Natalia Burgess, potentially New Zealand’s worst catfisher, has given her first interview with a media organisation in 13 years, after revelations that she continued catfishing men after leaving jail in 2015. 

Burgess was originally exposed as the “Facebook Predator” by NZ Herald investigative journalist David Fisher in 2011 after she was linked to several false characters she had created from photos stolen from social media accounts. She had used those characters to trick dozens of young men and teenage boys into online relationships. 

After her actions were exposed, Burgess went to jail in 2013 for two years for charges related to her catfishing. 

When she got out in 2015, rather than stopping her actions, Burgess resumed her catfishing, stealing photos from the likes of Gold Coast-based New Zealander Crystal Jenner. 

Fisher has reinvestigated the case in the Herald true crime podcast Chasing Ghosts: The Puppeteer and, as part of the last episode, Burgess agreed to a sit-down interview to address her ongoing actions. 

In the interview, Burgess spoke of the impact her actions have had on her victims, saying she doesn’t “get the grips of it”. 

“I understand that I’ve hurt people, but I don’t have any empathy. I’m sorry, but I don’t. That’s one thing I don’t have.” 

She links this lack of empathy to being bullied as a child and in high school. She also said her decision to steal photos from Jenner and her friends was due to their bullying her around 2007 after she dated one of their friends, a man she called Carl. 

“She called me fat, she called me ugly, she told me I was no good for Carl, to go back to where I belong.” 

Jenner has denied any bullying and said she has no recollection of interacting with Burgess in 2007. 

Catfisher Natalia Burgess (left) and one of the women she has used to building false profiles online. Photo / Graphic montage 

The alleged bullying is part of a series of problems Burgess faced as a teenager. She was struggling with mental health issues – “the voices”, as she called them – but also revealed a sexual assault when she was 15. 

“No one believed me, because everyone thought up to that point that I was not a virgin. I’d been on drugs, but he was the one that was supplying me with the drugs and the alcohol.” 

That lack of belief sent Burgess on a difficult path, which included drug and alcohol addiction, prostitution, and dating a man with gang connections, all while still a teenager. 

Burgess said she received a diagnosis of schizophrenia during her 2013 prison stint and is now being medicated for that. 

“I’ve got a new support worker. I go to church with my dad. I’m looking for a job but that’s a bit hard with my background.” 

She told Fisher she has given up catfishing men after a recent partner told her to quit doing it and delete all the photos. 

Burgess had made similar promises in 2011 when her actions were first exposed. Asked by Fisher how he can know she’s telling the truth this time, Burgess said “You can’t. 

“It’s my word against your word. And every other girl that I’ve ever stolen pictures from.” 

The true number of Burgess’ victims is unknown. Dozens of victims were known in 2011, including about 40 from one school in Christchurch. After she got out of jail, Burgess focused on older men, many of them based in Australia. 

She also used her false characters to catfish women, though not for romantic reasons. In 2010, a Christchurch-based woman called Bernie and her daughter Emma were catfished by Burgess into believing her character, Laura West, was a relative. 

The character of Laura was later killed off in a fictional car crash which borrowed heavily from a real crash that claimed the life of one of Emma’s friends. Burgess then called Bernie as a different character to break the news of Laura’s death to her. 

Bernie, speaking to Fisher for the last episode, said she is not interested in Burgess’ mental health issues and has no plans to forgive her, because she is still living with the consequences of the catfisher’s actions 13 years later, which has been passed on to her grandchildren. 

“This is a sad fact that this woman, the damage she’s done, and she’s not taken any acceptance for this. This is a lifetime of pain as the second generation that are suffering because of her sickness. 

“She’s not destroyed one lifestyle, she keeps destroying.” 

Chasing Ghosts – The Puppeteer is a five-episode true crime investigation. Follow Chasing Ghosts on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Episodes 1-4 are available now. The final episode is released this Tuesday and features an interview with the woman behind 23 years of false identities. 

David Fisher is based in Northland and has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years, winning multiple journalism awards including being twice named Reporter of the Year and being selected as one of a small number of Wolfson Press Fellows to Wolfson College, Cambridge. He joined the Herald in 2004. 

The podcast is produced by Ethan Sills, winner of Best Podcast Producer at the Radio and Podcast Awards 2024. 

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