Fake is the new psychological thriller series that Australia can’t stop watching—and it’s based on a true story.
Following Birdie (played by Asher Keddie), a features writer who falls in love with a relationship scammer called Joe Bert (played by David Wenham) the series is based on the real experiences of writer, Stephanie Wood.
Wood’s shocking experience with the man she thought was Joe is chronicled in her memoir of the same name.
Because of the memoir, we know a lot about Stephanie’s experience with the serial scammer—everything it seems, but who the real Joe Bert actually is.
In all of her writing about the relationship, Wood has never revealed the real identity of her scammer and it’s a question plaguing many of the show’s fans.
“The internet needs to do its thing and someone needs to Baby Reindeer the main male character in the Tv series called Fake,” TikTok user Emma, who goes by Emoliash on TikTok, says, alluding to the situation where internet sleuths led to the ‘real Martha’ from the series Baby Reindeer being identified.
In terms of Wood not identifying the real Joe Bert, Emma says, “that’s pretty classy of her but this guy appears to have very few redeeming features and also from the looks of it, he’s still out there plying his trades.”
“Am I wrong in wanting to know who this real person actually is or should I respect his privacy ?” Emma asks her viewers.
What Has Stephanie Wood Said About The Real Joe Bert?
Wood has written extensively about her relationship with the man who scammed her, which means we know a few details about the man and the way he went about his manipulation.
‘There were red flags frequently from very early on, but these guys are just masters at manipulation and they are masters at dissembling and making up stories and inventing the most complicated reasons that seem logical to hose down your concerns,’ Wood told Daily Mail Australia.
‘I would raise things with the real guy and he would always have such intensely good explanations for things. There were red flags, but he was very good at putting them down.”
We do know that at the time, the real Joe Bert was living in Sydney and claiming to be a 51-year-old grazier on dating apps.
“My guy built his stories around a lot of photographs he sent me of his farm, allegedly,’ Wood explained to the Daily Mail.
‘This was back in 2014/15, it was pre Dirty John, pre the Tinder Swindler, there was nothing out there about romantic con men back then.
“I kept thinking to myself, he hasn’t asked me for money, if he asks for money I’ll know there’s something really weird here, but he never did.
“So why would I question a photograph of his four-wheel drive bogged in mud saying this is my day down on the farm? You don’t question that.’
Stephanie only learned the truth about the photographs by putting her journalistic skills to the test and reverse image searching Joe’s pictures to find out they had been stolen from other people’s accounts.
Is The Real Joe Bert Still Out There?
We don’t know what happened to the real Joe Bert, and for all we know, he could still be out there.
As Wood explained about scammers like ‘Joe’, “If one person says “no, go away, I don’t believe you, you’re an idiot”, you can try another 10 women lined up waiting.”
“In those situations when a woman leaves after six weeks, he just turns around and goes back on to the apps!”
If Joe is still using dating apps, we’re guessing that he’s not using the ‘grazier’ pretence anymore but that won’t stop us from thinking twice before we swipe right.
Stream Fake on Paramount Plus from $9.99/mth, with a 7-day free trial.
This article originally appeared on Marie Claire Australia and is republished here with permission.
