OK, this has got to be the creepiest story I’ve read in a long, long time:

Ruth Palmer, whose married name is Graves, is a 25-year-old account manager for a multinational firm. Originally from Brighton, she now lives in Dubai with her husband. She’s pretty, happy, and has a tight-knit group of friends. She has the sort of life many people would want for themselves. As it turns out, someone did.

Between the start of 2012 and January 2015, “Leah Palmer” stole more than 900 pictures from Ruth’s private Instagram account, and uploaded them as if they were her own. Leah had a Facebook page, several Twitter accounts, and even a Tinder account – all in Leah’s name, all using Ruth’s pictures. She would switch from one Twitter account to another without warning; the accounts would switch from public to private, apparently at random.

Ruth knew nothing until a university friend told her one night in January: “Have you seen this picture of you on Instagram? The picture belongs to you but this is a person called Leah.”

Online identity theft is very real and, in some cases, can go very far. This whole affair is a bit terrifying, to be honest.

Via The Newsprint.