Netflix viewers issued warning from expert after watching Sweet Bobby

The popularity of Netflix's latest true-crime documentary Sweet Bobby has spurred an romance-fraud expert to issue a vital warning to viewers on how to approach victims of 'catfish' cases.

Warning: this article may contain spoilers...

What is Sweet Bobby about?

After landing on Netflix last week, the documentary - produced by The Tinder Swindler bosses - sky-rocketed to a Top 10 spot on the streaming service.

Sweet Bobby tells the tale one of the most heinous and drawn-out cases of 'catfishing' in world history - which describes a heartbreaking type of online deception which sees a person creates a fake identity to trick others into romantic relationships - usually to gain money from their victim.

The term was coined in the noughties but became commonplace following the success of the MTV series, Catfish: The TV Show, which saw US hosts Nel Schulman and Max Joseph attempt to confront cyber conmen.

Only recently, however, have followers of 'catfish crime' learned of the story of a British woman named Kirat Assi whose life was turned upside down when she fell in love with a man she'd met online in 2009.

Kirat Assi was catfished for nearly a decade by her own cousin (Netflix)

After years of chatting via Facebook and phone-calls with a man named 'Bobby', Kirat suggested meeting Bobby in person, however, he repeatedly had numerous excuses as to why he couldn't - ranging from mental health struggles to being 'shot' in Kenya.

After her suspicions became undeniable, she hired a private investigator and prepared herself to meet with the man she'd been speaking to, however, the man in the pictures revealed he had never spoken to her.

Viewers were then utterly blindsided when it was revealed that Kirat's female cousin, Simran, was revealed to be the person behind the 'Bobby' persona.

Simran had even created a 'massive web' of social media profiles in an attempt to dupe her further.

Viewer reaction

The reaction to the documentary has proven very mixed since its release.

Despite many fans being left utterly dumbfounded about the length Kirat's cousin went in order to trick her - including a whopping 60 social media profiles in total - others seemingly can't comprehend how she was able to fall for Simran's plan all along.

One person claimed she was 'too gullible', adding: "Dunno how she managed this drama for 10 years."

Another said they didn't 'even feel sorry for her': "How do you get catfished for 10 years!!! Like she needs to see a doctor she has issues."

While someone else claimed it was 'so obvious within seconds' that 'Bobby wasn't real', while a fourth also claimed the 'catfishing red flags were so obvious'.

However, an expert has issued a severe warning against people taking such a judgemental stance on such cases, lifting the lid on the devastating impact that victim-blaming can have when it comes to cyber-crime.

The catfish case went on for nearly a decade (Netflix)

What the expert says

Anna Rowe - co-founder of Catch The Catfish, as well as victim-support charity LoveSaid - told Metro this week: "The stigma in cases of Romance Fraud, of which Kirat’s catfishing case sits, is caused by uneducated members of society with no understanding of the emotional manipulation and coercion that takes place within the created ‘relationship’."

Rowe continued: "Academic research backs up the experiences of all victims.

"Grooming (in Kirat’s case a family member who already knew her) could delve deeper, love bombing consumes the victim and centres them as the most important person in the abusers life, trauma bonding creates fear of loss in several ways and coercive behaviour ensures the victim stays compliant."

She added: "A fake reality is created around the victim with casts of characters who can each back up the lies told, to normalise and legitimise the behaviours.

"These abusers cause a trauma that is deep and takes a long time to overcome. A society that shows lack of empathy and understanding are complicit in the enabling of abusers."

Kirat also told Metro herself that the incident had a lasting impact on her, adding: "It’s never gone away. It’s always there. I hope by coming forward, other victims are not treated the same way."