Last night, photographer Sam Morales started trending on Twitter after user Jzan Tero (@JzanVern) posted a thread on how she was allegedly catfished by the former.
Narrating her experience, Tero claims that Morales tricked her into believing that she was meeting her tinder match Bill Iver Reyes, who introduced himself as an art director and a part-time model.
Initially getting a hunch that Reyes was fake, Tero was then contacted by Morales to cover up her lies. Morales made Tero believe that she was the cousin of Reyes and was simply relaying some messages from her “cousin.” She even got someone to pose as the said “Bill Iver Reyes,” who would show up to dates with Tero.
There were even instances of “Bill Iver Reyes” (who was later revealed as Bilko Argana) gaslighting Tero (among other things, calling her a cheater because she had the Tinder app installed in her phone—understandable as that was after the first time Tero caught wind of Argana’s lies), manipulation (making up tragic stories and appealing to Tero’s pity) and leaving her in extremely vulnerable positions (fully knowing she had no idea where to go, Argana abandoned her in a fast food restaurant during her first night in Manila).
Another Twitter user, Josh Dela Rosa (@illuminaticurls), came forward with a story about how she was also allegedly catfished by Morales.
Claiming to be friends with Morales prior to the incident, Dela Rosa started the thread by pointing out how Morales has been targeting mostly trans women. Looking at the thread, the narrative is similar to Tero’s—with Morales supposedly creating a fake profile on Tinder to bait her victims.
Going back to Tero’s thread, she revealed the reason behind Morales’ action, with Morales allegedly admitting that the catfishing was homophobic and transphobic in nature since she would specifically only target gay men and trans women. Morales confessed to Tero that it stemmed from her childhood experience of having been bullied by gay people, though at least one person from her past (as of now still unverified) has already called that into question.
Both Tero and Dela Rosa have faced so much trauma over what Morales has done.
Some notable personalities have since aired their frustrations on Twitter. Here’s what they had to say:
More people who were allegedly victimized by Morales are now coming out with their story about how they were catfished. I’m hoping these stories of catfishing would encourage more people to help them seek justice by spreading the word.
Catfishing is already bad since it involves deceiving others, but using it as a means to be transphobic and homophobic is taking it to an entirely different level.
Photo courtesy of Unsplash
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