Laura Anderson recalls bizarre Catfishing experience before Love Island

"We just need to teach younger people to take Instagram with a pinch of salt"

Laura Anderson

by Connie Hack |
Updated on

Former Love Island star Laura Anderson took to her Instagram Story last night to talk about a Catfishing experience she had before going on the show.

She chose to discuss it after telling her followers about her plans to start a petition against online trolling, people being able to set up fake accounts and having more security on social media profiles.

The Scottish star then went on to recall an experience she faced in the past where someone was using her profile to catfish and scam someone else.

Laura Anderson Instagram Story
©Instagram @lauraanderson1x

"Just quickly to highlight the importance of not allowing fake accounts, but before Love Island, before anyone knew anything about me, someone made a fake Facebook account of me."

The 31-year-old continued and explained that the person, "Had an online relationship with a guy for three months and this guy thought he was in love with me or whatever.

"The person made fake accounts of my friends, my sister, so they'd interact on the page."

The story got more extreme as the person managed to scam the guy they were Catfishing.

"[She] got this guy to send over money, pretended that 'she' was in witness protection so she didn't have to meet him. And I just thought to myself, wow.

"It all came about as my friend was friends with the guy [who was being catfished]. The guy was talking about me to my actual friend and she was like 'No that's Laura, she lives in Dubai.'

"This was years ago," she added.

Laura explained that she managed to have a conversation with the guy who was being catfished by he didn't believe her.

"He didn't believe that I was me and this was all made up. And I said look I'm sorry but you're totally being catfished - or whatever you wanna call it."

CHECK OUT: Love Island series 4 cast and where they are now

Gallery

Love Island series 4 - where are they now? - Slider

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Swipe through to see what the Love Island 2018 cast are up to now:

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Jack Fincham

Pen salesman Jack Fincham won the show in 2018 alongside Dani Dyer, the pair coupled up together in the first show and the rest was history.

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Jack Fincham

After leaving the villa, Jack landed himself a TV show alongside Dani Dyer, appeared on the Celebrity version of Gogglebox and even hosted the NTA red carpet with Dani. After the pair split up in April 2019, Jack has gone on to be involved in a number of sponsorship deals, as well as attending various events. He also recently appeared on The All New Full Monty.

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Dani Dyer

Despite already having some fame (due to her famous dad, Danny Dyer) before entering the villa, Love Island certainly catapulted Dani into the limelight when she won the show with Jack Fincham.

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Dani Dyer

After leaving the villa, Dani was in demand, landing her own clothing brand with In The Style, appearing on more or less EVERY TV show, climbing Mount Kilimanjaro for Red Nose Day, and releasing her own book. Following her split from Jack, Dani was accused of 'cheating' with her ex-boyfriend Sammy Kimmence, after snaps of them kissing emerged. However, the Love Island winner totally denied the rumours.

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Laura Anderson

Despite her turbulent time in the Love Island villa, Scottish beauty Laura Anderson finished in second place with hunky model Paul Knops.

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Laura Anderson

Despite her relationship with Paul not lasting, Laura has kept herself busy and she recently launched her own fitness and lifestyle website called So-LA. Oh, and her Instagram is also filled with clothing deals from various brands.

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Paul Knops

He was VERY popular with the ladies when he was a late arrival into the villa (probably due to fact he'd appeared in Britney Spears video), but it was Laura Anderson who he coupled up with finishing in second place.

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Paul Knopps

After splitting with Laura just weeks after leaving the villa, Paul has continued to work as a model, showing off his good looks on his Instagram page. We wonder if he features in any more of Britney Spears' music videos?

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Kaz Crossley

After coupling up with Josh Denzel on the show, Kaz made it all the way to the final, with many fans wanting the couple to win ahead of Jack and Dani.

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Kaz Crossley

Following her split from Josh, Kaz is well and truly living her best life, touring the world on modelling and clothing shoots. Just check out her Instagram to make yourself VERY jealous of her lifestyle. In April 2019 it was announced she's dating Love Island star Theo Campbell!

Megan Barton-Hanson12 of 35
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Megan Barton-Hanson

Despite being very unpopular when she first entered the Love Island villa, Megan was able to turn public perception around, leaving as one of the favourites alongside Wes Nelson.

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Megan Barton-Hanson

She's now a single lady after splitting from Wes, and released one of the best break-up statements of the decade.Megan is now a brand ambassador for Pretty Little Thing, and most recently she took part in ITV's The All New Full Monty.

Wes Nelson14 of 35
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Wes Nelson

It took him a while to settle during his time in the villa, but he eventually seemed smitten when he coupled up with Megan Barton-Hanson, with the pair making it to the final.

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Wes Nelson

Wes was in demand when he left the Love Island villa, landing a spot on Dancing On Ice in January 2019. Despite impressing with his moves (and being linked to his partner Vanessa Bauer following his split from Megan), the star finished in second place.Wes is now living life to the full as a single man, landing clothing deals, attending events and being flown around the world to promote different brands.

