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Home and Away catfisher has jail sentence increased

<p dir="ltr">A woman who posed as <em>Home and Away</em> actor Lincoln Lewis to catfish online victims and stalk multiple women has had her prison sentence increased after losing her appeal.</p> <p dir="ltr">Lydia Abdelmalek, 32, was sentenced to four years imprisonment at the County Court of Victoria earlier this week, an increase of one year and four months on the original sentence handed down around three years ago.</p> <p dir="ltr">Judge Claire Quin said she regarded Lydia’s offences as a “very serious example of stalking” and material she had received from the victims demonstrated the “cruel, brutal and ongoing impact” it had on them and their families.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Despite the content of some of the material being reflective of a fictional soap opera, it was not fantasy. It was real and impacted real people,” Judge Quin said.</p> <p dir="ltr">“What may begin as lighthearted can quickly escalate and have significant consequences for the psychological wellbeing of those to whom the ruse is directed.”</p> <p dir="ltr">“It was persistent and malicious.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Judge Quin also noted that Abdelmalek showed no remorse for her crimes, even after one of her victims took her own life. </p> <p dir="ltr">Abdelmalek used various online personas over several years, including former <em>Home and Away</em> actor Lincoln Lewis and British soap star Danny Mac, to catfish and stalk people online from 2011.</p> <p dir="ltr">Judge Quin suggested Abdelmalek’s offending may have been driven by a “number of complex personality factors”.</p> <p dir="ltr">“Her behaviour has been driven by a wish to seek relational intimacy and wish fulfilment on a background of perceived inadequacy,” she said.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison in the Heidelberg Magistrates Court back in June 2019.</p> <p dir="ltr">She was later released on bail after she appealed the conviction but failed to overturn the six counts of stalking earlier this year.</p> <p> </p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Image credits: County Court of Victoria</em></p>

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The dangers of catfish in online dating

