Catfishing – when someone creates a fake online persona to befriend and exploit victims – is making some loud pings on the pop-culture radar.
Last month, Netflix dropped the documentary Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, the twisted tale of Kirat Assi, who was caught in a catfishing net for almost a decade with a “man” she met on Facebook.
The film, a follow-up to a six-part podcast released in 2021, explores the inner workings of what has been dubbed one of the world’s most sophisticated catfishers.
In September, streaming site Hulu released Fanatical: The Catfishing of Tegan and Sara, which follows a catfishing scheme targeting fans of the Canadian indie-rock duo.
Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare | Official Trailer | Netflix
Catfishing was woven into the plot of 2024 Hong Kong romance Love Lies, in which Hong Kong actress Sandra Ng Kwan-yue plays a doctor who falls prey to an online dating scam.