29-year-old woman messages boyfriend from fake profile using his coworker's name and bikini pictures, he passes the "loyalty test" but she fails the maturity test: "How am I supposed to trust her now?"

Author image for Ely Bulnes
Ely Bulnes • Writer and Editor
Mar 25, 2025 4:00 PM EDT

Have you ever been catfished? I get messages every once in a while from catfish bots on Instagram. I know they're not real because their profiles feature women in revealing clothes whose pictures can be traced to popular models, have very few followers yet follow thousands of people, and they send me messages that read something along the lines of, "Hey! I don't usually message guys like this, but your profile really caught me eye :)." To be clear, I am a woman, and my social media profiles make this fact very obvious. I'm not sure what the endgame of these scams are, but I do feel bad for the lonely dudes that fall for them.

In our story today, a man falls for a catfish. At first, he finds it a it strange that his female coworker from another department is messaging him. When the messages start to get flirty and he rejects her, his previously jealous girlfriend starts to act more affectionately towards him. This rings the alarm bells that lead him to discover the truth behind his coworker's profile. 

Add as a preferred
source on Google
Advertisement
  • 01

    I (28M) am considering leaving my GF (29F) after she Catfished me "as a prank"

    "29 is way too old to be doing this."
    via martin-dm

    This image is for illustration only, and the subjects are models; the image does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 02
    Me & my GF have been together for 2 years. I always thought she was very sweet and kind, and I really appreciate how much she loves me. And while she sometimes got a little jealous, I didn't think it was a big deal. H I, maybe I even enjoyed being doted on like that. It made me feel really attractive, which I never really felt I was.
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 03
    Recently we attended a work event organized by my company, and we met one of my co-workers there. She works at a different branch and we hardly ever talk outside of work emails and calls, but we get
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 04
    COMO L
    via w
  • 05
    along well enough. This event was my GFs first (and only) time meeting this coworker. On the way back from the event, and the following day, my GF was - acting a little weird – she kept asking me about a "work wife", and asking fi I thought that co-worker was pretty, and other stuff about her. I knew my GF
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 06
    could get kinda jealous and I did my best to calm her down - no that woman isn't my work wife, I don't follow her on any socials, I don't even have her personal phone number. I don't think she's more beautiful than my GF and I am happy with my GF etc. and she seemed to relax, and thigns got back to normal.
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 07
    A few weeks later, out of nowhere, I got a follow request on IG (my account is private) from my co- worker. I approved and followed back (her account is also private). That account was almost nothing but a few pictures of her in swimsuits, uploaded
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 08
    very recently (I haven't checked at the time and didn't really scroll her account at all). It didn't look like anything overtly , just normal vacation pics, but there was nothing BUT vacation pics. It seemd weird but I didn't really care. Then a few days later she DMed me on IG. It was just small talk and I
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 09
    replied, but it wasn't flirty or anything (IMO). She kept reaching out every few days, and eventually it DID seem to get kinda flirty. I told her this felt inappropriate and I was in a relationship, and I'd appreciate if we kept things professional, which she seemed okay with.
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 10
    My GF seemed extra affectionate the days after that, and while I didn't suspect anything in real time, you can all probably see exactly where this is going. Still, at the time I was happy, and my GF even
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 11
    Cheezburger Image 10485089280
    via w
  • 12
    seemed to be better regarding her jealousy. But then, last week, I got a follow recommendation on my IG - it was my co-worker's account. This one wasn't private, and was just a normal IG account,
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 13
    and looking through it – that was where those swimsuit pics came from, here they were just a part of her normal IG account which contained mostly normal pics, and not just swimsuit ones. I then put 2+2 together.
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 14
    Before confronting my GF, I talked to that co-worker at work, and asked for her IG account - and she gave me her normal one, which I followed, and indeed she gave no indication that we ever interacted on IG before. So it became clear I WAS
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 15
    being catfished. I confronted my GF then, and at first when I was trying to be subtle, she denied everything outright. Then she shifted to gaslighting me about it and saying it was just a prank, or that it was a test, or that because she was cheated on before she just needed to know that she could trust
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 16
    me. I told her that her being able to trust me was great, but how am I supposed to trust her now? She said that made no sense, and kept deflecting no matter how I tried to explain, going so far as to question how I even knew it was her if I wasn't
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 17
    cheating on her with my co-worker. I told her that this was unfair and manipulative, and that I needed some time and went home. She's been texting and calling since, saying that I'm ruining a great relationship over nothing, I'm overreacting and that
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 18
    when I finally realize how much she loves me it might be too late, and it's not fair for me to throw everything we built out "over some s ", but that just feels incredibly manipulative to me, and like she doesn't get what she did wrong AT ALL.
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 19
    So... I'm conflicted between wanting to just cut and run and giving it another go? After all we have been happy together for 2 years. But also, can trust be rebuilt after something like this?
    via u/GrowingGames45

