Even the smartest person can lose their common sense and fall victim to a catfish. A catfish is someone you meet online who pretends to be someone, or something, they aren’t to get your love, sympathy, or worse. Here are Real Love Scam top ten tips to avoid being catfished. If two of the following ten things sound familiar then there’s a strong chance you’re being catfished.
- The Math Doesn’t Add Up
The physical description a person gives you needs to match up. Someone who is six feet tall won’t be 90 pounds. Read through their description and see how it matches up to their photo. Here’s a quick tip for you. Ask the person to take a picture holding a unique phrase on a piece of paper or card. Also ask them to video chat with you live on a service like Skype or Facetime. Every smartphone and most laptops these days have built in cameras so don’t listen to someone who says they don’t have one. If they are reluctant about doing something like this, or claim they are shy, then you should be wary of them.
- Test Their Profile Picture
If someone has a profile photo that looks too professional that’s a red flag. Find someone with a more amateur looking photo. Also run the picture through an image searcher like the one Google provides or tineye.com. They search the web using an image and let you know if it’s posted on another website. If you find the picture on a site with a watermark on it or on a modelling website it’s likely fake.
- Investigate Their Photos Further
As well as looking for other instances of their photos, take a good look at the photo itself. Look for the small details like a wedding ring, the location they are in, and even how they are dressed. Compare this to what you know about them. If they say the photo was taken on the fourth of July party and they are in a fur coat on a sunny day then that’s probably a lie. Real Love Scam recommends using a free online services that check when and where a photo was taken which can help you investigate.
- Look for Cut and Paste Profiles
The introduction letters sent on dating sites are often copied and pasted by catfishers. Look to see if things from the letter appear in other places by putting some of it into a search engine. This is one way that people claiming to be outside of the country slip up. They give inconsistent details about their “country”. This could be something like someone not knowing a famous landmark about where they claim to be from. Someone who claims to be from St. Louis but doesn’t know anything about the Gateway Arch for example.
2. Improper Spelling and Grammar
Take a good look at the spelling and grammar of their messages. People also like to pretend to have bad English to fake being from another country. You can notice these if you take a good look. They usually make a mistake with the local dialect. Such as saying they really like the “Maseys daytime parades”.
4. They Want To Take You Away From The Site
An instant red flag would be if they try to get you off of the dating site and find out your email or IM name immediately. Real Love Scam recommend setting up a dating profile with a throwaway email account that a scammer can’t get anything from.
5. Too Far Too Soon
Another big red flag is the person trying to rush you. Catfishes will always make the first move and will use a profile based on what you say you want in your profile. They come across as the perfect partner for you and take advantage of you when you are caught up in the idea of romance.
6. Always Ask Questions
You should constantly question the other person about where they are from and double check the information they give you including spellings. Obvious errors are a sign of a scam. Catfishers like to ask you a lot of questions but will rarely go into detail about their own lives. Real Love Scam know they’ll also have plenty of excuses as to why they can’t share this information such as pretending that they’ve been hurt before. This makes you the one that needs to prove their trustworthiness. Talk about a red flagAvoid People who Ask for Money
It’s as simple as this; if someone asks you for money you throw them away. Stop talking to them immediately. Don’t let yourself fall for sympathy scams. Not every catfisher will ask you for money but if someone does ask you for money it’s likely a scam.
7. They Aren’t on Social Media
Real Love Scam knows another big red flag is if someone doesn’t have a Facebook profile or another social media profile. They can also have fake accounts you should keep an eye out for. One way to spot a fake Facebook account is if the profile was created the same time their dating profile was and if they don’t have a lot of photos or friends.
If you can find the person on Twitter then read through their tweets, especially the really old ones, and see if it matches up to the things they’ve told you. Twitter accounts can also be considered fake if they were created the same time as the dating profile was.
If you’re worried that you’ve been the victim of a scam then Real Love Scams urge you to please contact the appropriate authorities.