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B
Okay, how about folks who are naturally bashful, aka, Yours Truly?
Remember that catfishing is about fabricating an identity for the purpose of entertaining a temporary romantic relationship. The catfish pre-plans the entire fake identity before he meets any of the victims.
A shy person, on the other hand, has a real identity and he/she eventually caves when a "comfort zone" is reached in a relationship. It's not like shy people never get to marry.
Remember that catfishing is about fabricating an identity for the purpose of entertaining a temporary romantic relationship. The catfish pre-plans the entire fake identity before he meets any of the victims.
A shy person, on the other hand, has a real identity and he/she eventually caves when a "comfort zone" is reached in a relationship. It's not like shy people never get to marry.
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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.
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.
Attachments
M
If ya reveal how to catch a catfish.
Dontcha think the catfish are gonna be enlightened to how to change their approach?
A virus mutates to avoid the serum
It's like ya don't go up to the enemy and say
I'm gonna attack you from the back at 5:00 am !!!! HA!!
Is the enemy that obvious toward us?
No.
Be wise as serpents
Dontcha think the catfish are gonna be enlightened to how to change their approach?
A virus mutates to avoid the serum
It's like ya don't go up to the enemy and say
I'm gonna attack you from the back at 5:00 am !!!! HA!!
Is the enemy that obvious toward us?
No.
Be wise as serpents
B
Re: O.O How to ID a Catfish
Like sweet! I totally luv this picture!
Nay, I cannot tell it's photoshop, but I can tell that the guy in the photo is my kid brother.
What if I told NiceGuy that the the girls in the photo are my cousins? In that case, photoshop wouldn't be relevant. Catfish relies on fabricating a story told with photos he collects online from real people he's never met.
Like sweet! I totally luv this picture!
Nay, I cannot tell it's photoshop, but I can tell that the guy in the photo is my kid brother.
What if I told NiceGuy that the the girls in the photo are my cousins? In that case, photoshop wouldn't be relevant. Catfish relies on fabricating a story told with photos he collects online from real people he's never met.
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B
That's the whole point: don't be a victim be changing your approach to these creeps.
Don't believe their stories unless you've actually spoken to the Dean of the University the catfishes claim to have graduated from.
Don't believe their stories unless you've seen the catfish on video with the rest of his friends, family members in their stories.
Don't believe anything unless the dude has actually landed at your local airport where you can see his photo on his passport!
Don't believe they love you because, frankly, they never have! LOL
Don't believe their stories unless you've actually spoken to the Dean of the University the catfishes claim to have graduated from.
Don't believe their stories unless you've seen the catfish on video with the rest of his friends, family members in their stories.
Don't believe anything unless the dude has actually landed at your local airport where you can see his photo on his passport!
Don't believe they love you because, frankly, they never have! LOL
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M
That's the whole point: don't be a victim be changing your approach to these creeps.
Don't believe their stories unless you've actually spoken to the Dean of the University the catfishes claim to have graduated from.
Don't believe their stories unless you've seen the catfish on video with the rest of his friends, family members in their stories.
Don't believe anything unless the dude has actually landed at your local airport where you can see his photo on his passport!
Don't believe they love you because, frankly, they never have! LOL
Don't believe their stories unless you've actually spoken to the Dean of the University the catfishes claim to have graduated from.
Don't believe their stories unless you've seen the catfish on video with the rest of his friends, family members in their stories.
Don't believe anything unless the dude has actually landed at your local airport where you can see his photo on his passport!
Don't believe they love you because, frankly, they never have! LOL
Ok ok ok
God may have discussed with satan Jobs redeeming qualities .
But why?
to set satan up right?
it was a trap
its always a trap
God will always "in your face to satan"
God didnt really give a rats hoot what satan thought about Job, right?
Now...did God discuss the reason behind Jesus dying in front of satan?
or was that a surprise when satan thought
hahaha I getta kill jesus by getting Gods creation to do it for me
and jesus was able to say
"forgive them for they know not what they do" and in your face satan
and...come and kick the door in and to take the keys of death away from him because that may have been the only way for God to be in satans presence without destroying him is to have taken on the form of sin to be able to be in the presence of sin.
and again....satan fell for it always being allowed to think he had the upper hand when God was 777 steps ahead of him the whole time.
Just be careful how much of the master plan gets discussed in front of the wolves amongst sheep
Okay?
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BBB seems to have written a story on Catfishing on 1/22/2013.
According to Online Dating Scams: What is Catfishing? - BBB News Center,
another wise idea is to look at when the profile was first created. If it was within the past week, something could be catfishy.
According to Online Dating Scams: What is Catfishing? - BBB News Center,
another wise idea is to look at when the profile was first created. If it was within the past week, something could be catfishy.
B
Correct. Also consider that a catfish will create dummy profiles at various websites, and then let the fake profiles sit dormant over several months, even years, to create the illusion that the catfish is an establish identity.
It all boils down to: be wise! Ask questions! Verify all the answers!!
A person who truly is interested in you and wants to love you will also protect you by being transparent with you. Don't be a victim. ...just saying.
It all boils down to: be wise! Ask questions! Verify all the answers!!
A person who truly is interested in you and wants to love you will also protect you by being transparent with you. Don't be a victim. ...just saying.
