(SPOT.ph) Catfishing, as defined by the Oxford dictionary, is the act of luring someone into a relationship by using a fake online persona. Some folks operate solo and borrow images and photos of total strangers to bait people, while some use the face and pictures of an accomplice to conceal the true appearance and identity of the mastermind. By now, you would be familiar with the name Sam Morales, as it has trended on Twitter and made headlines for a reported catfishing scam. Twitter user JzanVern, or Jzan Tero, uploaded a long thread on the social media platform on March 30 detailing how Morales apparently scammed her into dating a boy who doesn’t even know who she is. It sparked outrage from the folks of the Internet, and it’s been a hot topic since. If you’re feeling a little lost, allow us to get you up to speed.
It all started on Tinder, a dating app. Tero, an Interior Design student from Cebu matched with one Bill, a 24-year-old part-time model living in Makati. Tero made it clear to him that she is a trans woman, and he said he was okay with this. It wasn’t supposed to be anything serious, and it was purely flirting, but Tero found herself wanting to know more about Bill. She asked for his full name—Bill Iver Reyes—to look him up online. It struck Tero as odd that the guy had zero social media presence, but she shook it off and thought Bill was just a private person.
Bill mentioned he was headed to Cebu and Tero, absolutely excited, asked him if it was real: “You’re really coming diba?” “Ure not a poser diba.” He even gave his flight details to prove it was legitimate. The day he was due to arrive, Tero was supposed to pick him up from the airport, but while she was getting ready, she found out she'd been blocked on Viber and unmatched on Tinder.
This is where Sam Morales came in.
Tero received a text from Morales saying that she was Bill’s cousin. She explained that he had to return to Manila because his aunt died. Morales shared Bill’s Facebook account with Tero. At this point, Tero thought the entire thing was a scam based on the screenshots she received, but all those doubts faded away when Bill video called her. After the call, Tero continued talking to Bill for months and he would tell her important details about his life like how his ex cheated on him, how his parents died when he was young, and how he ended up living with his best friend’s family. The two even had a shared passion for design and the arts. They fell in love.
But Bill and Tero had a big fight, and he refused to speak to her. Desperate to talk to him again, Tero approached Morales—the only person Tero knew that had direct contact with Bill. He ran away from home, refused communication with anyone, and didn’t even go to work. Tero resorted to calling his officemates, but they had nothing to tell her, too. She even thought of flying to Manila. Left with no other choice, Tero e-mailed Bill, and finally, he responded to tell her he was okay.
After everything that happened to Bill, he wanted a fresh start, and Cebu seemed the perfect place. Tero asked him over and over if he was sure, but he said he was, and Tero got to work and looked for condos Bill could rent. Tero then offered to go to Manila to meet him and once they saw each other at the airport, Bill said “Hello,” and they hugged. It was 2 a.m. and Tero got hungry. They went to a nearby fastfood joint. Bill, out of nowhere, told her “Ayoko na.” He walked away, but Tero ran after him, causing a scene. Tero let him go and contacted Manila friends. Thankfully, a friend picked up and Tero had a place to stay for the night. Tero’s friends visited her to console her and ask what happened, while one refused to believe he had no social media accounts. With enough digging and asking around, the truth came out.
Bill’s name was actually Bilko Wagan Argana, 24 years old, from Laguna. He had a girlfriend. Despite knowing all of this, Tero didn’t tell Bill. He was texting an apology to Tero, and she asked to meet up for closure. She also wanted the satisfaction of catching him in person. He made her wait for two days, and instead of naming a place and time to meet, he just sent her a video. “I got so mad,” Tero said in the thread and she called him up to say “Bilko Wagan Argana pala ha?” At that point, Bill had no words, and Tero dropped the call. She flew back to Cebu.
Unable to get over him, Tero texted Sam once more to ask if Bill would talk to her. He came clean and said he didn’t think it would be a serious relationship, and didn’t use his real name because he didn’t want to get too attached to Tero. Tero, still with a soft spot for Bill, understood his reasons and dropped the call.
Bill was the first to strike up conversation the next time they spoke. “He wanted to make bawi and told me he wanted to spend the holidays and his birthday with me,” Tero narrated in her thread. Bill sent her a ticket for a December 25 flight, so he could be in Cebu on December 26, his birthday. However, Bill’s parents didn’t want him to spend Christmas, birthday, and New Year’s with Tero, and they didn’t want to acknowledge that he was dating a trans woman. The meet-up didn’t push through. Fast forward to Tero’s birthday and they agreed to meet again, but because of some fight, it didn’t happen.
Tero was headed to Manila some time later to attend local music festival Wanderland with friends. She booked a room so she could invite Bill over and they even made plans to go out. As expected, a few days before the meet-up, Bill got cold feet and didn’t want to see her. Like always, Tero texted Morales for help. He finally agreed to meet up, but Morales was also present. He even had flowers for her, and Morales took photos left and right. Night fell and it was just the two of them in the room and when Tero attempted to kiss him, he pulled away. "Nangulit ako and told him 'why won’t you kiss me?'” Instead of just a kiss, things got way more intimate. Afterwards, Bill asked “Masaya ka na?”
Tero had enough. They both got dressed, and she demanded to know what was going on. Bill allegedly said, “Si [Morales]... si [Morales] lahat.. hindi naman ako yung kausap mo. Si [Morales]..." And it all clicked in Tero’s head—that’s why they never video chatted or talked over the phone, that’s why he never showed up whenever they arranged to meet. Tero interrogated further: Why did Bill agree to this?
“Assistant lang kasi ako ni [Morales] sa mga shoot. Tapos sa modelling binibigyan niya ako ng raket. Ayoko lang mawalan ng trabaho.”
The deception ran for eight months.
Morales, an artist and filmmaker, allegedly told Tero that gay people bullied her in her youth. Her uncle wanted revenge, so he made a gay person fall in love with him, then broke their heart. He then passed it on to Morales, who continued it. Fooling gay people became an addiction for Morales, and she would always target gay or trans people. Morales had two people working with her, and the original plan was to mess with Tero for just one week but Tero’s suspicions made Morales nervous, forcing her to sell the lie for eight months. Morales apparently involved Bill, and even went as far as to hire someone to help Tero with her plates and projects for school.
Congratulations for getting this far. Morales has since deactivated all her social media accounts. Tero hopes no one suffers the same fate, but two more people have posted on Twitter and said they’ve been fooled by Morales as well. This entire issue has gotten so big that even celebrities have seen the entire thread, and have shared their takes on predatory behavior towards trans people, online relationships, and victim blaming.
These celebs had something to say about Sam Morales:
A word of caution.
No one deserves to be treated that way.
In other words: officially canceled.
Truly, she deserves better.
There's no excuse.
Tackling two issues in one tweet.
That's some shade right there.
It's been a ride from start to finish.
There's still some good out there.
"Netflix true crime-level shit" is right.