<p>On the internet, you can become <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/comic-riffs/post/nobody-knows-youre-a-dog-as-iconic-internet-cartoon-turns-20-creator-peter-steiner-knows-the-joke-rings-as-relevant-as-ever/2013/07/31/73372600-f98d-11e2-8e84-c56731a202fb_blog.html">anyone you want to</a> – at least for a while. And though deception doesn’t fit well with lasting romance, people lie all the time: <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.052">Fewer than a third of people in one survey</a> claimed they were always honest in online interactions, and nearly nobody expected others to be truthful. Much of the time, lies are meant to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/joc/jqy019">make the person telling them seem better</a> somehow – more attractive, more engaging or otherwise worth getting to know.</p> <p>“Catfishing” is a more advanced effort of digital deception. Named in a <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1584016/">2010 movie</a> that later expanded into an <a href="http://www.mtv.com/shows/catfish-the-tv-show">MTV reality series</a>, a catfish is a person who sets up an intentionally fake profile on one or more social network sites, often with the purpose of defrauding or deceiving other users.</p> <p>It happens more than people might think – and to more people than might believe it. Many times in my own personal life when I was seeking to meet people online, I found that someone was being deceptive. In one case, I did a <a href="https://images.google.com/">Google image search</a> and found a man’s profile picture featured on a site called “Romance Scams.” Apparently, not everyone looking for love and connection online wants to start from a place of truth and honesty. Yet, as the show demonstrates to viewers, online lies can often be easy to detect, by searching for images and phone numbers and exploring social media profiles. Some people lie anyway – and plenty of others take the bait.</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pVyClEUiK40"></iframe></div> <p><strong>Why might someone become a catfish?</strong></p> <p>When a deep emotional bond grows with someone, even via texts, phone calls and instant messages, it can be devastating to find out that person has been lying about some major aspect of their identity or intentions. My analysis of the <a href="https://scholarworks.uni.edu/etd/153/">first three seasons of the <em>Catfish</em> TV show</a> reveals that there are several reasons someone might choose to become a deceitful catfish. On the show, ordinary people who suspect they’re being catfished get help from the hosts to untangle the lies and find the truth.</p> <p>Sometimes the deception is unintentional. For instance, some people <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1083-6101.2006.00020.x">don’t know themselves well</a>, so they tend to see and present themselves more positively than is accurate. In episode 13 from the show’s second season, a <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/3064701/catfish-chasity-family-cousin-mandy/">woman named Chasity</a> uses someone else’s pictures and claims to be named Kristen. Others may intentionally create a fake profile but then <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3188104/">connect with someone unexpectedly deeply</a> and find the situation hard to come clean about.</p> <p>Other catfish intend to deceive their targets, though not out of malice. For instance, they pretend to be someone else because they have low self-esteem or for some other reason <a href="https://www.bustle.com/articles/29450-miranda-james-are-a-catfish-miracle-these-skyping-pals-give-us-hope-for-future">think people won’t like the real person</a> they are. On the show, there are several episodes about people who are struggling with aspects of their gender identity or sexual orientation and don’t know how to behave appropriately about those internal conflicts, or who fear bullying or violence if they openly identify their true selves.</p> <p>Some catfish, though, set out to hurt people: for instance, to get revenge on a particular person because they are angry, hurt or embarrassed about something that has happened between them. In one episode, for instance, a <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/2384114/catfish-jasmine-mhissy/">woman catfishes her best friend</a> to get back at her because they’re both interested in the same real-world man.</p> <p>The show also highlighted a few catfish who found enjoyment making fake profiles and <a href="https://www.bustle.com/articles/26966-catfish-tracie-thoms-superfan-sammie-bring-an-episode-thats-both-dark-and-redeeming">getting attention from strangers</a> online. Others wanted to see if they could <a href="https://www.vulture.com/2013/09/catfish-recap-season-2-aaliyah-alicia-iphone.html">make money</a>. Still others hoped to capitalize on the growing popularity of the show itself, wanting to actually meet someone famous or <a href="http://www.mtv.com/news/2158036/catfish-where-now-sneak-peek-dee-pimpin/">become famous</a> by being on TV.</p> <div class="embed-responsive embed-responsive-16by9" style="text-align: center;"><iframe class="embed-responsive-item" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/IoMYDl6vkMk"></iframe></div> <p style="text-align: center;"><span class="caption">Some people think they’re actually dating a celebrity online.</span></p> <p><strong>Why do people fall for a catfish?</strong></p> <p>People want to trust those they interact with online and in real life. If a person believes he or she is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/1461444818792425">on a date with someone being deceptive</a>, things tend not to progress to a second date.</p> <p>In the TV show, victims find out about the lies the catfish have told, exposed by the show’s hosts and co-investigators. Many who learn of being lied to <a href="http://www.mtv.com/video-clips/99acvt/catfish-the-tv-show-confidence-in-jenn">aren’t particularly interested in meeting up</a> with the real person behind the mask they’d been communicating with.</p> <p>Someone who is enthralled in their connection with another person often fully believes what they’re told – even if it seems too good to be true. This is what scholars call the “<a href="http://psychology.about.com/od/socialpsychology/f/halo-effect.htm">halo effect</a>,” which suggests that if a person likes someone initially, they’re more likely to continue to view them as good, even if that person does something bad. Effectively, that positive first impression has created a figurative angelic halo, suggesting the person is less likely to do wrong. In the very first episode of <em>Catfish: The TV Show</em>, Sunny believes that her love interest Jamison is a model holding cue cards on a late-night comedy show and studying to become an anesthesiologist. Sunny has a very hard time accepting that none of those claims are true of Chelsea, the real person claiming to be Jamison.</p> <p>A complementary idea, called “hyperpersonal connection,” suggests that people who <a href="http://doi.org/10.1177/009365096023001001">develop deep emotional ties to each other very quickly</a> may be more trusting, and may even feel safer sharing things facelessly online than they would in person. So someone who met a new friend online and felt an immediate connection might share deeply personal feelings and experiences – expecting the other person to reciprocate. Sometimes the catfish do, but they’re not always telling the truth.</p> <p>Another reason people might not look too deeply into whether the person they’re talking to is real is that they don’t want the relationship to change, even if they say they do – or think they might in the future. If it’s meeting their needs to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2016.06.052">feel accepted, appreciated, connected and less lonely</a>, why rock the boat? That could risk shattering the fantasy of a potential “happily ever after.” Some people also might not really plan ever to meet in real life anyway. So they don’t feel a need to verify the identity behind the online mask, and any lying will never actually matter.</p> <p>Other people might feel guilty, as if they were <a href="https://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A297135951/AONE?u=googlescholar&amp;sid=AONE&amp;xid=a49adec8">snooping on someone</a> they should trust, who might be upset if they found out their claims were being verified – even though the liar is the one who should feel bad, not the fact-checker.</p> <p>People can still meet and develop real relationships through dating sites, apps and social media. But catfish are still out there, so it pays to be skeptical, especially if the person is never able to talk on the phone or by video chat. Ask questions about their lives and backgrounds; beware if someone gives fishy answers. Do your own background checking, searching images, phone numbers and social networks like they do on the <em>Catfish</em> show. Someone who’s sincere will be impressed at your savvy – and that you care enough to ensure you’re both being honest.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important;" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/109702/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: http://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p> <p><em>Written by <span>Nicole Marie Allaire, Lecturer in English, Iowa State University</span>. Republished with permission of </em><a rel="noopener" href="https://theconversation.com/have-you-caught-a-catfish-online-dating-can-be-deceptive-109702" target="_blank"><em>The Conversation</em></a><em>.</em></p>

