A man who was slapped with an apprehended violence order (AVO) after rocking up to Sophie Monk‘s home last week has claimed that he was the victim of a catfishing scam.
Last week, 49-year-old Brian Rapley turned up to the singer’s house believing that he was in a relationship with her. He claims that he’s spent the last four months chatting to someone online who he now suspects was catfishing him.
“I feel like such an idiot but I thought we were in a relationship,” Rapley said to The Daily Telegraph.
He told the publication that the person allegedly catfishing him gave him Monk’s address and invited the father-of-two to come over so they could finally meet in person.
“I’ve got the messages where she asks me to come to her house…she gives me that exact address. I thought I was going to meet her,” he said.
But when he arrived at her abode and began calling out her name, her neighbours began to worry. When they saw him there again that night, they called the police and Rapley was taken back to Gosford police station.
“I had five cop cars around me and I’m being told ‘Get out with your hands up’,” Rapley claimed.
“They said to me ‘What are you here to do to Sophie Monk,’ and I said ‘I’m here to meet her for the first time, we are in a relationship’.”
As it happens, Monk and her husband Joshua Gross are currently out of town while Monk films her upcoming film Zombie Plane with rapper Vanilla Ice.
@sophiemonk Teaching @Vanilla Ice ✅ ♬ original sound – Sophie Monk
Monk has since made a statement to the police: “I do not know any person by the name of Brian Rapley. I am not in a relationship with anyone by the name of Brian Rapley. I am currently happily married to my husband Joshua Gross”.
He was subsequently slapped with an (AVO) but was not charged with any offences.
Rapley spoke to The Daily Tele about his experience, even sharing messages that he exchanged with the alleged fraudster.
He claimed that the scam kicked off after he commented on Monk’s official Instagram account.
“The next thing I get a message from another account but with the same profile pic as Sophie, saying ‘Hey it’s Sophie…let’s chat here, my manager reads my official account, so this is better’.”
He claims that he exchanged messages with the alleged catfish for four months before turning up at Monk’s pad and even told the publication that he’d sent who he thought to be the host of Love Island Australia upwards of $7000.“Look, I know it sounds stupid … I look like a right fool but the truth is I’m just lonely, and I believed her,” he said.
While the situation is an awkward one for Rapley, it’s pretty bloody awful for Monk who told police that it wasn’t the first time she’d experienced unwanted attention.
“This type of behaviour makes me feel scared and anxious,” she said.
“I lose sleep worried and wake up in the middle of the night searching the house.”
Police are currently looking into the catfishing scam and Rapley is due to face court for the AVO on May 16.
