The catfish wanted to see how far they could take it. This far, threatening her. He said he was going to send somebody down there, and i was going to be murdered. And thrown on the side of the street. Almost ruining the basketball stars career. Why chris . Police are searching his computer. Why cant you grasp that you almost took this mans life . Tonight, were catching the catfish. First sign of life. I think were in easterville. You wont believe who is the mastermind with only a 6th grade education operating from this tiny house in the middle of nowhere. Hello . It just got crazy from that point on. Good evening. Im elizabeth vargas. And im david muir. This is 20 20 and here tonight deborah roberts. Meet paris dillon, a 23yearold aspiring model with a big social media presence. Follow me. Some of your photos are kind of racy. I like to communicate the sexiness. I like taking pictures where you could feel it. Reporter 29,000 twitter followers, 135,000 facebook fans, 412,000 instagram groupies, shes quite the sensation. But paris might be a little overexposed, because she is entangled in one of the most mindbending internet intrigues of all time, an elaborate catfish scam. Before its over, there will be vicious threats, blackmail, warrants, and an International Criminal investigation. This is probably one of the most complicated, confusing catfish stories ive ever heard. Reporter what exactly does catfishing mean . A catfish is someone who uses internet profiles to interact with people online, usually pretending to be either a version of themselves or someone entirely different. Reporter nev shulman knows better than anyone. He was a famous victim of a catfish and even made a documentary about it. Are you ready . Sound . Levels . Reporter bewitched by a beautiful young woman online. If we met, i would be, like,. Reporter chasing an internet infatuation, only to discover hed been had. Oh, my god. I could have been chatting with a guy this whole time. Reporter that oh, no moment. Hi. Reporter his dream girl, unmasked as a middleaged mother. Youve got a great imagination. Reporter nev now regularly exposes similar love scams as the host of his own mtv show, catfish. But the stunning catfish case were about to uncover, nev says, is like nothing hes ever seen. What this catfish was able to accomplish, incredibly manipulative, wildly creative, and somewhat impressive. Reporter it begins with paris, flirting with pro athletes online. Hi, everyone. Reporter shes only 17 at the time, but she tells people shes older. It was easy to get in contact with people and follow their pages. Reporter to her delight, paris appears to catch the eye of nba basketball star Chris Andersen on facebook. Nicknamed the birdman, then with the Denver Nuggets, andersen is one of the most colorful players in the game. Here comes the birdman. Reporter 610 of tattoos, known for his mohawk and crowd pleasing arm flapping. Birdman protecting the nest. Reporter andersen, 33 at the time, is the nbas cartoon action hero, says Sports Writer flinder boyd. Birdman, he was this effervescent character, this redneck superstar. Hes a true country boy. The fans related to him as a person. There you can see a couple of tattoos. Reporter mark bryant has represented andersen from the beginning of his career. Hes also a mentor and father figure. I guess im probably one of the biggest collector of chris stuff. I guess im kind of that giddy Family Member that collects this stuff. Reporter he was touched by young chriss big heart and hardscrabble texas roots. Chris grew up in a a boys home for several years. His mom got him back. He had a tough childhood down there. Reporter but the birdman may never have faced anything as treacherous as the tender trap about to snap on him and paris. I ended up receiving a direct message from him on facebook. Reporter do you remember what it said . I think it said, like, hey, i see youre a fan. Reporter and what did you think . A little skeptical that he would just write, but being 17, i was an excited girl. Reporter so excited, she can hardly believe its him, and maybe she shouldnt. Their conversations quickly jump from facebook to email, texting, and most convincingly, selfies. And then, thats the first one i ever got. Reporter beginning with this photo snapped in a mirror, unmistakably Chris Andersen. I was like, oh, its real then. I mean, he would send selfies all the time like this. Reporter but was there a caption . I mean, did he say anything . It was just hello . Heres a pic. Send a selfie back. You know . Reporter paris later sends this picture of herself wearing andersens number 11. She texts, you like it . And hears back, i love, youre beautiful. This is supposed to be Chris Andersens Facebook Page were he puts, my girl looks better in my jersey than i do. Reporter responding to a picture of you in his jersey . Because i had sent a picture of him and his jersey. That was his wallpaper. Reporter theyre now in a whirlwind online relationship, swapping more pictures. Becoming friends, you know, sending the selfies. He had a pit bull named hannibal, it was just a baby, so it was fun. Reporter then, a guy calling himself tom taylor also connects with paris online. Did you know who tom taylor was . I had no idea but he told me in the message he was best friends with Chris Andersen. Reporter if you google tom taylor, hes right there, a professional video gamer, and thats who paris thinks shes talking to. And what did the message say . It was, like, hey, i see you started talking to Chris Andersen. I know youre a fan. Did puzzle paris. And if shed only paid more attention, because it would become deeply important later, the phone numbers she has for both Chris Andersen and tom taylor have an odd area code. From outside the u. S. Tom has an explanation. He always does. He just said, oh, its my google number, you know, its all good. Me being 17 and dumb, i just believed it. Reporter you let it go . Yeah. Reporter shed regret that later, but the california girl and the nba star Chris Andersen have other things in mind. Though theyre 1,000 miles apart and have never actually spoken on the phone, their relationship is turning xrated. Did you send any other photos that might be a little more provocative . Yeah, we exchanged nude photos. Reporter were you worried at all that youre sending these that they could fall into the wrong hands . Honestly, no, not really. I trusted that it was him and i knew he wouldnt do anything because of his position. Reporter and egging her on is Chris Andersens supposed friend, tom taylor, who suggests that paris and the birdman take their relationship into the real world. How does that happen . Were talking, and hes like, i can let you guys meet. He wants to meet you. Reporter what did you think when he said, do you two want to hang out . By that point, i was like, yeah, sure. Reporter intrigued by the adventure of her steamy online relationship, paris accepts an invitation for a weekend rendezvous in denver. Chris buys a ticket. Paris packs a bag and concocts a story for her mom. What do you say to your mom . I had said that i was going to go see a boyfriend that i was seeing at the time, that i had seen a month earlier. She trusted me, and i went on my way. Reporter it never troubled you that youre going to see this guy and youve never even spoken to him on the phone . No, it didnt. I was into the texting and the selfies and the pictures. Thats what i trusted. Reporter that trust would lead to big trouble. But paris, blinded by excitement, is soon on her way to denver. Were you thinking at all that this could be dangerous . Stay with us. Being a location scout, my office is on my back. The less stuff i have to carry the better. 