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Woman sentenced to jail after impersonating Home and Away star in online romance scam

<p>A Melbourne woman who has impersonated Australian actor Lincoln Lewis to ensnare women online has been sentenced to two years and eight months in jail after one of her victims committed suicide.</p> <p>29-year-old Lydia Abdelmalek received the sentence after being found guilty of six stalking charges.</p> <p>She posed as multiple different people, including the <em>Home and Away</em> star, to strike up online relationships with the victims before taunting them with threats.</p> <p>In a court recording obtained by <a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/a-current-affair-catfisher-impersonate-lincoln-lewis-lydia-abdelmalek-jailed-stalking-court-latest-news-australia/e8210c78-4c01-4a86-b3e3-c952210c8e98"><em>A Current Affair</em></a>, Lincoln shared how “powerless” the catfishing made him feel.</p> <p>“It just takes away your happiness because now I’ve got this constant thought in my mind that something’s happening that I’m powerless to stop or even find out,” the son of former rugby league legend Wally Lewis said.</p> <p>In one case, Abdelmalek used Lincoln's profile to trick his primary school friend, who is identified as Emma, into a fake romance.</p> <p>Emma managed to speak to the real Lincoln in 2011 in a phone call. </p> <p>“She said, ‘Linc, I’ve thought for the last couple of months that you and I have been dating,'” said Lincoln.</p> <p>“My first reaction is, how could you think that? How could you think that we’re dating when we haven’t seen each other in years? And then she kept saying to me, ‘Linc, what do I do?’ many times.”</p> <p>He said Emma told him she was scared because Abdelmalek knew “everything” about her and a lot about Lincoln, including his family’s home address in Brisbane and his Virgin Velocity Frequent Flyer number.</p> <p>Emma later received <a href="https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-09/lincoln-lewis-fake-catfish-internet-stalker-court-trial/10919538">threats, prank calls and messages</a> such as “wen r u going 2 kill urself?”.</p> <p>After dealing with depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder from the continued abuse, Emma took her own life in 2018, two years after the ordeal began.</p> <p>“I was angry that a faceless coward could be so inhumane to stoop so low to do this to an innocent person,” read Emma’s 2016 victim impact statement.</p> <p>“Words alone do not describe how this traumatic episode has affected me.”</p> <p>Another victim, identified as Jess, told the court that she suffers from “debilitating panic attacks, depression and anxiety” after receiving similar harassment from Abdelmalek.</p> <p>“I’m now forever entangled in your sick story of abuse and manipulation … You’ve ruined my life.”</p> <p>Abdelmalek was granted bail, and her defence indicated that she would appeal the guilty conviction.</p> <p><em>If you are experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide, you can call Lifeline 131 114 or beyondblue 1300 224 636 or visit <a href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/">lifeline.org.au</a> or <a href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/national-help-lines-and-websites">beyondblue.org.au</a>.</em></p>

