Catfish

Ray Allen claims he was catfished by a man pretending to be a number of attractive women -- and now he's filed legal docs to make sure the alleged catfisher doesn't leak his private information.

It's all in legal docs obtained by TMZ Sports ... the ex-NBA superstar claims he met these "women" in "various online forums" and communicated with them ... sometimes sharing "private information."

Ray claims he eventually figured out he was being catfished and ended the relationships -- but the man behind the rouse became obsessed and began posting items on social media about Ray and his family.

In the docs, Allen claims the man would physically go to Ray's wife's restaurant in Orlando and post about Ray -- tagging family members in the posts. Creepy stuff.

Ray says he got the guy to sign a confidentiality agreement in which he agreed to stop posting about Ray -- but the guy violated the deal.

Things continued to escalate -- and the man eventually filed for a restraining order against Ray claiming the NBA star was stalking him, which the court granted.

Ray is adamantly denying the stalking allegations and is now seeking a restraining order of his own.

"Ray wants nothing to do with [the alleged catfisher] and merely wants to be left alone," Allen says in the court docs.

We spoke with Allen's attorney, David Oscar Markus, who tells us, "Ray Allen was the victim of an online scheme to extract money and embarrass him by someone who appears to be troubled."

"The person who perpetrated this scheme has now started to stalk him and make threats against Ray and his family. Ray has taken legal action to put an end to the threats and to expose his manipulation and wrongdoing."

"Ray regrets ever engaging with this person online and is thankful they never met in person. This experience has negatively impacted Ray, and he hopes that others might use his mistake to learn the dangers of communicating online with strangers."

Nev Schulman said it loud and proud ... he's Jewish, and wore the yellow Star of David to the VMAs to make sure his fans know he's standing up against white supremacists.

We got the 'Catfish' host Monday at LAX as he was leaving town after the VMAs, and he explained he wore the symbolic emblem specifically as a response to people marching with Nazi flags ... in America.

Nev said the Holocaust wasn't that long ago, and celebs should wear the Star to remind their fans.

He gave a nod to Billy Joel for doing it recently in concert and encouraged others to follow suit.

Katy Perry feels bad for the sap who got duped into thinking he was dating her for 6 years -- but the way she reached out to him might rub a lot of people the wrong way.

Katy was on SiriusXM's "The Morning Mash Up" and the hosts asked her about last week's 'Catfish' episode ... where a guy from Tennessee thought he'd had an online relationship with Katy.

Check out the clip -- no doubt, Katy has compassion for him. It's just that the California gurl kinda sorta took a shot at folks in the middle of the country, and their access to pop culture.

Don't text strangers kids ... especially strangers claiming they're Clay Aiken ... because chances are, you're being catfished and it could ruin your life.

TMZ broke the story ... Barbara Saylor was arrested for entering Clay's North Carolina home with binoculars. She was charged with trespassing and stalking.

Barbara's attorney Ken Steinberg now tells TMZ, the 58-year-old is actually the victim ... of an elaborate catfishing scam.

We're told Barbara met Clay years ago after his "American Idol" stint -- they even exchanged contact information ... somehow, Barbara got the wrong phone number and began texting a stranger.

Barbara's lawyer says the catfisher played Barbara like a fiddle -- carrying on a non-romantic, Manti Te'o-type text relationship with her for YEARS ... leading her to believe he was actually Clay Aiken.

The scam culminated with the catfisher goading Barbara to visit Clay at his house in North Carolina ... which she did ... and that's when she got arrested.

Barbara's attorney turned over all text records to the court to prove she was a victim, not a perp. The case was dismissed and late last week paperwork was filed to expunge the arrest from her record.

"Catfish" star Sunny Cross -- who starred on the first episode of the show -- has just copped a plea in her drunk driving case ... and she'll stay a free woman.

Cross was popped in Arkansas in January, 2013 after driving on the wrong side of the road. We told she flunked her field sobriety test, blaming it on her Christian Louboutins ... they're a bitch to walk in.

Ultimately Sunny blew a .08 which made her just drunk enough for prosecution.

Sunny plead guilty to 1 count of DWI and was ordered to complete a substance abuse program within 90 days.

"Criminal Minds" star Thomas Gibson wasn't pulling a fast one on his wife by conducting an online relationship with a shameless catfisher -- sources tell TMZ, the actor and his wife have been separated for years.

Sources close to the couple tell us, Gibson and his estranged wife Christine Gibson still live together for the sake of their children, but they've been separated for 2-and-a-half years ... six months before Thomas started messing around with one of his Twitter fans.

As we reported, Gibson and the woman -- who catfished him by posing as a porn star -- carried on a heated relationship for two years before Gibson discovered the entire thing was a sham ... he even sent her a sexy hot tub video (it's hilarious).

Bottom line: Gibson might be a sucker ... but he's no cheater.

UPDATE: Sunny tells TMZ she plans to fight the charges because she only blew a .08 ... the legal limit, by the way. As for her failed field sobriety test -- Sunny says she was wearing Christian Louboutins and "nobody could walk a straight line in those shoes."

Sunny Cross, who was on the very first episode of the MTV show "Catfish," was arrested this morning for suspicion of driving while intoxicated ... TMZ has learned.

Cross was popped at 8:20 AM in Fayetteville, AR. According to the website for the Washington County Sheriff's Office, Cross was popped for driving too close to another vehicle, driving on the wrong side of the road, and lastly ... DWI.

Cross posted $1,055 bond and was released at 9:39 AM. Oddly enough ... at 8:39 AM she tweeted, "Last night was hilarious."

We called Cross for comment and got her voicemail. A few minutes after we called, she tweeted, "Well I guess it's safe to say last night was an epic fail."

Cross appeared on the very first episode of "Catfish" -- where she was "introduced" to her Internet boyfriend, who turned out to be a girl named Chelsea.