Identity theft nightmare - Influencer targeted in romance scam through fake accounts, stolen pics

A social media influencer says she is living in fear as a woman has been using her photos to scam men.

"I've always had people making accounts using my pictures, Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and even dating sites. They go as far as using my pictures to get money from men and then block the men," she said.

"Sometimes these men who fall victim would message my real page and asking why I blocked them or why I'm not talking to them when I don't know them. That has always been a weird experience because mi always completely clueless."

But the situation took a disturbing turn when her private number and even her home phone began circulating online.

"Recently I kept getting messages on my WhatsApp number and I'm wondering 'Who are these people'? Because I know who I give my number to," she said. "When I started asking them where they got my number from, they said that I gave it to them from Facebook, but I haven't used Facebook in a while. So I knew that really wasn't me."

She said that while she can bypass people using her pictures, using her real name crossed the line. The danger became more real when calls started flooding her home.

"In the moment I was so upset I didn't even realise it was my house phone until I started getting a lot of calls, and I live with my grandmother who is a respectable woman," she said. Determined to find the culprit, the woman said she did her own investigation and eventually traced the harassment to someone connected to a former partner.

"I got three missed calls from his number in the early hours of the morning. Clearly a nuh him a call cause weh him woulda a call me fah? More than likely a the girl," she said.

"It was at this point I realised that the other number was actually my house phone number and he was the only person who I sent the number." Attempts to stop the harassment have failed.

"He kept saying he's going to fix it and talk to her but her harassing neva stop. She still a bother me," she said.

Beyond the constant calls and messages, the woman said the most frightening part is being approached in public by strangers who believe they've been communicating with her. At one point, she removed all her photos from social media, using cartoons as her profile picture, in an attempt to protect herself.

"She took pictures from my real profile and posed on the fake page. She even do story posts so people would definitely think it's real." The woman said she reached out to a member of the police force who indicated that he would look into it.

"But you know how Jamaican police get to work, so I just decided to take matters into my own hands," she said. The woman opined that the lack of strong enforcement is part of the problem.

"I don't think cybercrimes are enforced in Jamaica. People nuh tek it serious because them nuh have any serious consequences when people do things like this."

Director of Jamaica's Cyber Incident Response Team Division, Godfrey Sterling, explained that while cases like this may not fall under traditional 'doxing', they can still be addressed under the Cybercrimes Act.

"Doxing is where persons get information that is not readily available in the public domain and publish it... and that is treated under the Cybercrimes Act as malicious communication," Sterling said.

He added that once threats or harassment are involved, the matter should be reported to the police.

"If you feel you are in eminent danger, go to the police," he said, while pointing out that challenges such as victims withdrawing the report, or the use of publicly available information, often limit enforcement.

The influencer said the ordeal is far from resolved, and while she admitted she has no clear solution, she is urging others to take precautions.

"The only thing I can really advise people to start doing is watermarking their photos, so if someone uses your photo on a different page, the viewer will see it," she said.