Guys, let’s talk about the catfish phenomena.
For those who do not know what a catfish is, Urban Dictionary defines a Catfish as Someone who pretends to be someone else, especially on the internet. Found on anywhere from Instagram to twitter to chat sites, these peopl use fake pictures to disguise who they are.
In layman’s terms, a catfish is a fake profile.
There are so many fake profiles out there. Why do people use fake profiles? Many reasons ranging from stalking, scamming or even just out of malice. How sad is someone’s life that they will take their time to create fake profiles with fake photos to chat up innocent victims? SMH!
You will find catfish accounts all over social media from Twitter to Facebook to Instagram, dating apps like Tinder and now, even WhatsApp. If someone sounds and looks too good to be true, that’s definitely a catfish. I’m a huge fan of MTV’s Catfish TV Show. A show that helps victims who have been catfished confront their perpetrators in real life. So, I have a few tips I can share.
If there are some accounts you feel might be too good to be true, they just might be catfish accounts. Here’s how to spot a fake social media profile.
1. Their photos seem too good to be true.
A model? A really cute guy in tailor cut suits, Rolex watches and stuff? Randomly messaging a normal person like you? How! Lol…
2. They could also have very few photos or no photos showing their face or cartoon photos.
While still on photos, they have no photos of family and friends and if they do, no one is tagged.
3. Look out for mutual friends.
If it’s a Facebook account, an average Facebook account has over 120 friends. If an account has like 80 friends, no mutual friends and literally no action, or info, be wary. Each one of us has memes or videos or old links and photos tagged by our friends and families. A Facebook account with no life is definitely fishy. If it's an Instagram account, watch out for consistency of posts. If an account suddenly has over 50 photos posted withing a timeline of the last two months, that's odd. Do check to see if there are friends tagged and check if those friends tagged are real accounts. Also see if the photos have comments under them. A real account will have people who frequently comment.
4. They live a flashy life.
In all honesty, only 1% of the world can afford to live a flashy; life I mean the real living la vida loca. Someone posting photos with expensive watches, luxury cars, vacationing on yachts and shit with models…those are probably fake photos that have been stolen from a famous person somewhere in the world.
5. They tell you exactly what you want to hear and they’re serious way too soon.
A catfish is there to lure you. They will be there for you when you’re down, they will tell you exactly what you want to hear. They will make you fall for them and you will find yourself wanting to talk to them all day every day.
6. Their chats are inconsistent.
One minute they’re online, the next they’ve disappeared for 24 hours.
7. They never want to video chat.
Cmon, these days you don’t even have to rely on Skype to video chat. You can easily video chat even on WhatsApp. If the new crush suddenly doesn’t want to video chat, be weary.
8. Excuses when you ask to meet.
If you have been chatting with someone online for a while, at one point you will want to meet them in real life. A catfish will always find an excuse which brings me to my next point…
9. They have the most outrageous lies.
When you ask why they never met you. They will bring up excuses like, someone died or they fell really sick etc. They’re seeking sympathy from you.
10. Probably the biggest red flag, asking for money.
If you’re gonna send someone you have never met in real life money, you must be dumb as hell. Even if it’s say for a flight ticket. Offer the ticket, not the money. Also, if they offer you a large sum of money for something, think twice. You’re being scammed, wake up and smell the coffee.
11. Your gut feeling tells you something is just not right.
Always, always trust that small voice in your head!
So, what next after finding out you have been catfished? Part 2 coming up.