos of myself on social media. I felt spied on, watched, like someone wanted to steal my life. I thought that if I post less pictures of myself, so that they won't be used by other people stop harassing me too. A kind of escape ...

 

This cyber harassment that I am subjected to has changed the way I behave on social networks. I post a lot less photos of myself, lest they be used by other people. I hope that one day we can stop these usurpers, and understand why these people do this and rot the lives of others.
Some sites should be more vigilant

 

The idea for this series didn't just happen. The web is brimming with stories of cyber-harassment, and digital raids have multiplied in recent years. We hear about this Internet phenomenon in the press through the stories of Nikita Bellucci or, more recently, Bilal Hassani. But let's not forget to mention all the less famous people that were victims as well. We wanted to invent this false testimony to "give voice" and to publicize this reality which has, at times, shattered the lives of many people.