Hannah Montgomery, editor at 44, shares how unexpectedly catching out a catfish got her thinking about the importance of awareness and the value of friendship.

At 44, we have a goal: we don’t want to be the biggest creative agency, but we do aspire to be the best to work with. And one of the ways we strive for this is by living and breathing our company values: friendship, awareness, creativity, excellence and teamwork.

This is a story pertaining specifically to friendship and awareness, and to being honest and supportive. And it begins with a seemingly innocent friend request on LinkedIn…

Friend or foe?

One evening, I had an email come through notifying me that an ‘Andrew Stylianou’ wanted to connect. A mentor at a school and a part-time model with few online connections, I questioned the legitimacy of the profile, but accepted, giving it the benefit of the doubt.

The user quickly struck up a conversation about work before making a cheesy remark about modelling that got me thinking, again, that this person probably wasn’t who they were making themself out to be.

Naturally, I did a bit of digging and found out that Andrew Stylianou was, in fact, Mr. Birmingham 2017-2020. An agency profile was available online, along with various press shots. Basically, prime catfish material!

I thought I’d put my new ‘friend’ to the test and ask them about modelling. The response was minimal and included an unnecessary detail about being 6 ft 5 (which was incorrect – according to Andrew’s profile, he’s 6 ft 4).

I blocked the user and decided to reach out to the real Mr. Birmingham to alert him of the fake profile. The genuine Andrew Stylianou was grateful for the note and spread the word on his socials to raise awareness.

Unfortunately, this is something Andrew has encountered numerous times and, though he’s handling the problem with the help of the police, he says the support of others in speaking out on the issue is massively appreciated.

Andrew said: “I know who is behind the profiles and the police are monitoring their activities. Though I should be angry and upset – and a part of me is – I can’t help but feel sorry for the person responsible. I think the internet would be a safer place if everything required identification and authentication. I urge anyone in the public eye to ensure their privacy settings are robust. I live by the motto ‘the best reputation you can have is amongst your family’, and that’s more important to me than a social media following and public profile. Being vigilant has the potential to save many vulnerable people moving forward.”

Catfishing is most common on dating apps, so the fact that someone tried to dupe me on a professional networking site was unexpected. Though I was alert to the threat, others have fallen into the trap. When Andrew told me several women had been in touch, with one even accosting him in person about a conversation they’d supposedly had, it motivated me to put together this blog.

Onto the positives…

But this post isn’t about the negative. Rather than dwelling on the fraudulent activity of the catfish, I wanted to put a positive spin on the story. Instead, I’m focusing on the value of speaking out, raising awareness and the power of friendship… good vibes only!

And being a friendly point of contact – both in-person and online – brings benefits. Mightyintrovert.com says that it makes things better in life and business, as people are more willing, more invested and more dedicated. It’s a win-win.

It also states that people gravitate to those who are real, and authenticity makes it easier to connect with others. Being dependable is another quality of a good friend that makes you a go-to contact in your day job; whether it’s by meeting deadlines or following through on what you say, this increases trust and reflects on your professionalism, too.

JGA make the point that friendliness is helpful in business because the collaborative approach of being in it together makes it easier to overcome difficulties – ‘a problem shared is a problem halved’. They also state that raising each other up on social media to show support is something that can easily be done and shows advocacy. And a simple shout-out really could make someone’s day.

Casual kindness

The moral of the story is that something good can come out of something bad. My critical eye – which is used on story planning and copy editing – helped me to spot a scammer. I could sense something was off so I dug a little deeper, and was willing to push back because it didn’t sit right with me. And reaching out to a stranger was a small but necessary action I wanted to take from an ethical point of view. Going above and beyond is what drives the difference between a company being the biggest, and being the best – and that’s how we operate as a business.

This situation also shows that being a friend doesn’t have to be reserved for your nearest and dearest. You can show kindness to a connection online, be there for a colleague in need, and speak out candidly in the best interest of a client.

By employing the characteristics associated with great friendships – honesty, communication, transparency and reliability – to those we interact with daily, we can make ourselves and others feel brighter. And, you can never have too many friends, right?

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