With the amount of detail required for an online identity, from a profile picture to a name and connections in the real world, it is difficult to believe that it can all be faked and that too, for nearly a decade. And to further comprehend the motives behind creating a fake world and drawing someone into a web of decade-long turmoil, abuse, and ruination are why the Sweet Bobby Podcast stands out and performs so well.

Sweet Bobby Podcast: The premise

Sweet Booby is a true crime podcast by Tortoise Media, presented by Alexi Mostrous. The podcast is about how Kirat Assi was catfished online for 10 long years. Catfishing is the term used for being deceived into a relationship by an individual with a fake identity. Having suffered at the hands of her catfisher, who assumed nearly 50 false identities to bring to life a virtual reality that ruined Kirat’s actual reality, the perpetrator was closer to Kirat than she knew.

The victim 

Kirat is a 42-year-old West Londoner, who became the victim of a 10-year, complex, and devastating online catfishing scam in 2009. At the time, she was a radio presenter on a Punjabi radio station. Being a part of the London Sikh community, Kirat communicated with a man named JJ, who belonged to the same community. JJ reached out to Kirat on Facebook.

She was able to verify his existence through online mutual friends. This online friendship sparked the beginning of her nightmare. The situation instantly spiraled after JJ suddenly died, 5 months later, and Kirat was contacted by Bobby, JJ’s brother. Kirat’s online relationship with Bobby lasted 10 years. Over the tumultuous 10-year fake relationship with Bobby (a stolen identity), his friends, and family (all fake identities, assumed by the scammer), Kirat reached her breaking point and sought the truth after almost losing everything.

The deception

The scam was purely online. Investigators ascribe much of its success to the scammer’s proximity to Kirat in the real world and personally, allowing for the misuse of personal information. 

Kirat Assi’s ordeal began when JJ made contact with her, claiming to be Simran Bhogal’s ex-boyfriend. Simran is Kirat’s younger female cousin. Kirat did not question JJ’s identity based on this. So, when JJ sought advice from Kirat on how to reconcile with Simran, despite her initial skepticism, she intermittently engaged in online discussions with JJ, until he passed away five months later. 

JJ’s cardiologist brother, Bobby, then enters the scene making contact with Kirat, again online. Over time, Bobby and Kirat developed a closeness that resulted in a virtual, long-distance relationship. During this online relationship, Kirat ‘met’ Bobby’s family and friends. She virtually engaged with them via Facebook, WhatsApp, and email. Kirat never met any of them or Bobby in person. Despite several attempts for a face-to-face meeting, Bobby shot down her many requests citing unbelievable reasons. 

Bobby eroded Kirat’s mental health with ‘his’ controlling and malicious actions and implausible plots and storylines. This devastated and confused Kirat. Driven to suicide, Kirat’s reality was brittle and miserable. It was only in 2018, years after ‘meeting’ and engaging in the online relationship with Bobby that Kirat enlisted the services of a private investigator. 

The Findings

The findings were mind-numbing, revealing that Bobby, a married man, with a child on the way, was not the person involved with Kirat in the virtual realm. His identity was stolen by Simran, who confessed to the catfishing and con-artistry. Simran revealed that JJ was real and had not died and that she had created and impersonated all the characters in fake Bobby’s life.

Upon discovering this truth, Kirat reported the offense to the police. However, the police’s startling claim was that no criminal offense had been committed. Kirat was determined. While her ordeal was virtual, Kirat suffered tangible losses from her job to her savings and the time, dreams, hopes, and family she could have had had she not invested in the scam. She persisted with legal options and later brought a civil action against Simran Bhogal, which was settled out of court. 

Kirat Assi is now re-assembling her life, finding her own identity through work and seeking independence. She no longer shares any relationship with nor does she communicate with Simran, despite their familial ties. 

The scammer

Simran Bhogal is the catfisher behind this sophisticated and long-running scam, where she created not one fake identity but an entire community of fake, yet verifiable, identities that interacted with her victim and cousin, Kirat Assi. 

Simran’s last known whereabouts can be traced to North West London where she lives with her parents and works in Financial Services. 

The Real-Bobby

The real Bobby, whose identity was stolen and used for a decade to fool Kirat into believing an intricate web of lies, is a victim too. He worked with the investigator to reveal that Simran Bhogal was the perpetrator and identity thief.

The Host

Alexi Mostrous is the host of this unbelievable yet gripping true-crime podcast. Alexi is a former journalist with HuffPost UK and The Times. Now serving as the Head of Investigation at Tortoise Media. Despite finding the subject complex and difficult to unpack, Alexi did justice in the telling of it. Listen to this CBC interview with Alexi Mostrous on Sweet Bobby Podcast, 

Podcast Platform and streaming

The podcast is a Tortoise Media Production. This is a British news website that anchors the multi-episode podcast. The Sweet Bobby podcast is between 30 – 45 minutes per episode.

You can listen to the show on: 

• Tortoise Media
• Spotify
• Podnews
• YouTube 

Reviews and Rating

The Podcast rose to success, fuelled by the recent surge in true crime interest. Great Pods gives the podcast a 5 out of 5-star rating. Read the reviews for yourself. Mr. Hipster recommends the podcast to true crime and catfishing enthusiasts in this article. 

The Podcast’s success…

…can be attributed to the unbelievable storyline and its human-interest elements. A woman’s emotional entrapped, mental torment, and virtual violation that led to ruination, real loss, and her struggle to climb out of the web of lies to confront her perpetrator in her fight for justice. This sums up this gripping and intricate true crime that demonstrates the extremes a sociopath will and can go through. 

The podcast’s success must also be shared with the production team and host. The live investigative, 6-part series treats the story with respect and integrity while taking audiences on the emotional rollercoaster ride Kirat found herself on for 10 years. The story is part of a greater discussion that is of more importance now than it was in 2009. The online world has expanded to engulf the real world with fewer boundaries. We must maintain our privacy on these open platforms and safeguard ourselves. The Sweet Baby Podcast investigative, true crime podcast, is the ideal medium and platform to convey this.

The Podcast has a purpose!

The Sweet Bobby podcast unveils the deception and abuse that Kirat Assi suffered online, which is a cathartic process for her and anybody who has experienced anything similar. However, it is more than just a news story or true crime retelling. This podcast addresses the perils of online coercion through catfishing and misrepresentation, to act as a deterrent to scammers and to provide signs and symptoms to the virtual community in the event they are ever in a similar position. The podcasts serve a higher purpose but still goes down as compelling with a widely positive engagement, reach, and listener reviews.