What Is Catfishing?

Date First Published: 21st May 2023

Topic: Cybersecurity

Subtopic: Threats To Systems, Data & Information

Article Type: Computer Terms & Definitions

Difficulty: Medium

Difficulty Level: 5/10

CONTENTS

Why Do People Catfish?
Signs Of A Catfish

Learn more about what catfishing is in this article.

Catfishing is the process of setting up a fake online profile to deceive other people, most commonly on social networking sites and online dating sites. Catfishing allows users to create a fictional identity to trick other people into thinking that they are someone they are not. The catfish often uses someone else's photos, information, and life facts, including their date of birth, geographical location, and marital status, to make them seem like a real-life person.

The anonymity of online communication and the easy ability for anyone to sign up an account without any verification of identity has caused catfishing to become more common. However, reputable social networking sites and dating sites take preventative measures against it. They may be able to automatically detect and block fake accounts designed to deceive others from being created. Catfishing to deceive others is also against the terms of service for any reputable social networking site or dating site and is not tolerated, so reported catfishes will often have their accounts suspended.

Why Do People Catfish?

People can catfish for all sorts of reasons, but something that all catfishes want to do is deceive people. Below are six reasons why people catfish:

To get hold of someone's details. Catfishes often want to get hold of your details so that they can sell them or publicly expose them. They often make up fake situations to persuade you to give them your details so that they can gather your personal information. It is never a good idea to give your personal information to someone you don't know.
For financial gain. Some people engage in catfishing to get money from someone else or defraud them. They may make up a scenario, like saying that they have to click a link and pay a fee to get their parcel redelivered, whilst pretending to be a delivery company. The link actually takes them to a fake website only designed to get hold of their details, which will lead to identity fraud.
To get back at someone else. Someone may catfish as a way of revenge on someone else. They may make false statements about them on their profile, as a direct message to someone else, or on other people's posts to damage their reputation.
To cyberbully someone. There are some people who enjoy seeing others suffer. Some people may set up fake accounts to cyberbully someone whilst remaining anonymous. In some cases, they may even set up multiple fake profiles to maximise the impact it has on them without having to reveal their true identity. It is unlikely that the target would know that all the fake accounts belong to one person.
Lack of confidence. For example, someone who is not confident about themselves in general, may set up a profile in someone else's name, photos, and identity so that they can hide behind a different identity. Not all catfishing is done with malicious intent. Some catfishes are not trying to scam people, but due to insecurities, they think the only way to set up a profile is to use someone else's identity.
For entertainment. Some people engage in catfishing solely for entertainment. For example, a catfish may be a romance scammer that pretends to be in love with someone and get them to commit a relationship even when they have only been messaging them for a few days. The catfish may then refuse to meet them in person or engage in a video call to avoid exposing their identity and repeat this process when they find another user.

Signs Of A Catfish

There is no single way to spot a catfish. But, there are some signs that indicate that someone is not who they say they are online. Below are seven signs of a catfish:

They avoid meeting in-person or video calls. If you have been messaging someone on an online dating site for a long time and have decided to commit a relationship to them, it would make sense to meet them in-person or have a video call. No catfish will agree to meet someone in person or have a video call as it would immediately expose their identity. Catfishes often make up excuses, like saying that they don't have a camera or they don't have enough time. Sometimes, they may agree to meet, but never turn up. If the relationship was genuine, the person would be desparate to meet you in person or have a video call.
They ask for money. If someone you have never met in person is asking you for money very soon, that is a sign that it is a catfish. The catfish may ask for money in exchange for a benefit, like a free gift card. For example, they might say that they need some money to help them repair their broken boiler and will give you a free gift card if you give them the money. However, the scenario is very likely to be made-up and they are only doing it for financial gain. They will often send the same messages to multiple people to make as much money as possible.
Their profile looks too good to be true. If the person seems to look unrealistic (e.g. they seem to be completely flawless with stunning looks and a perfect lifestyle), or their life stories sound too good to be true, there is a much higher chance that they are a catfish. If their profile looks suspicious, then it is probably is.
They don't have many friends or followers. On social networking sites, if you notice that someone is following much more people than are following them or they don't have many friends on their friend list, it is often a sign of a catfish. This is because someone engaging in catfishing may create a bot that automatically follows other people in the hope that they will follow them back. Another reason why catfishes often don't have many friends or followers is to reduce the chances of getting caught. The more friends or followers a catfish has, the more likely someone will ask questions in regard to their identity and discover that their account is designed to deceive people and report it.
They use a fake profile picture. Catfishes will rarely upload a picture of themselves. Instead, they will often use pictures from other sources on the internet of other people. It is easy to find out if the profile picture can be found elsewhere. You can use Google reverse image search to find similar pictures to the one they use and find out the source. If the profile picture is real, it is unlikely that it will appear on other sites, except for the person's other social media profiles. If you can find them elsewhere, check to see if they appear to be the same person. If someone is using pictures of someone else, it is very likely that they are out to deceive people. Fake profile pictures will often appear on other sites, sometimes professional stock photo sites.
Their profile is very recently created. If the profile is very recently created, this can be a sign of a catfish. Catfishes usually create fake profiles to find new people to deceive and are often not up for a long time. This is because once a profile is flagged or reported, it is often removed. However, a recently created profile could just mean that someone is new to the social media platform, so don't rely on the profile creation date itself to spot a catfish.
They ask for sexually explicit images or videos. This is a big sign that it is a catfish. They will often request this to obtain sensitive images of you to blackmail you later. If someone you know online and have never met in-person asks you for sexually explicit images or videos, do not send them. Once you have sent them, you cannot undo that action. If they continue asking, block them from sending you messages and report them.