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Dr Alex George

Aww, Dr Alex! He stole the nation's hearts when he tried and continued to be pied in the villa, ending in him leaving the show as 'friends' with Alexandra Cane.

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Dr Alex George

Despite this, Dr Alex certainly had the last laugh! After appearing on shows like Lorraine and This Morning to give medical advice, Dr Alex returned to his job at a hospital, saving lives every day!Much to our delight, he's also super loved-up with his girlfriend Amelia Bath.

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Jack Fowler

Despite leaving the villa with surfer girl Laura Crane, things fizzled out very quickly when they returned to the real world.

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Jack Fowler

Jack appeared on Celebs Go Dating earlier in 2019, and despite fans loving his date Kate, nothing materialised between the two. Most recently, Jack has been on holiday to America with his Love Island pals, and he often models for BooHooMAN.

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Georgia Steel

She was like Marmite on the show, and eventually left the villa with Sam Bird, before their very sour split just months after the show ended.

Georgia Steel21 of 35
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Georgia Steel

After her sour split from Sam Bird, Georgia signed up to Celebs Go Dating (on the same series as Jack Fowler). Despite taking a very handsome man to the final show in Tenerife, nothing seemed to happen after the show. She's now modelling and is involved in a ton of endorsement deals on her Instagram page.

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Charlie Brake

Millionaire Charlie Brake swept Geordie girl Elilie Brown off her feet during his time in the villa, with the pair enjoying a number of luxurious holidays in the months following.

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Charlie Brake

Just months later, Charlie was accused of 'cheating' on Ellie, and he's since been linked to former TOWIE star Ferne McCann and Dan Edgar's ex-girlfriend Amber Davies.In other news, he's still a millionaire.

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Ellie Brown

Following her heartbreak after her romance with Charlie ended, Ellie found comfort in her Love Island besties, including the likes of Zara McDermott, Adam Collard and Kaz Crossley.

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Ellie Brown

She's now involved in a number of endorsements on her Instagram page, as well as attending events with her co-stars.

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Samira Mighty

It took her a few weeks, but eventually Samira Mighty seemed to find happiness with late arrival Frankie Foster, with Samira leaving the villa after her man was dumped from the show.

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Samira Mighty

Despite this, just weeks later, Samira dumped Frankie after he was caught cheating on her.Now, Samira is still best friends with a number of her co-stars including Adam Collard and Dani Dyer, and she often posts super sizzling snaps of herself modelling on her Instagram page.

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Adam Collard

He was the heartbreak kid at the beginning of the series, gaining the 'player' title, but the public's view of Geordie boy Adam Collard soon changed when he turned smitten with Zara McDermott.

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Adam Collard

Although they lasted nearly a year, Adam and Zara announced they'd split on Valentine's Day (brutal). The PT has been linked to a number of other woman since, including Harley Brash and Delilah Belle Hamlin, but he appears to be single right now. Adam is keeping himself busy on modelling shoots at stunning destinations across the world, as well as promotional deals and his PT business.

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Zara McDermott

She was the one girl who seemed to 'tame' Adam when she arrived in the villa, and despite leaving before her beau, Adam and Zara reunited when he left.

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Zara McDermott

Zara is very active on her Instagram page, landing clothing deals with the likes of Missy Empire, AX Paris and Lasula.

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Eyal Booker

Despite having one of the best haircuts to ever grace the Love Island villa, poor old Eyal left the show without finding love.

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Eyal Booker

Don't feel too sorry for him though, as well as THAT snog with Kendall Rae-Knight at the Love Island Christmas reunion, Eyal appeared on Celebs Go Dating and he's now dating American model Delilah Belle Hamlin. Work-wise, Eyal continues to use his handsome face and unreal physique to his advantage, picking up modelling deals left, right and center.

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Rosie Williams

Poor old Rosie Williams had her little heart broken by Adam Collard in the villa, resulting in her being dumped from the show far too early.

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Rosie Williams

Rosie recently revealed to fans she'd been editing her photos 'too much' after Love Island left her feeling 'rubbish'. However, the former Islander later told fans how she's been working with her family and friends to come up with ideas of how to recreate her Instagram, to bring back the 'sassy' Rosie her fans know.

She went on to say, "We just need to teach younger people not to trust [everyone] or to take Instagram with a pinch of salt as well, I think that would benefit a lot of people's mentality for so many reasons".

More celebrities and influencers are speaking openly about online trolls and fake accounts on social media with Katie Price launching a petition to make online bullying a criminal offence and Bobby Norris petitioning to make online homophobia a criminal offence.

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In other news, many Islanders and other celebrities paid their respects to Caroline Flack - one year after she passed away.

InTheStyle re-released their 'Be Kind' t-shirts and added more clothes to create the new 'Kindness' collection and all the profits were donated to Samaritans.

Olivia Bowen, Charlotte Crosby and Billie Faiers are just some of the celebs who promoted and modelled the new range.

And on Instagram, InTheStyle announced that in under 24 hours the range had raised over £50,000 from the purchases of the 'Kindness' collection.

If you want to talk to someone about your mental health, call Samaritans on 116 123, or you can email jo@samaritans.org.

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