Robin Bailey thought she was getting catfished. Then her neighbour called with a story.

Radio host and media personality Robin Bailey thinks she might be getting catfished. Now she is getting to the bottom of it – and she's hired a private investigator.

This week on her KIIS FM radio show Robin, Terry & Kip, Bailey was given the full rundown on the guy she had been speaking to. And it turns out he is not who he said he is. 

It all began earlier this month when Bailey received a series of text messages from an unknown number. 

The first message read: "Hey, sorry to be blunt, but who is this? I have you saved in my phone as 'Robin of Brisbane'."

Watch the trailer for Catfish. Post continues below.

Bailey then asked the man who he was. He recounted his full name, said he was 46 years old, also from Brisbane and works in software. When explaining the situation on her radio show, Bailey gave the man the nickname 'the Italian Stallion'. 

The two exchanged messages for a while, trying to figure out how he had her number. He suggested maybe she had given him her number on a dating app, and Bailey said it's not something she would ever do.

Then he asked her out on a date.

"He said, 'This is going to be super forward but would you like to grab a coffee sometime?'"

Bailey initially assumed the pair must have met at an event a while ago and crossed paths. They spoke about their families and their interests.

She decided to pause on accepting the date and call him first.

When she called the number, he didn't answer. It was a man's voice on the voicemail, but he provided a different name than the one Bailey had been given. The plot thickened.

After talking about her experience on her radio show, a neighbour of Bailey's called to let her know she had gone through an eerily similar ordeal.

The neighbour, Bella, had received a message from what appeared to be the same guy – Italian, identical backstory and the same photographs, although he provided a different name.

"As soon as I heard your story, I thought of the crazy catfisher who approached me," Bella said on air. "I got very concerned when I heard Robin's story. I said: 'Sorry dude, not interested'. Then I blocked and deleted him."

Bella said the man had likely found her phone number via her Instagram. 

As for how the man managed to get in contact with Bailey, it's still unclear. So she decided to get some advice from a private investigator. 

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Joy Goodwin (@robinbaileynow)

Speaking with Dave from Austrace Investigations, the private investigator explained that the man behind the messages is a catfish.

He said the man is in fact from Brisbane. But he is not who he says he is.

"We checked out the name that this gentleman has provided to you [Bailey], and no surprises here that the name actually doesn't exist. There is no person in Queensland with that name based on the databases in the state," he explained.

"I am 100 per cent confident that it's a false name he is using."

The next factor to be investigated was the phone number used.

"Lo-and-behold it is registered to a real person living on the south side of Brisbane," Dave said. 

The catfish isn't living in the same suburb that he told Bailey he was from, but it is "very close".

As for the real name that the phone is registered to – the identity of the person is not 46, like the person told Bailey, but a 27-year-old man. 

Dave also did a reverse image search on the photos given to Bailey to see who the actual identity of the person in the image is. The images are not of the catfish.

The detail that stumped Bailey, however, was the revelation that the catfish pretty much used his real name when speaking to her neighbour Bella. 

He still lied about his age, what he did and where he lived, but he used his real name, with a slight change. 

Now Bailey is considering whether to confront him or not.

Speaking to Mamamia this week, Bailey said it's been quite the pickle trying to uncover who the man is. It's left her feeling frustrated about the prevalence of scammers lately.

"This is the thing that bothers me the most, wondering how the hell he got my number and knew my first name and everything. I went on the dating apps in January, and I took myself off them 100 per cent in July because it was just foul," she told us.

"I was really specific about not giving out my number to men I chatted with online because I know things can go badly. I noticed a lot of the accounts on dating apps were fakes, and I was getting scam messages. It's hard enough in this world to try and date anyway – but to mess with people emotionally makes it even worse."

It was for this reason that Bailey has been working to uncover the truth behind the likely catfish. 

"I'm fortunate to have the backing of radio and a platform to look into situation super carefully, and have the resources available. But not all women have that," she said.

Recently Bailey and her co-hosts helped a woman who had been catfished by a man living overseas. 

The woman had lost around $350,000 as a result of the scam, and it was through the help of the show's hired private investigator that they were able to give her some much-needed answers. 

"Hearing stories like that woman's has given me the motivation to delve a bit deeper. It's like, you can't get away with this. It's not cool. And it's not just me that this has happened to."

This article was originally published on August 29, and has since been updated with new information.

Feature Image: Instagram @robinbaileynow.

Calling all Homeowners! Complete this short survey now and go in the running to win one of four $50 gift vouchers!