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Reporter shell regret not asking more questions because what paris doesnt know is that her weekend plan was orchestrated by someone other than the man shes about to meet. Theres a catfish out there with hooks in her and Chris Andersen. I get off the plane and hes texting, okay, im at this exit. That was the moment where i see, like is this real or not . When the door opened, there he was. Reporter looking just as you imagined as he would look . Yeah. Tattoos and all. He gave me a kiss and gave me a hug. We were happy. I was happy. Reporter how are you reacting to each other . I was nervous and shy. It was kind of like a first date thing. Reporter this first date has some awkward moments, both seem to have strange, incorrect details about the other. A couple little weird things that didnt add up. Reporter such as . He said, you told me you brought a lot of Victoria Secret stuff to wear for me. I said, no, i didnt. And then he was like, when is your trip to africa . I was like, im not going on any trip. What are you talking about . Reporter hes asking you weird questions, but youre shrugging it off . Just shrugging it off. Just, like, okay, well, were just messing around. Reporter and one more miscommunication. Remember the guy who encouraged the visit and claimed to be chris buddy, tom taylor . I said, well, tom said he was like, whos tom . I was like, your best friend. He was like, i dont know a tom. Reporter its a bizarre disconnect. Maybe the nba player has paris confused with another woman. Thats a big red flag. It was. I thought he was messing around when he was like, whos tom . I was like, you know. Reporter but you dont really connect any dots. Nope. There were strange, confusing little question marks that kind of peppered the weekend. But nothing so alarming that it tipped either of them off. Reporter clearly, the weekend becomes a little bit more intimate. It wasnt just about sex at all. We actually did stuff and watched movies on tv and then he went off to practice. Reporter paris is having a ball. Snapping photos, even selfies with hannibal. The kitchen, rec room and the nba players size 15 1 2 sneakers. Then andersens mysterious best pal, tom taylor, checks in wondering how things are going. He was telling me, go take a picture of this, go put his hat on. You know . I remember being like, im not going to go through the guys stuff. Reporter at this point, youre considering tom a friend . Yeah, a friend. Reporter or is he . After the weekend fling, chris drives paris back to the airport. He got out and he gave me a kiss and i went off. Whats wild is that the weekend gettogether that paris and chris had was really only the beginning of this crazy story. Things really took a turn for the worse. Reporter in fact, not long after paris is back home in california, snapping selfies by the pool, shes getting barraged by messages from tom taylor. It was all the time. Reporter nonstop. It was constant. Almost like a jealous woman would be. After the weekend together, the catfish really, i think, became empowered and even a little emboldened. Whats next . Reporter then paris reveals an interest in another nba player. My friend gave me tickets to go meet Blake Griffin at some clipper event, so i said, im going to go see Blake Griffin today, you know, exciting. Reporter shes stunned when the message seems to enrage andersen and tom taylor. I remember it just got crazy from that point on, that just set something loose in the head. Reporter taylor now seems to be flaming paris with angry, abusive Text Messages. I have folders of nasty Text Messages. Reporter tons and tons. Tons and tons. Reporter what was he saying . He said that he was going to send somebody down there, he was going to have me raped, and murdered, and thrown on the side of the street. Reporter just because you were going to see Blake Griffin . Just because i was going to see blake. Something just went and just set him off. Reporter are you scared . I was scared. I did not like that. Reporter then another frightening threat, taylor telling paris that his friend andersen shared her nude photos with him. Essentially, the catfish was using tom to threaten paris. To say not only am i going to physically harm you, but those naked photos you sent chris, i have them. He showed them to me. Reporter he sends paris a link, she clicks and to her horror, there are her nude photos all posted on the internet for anyone to see. And i see just all my pictures, my address, my phone number. Reporter and these are nude pictures . These are nude photos of me. All my pictures i had sent chris. All my Chris Andersen pictures. Reporter this is pretty creepy stuff. Oh, god, it was terrible. So clearly this is where the story really starts to escalate. Reporter because this isnt just about power now, this is about just anger and real hostility. The catfish decided, for whatever reason, im angry, or im jealous, or im not happy with how things are going in my life, so im going to transfer some of that on to these two otherwise innocent people. Reporter exposed and now threatened, a furious and frightened paris at last reveals her secret life to her mother. Thats when me and my mom called the police. These are underage pictures online and hes putting my address so that was immediate call the police right there. Reporter what did you hear from the police . Were like, Chris Andersens involved. Theyre, like, Small Town Police people so theyre like, what . He said, you just opened a can of worms. Reporter a can of worms that would include the near destruction of a sports stars career. The Chris Andersen case centers around andersens involvement with a 17yearold girl. Reporter still ahead, basketball and blackmail. A full extortion. Reporter stay with us. Theres no one id rather. Hit the road with. 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