Recognising the Signs of Catfishing Online
Launch library · evergreen read
Catfishing involves someone presenting a deliberately false identity online, often using stolen photographs and a fabricated backstory to build a genuine emotional connection with someone they have never actually met in person. It can happen through dating apps, general social media, or even inside gaming communities and online forums.
Warning signs include a persistent reluctance to video call, photos that look unusually professionally shot or slightly inconsistent from one post to the next, and a personal story that shifts in small details over time, such as a changing job, city or family situation that does not quite add up.
A simple reverse image search of a profile picture can reveal whether it genuinely belongs to someone else entirely, appearing under a completely different name on another account, or turning up attached to an ordinary stock photography website used by many other, entirely unrelated profiles across the internet.
Taking real time before sharing personal details or emotional trust with someone you have only ever met online, and treating a persistent refusal to verify identity as genuinely meaningful, helps protect against both catfishing itself and the scams that sometimes follow closely behind it, once trust is well established.