Catfish scam sees Belgian lose £26K and driving 500 miles across Europe to meet French model believing she was his ‘future wife’

A Belgian man who drove almost 500 miles to meet his ‘future wife’ for the first time faced huge disappointment when he finally came face-to-face with the woman he’d fallen for online. 

In an Instagram video translated by the New York Post, a man named Michel revealed he drove 472 miles across the border to France to meet model and former beauty pageant contestant Sophie Vouzelaud, 38.

The clip documented him arriving at Sophie’s door – but instead of getting his fairytale ending, he was met by the model’s actual husband, Fabien Boutamine.

The Miss France 2007 runner-up, who is currently pregnant, denied knowing the stranger, prompting her shocked husband to say to him: ‘Well, I’m the current one [her husband]. There’s going to be a confrontation’.

Michel claimed that he believed he was going to wed Sophie and that he had previously sent a whopping $35,000 (£26,000) to a woman who he believed to be the model.

‘I have to film because there’s a guy who just rang my doorbell, and he says “I’m the future husband of Sophie Vouzelaud”‘, said Fabian.

‘Well, I’m the current one. There’s going to be a confrontation’ he continued. 

It appears the reality of the situation then dawned on Michel – whose face was never revealed during the video – when he emotionally admitted that something wasn’t quite right.

‘I think she played a dirty trick on me’ he added.

Fabian appeared resigned to the fact that another potential suitor had been scammed online.

‘My wife, no, it’s the fake accounts, you have to be very careful’ he warned the stranger.

‘I’m sorry, sir, but the problem is that Sophie puts a lot of videos on [social media] networks to say to be careful not to get hurt’.

The shock factor was ramped up a notch when Michel confessed he had wired $35,000 to the suspected imposter who alleged she was pregnant and had later lost her baby.

Michel also brought out his phone which purported to prove text message exchanges between himself and the fake Sophie. 

The exchanges seemed to touch the expectant mother, who could be heard saying, ‘this hurts my heart’.

‘You must keep all the evidence and take it to the police’ she added.

Sophie, who boasts 296,000 followers, shared the bizarre video on her Instagram page along with a caption detailing how ‘sorry’ she felt for Michel.

‘I feel so sorry for this man’ she wrote. ‘Watch out for fake accounts, I’m sharing this video to show you it’s real and to be vigilant! Take care of yourself’.

The digital era has made it easier than ever for scammers to take advantage of unwitting victims.

In May, a woman reached out for help after discovering her mother might be falling head over heels for a fake Owen Wilson.

The unnamed woman shared her concerns on US forum Reddit, along with an alleged video of the Hollywood star, 56, telling her mum she is an ‘amazing woman’.

The poster said she tried to convince her mum that it was the workings of artificial intelligence after finding a ‘plethora of red flags’ such as the man mainly contacting her mother via WhatsApp voice calls.

In the clip, the purported Wedding Crashers actor – who in real life was busy shooting his latest action thriller Runner in Australia – appeared to be the result of sophisticated computer graphics; most notably given away by static eye movements and a grainy facial complexion.

The woman said her and her sister had tried tirelessly to inform their mother it was a grand ‘scam’ but lamented that ‘she’s just not hearing us’.

After reading her plight, many users agreed that it was indeed a hoax, with one person shockingly advising the siblings to create their own AI Owen Wilson and siphon money from her to prove it.

According to her mother, the odd pairing came about after a chance meeting at Yahtzee with some friends.

Though the exact location was withheld, the poster said the man claimed to have mistaken her mother for someone he knew in ‘real life’ when he saw her at the dice game.

She then explained that the two only spoke by WhatsApp, voice calls and FaceTime, which installed doubts over the genuinity of their relations.

She concluded her post by asking fellow users for advice ‘to definitively prove to her [mother] this is a scam’.

One viewer immediately noticed the actor’s ‘robotic’ nature, writing: ‘Wow that’s scary, you can tell the tone is off and robotic. Face also looks slightly different than Owen but wow that’s crazy for someone who wouldn’t know any better.’

‘His nose and eyes are also… not human lol,’ chimed another.

‘Tell her to watch his nose lol,’ said one person.