Catfishing Signs: How to Recognize and Combat Online Deceit

What it means to be catfished and how to tell if you are a victim Chances are your grandparents met because they lived within a ten-mile radius of each other. If not, perhaps they went to the same college for a number of years. Regardless, proximity was key and the dating game was relatively safe. Here in the 21 st century, the advent of social media platforms and online dating websites allows people to make connections with others at great distances—possibilities grandma would have never dreamed of. But with these convenient romantic outlets have also come scams and frauds—something grandma didn’t have to worry about. Now you have to worry about being catfished. Catfishing, Coronavirus, and Cybercrime, oh my, with Tyler Cohen Wood What Does it Mean to be “Catfished”? Quite simply, you have been catfished when you have been interacting with a real person who created a fake persona online, whether through social media or dating websites, to form relationships with other people. The term, made popular by the 2010 documentary Catfish , can be applied to people with any number of reasons for creating false profiles. Some catfishing may be no more than an attempt from a lonely person to find things they are missing in real life: romance, excitement, an emotional thrill. But instead of being open about who they are, they hide behind a persona. In these cases, their victims—the unsuspecting people they interact with and deceive—usually end up feeling a sense of betrayal, embarrassment or having been robbed of countless hours investing in a false relationship. Other catfishing attempts can take their deception to the next level. When Catfish Bite Many who have been catfished had experiences that turned into serious financial scams, with some having lost hundreds of thousands of dollars to a person they trusted, but never even met. In a worst-case scenario, a person may be catfished only to become a victim of sexual assault or murder. Here are eight signs that you are being catfished and tips on what to do to protect yourself. Countless stories from those who have been catfished can be found online, and while the circumstances may all be different, the warning signs are consistently familiar. It’s Always Fishing Season In this day of online everything, we make personal and business connections routinely based solely on online photos and messages. It’s not a bad idea to progress slowly. If you or someone you know might be developing a relationship online, and any one of these catfishing red flags have been raised, do something! If you want to be sure, there are services such as socialcatfish.com for people who think they are being catfished. The service can do some investigating and determine the validity of a person’s social media profiles. What they find out will either put you at ease or put you on alert. Like anything in life, it’s better to be safe than sorry. TRY SOCIAL CATFISH NOW