My photos were stolen from catfish men, the scammer sent one to my house for a date
Last Friday night at almost 11 p.m., a man showed up in 90 Day Fiancé star Stephanie Matto's driveway, ready to take her on a date.
But despite claiming to have flown to Connecticut for plans they made online and spent thousands of dollars on gifts for her, Matto had never spoken to the man in her life.
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With romance scammers, most people consider the duped party who fell in love – and perhaps handed over their money – as the only victim.
But when these scammers use photos of real people in their catfishing, the “face” of the operation also becomes a victim.
That is how MattoThe 33-year-old woman hid in a closet on January 26 and anxiously called 911 about a strange man on her property.
Matto is “no stranger to liking weirdos who stalk me,” having starred in several seasons of several 90 Day Fiancé franchise shows and amassing 295,000 followers on Instagram.
She told The US Sun that she previously needed help from local police to deal with a stalker.
But what happened last week has her nervous about dangers she hadn't even thought about.
“It was around 10:30, 11:00 at night, and I wake up because my dogs start growling, and I also hear some commotion outside my house,” she said.
There was a car parked out front, which was strange because Matto lived down a long private driveway. In other words, there was no reason for anyone to be there if they didn't come to her.
When the car didn't drive away and a man in his 50s or 60s got out, Matto panicked.
“I go into my closet, call 911 and just wait for the police to arrive,” she said.
After questioning the man, an officer came to her door, with the stranger's ID visible.
“He held up his driver's license and said, 'Do you know Louis?'” she recalled.
“I said, 'No, I don't know this person at all.' And he says, 'Well, that's strange because he thinks you have a date here tonight.'”
Matto was immediately in tears, worried that the stranger might be a “psycho” who “in his head thinks he's talking to me or something.”
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The next day she was told the full story: Louis had spoken to someone posing as Matto on Facebook, including posting her photos and copying her captions on social media.
Police told her that Louis had sent the catfish thousands of dollars in gift cards and thought he was meeting Matto to take her to a hotel.
She was told he now feels “very foolish” and “so ashamed.”
Stunned, Matto clicked onto Facebook and found “so many fake profiles” with her name and photos.
This guy just flew across the country and got scammed out of thousands of dollars. Will he take his anger out on me even though I am also a victim?
Stephanie Matto
“It was so scary for me to see the sheer volume of catfish bills,” she said, adding that the counterfeits were “super convincing.”
Finally she found the one Louis had commented on.
“And I will discuss the profile and the likes [on each post] and I see all these Nigerian preachers… I am, yes, clearly a Nigerian scammer.”
But the scariest part was the lengths these catfish went to to find Matto's actual home address to give it to one of their victims.
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“I don't know what the end goal is because the guy showing up has the jig up,” she said.
'And what does that tell me? Can they do this again? And can they do this to someone who might get mad at me?
'I don't know what's going through these people's minds.
“This guy just flew across the country and got scammed out of thousands of dollars. Is he going to take his anger out on me even though I'm a victim too?”
Police told Matto that the case would be sent to the cybercrime division and advised her to report the catfish accounts to Facebook.
Days later, she is frustrated that they are still awake and worries that more catfish victims will show up at her home.
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Facebook did not return The US Sun's request for comment.
“It's uncomfortable for me as a woman to have a strange man come to my house at 11 o'clock at night expecting to have sex with me,” she said.
“I'm so scared that the night it happened I went online and registered for my pistol permit.”
She is now investigating whether she wants to remove her address from the internet and has officers patrol her street.
And although she feels sorry for Louis, she is also afraid.
“I'm still scared of him because I don't know who he is,” she said.
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“They told me that in his statement he acknowledged that it was not my fault.
“That was reassuring to me because maybe someone could find a way to blame me. Like, 'You made this possible because you're a public figure and you should do more to find catfish accounts.'”
Matto sympathizes with people who fall for this scam and imagines it must be “so devastating.”
“These people are really so lonely that they will believe a 33-year-old Instagram model is in love with them,” she said.
But she warns that the people whose photos are stolen could also be victims.
“They used my name. They used my personal home address. So that puts my life at risk by sending strangers my personal information online,” she said.
“It doesn't matter what platform you're on or how you market yourself. All it takes is one person with bad intentions to come across your page.”
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