An elaborate catfish named ‘Ruby’ stood up 16 queer women at a gig – but the bachelorettes turned their dumping into an unforgettable group date.
Ruby, 28, told each of her Tinder matches she would meet them for a single date at Cafe Lounge in inner city Sydney on June 5 last year.
But as the tiny Surry Hills establishment began to fill up, Ruby advised her prospective partners she was ‘getting cash out’ or ‘running late’.
Minutes continued to pass and Ruby’s prospective partners began to get the feeling that something wasn’t quite right.
Nervous eyes locked across the room and chatter echoed through the bar as a group of strangers realised they had all been stood up by a catfish.
Instead of allowing the cruel prank to dampen their evening, the women banded together for a night of laughter, friendship and even flirtation.
Three of Ruby’s victims, Jessica, Acadia and Isabelle, told Daily Mail Australia how they learned they matched with a catfish.
An elaborate catfish named ‘Ruby’ stood up 16 queer women at a Sydney gig – but the bachelorettes turned their dumping into an unforgettable group date (stock image)
JESS, 28
Jess explained she came across Ruby while she was ‘half-a**’ swiping on Tinder.
‘I matched with this girl, her name was Ruby. 28 years old, kinda cute, a bit artsy looking,’ Jess said.
‘I mentioned that I go to a lot of live gigs and she said ”I’m going to a gig next Wednesday if you’d like to come” and I was like ”sweet, here’s my number, give me the details”,’ Jess said.
‘It was a very short exchange and normally its very rare to be asked out that quickly.’
Ruby advised Jess she would be at the gig from 6.45pm to ensure she got a good seat. Jess was running late after work and told Ruby she’d probably get to the venue at 7pm.
Jess locked eyes with a woman called Candela upon entering the bar and felt an inkling to approach her – despite not looking like her Tinder date.
She asked the stranger if she was Ruby and Candela replied ‘no’, allowing Jess to made a joke about being on first dates.
Jess sat down and continued to wait for her date, where she happened to overhear a conversation between what she thought was two friends.
One of the women then turned around to face Jess and said: ‘Man the craziest thing has just happened to us and I just feel like I need to tell you.’
‘We’ve both just been catfished by the same person.’
Jess responded: ‘I think us as well’.
Ruby, 27, told her Tinder matches she would meet them for a single date at Cafe Lounge in Surry Hills (pictured) for a live music gig at 7pm on Wednesday June 5
As the women banded together to discuss their shock, one of the catfish victim’s began to question how many others were tricked into a date.
‘She starts walking around the bar, approaching any girl that’s on her own. Next minute, it’s like four, six, eight [women who have been catfished],’ Jess recalled.
‘People are coming and we’re like ”cheers babe” and then next minute there’s over 15 queer women in Cafe Lounge that have all been catfished by the same account.’
‘So we have this big group of girls. We’re finding it kind of funny at this point.’
The group posed for a photo and created a Facebook group called ‘F*** You Ruby’.
‘All this chaos is kind of erupting. As this is happening, we all get a text from Ruby and it says: ”say hi to the group of girls for us, lol soz”,’ Jess said.
Before anyone could get onto the catfish, Ruby’s Tinder profile had been deleted.
‘At this time, the music starts playing and the artist goes ”I’d like to dedicate this next song to Ruby”,’ Jess said.
‘We’re like ”f*** this”. So I’m like ”c’mon girls, let’s go, let’s not support this venue, everyone’s taking the piss out of us”.’
Jess said the women received a message from Ruby after they all realised what had happened
The group went to nearby venue The Beresford, where they made the best out of an awful situation and enjoyed tequila shots.
‘We’re just exchanging stories. There were some girls that were like 18, 19 all the way up to 30. Some were travelling, some just broke up with their girlfriends, some were bi-curious.’
Despite being tricked by Ruby, Jess speaks highly of her night out and even ended up briefly dating another one of the victims.
‘I went on a date, got stood up and then went on a date on the same night,’ she said.
‘Three lots of couples hooked up that night, so six people out of 15. So it was really successful really.’
Jess hopes that she will be able to get to the bottom of the mastermind behind catfish profile by sharing her story, but is suspicious that Ruby was watching the drama unfold.
‘Whoever is doing it is obviously in the room, seeing when the girls come in, seeing where they’re sitting,’ Jess said.
The group of women are not sure what possessed ‘Ruby’ to lead on at least 16 single women (stock image)
ACADIA, 21
Acadia, a 21-year-old university student, was embarking on her second Tinder date when she agreed to meet with Ruby.
‘I walked into this bar and just noticed there was an odd number of single girls just standing around,’ she recalled.
‘I walked up to someone who kind of looked like the pictures from Tinder… and I was like ”hey Ruby” and she said ”no” and gave me a really odd look.’
‘[A group of girls] called me over and said they heard me asking for a Ruby and asked if I was here on a date,’ Acadia said.
The women then advised Acadia they were also at the gig on a date – with the same prospective partner.
‘As we went to sit down again, we noticed all these girls pairing up and forming groups and we were like ”oh no”,’ Acadia said.
‘We were getting these tiny hints of what was happening and were like ”oh no, this is bigger than we thought”.’
ISABELLE, 28
Isabelle, a student from the Netherlands, treated Tinder as a place where she could meet people while living in Sydney for one-year during her PhD.
The 28-year-old said arrived at the venue early, about 6.30pm, and took a seat right across from the door so she was easily recognisable.
‘Nothing happened and nothing happened,’ Isabelle recalled. ‘The gig was starting so I started to realise I was being stood up.’
‘All of a sudden, someone walks up to me and says: ”Are you waiting for a Ruby?”’
Isabelle – who originally thought the stranger would be a friend of Ruby’s – was then told to follow the women.
‘I went around the corner and there were seven or eight girls and she said: ”We’re all waiting for Ruby”,’ Isabelle said.
Isabelle admitted that she had never seen so many single women, with their phones in their hands enter a venue over such a short time period.
‘We filled the whole place,’ she said.
Isabelle said a number of the women began to pair off during the evening and she even ended up dating one of the others for about two months after the Ruby ordeal.
The PhD student said some of the women felt ‘betrayed’ by Ruby but she found the situation humorous.
‘Some were really angry and p***ed off at the situation, others went with the flow,’ she explained.
‘Everyone kind of bonded.’
