SpindriftA catfisher who posed as a man to dupe another woman into sending her nude pictures has been fined £2,000.
Sarah Brennan, 32, bombarded her victim with calls and prowled near her home after her ruse was exposed.
The charity worker also pretended to be a high-flying male lawyer to strike up an online relationship with another female, who was left suffering panic attacks.
Brennan, of Drumchapel, admitted two counts of romance fraud and stalking last month.
Brennan appeared in the dock at Glasgow Sheriff Court to be sentenced.
Sheriff Stuart Reid told her: “The features in this case are unusual as Miss Brennan created a fictitious online persona in order to mislead two women to gain their trust and deceive them into relationships.
“The modern colloquial term is catfishing. It is a particular insidious part of the internet. In legal terms, it is a form of lying – it is dishonesty.
“It is deception to gain some form of benefit, and like lying, there are many reasons for this – financial gain, or to gain some sort of social stature, or sexually motivated.
“Here in this case, I am in no doubt that there was a sexual aspect.
“The conclusion I have reached is that a direct alternative to custody will be imposed.”
As well as the fine, Brennan was also put under supervision for 12 months and placed on the sex offenders register for five years.
A three-year non-harassment order was also granted, prohibiting Brennan from contacting her victims in any way.
The court was previously told she messaged the first victim on Instagram in 2019, posing as a man called Matthew Jay, who claimed to be Brennan’s cousin.
The pair swapped intimate photos over the course of six months.
Brennan sent images of “a male’s body with no face visible”, the court was told.
Her hoax was revealed when the victim chatted to Brennan’s mum, who “did not know of any family members of that name”.
When confronted, Brennan claimed she had been “bored”.
She went on to phone her victim 250 times in one day, sent her a screenshot of a map indicating she was near her home, and threatened to release her explicit images.
The woman went to the police when she received a card, necklace and pendant inscribed “stuck with you”.
Brennan was arrested, and it emerged she had contacted another woman online in 2021, posing as a lawyer also called Matthew Jay.
They grew close, but Brennan sparked suspicion by cancelling meet-ups.
The woman’s friends traced the same Instagram profile to an Englishman living in Dubai.
He confirmed he had been “contacted before” and that his identity had been stolen by “a female in Glasgow, who had entered into an online relationship”.
Michael Tierney, defending, told the hearing: “This has had a huge impact on her and it’s clear from her background report that there is remorse on her part and is really sorry for what she did.
“This has caused a great amount of hurt.
“She has lost two jobs as a result of her offending, and she finds it difficult to find work.”
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