When Jade Costa, then 19, first logged into a chat room under the guise of a gay Japanese man named Toshie, she had no idea that she would meet her future husband there. Having recently experienced a painful breakup, Jade, now 37, was not in search of love but rather a way to combat loneliness after moving back home. She turned to Gaia Online, a fantasy-themed chat room where users navigate virtual worlds with avatars, hoping to find friends who shared her interests rather than romantic partners.
To avoid any unwanted attention, she decided to catfish as a gay man. "I wasn't looking for anything at all," she explained. "It was 2004.
Back then there weren't many people as open about their sexuality. I thought I wouldn't attract as many people romantically and potentially hurt someone if I posed as a gay man." "I also wanted to protect myself so I went on an American site - I thought no one would be able to track me down that way.
", reports . "I would go onto the website and I made quite a few friends. We would meet there and just chat, there was quite a big group of us.
" Among this group was Luke Costa, a reserved man with whom she found common ground in anime and gaming. For nearly a year, Jade, posing as Toshie, would seek out Luke for conversation, with the two frequently logging on at the same time and repeatedly crossing paths in the virtual world. "He was always someone I enjoyed talking to," Jade reminisced.
"I would almost follow him around. He was quite quiet and I'm .
