Table of Contents
- Scammers Target Beauty Queen
- Fake Profiles Created
- Police Investigation
- Personal Impact on Tabitha
- Tabitha's Journey to the Finals
- Support from Miss England Organiser
A beauty queen has shared her distress after discovering that online scammers had created fake profiles using her images taken from Instagram.
One of the pictures of 20-year-old Tabitha Bennett, which suggests she is topless, was captioned "sexy fun by me" and included a phone number to give the impression of a sex line.
Tabitha Bennett, who has been impersonated on social media, with her mother VickyCredit: SWNS
A beauty queen has contacted the police after being impersonated by online trolls who created fake 'topless' photos of her to promote a "sexy fun time" social media accountCredit: SWNS
Tabitha stated that she feels scared due to the situationCredit: SWNS
However, those who call the number are directed to a venue where Tabitha was hosting a dinner as part of the competition.
Another image alongside her on the same profile named "sexy_queens_rule," features a scantily-clad woman in lingerie with the caption: "I love wearing stockings."
The impersonating profile has also been used to send abusive messages to other beauty queens and to Angie Beasley, the Miss England organiser.
Tabitha has criticized the platform for refusing to remove the fake account, stating it does not violate their community standards.
Police confirmed they have initiated an investigation, but no arrests have been made as of yet.
Fashion student Tabitha, from Knutsford, Cheshire, expressed her disappointment over the lack of action from the police.
“I first received a message from another Miss England competitor alerting me to a fake profile created in my name back in July,” she shared.
“We reported it to Instagram, but they claimed it did not violate their community guidelines,” she explained.
“The account was sending abusive messages to Miss England organiser Angie and another former Miss GB contestant.”
Tabitha noted that the initial fake account was taken down, but another one appeared shortly after in September, and this one was worse.
The new fake account featured images of the beauty queen that had been altered to make it look like she was not wearing any clothes.
“It included the caption 'sexy fun by me' with a phone number as if it were a sleazy sex line,” she recounted.
“To make matters worse, the phone number was linked to a venue where I was hosting a charity dinner to raise money for the Miss England 'Beauty with a Purpose' initiative.”
“Then there was a photo, which is not actually me, of a woman posing suggestively in stockings saying 'I love wearing stockings'.”
Yet, Instagram still did not take action, according to Tabitha.
“The police have confirmed it's harassment, but they won’t take further action unless threats are made. So, I have to wait until the situation escalates further.”
“It seems they only respond when things become more severe, but in the meantime, I’m afraid.”
“How far do they need to go before they act? Do I know this person, or are they a complete stranger? Why are they targeting me?”
“This has made me contemplate quitting Miss England; why would I endure this hassle just to be trolled?”
“But then they would have won, wouldn’t they? So I’m determined to continue and compete.”
Tabitha admitted to having shed many tears over the ordeal and felt frightened when the police began to ask her questions like, “Do you walk to university alone?”
The beauty queen expressed her desire for Instagram and the police to take more action, but “nobody seems willing to help.”
Tabitha is in the running to be crowned the next Miss England and will participate in the final in Wolverhampton next month.
Remarkably, she has made it to the final 40 years after her glamorous mother, Vicky, 60, achieved the same milestone.
Tabitha was crowned Miss Lancashire earlier this year, while Vicky won the same title back in 1986.
The duo are the first mother-daughter pair to both reach the Miss England finals in the competition's 97-year history.
While Vicky made it to the top 15 almost four decades ago, Tabitha hopes to go one step further to claim
