No matter how smart you are you aren’t immune to being catfished. A catfish is a person who pretends to be something they aren’t online and they’re all over dating sites. The following are the top ten tips that will help you avoid catfish scams. Real Love Scam suggests that if you tick off even two of these things then consider you could be getting scammed.
1. Everything is out of Proportion
The photos a person has needs to match up with their physical description. If they say they are six foot tall and 90 pounds then that’s a lie. Also check their description against their photos. Real Love Scam suggest getting the other person to hold up a “timestamp”. This is a piece of paper or card with the date or a unique phrase that a person holds up in a photo. Cameras are in almost every phone and computer made these days so don’t believe someone who says they don’t have a camera. You should be wary of someone who claims they are too shy to take a picture, or don’t have a camera.
- Search Using Pictures
A professional looking photo should be a red flag. Look for people who have photos that look more amateurish. Use an image searching site like tineye or even Google Images to search online with their photo. These sites tell you where else the photo is posted online. If the photo turns up on a modelling or stock photo site then it’s fake.
- Scrutinize Profile Photos
Also be sure to scrutinize the photo itself. There are small details to look for like a wedding ring, the clothes they are wearing, and the location and time the photo was taken. Compare these details to what you know about them and the picture. If someone claims their photo was taken at a Halloween party but they aren’t in a costume and it’s a sunny day then that’s quite likely a lie. Real Love Scams know you can also use free online tools to check when and where a photo was taken to help in this investigation.
- Things Look Too Familiar
A common catfishing tactic is to cut and paste introduction messages. Search online using a piece of the message to see if it’s copied from somewhere else. This is a great way to catch out someone pretending they are from another country. They make mistakes with details about the country they claim to be from. It can also be not knowing about the local area. If they said they were from Seattle but didn’t know about the Space Needle for example.
- Poor Spelling and Grammar
If the spelling and grammar of a message or description is bad that’s a possible warning sign. There are also people who mess up deliberately in an attempt to convey that they are from another country. You can spot these people when they make errors with local dialect. Real Love Scam believes even a foreign person will likely know it’s not spelled “Masey’s daytime parades”.
- They Want all Your “Numbers”
If a person is in a hurry to find out your email or instant messaging names then it should be seen as a red flag. One way to combat that is by using a separate email address with your dating profile so the scammer can’t find out anything from it.
- They Move far too Quickly
If someone tries to rush you that’s another big red flag. Real Love Scams know catfishers will almost always make the first move. They are also likely to create profile based on what you say you want on yours. This gives them the identity of the perfect person for you and lets them take advantage of you because your defences are weakened by love.
- Be Inquisitive
Make sure that you ask the person about them and where they come from a lot. Verify the information too. Obvious signs of a scam is misspelling the names of cities and landmarks. A catfisher will ask you a ton of questions about your life but they rarely open up about their own. They will also have a whole laundry list of excuses as to why. Saying that they were hurt by revealing too much too soon is the most common one. This excuse also leaves you with the burden of proving trustworthiness. That is a major red flag.
- Never Give Anyone Money
If someone asks you for money or hints that you should give them money then stop talking to them. Immediately. Real Love Scam urges you to avoid sympathy scams too. Not every person who catfishes you will ask for money but, if they do, it’s almost always a scam.
- Facebook
If the person you talk to doesn’t have a Facebook account you should consider it a red flag. Maybe they do have one, but it was created around the same time their dating profile was. That’s a big sign it’s fake. Also see how many posts and photos they have shared, as well as how many friends they have and connect with.
If you find the other person on Twitter then verify the things they’ve told you with the tweets they’ve made. You can also consider a Twitter account to be fake if it was created around the same time as the dating profile or Facebook account.
Real Love Scam urges you to contact the authorities if you think you have been scammed, or were dealing with a scammer.
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