A woman has been ordered to pay £10,000 in compensation after a four-year catfishing campaign that targeted another teenager, using her identity and AI-generated content to create fake online profiles. Elha-Mai Weston, of Glamorgan, Wales, created multiple fake profiles on platforms including Snapchat, TikTok, Facebook, and Tinder, using the social media images and likeness of Sasha Davies, who is also 19.
Weston began creating the fake profiles under the names 'Sophie' and 'Sophie Kildare' when both women were 16. These accounts amassed over 100,000 followers and remained active for four years. Ms. Davies, who lived in the same close-knit community as Weston, stated she did not know Weston and considered her a stranger.
Ms. Davies became aware of the identity theft in 2022 after spotting a TikTok account featuring her images. Despite reporting the issue to South Wales Police and making her own profiles private, the fake accounts continued to proliferate, often linked to the name Sophie. The deception led to men approaching Ms. Davies in public, including at her workplace at McDonald's, insisting they were in a romantic relationship with her.
"Boys were coming up to me and I had to sit there and prove to them it wasn't me. Everyone in my hometown believed I was behind the account," Ms. Davies told the Daily Mail. "My family, my friends and my relationship were all affected. Everything was affected by this account."
One particularly distressing incident occurred in September 2025 at an event in Swansea, where a group of boys approached Ms. Davies, insisting she was 'Sophie' and showing her messages that had been ongoing for months. They even presented photos of Ms. Davies and her friends from the event, which Weston had taken from a friend's social media post and uploaded to the fake account.
Ms. Davies and her family reported the fake accounts to the police multiple times between 2022 and the conclusion of the High Court case, but were told there was insufficient evidence to launch an investigation. This lack of action, Ms. Davies said, left her feeling ostracized and caused significant mental distress.
Feeling unsupported by law enforcement, Ms. Davies began gathering her own evidence. She used a SoundCloud profile linked to 'Sophie Kildare' to trace numerous fake accounts to Elha-Mai Weston. She discovered that Weston lived only five minutes away from her.
Ms. Davies then contacted Cohen Davis Solicitors, who used open-source intelligence to connect the fake persona's network to Weston's real identity. High Court proceedings were initiated, where Weston admitted to the campaign of online impersonation through her legal representatives and issued an apology.
This week, Ms. Davies agreed to a £10,000 settlement in the High Court. "I never thought I would be able to find out who was behind this. I never thought I would be in this position after being told for years that nothing could be done," she said.
Weston cited mental health issues as the reason for her actions. Ms. Davies expressed a desire to understand why she was targeted. "I want to know why she chose me. There are so many pretty girls in my area, why did she do it to me?" she asked.
Ms. Davies is currently pursuing criminal proceedings, and South Wales Police have confirmed an ongoing investigation into identity theft in the Mountain Ash area, with the victim being kept informed. "Wherever there is evidence of criminality we will always seek to take robust action and prosecute perpetrators," a police spokesperson stated.