Not everyone online is being honest about their identity, and there could even be someone pretending to be you. David Crookes explains the a creepy new trend of catfishing
What is it?
Catfishing is an online activity that involves a person pretending to be someone else, typically with the aim of enticing others into a romantic relationship. 'Catfishes' (this is apparently the correct plural, rather than ‘catfish’) will use someone else’s photos to create a digital identity and post false information to produce a convincing social circle. They often maintain their deception for months and even years.
How does it work?
A catfish will set up a social media account under a made-up name, then attempt to lure people into befriending them and falling for them romantically. Rather than use photos of themselves, a catfish will copy them from social networks such as Facebook. Twitter and Instagram. They then continue to update their accounts with more copied photos.
So there are two victims?
Yes, the person whose photos are stolen and the people who are tricked by a catfish and are unaware that they’ve been duped. Catfishes go to great lengths to fabricate a fictional life that appears plausible.
Why is it called catfishing?
The name derives from a documentary film released in 2010 called Catfish. Directed by Henry Joost and Ariel Schulman, it followed a 24-year-old New York photographer called Yaniv “Nev” Schulman who falls in love with a flirtatious 19-year-old woman called Megan on Facebook. He never meets her but later discovers that the subject of his devotion is a 39-year-old called Angela Wesselman, who had invented a fictional social group on Facebook consisting of ’Megan’ and her 17 equally non-existent online friends. Her husband told the documentary makers that Angela was a catfish because her actions had been similar to fishermen “putting catfish in with the cod to nip at their tails and keep them active". The documentary proved so popular that it inspired a reality television series on the entertainment channel MTV called Catfish: The TV Show.
Why do people catfish?
Each impostor has their own reasons. Some have mental-health problems, others are motivated by boredom or are seeking revenge on someone and end up dragging innocent people into the fray. The more spiteful catfishes enjoy the humiliation it causes their victims, but many simply lack self-confidence and hide their personalities behind someone else’s photo, believing that what they are doing is harmless.
Catfishing is now regarded as an online dating scam, and has also been used to con money from people.
Who is at risk?
Everyone. Men are statistically more liable to fall in love with one of these fictional characters because most catfishes have been women - or, as has happened, men posing as women. There have even been reports of straight women catfishing gay men on the all-male location-based social network Grindr.
On the other hand, women are more likely to have their social accounts mined for photos. Catfishes tend to assume the visual identity of conventionally attractive people and typically choose images that showcase an idyllic, enticing lifestyle.
How many people are caught out?
It's hard to put a number on catfishing victims because many are too embarrassed to come forward. Dating app Tinder is a catfish favourite since it doesn’t require much profile information and it pulls data from Facebook, leading to discussions such as “Tinder has turned me into a catfish" (bit.ly/tinder368). Dating websites such as eHarmony warn their users about catfishing and a rising number of private investigators are being hired to catch people out.
What are the consequences of catfishing?
There are certainly some horror stories. In February, Ruth Palmer, a 25-year-old from Brighton, told her local newspaper. The Argus (bit.ly/theargus368), that her photos had been used to create several social-media profiles under the name Leah Palmer. The impersonator had struck up several online relationships over three years, including one person who spoke to ’Leah' every night, and was closely following Ruth’s life, including the news that she had moved to Dubai - so ’Leah’ did. too. Victims were encouraged to share sexually explicit images.
Are there any tell-tale signs?
Although scammers avoid using stock photos and choose real-life social-media images to make themselves appear convincing, the model-standard good looks of the people in stolen photos may act as a warning. If the person then goes on to conjure attributes of a perfect life (a well-paid job, tireless fundraising, amazing holidays), they may seem too good to be true. Of course, good-looking people with enviable lives do exist, so watch out for other signs such as a reluctance to meet or chat over Skype. You may spot that, despite being the most perfect person alive, they have suspiciously few friends on social media and a relatively new profile.
How do you confirm your suspicions?
You could simply type a person’s name into a search engine if you have a gut feeling that something isn’t right. Most people leave some sort of online trail so if nothing turns up. it could be suspicious. You can find out where else an image appears online using reverse image-search tools such as Google Inside Search (bit.ly/googleimage368) and TinEye (www.tineye.com). A good tactic is to show a keen interest in the person you’re in contact with, asking them lots of questions and then verifying their answers online.
Are the authorities taking action?
If people have evidence of a fake profile, social networks will take them down because it goes against their policies. Twitter (bit.ly/twitterpolicy368), for example, says: “Impersonation is a violation of the Twitter Rules. Twitter accounts portraying another person in a confusing or deceptive manner may be permanently suspended under the Twitter impersonation policy.” Unfortunately, the police can’t get involved because, although the impostors are copying photos and linking them to a made-up name, no crime is being committed. There could be a civil case for image copyright, but it would entail tracking down the catfishes, which also proves difficult.
Can I prevent people stealing my details?
To some extent. You can set your privacy settings to the highest possible level on social media so only friends can access your photos. Avoid making too much personal information public and encourage your friends to do the same, because some catfish are very clever and infiltrate both their victims' and their victims’ friends' accounts for images.
CATFISHING IN THE NEWS
The basketball player
A Canadian woman spent close to three years targeting 11 victims, among them US basketball player Chris Andersen (bit.ly/chris368). She impersonated Andersen, a woman in California and that woman’s mother, communicating to all three in a bizarre and complicated catfish triangle that even resulted in the player’s home being searched by police.
The drug bust
When police officers from the American Drug Enforcement Agency arrested Sondra Arquiett on drug charges, they took photos from her phone without permission and set up a fake Facebook profile in a bid to flush out suspected drug dealers (bit.ly/ sondra368). The agency paid her $134,000 after she complained that her privacy had been violated.
The journalist
On Vice.com (bit.ly/vice368), a freelance writer called Ellie Flynn told of being frequently approached by people convinced they were friends, after someone used her photos online for eight years. The catfish refused to remove the profiles when challenged. “In fairness,” wrote Ellie, “the lie is so vast and all-encompassing that I too would believe the profiles were real.”