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Casey Donovan opens up to Andrew Denton about her secret torment: "I was killing myself eating"

<p>Casey Donovan has opened up about a six-year sham relationship that left her feeling suicidal in an interview with Andrew Denton.</p> <p>Speaking on Denton’s show <em>Interview</em>, the 2004<span> </span><em>Australian Idol</em><span> </span>winner revealed how she became involved with a “man” for six years, only to find out that he did not exist and was invented by her best friend Olga.</p> <p>The now 30-year-old said it took a long time to get over the “betrayal, the distrust, and the emotional heartache” upon finding out the truth.</p> <p>“That was my world … done, basically. I wanted to die,” she said. “It got to that point where it was just — ‘What the f**k have I done to my life?’ I’d put on so much weight. I was killing myself eating. The nothingness that I was … I was just empty.”</p> <p>The ordeal began on Australia Day in 2005, when Donovan was touring the country with fellow Idol finalists. The singer, then 16, received a call from an unknown man with an “ocker, surfie” voice who said his name was Campbell.</p> <p>“It was this guy on the line, and he wouldn’t tell me who he was or how he got my number,” she told Denton. “I basically said, you need to lose this number.”</p> <p>However, the man kept calling back, and Donovan began answering them. </p> <p>“When you’re on the road as a 16-year-old, you can’t go out to pubs and clubs with the other people. You get sent to your room. I was like, ‘This is interesting.'<span> It became comfortable to talk to this person every day,” she recalled.</span></p> <p>The calls continued, and Donovan became “glued” to her phone throughout the tour.</p> <p><iframe src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FInterviewAU%2Fvideos%2F1111814849027359%2F&amp;show_text=1&amp;width=560" width="560" height="522" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" allowtransparency="true" allow="encrypted-media" allowfullscreen="true"></iframe></p> <p>The red flags began appearing when Campbell would flake from their plans to meet in person after Donovan returned to Sydney. Instead, he would send in a “friend” named Olga in his place to see Donovan.</p> <p>While her connection with both Campbell and Olga continued to grow, Donovan started thinking, “There’s something not right.”</p> <p>At one point, Campbell convinced Donovan – who had no sexual experience then – to have sex with Olga and discuss the experience over the phone with him. </p> <p>“The sexual encounter with Olga … he was like, ‘Do that, then we’ll all get together and do that together’,” she said.</p> <p>“I was doing everything to prove to myself that there was the slightest chance that he could have been real.”</p> <p>In 2011, Donovan finally revealed her suspicions over the relationship to her manager Jason, who helped her find out that Campbell and Olga were the same person.</p> <p>When Denton asked what made her stay in a suspect situation for years, she answered, “Hope. To think that no one could actually do that to another human being. To think of all the s**t I’ve been through in my life … to be at that point and to just have everything fall apart. It really hurt.”</p> <p><em>If you are troubled by this article, experiencing a personal crisis or thinking about suicide, you can call Lifeline 131 114 or beyondblue 1300 224 636 or visit <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.lifeline.org.au/" target="_blank">lifeline.org.au</a> or <a rel="noopener" href="https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/national-help-lines-and-websites" target="_blank">beyondblue.org.au</a>.</em></p>

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