Lecture Notes: The Story of Gemma's Catfishing Scheme

Introduction

• Gemma's Background:
  • From England, in 12th grade.
  • Has two best friends: Jess and Beatrice, a few years younger, still in secondary school.

Gemma's Plan

• Objective: Be closer to her friends while in college.
• Method: Catfishing her friend Beatrice.
  • Creates a fake Facebook profile for a boy named Aaron.

Execution of the Catfish

• Creating Aaron:
  • Profile setup: Added friends, made the profile look legitimate.
  • Starts chatting with Beatrice, who responds back.

Escalation

• Meeting Beatrice:
  • Gemma disguises herself as Aaron (baggy clothes, beanie, cologne).
  • Beatrice doesn't realize Aaron is actually Gemma.

Involvement of Jess

• Introducing Aaron to Jess:
  • Jess wants to meet Aaron, they all hang out.
• Creating Luke:
  • Gemma creates another fake male persona, Luke, to catfish Jess.
  • Jess and Luke (Gemma) also meet and hang out.

Complications Arise

• Jess and Fake Luke:
  • They become physical; Luke becomes pushy.
  • Jess breaks up with Luke.
• Creating Connor:
  • Gemma creates a third persona, Connor, to continue catfishing Jess.

Consequences

• Beatrice and Aaron:
  • They become official and intimate, but Aaron (Gemma) keeps clothes on.
• Connor's Assault:
  • Fake Connor assaults Jess and falls asleep.
  • Jess realizes Connor is Aaron (but not that it's Gemma).

The Unraveling

• Police Involvement:
  • Jess accuses Aaron of catfishing and reports to police.
  • Police investigate and find "Aaron" at Beatrice's house.
• Gemma's Cover-Up:
  • Gemma pretends to be Aaron and Luke, posts fake confessions.
  • Breaks her own jaw, claims Luke attacked her.

Conclusion

• Gemma's Arrest:
  • Police conduct a strip search, discover Aaron is Gemma.
• Charges:
  • Charged with sexual assault and fraud.
  • Sentenced to 30 months in prison.

Key Takeaways

• Gemma's elaborate scheme highlights issues of identity, trust, and deception.
• The story demonstrates extreme measures taken to maintain relationships and the consequences of deceit.