This Is How You Get Catfished
Tags: Babies, Health, Covid 19 Update, Life, Coronavirus

This Is How You Get Catfished

Photo by Tim Mossholder on Unsplash

It wasn’t so long ago that a catfish was nothing more than a fish. After all, it’s right there in the name, “catfish.” In the digital era, a catfish has become something a little more devious. A catfish is a person who pretends to be someone else on the internet for some sort of personal gain. In some cases, it’s financial. In other cases, it’s emotional. Either way, it’s misguided and mean.

If you’re on the Internet, then you have almost certainly come across a catfish or two. Maybe you were aware of it, and maybe you weren’t.

One common reason people get catfished is the desire for love. There is nothing wrong with wanting to be loved. Unfortunately, that longing for love is what makes us vulnerable to being catfished.

Catfishers don’t have a sixth sense when it comes to choosing victims who are desperate for love and attention. Instead, they cast a wide enough net that a few lonely individuals are bound to get caught up in it.

I couldn’t tell you the first time I was catfished because I probably didn’t even realize it at the time. However, I do remember the time a military man reached out to me on Facebook and sent me a friend request.

My newly minted Facebook pal had plenty of pictures of him and his army buddies posing in the desert. It was strange how his appearance could change so much from one photo to another, but who was I to question it? A man can’t really concern himself with lighting and angles when he’s so far from home. Some pictures were just better than others. That’s all there was to it, or that’s what I told myself.

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At worst, I’d just found a way to alleviate some summer boredom. At best, let’s just say two words: “wedding bells.” I accepted the friend request, figuring I didn’t have anything to lose.

The following day, I told my workout partner about my new friend, and she completely freaked out. “How do you know he’s even who he says he is?” she demanded.

I shrugged my shoulders. “Whatever. I don’t even care,” I replied. It wasn’t exactly true. I did care, a lot.

Once I got back home from the gym, I went to work on dragging and dropping my latest Facebook friend’s photos into a reverse image search. The pictures were a hodgepodge of men in military uniforms stolen from stock image photos and multiple men’s Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook feeds.

I had been catfished.

It wasn’t until several years, and a whole lot of foiled catfishing attempts later, that I decided to leave social media completely.

I am no longer on Facebook with the exception of my super secret Facebook account that I use for only one purpose, working out. When my favorite reality television star launched her own fitness program and made it available only through Facebook, I had to waffle a little on my Facebook ban.

My reality television fave releases a new workout video every day Monday through Friday, with bonus videos on Saturdays. I was excited to try it, but she requires a Facebook account in order to access all the workouts and bonus content and interact with the community. So I caved.

I opened a new Facebook account using a burner cellphone number and a fake name. The first name I entered into the system triggered their security system and I got an alert asking me to enter my real name. I chose a second, slightly different, fake name, and I was off to the races.

The reason why I chose to use a fake name on Facebook is simple. I don’t want anyone from my past to find me online. Here’s my take on the topic. If I wanted to stay in touch with the mean girls from my high school or the former coworkers who drove me crazy, then I would have. I don’t need any of them trying to encroach upon my inner peace. There’s so little of it to begin with.

My point is that it costs nothing but a few minutes of an imposter’s time to open a social media account in a fake name. There are very few safeguards against it. Sure, Facebook blocked my attempt to call myself “Tracey Birthday,” but it instantly approved another name that was just as fake albeit slightly less obvious.

It isn’t your fault if you do fall victim to a catfishing scheme. Loneliness makes red flags look like innocent Facebook notifications. The problem is when they’re the same thing.