'I was used as a catfish ... and it can happen to you too'

“Now I’m thinking about how many other men this person might have scammed. How many other people genuinely believed they had been in a relationship with me and financially supporting me?”

A Sydney mum and model says she feels “violated” after discovering her image was being used by a catfisher in the United States.

Kate Heussler, a model and model coach who formerly won the Mrs Australia pageant, received an email from a man in the United States who said he’d been speaking to an “obvious scammer” who had been sending him photos.

However, the man also later admits he’d sent money to the scammer, but stopped replying once they got Kate’s daughter involved.

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Kate Heussler received an email from a man after he'd been scammed by a Catfish who assumed her identity. Picture: Facebook

"I took it very seriously"

Kate told Kidspot she initially thought the man’s report of a scam was a scam itself, as she receives a lot of strange mail through her website.

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However, the fact the man had used a real first name and surname and had an email contact back led her to believe the message was “a lot more legitimate” than others.

“He left contact details and said my image or brand had been compromised,” Kate said.

“Given my entire qualification, career and business is about branding, I took it very seriously.

“I wasn’t sure where it would go, but I thought I’d make the time for it. My initial question for him was ‘what do you mean’, because I didn’t know if this was just someone laughing at my image, or graffitiing it.

“His response to me made me realise it was a big deal, and that’s when I discovered this guy thought he was in a relationship with me before he was scammed.”

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One of the conversations the man had with Kate's catfish. Picture: Supplied

The Catfish appeared to get desperate once the man figured her out. Picture: Supplied

"I had to go to the police"

Kate said the man started sending her screenshots of messages the unknown catfisher had sent him, and it included images of her that weren’t currently on her social media.

“I initially thought the person must know me, because they couldn’t know details about my family and my divorce situation without knowing me personally,” she said.

“What tipped me over the edge to report it (to police) was some of the screenshots he sent me were images that weren’t online.

“I don’t think I had a breach of security because I have encrypted passwords and two-step authentication, so it seems like this person has been stalking me for years.

“The images were from stories I put up nearly five years ago. That was when I realised this wasn’t funny, it was a big deal, and I had to go to the police.”

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An image used by the catfish which Kate said hadn't been on social media for almost four years.

Kate said she felt 'violated' by the depth the catfish went to. Picture: Supplied

"How many other men has this person scammed?"

Kate told Kidspot she’s “very sensitive” to safety because she’d had issues with a stalker in the past, and needed court orders to protect her.

She initially suspected her stalker was also to blame for the catfish, but quickly realised it was a US or Canada-based woman once the man sent her voice-recordings of his conversations with her.

“It’s someone who has come across my profile and thought I was legitimate enough to use in a scam,” Kate said. “I’m small enough, I’m not an A-lister.

“Now I’m thinking about how many other men this person might have scammed. How many other people genuinely believed they had been in a relationship with me and financially supporting me?”

When Kate tried to report the scam to the police, they told her there was nothing they could do because the scammer was based in the US, so she encouraged the man from the initial email to report the scam on his end as well.

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Kate said she was glad the man came forward, as most men won't report sexploitation due to embarrassment. Picture: Facebook

"This is disgusting behaviour"

She said catfishing was particularly nasty because there were always two victims.

“I felt violated,” she said. “The fact this person created an entire persona which includes my daughter, my family dynamic, my divorce which she referred to as “nasty”, all for her own financial gain, is disgusting behaviour.

“However, my heart went out to the victim, and I had more compassion for him as more emails came in. I’m thankful he was aware enough that he didn’t allow himself to keep getting scammed.

“I’m thankful he reached out to me - sextortion cases aren’t generally reported because men feel shame and humiliation, but he reached out and tracked me down, and I’m grateful he did that.”

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Kate said her experience was a good reminder to both men and women that catfishing can affect anyone, particularly those who live in the public eye. Picture: Facebook

"I've got the right to have the life I do"

Despite the catfish, Kate doesn’t regret her path in life as it realistically could happen to anyone.

“You shouldn’t live under a rock,” she said.

“I’ve got the right to have the life I do, and that won’t change, but it blows my mind that other people think this is OK to do.

“People are still going to want social media accounts, they’ll want to get into the modelling industry, so it’s important to know something like this could happen to you.”

Originally published as 'I was used as a catfish ... and it can happen to you too'