I actually thought about posting a thread here on Catfishing the other day, but didn't...obviously. So it was neat to see this one. Good idea.
I want to share some stuff here, in hopes that it may help someone.
I'm not going to share everything I know, because some things would just help educate the catfish too. Sometimes there's a fine line in what to share or not share.
The author makes some good points, but not everything stated is always true by any means.
I've been catfished twice that I'm aware of. Both were female. Neither wanted a romantic relationship or asked for money. Instead they fabricated stories of hardships, etc. in their lives and apparently just wanted attention. Although, I can never say for sure exactly what was in their heads. All that to say, it's not always about romance.
I'm usually good at spotting a catfish or troll within a short amount of time. Part of it is experience (I've been on the internet for years in various capacities in forums and chat rooms. I've had admin powers, I've been a standard user like I am now.), the rest is almost like a sixth sense. That said, I realize now that in the above two cases my emotions were more involved. I truly cared for the characters mentioned above. I'll call them "characters" now since they weren't who they said they were. When emotions are involved, even the most savvy catfish and troll hunters can be deceived. So whatever you do, don't think, "That could never happen to me!". Yes, it could happen to YOU. The last catfish I dealt with served me a whole humble pie, not just a slice.
Some people are excellent liars. The article up above mentioned how catfish were dumb. This is most definitely not always the case. Some are brilliantly deceptive and incredibly smart. They know exactly where, how, and when to hit you to accomplish whatever they want.
Most people leave a trail of information about themselves online. A good catfish can easily use that to their advantage.
"Oh not me, I don't give out my Facebook or anything like that on sites like CC." You don't have to. There are other ways of finding you. Regardless of what "privacy settings" you click on whatever site you're using, ANYTHING you put on the internet can be gotten to. If you don't want certain info about yourself out there, don't put it online...period. Furthermore, don't even store it on your personal computer.
Plenty of information can be found on most people legally. It doesn't take a hacker who is breaking the law to find stuff.
One of the greatest tools out there right now to help discover a catfish is Google images. You can run a picture through there and it'll show anywhere else on the internet the picture comes up.
You can do that with profile pictures right here on CC. I'm going to attach some pictures of one way to do that.
Since Banana started the thread I just clicked and used her profile.
Pay attention to the text that is similar in color to what I'm typing with now to see how that works. You need to first go to a person's personal profile page to make this work. I joke that I'm a semi-retired catfish/troll hunter but I still find that I'm a chronic profile clicker. On one site I used to spend a lot of time on, most of the regular users would check on profiles consistently, especially if an unfamiliar name popped up. Sometimes some interesting information can be gained from that. Just try to make sure you have some pretty good evidence if you're going to report something to a moderator. They have enough to do without people "crying wolf" constantly. Also, don't expect them to find every catfish and troll on the site. There aren't enough hours in the day. No site is completely safe. You can do your part by keeping your eyes and ears open.
Although, some people here who get pointed out as trolls can actually be people with mental disorders. Just throwing that out there.
IP addresses were mentioned above. On this site, standard users can't see a person's IP address...only the staff can see that. That's typical for most sites. However, your IP address can be taken from e-mails you send to someone off site. Some e-mail providers may have adjusted some things to hide this completely by now, but I'm not sure. I'm not going into that. Basically, your IP is a personal identification number for your computer. Someone who gets it can even pinpoint your physical location.
That said, IP addresses are not even foolproof. The best computer savvy Catfish or troll knows how to get around that and alter it too. It's perfectly legal.
Video can be faked. Someone could put up a recorded stream of someone else. If someone gets on cam for you, make them do something silly that couldn't possibly be faked. Photos are even easier to fake. Make them send you a picture with an odd request that can't be Photoshopped. Some people are excellent with Photoshop and other similar programs though , so be very creative.
Yes, what these people do is absolutely wrong. However, we should forgive them and pray for them. Forgiving them doesn't mean we even have to stay in contact with them. I'm definitely not in contact with either I mentioned. However, I've forgiven them and prayed for them. We need to pray for these types. Anyone who would do such a thing has some serious issues going on.
I hope that in the times I talked with the ones I mentioned, they did get something out of it even though they were lying about who they were. Hopefully God planted some seeds there, as I was able to share a lot about Him.
If you're on the internet, you're a potential target. The only way to get around that is to turn it off. Of course, in person people can deceive you too and I wouldn't suggest locking yourself away in a room and never coming out. It's just a lot easier to be deceptive online.
You just have to be as safe and careful as you possibly can if you're going to be online.
One last thing: Just because someone refuses to go on cam for you, give you a pic immediately, share their real name etc. etc. does not necessarily mean they are a Catfish. It could just mean they are being wise. It'd be foolish to just carelessly share that kind of information, especially if you're female. Now if you see yourself possibly moving into a serious friendship or other relationship with them and they won't verify themselves with those things at some point....Then maybe you should be worried.
Happy hunting. Be safe.