Beloved BBC comedian used in catfish dating scam aimed at unsuspecting singletons
COMEDIAN Bob Mortimer is being used in a dating scam aimed at unsuspecting singletons.
The TV legend has appeared on dating app Tinder despite being happily married to wife Lisa Matthews, who he wed in 2015 after over two decades together.
The Sun can exclusively reveal Bob, 65, has had his information and pictures stolen by fraudsters pretending to be him on the platform, which boasts 2.4 million UK users according to Ofcom.
Deceivers using Mortimer’s details have given him an alias name – Kyle – and even knocked 15 years of his age.
The profile, which The Sun understands is still active, describes the star as a ‘big time texter’ who is in the market for a long-term companion.
It goes on to state Bob – who had a triple heart bypass nine years ago – works out ‘every day’ and is interested in yoga, meditation, theatre and café-hopping.
In a humorous nod to his beloved series Gone Fishing with Paul Whitehouse, the bogus profile lists fish as Bob’s pets.
The Beeb star’s fake profile on the site features a variety of pictures, including of him watching a game of football – which was snatched from his official Instagram account where he posed with his pal in March 2023.
Another candid shot shows Bob tucking into a gigantic offering of fish and chips, smiling as he drenches them in vinegar.
Reps for Bob were contacted.
When contacted by The Sun, a spokesperson for Tinder said: “Catfishing is a violation of our Community Guidelines and Terms of Use, and users who are discovered catfishing are removed from our platform.
“If someone believes they are being impersonated on Tinder, they should contact our support team with relevant details here, which is available to anyone regardless of whether they use Tinder. From there, our team will promptly search for and remove any matching profile.
“We encourage our users to look for the ‘blue tick’, which indicates that the user’s age and likeness has been verified through our Photo and ID Verification programmes. Additionally, all users can request that their match photo verifies prior to messaging.”
Bob joins a host of other celebrities who have fallen victim to the same ploy, including TV presenter Laura Whitmore.
Laura, who is married to Love Island narrator Iain Striling, took to social media in 2017 to publicly deny ever having a Tinder account to fans.
A year previous, radio host Emma Louise Jones was left horrified to discover an account with her images said she was “looking for fun”.
Olympic swimmer and BBC pundit Sharron Davies’ was also caught up in a dating scam, claiming to be on the hunt for ‘someone nice to share adventures with’.
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