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What is Catfishing?
Catfishing is a deceptive activity in which an individual creates a fake identity to gain a financial advantage without doing what they promised to do. These people usually try to target people with weaknesses so they can easily manipulate them. In worst cases, an individual usually gives people money and never hears from them again.
Most catfish victims usually have trouble forming relationships in real life they depend on the internet to form digital relationships which go nowhere. People who catfish people usually don’t believe in themselves, so they have to make a fake identity to make them feel more confident about themselves. The individual could lie about their appearance, weight, height, and even gender.
Personal Experience
In the past, I had a couple of attractive girls send me a friend request on Facebook and they would ask if I would send them money and they would tell me that they would come to visit me. One time, this girl said she was in the Marines and needed 800 dollars to buy her a new iPhone so we could talk. She said she would come to see, me after her tour in Ukraine was over. I told her I only get $845.00 from my SSI check. I talked to this girl for two weeks and she was already talking about getting married and said I needed to prove that I love her by sending her some money. I asked her if she was in the military and why do you need me to send 800 to her to get an iPhone. She even sent me pictures of her in the shower, I realized she was trying to catfish me.
warning signs of Catfishing
Things are moving too fast in the relationship
Avoiding talking on the phone or video chat
Asking for money