  • This is absolutely wild behavior. Perhaps I would've cooked up something like this when I was a middle schooler after watching way too many episodes of Degrassi and Hannah Montanah. This isn't how adults treat each other.

  • 20
    Tl;dr my gf pretended to be my co-worker on IG to catfish me as some sort of prank/test, and refuses to apologize.
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 21
    Cheezburger Image 10485089024
    via w
  • 22
    DotCottonCandy I couldn't forgive someone after they breached my trust like this. The fact that she did this with no care for the consequences too, you could have potentially reported your colleague to HR, shows incredibly poor judgment, as well as all of the obvious other problems with this.
    via u/DotCottonCandy
  • 23
    This is likely not the only unhinged thing she's done in your relationship, and it won't be the last.
    via u/DotCottonCandy

  • In two years, this is the only time she has gotten caught. Who knows in what other ways she has invaded his privacy?

  • 24
    Growing Games45 OP I don't think she ever did anything on this level before, but obviously there were signs. I just didn't really want to see it because I was never
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 25
    regarded as particularly attractive, and having someone be this into me just felt really nice, but I guess a lot of this is my own issues I need to work through, and this relationship is clearly not as great as I may have thought...
    via u/GrowingGames45
  • 26
    Brennithan In your post, you say it's great that she can trust you. The thing is, she doesn't trust you. Trust does not equal knowing.
    via u/Brennithan
  • 27
    An extreme example: if she could have a 24- hour live camera feed of you, then of course she could trust you! Except that's not trust, that's knowing where you are at every hour of the day.
    via u/Brennithan
  • 28
    Everyone in a relationship has the potential to cheat. Everyone. Trust is believing that your partner won't hurt you, not lying to them and catfishing them to prove some sort of test. After 2 years, she still doesn't trust you.
    via u/Brennithan
  • 29
    Unhappy_Wishbone_551 So she impersonated this woman, took her photos, pretended to come on to you as her, then had the audacity to call her a s ? Your gf isn't a nice person, her mask slipped. And tbh she sounds like way too much work. I have trust issues, I get flares
    via u/Unhappy_Wishbone_551
  • 30
    of jealousy over nonsense. But I don't say anything and just calm myself down. She is way out of line. Ah les always have lame excuses for their actions. In my 40s and in perimenapause I'm quick to drop ppl over bs. That's what I'd do, but if you don't want that I'd insist on her getting counseling.
    via u/Unhappy_Wishbone_551
  • 31
    F Sorry-Thing7797 I that. I'd leave the relationship immediately. Anyone who has to "test" their partners loyalty by making fake accounts should be in therapy, not a relationship.
    via u/Sorry-Thing7797
  • 32
    mods_are_soft Yep. A partner who "tests" their SO is not a person ready to have a lasting adult relationship. That is middle school/teenage bulls
    via u/mods_are_soft
  • 33
    Corndread85 I had to go back and check her age...29 is way too old to be doing this. 14-15 MAYBE but...cheating is a breach of trust and so is what she did. She lied and deceived you to get what she wanted.
    via u/Corndread85

Tags

boyfriend catfish jealous work coworkers instagram reddit story relationships girlfriend social media prank love workplace breakup red flag Reddit dating
Scroll Down For The Next Article