Woman's warning about dangerous 'epidemic' in the online dating world - after the 'wealthy farmer' she thought was her perfect match turned out to be a FAKE
- Stephanie Wood is an investigative journalist who fell for a farmer named Joe
- The pair met on online dating website and saw each other for 16 months in 2014
- But Ms Wood began to note some red flags about Joe's 'country living' story
- He turned out to be a fake and had lied about his finances, job and relationship
- Ms Wood is now warning others about the dangers of these people online
Investigative journalist Stephanie Wood met former architect and well-to-do farmer 'Joe' on an online dating website in 2014.
The pair hit it off instantly and made plans to build a rural property together, with Joe often hinting he could see them sitting together on a porch with grey hair.
But this isn't a love story.
Ms Wood, who is based in Sydney, has written a book titled 'Fake' about her 16 month relationship with Joe, who turned out to be a bankrupt, two-timing liar, the ABC reported.
And now she's warning others not to fall for the 'silent epidemic' of con men in the online dating world.
Investigative journalist Stephanie Wood (right) often tells the story of how she met former architect and well-to-do farmer Joe on an online dating website in 2014. She is pictured here with actress Claudia Karvan.
'I was seeing red flags. I'd certainly done some googling of this person and some of his stories definitely checked out,' she told the publication.
The issue was Ms Wood was placing weight in small facts - like Joe's grandfather being a prominent businessman - and ignoring some of the more glaring issues with his extravagant stories.
That's when she put her investigative skills to good use.
What she discovered was a 'head-spinning horror', she told the Sydney Morning Herald.
Joe had never been an architect in NSW and didn't have the funds to purchase any kind of rural property for them to grow old on.
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After ending the relationship she took a step back to try and understand whether the 'signs' that Joe was a con artist had been obvious (stock image)
Fake is Stephanie Wood's latest book
And he didn't own a boat that was 'just being renovated' as he had said.
What's more, Joe had been seeing another woman at the same time as Ms Wood, something that she called 'cruel' in her novel.
After ending the relationship she considered whether the 'signs' that Joe was a con artist should have been obvious.
She now believes the human desire for love trumped the need to look for the whole truth.
'This is a silent epidemic (of con men) and people don't talk about it because of the shame attached to it,' she said.
'We imagine ... most people are fundamentally truthful, and I've discovered that's not the case at all which is really, really tragic, but it's reality.'
Hundreds of people - both men and women - have reached out to Ms Wood since writing the book and shared their own tales of dating treachery, which saddened her.
She hopes by continuing to go public with experiences of 'catfishing' will help the victims feel 'less silly' about being deceived.
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