海角大神

The uproar over Notre Dame football star Manti Te鈥檕鈥檚 dead girlfriend hoax is certainly a commentary on how Internet anonymity ironically can breed trust, but it鈥檚 also a cautionary tale about the sorts of Internet pretenders, or 鈥渃atfish,鈥� who lurk in the turbid depths of digital waters.

The outcome of the Manti Te鈥檕 dead girlfriend hoax is far from conclusive, with questions still remaining if Mr. Te鈥檕 was either perpetrator or a victim (or, perhaps, both) of an elaborate, complex and multi-character fraud in which both his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, and his grandmother died on the same day last September. The tragic tale became integral to the star linebacker鈥檚 public story ahead of the Bowl Championship Series (BCS) title game.

But as the Internet site Deadspin discovered, nothing about 鈥淟ennay Kekua鈥� was true, despite numerous heart-wrenching stories written about her 鈥渄eath鈥� as part of the pre-BCS hagiographies for Te鈥檕, the runner-up for the Heisman Trophy.

鈥淗er funeral did not take place in Carson, Calif., and her casket was not closed at 9 a.m. exactly. She was not laid to rest. Lennay Kekua鈥檚 last words to Manti Te鈥檕 were not 鈥業 love you,鈥� 鈥� Deadspin reported.

In fact, the girlfriend Te鈥檕 said he had visited never existed. Instead her identity has been tied to a male acquaintance named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo, a 22-year-old band leader at a church in Antelope Valley, Calif., and a member of a prominent NFL football family.

Mr. Tuiasosopo at one point had the picture used by the Lennay 鈥渃atfish,鈥� which turned out to be a photo of a classmate who had nothing to do with the fraud. When confronted about using the image, BuzzFeed reports, Tuiasosopo 鈥渁cted weird鈥� and the picture disappeared off the Internet.

On Friday, ESPN quoted an unnamed friend of Te鈥檕 as saying that Tuiasosopo tearfully confessed to the hoax in early December, saying that at first he was just playing a 鈥済ame鈥� on Te鈥檕 but also acknowledging he had engaged in catfishing before.

According to ESPN, the friend, a woman in her mid-20s, said Tuiasosopo told her that Te鈥檕 鈥渨as not involved at all, he was a victim.鈥�

On Wednesday, Te鈥檕 expressed his 鈥渋ncredible embarrassment鈥� and called it a hoax, though he had continued to talk about Kennau as his girlfriend even after he informed the university that he had been a victim of fraud.

Those willing to exploit the vulnerable goodwill of others have always been hanging around the fringes of society, of course, but the social media age has given the practice a different and disturbing spin: It鈥檚 as if the very anonymity of the Internet morphs into a tendency toward faith in other people.

鈥淭here is a widespread sense, perhaps untrue, that people can be most 鈥榬eal鈥� when they are most hidden 鈥� that all of us are Cyranos who can only speak our true minds when our faces and names are invisible. It鈥檚 a lovely notion 鈥� [but] it makes us oblivious to flaming red flags,鈥� the Washington Post鈥檚 Monica Hesse wrote Thursday.

According to the National Consumers League, Internet 鈥渃atfish鈥� hoaxes, which the organization calls 鈥渇riendship & sweetheart swindles,鈥� ranked seventh in frequency among all fraud last year.

The phenomenon is widespread and intriguing enough that it鈥檚 spawned a TV show called 鈥淐atfish: The TV Show,鈥� which in itself is a spinoff of a film documentary where a normal guy looking for love sought out an Internet girlfriend only to find she was a middle-aged mom. On one episode of 鈥淐atfish: The TV Show,鈥� a woman finds out her online boyfriend is really another woman.

The co-hosts of the show, Nev Schulman and and Max Joseph, say they鈥檝e received thousands of e-mails, letters and pleas from around the world since the release of the movie 鈥淐atfish鈥� in 2010 in which Mr. Schulman was targeted, suggesting that such hoaxes are pervasive, though certainly not always as complex and elaborate as the Manti Te鈥檕 dead girlfriend hoax.

According to Notre Dame鈥檚 athletic director, Jack Swarbrick, Te鈥檕 was in contact with 鈥淜ekua鈥檚鈥� family, including a twin brother and her parents, whom he apparently called regularly.

And there are still open questions about Te鈥檕鈥檚 role in the hoax. While Notre Dame鈥檚 official timeline of what happened notes that Te鈥檕 figured out his girlfriend was fake on Dec. 6, he talked about her in a Dec. 8 interview with a TV station, and again in a Dec. 11 newspaper interview.

"There are a remarkable number of characters involved. We don't know how many people they represent," Mr. Swarbrick said at a news conference this week. "There are male and female characters, brothers, cousins, a mother, and we don't know if it's two people playing multiple characters or multiple people."

"It goes to the sophistication of this, that there are all these sort of independent pieces that reinforce elements of the story all the way through," he added. "There were lengthy, long telephone conversations. There was sleeping with the phone on connected to each other. The issue of who it is, who's playing what role, what's real, and what's not here is a more complex question than I can get into."

As to Te鈥檕鈥檚 statements that he had met the girlfriend, Swarbrick said Te鈥檕 鈥渨as referring to an online meeting. He responded to an online inquiry. That was the first time he met her. And as part of the hoax, several meetings were set up where Lennay never showed, including some in Hawaii.鈥�

Mr. Joseph of 鈥淐atfish: The TV Show鈥� suggested in a USA Today interview that Te鈥檕, a talented young football player thrust into the big media spotlight, may have been drawn to an online-only relationship which he then 鈥渃ompartmentalized鈥� from his life. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e talking to someone in privacy,鈥� Joseph said. 鈥淭hey become this kind of isolated person for you to trust 鈥� it becomes easy to talk to them and they鈥檙e always there.鈥�

As for the 鈥渃atfish,鈥� he or she may have been drawn by the lure of fame and 鈥渟ense of control and power,鈥� suggests Lucy Papillon, a clinical psychologist, in an interview with MTV.com.