Catfishing, or who is hiding on the other side of the screen
Being on the other side of the screen, we often feel safe and anonymous. What’s the situation like when you’re making online friends? Can feelings deprive us of our alertness? And what does it have to do with “catfishing”? About this in the text below.
The term “catfisher” refers to a person who on various dating or social networking sites (including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter) attributes an identity to himself or herself. To cover up who he really is, an “identity thief” creates false accounts with false data by adding stolen photos.
Its aim is to deceive people by systematically and over a long period of time building an emotional bond with them. The most popular motives for such action are:
loneliness;
Revenge;
Curiosity;
boredom.
The more dangerous motives for the actions of the “catfishers” include also the desire to extort money or other material goods. In such situations, the victims, unaware that they are them, feel obliged to help the person they have started to affection for.
How to know that the person we write with is not real?
When it comes to emotions, it’s very hard to know if the other side is 100% honest with us. And even more so, when the person we are corresponding with seems to be the ideal person. The following are the signals that indicate that our online interlocutor may not be who they say they are:
1.First of all, attractiveness
“Identity thieves often create their image in such a way that society perceives them as very attractive. Thanks to this, they arouse our interest and additionally make us feel honored that it was us they chose and sent us a message.
The walking ideal
Elliot Aronson in his book entitled “The Beast of the World”. “Social Psychology” describes the phenomenon of similarity as an important part of interpersonal attractiveness: “Similar people provide social support for our own qualities and beliefs (confirm our beliefs)”. It becomes natural that we want to surround ourselves with people who will admit that we are right and who will stand on our side if necessary.
3. lack of photographs
People who impersonate someone else may not want to share their photos and avoid webcam conversations. This allows them to remain anonymous.
4. excuses
Does a person you meet on the Internet still have excuses for meeting in the real world? Be careful, this is another way to stay hidden.
5) Too serious, too early
Deep relationships should be based on trust, and time is needed to build them. So it is worth noting that the other side gets involved too early.
6) Asking for money
When a person we know only from the Internet asks us to borrow money, we should immediately verify their motives. If the money is to be donated to charity, there are many crowdfunding portals where you can find information about official collections, which will help to dispel doubts about the real purpose of the support. If, however, there is no way to confirm the actual need, it is better to ask for a meeting and then talk about possible support.
The 2012 story
A well-known example is the story of young football player Manti Te’o, who became a victim of catfishing. Manti met a girl online, who after some time he considered to be his second half (although they did not meet in the real world). One day he received information that his beloved had died of leukemia, and soon afterwards he found out that… never existed. The person he was writing with turned out to be a friend-man who decided to make fun of a footballer.
The presence on the Internet is a great help for many Internet users in contacting people from different parts of the world or helping to overcome shyness.
– However, we are not able to verify all the data, so we often rely on trust – says Robert Dziemianko from G DATA. So how to defend yourself against fraudsters? – A good solution is to use software that will protect your smartphone or computer against phishing attempts or suspicious pseudo-social websites. This will provide security for both children and teenagers, who are more trustworthy, as well as adults, who are also exposed to the attack of “catfishers”. It is also worth remembering that by sending us properly encrypted files, a catfisher can access our documents or even view us via a webcam. Anti-virus software will easily track the attempt to “invade” the computer and eliminate the threat.