Best Ways to Spot a Catfish

The innovation in technology has certainly offered plenty of useful ways to handle our crucial tasks in the most effective manner. However, this advancement in technology has also given way to scammers to trap innocent people and perform various illegal and unethical activities. 

Catfishing is a serious concern when it comes to online dating. Social media is mainly used to communicate with friends and loved ones. Similarly, many people use social media sites to make new friends. Online dating is also on the rise, especially after this post-pandemic period. However, tracking the authenticity of a person is surely a herculean task, as the invention of various advanced utilities supports scammers to mislead people with their fake identities.

But it’s not only catfish with dubious edits or unreal photos that you must look out for. There are various full-on romance fraudsters on the web that must be tracked too. The primary question that arises over here is how we can spot catfish.  

This blog post will mainly discuss the effective methods to detect a catfish. But, before stepping on to the ways, we first need to learn what falls under catfishing and why people practice it. So, let’s start by getting a quick overview of catfish without any further ado! 

Catfishing: How it Occurs? 

 Catfish is the act of creating a false or fake identity in order to trap people to achieve unethical or illegal goals by luring them into relationships online. Catfish are mainly referred to as predators who cover themselves under a fake identity to lure innocent people. However, the important thing to understand here is that catfish are not alone who create fake identities on the internet. The primary difference that separates catfishes from scammers and other online imposters is that they try to make a relationship and carry it for an extensive time. 

Prominent Reasons for Catfishing

 There are many reasons that lead individuals to practice this awful act. The majority of catfishers have poor self-esteem and have the desire to make a relationship with someone they won’t believe will be interested in them. Similarly, harassing a person, trolling, or desire to take revenge on someone are also major causes of catfishing. 

Is catfishing a type of cyberbullying? Yes! There are possibilities of situations where catfishing seems like another form of cyberbullying. However, there are also possibilities where catfish is performed to scam money from their victims, or it’s the initial step to physically abuse a person. But, no matter what the cause is, we all need to take appropriate steps to save ourselves from catfishers. If you feel that you are communicating with a catfish online, the first thing you must do is cut the ties with them, even if you feel that they won’t have the desire to harm you and commit this act out of loneliness. Deception in any relationship is never justifiable. 

Here, the important question that pops up in our minds is how we can find out if someone is a catfish. Well, we’ve gathered a few signs that will indicate you are being catfished. So, let’s uncover them without any further ado! 

Ways to Spot Out If Someone Is Catfishing You

 Here are a few suggestions that will help individuals if they are being catfished. 

 Their Pictures Are Extremely Incredible 

 Certainly, many people have a gift of good looks. However, there are many pictures on social media that seem suspiciously too airbrushed, which leads you to think of it and do some digging. The assistance of a reverse image search tool can be useful for you in this regard. The facility is ideal for tracking image search catfish from various online platforms that provide you with a chance to ensure if it's fake or not.

They are Never Ready for A Video Call

 I am out with friends, it’s too late, or I don’t feel comfortable on video calls are a few most used excuses used by catfishers. Whenever you ask FaceTime, they give you the same lines as the one stated. The next day, you ask the same question, and they would have some urgent work at the office, their cell phone’s battery is going to die, or the camera isn’t working fine. If you listen to these lines from a person you meet online again and again, then use a catfish image search to verify that someone you met online is real or not. They don’t want to appear on a video call because they aren’t real. 

They will Have Only a Few Friends or Followers

 Another useful way to spot a catfish is by analyzing its friend or followers list. These catfishes usually don’t have many friends. When asked, they will give you reasons like my old account was hacked, or I forgot the password of my previous account, so I made this account only a few months ago. Or, I don’t bother to look for ways to get a huge number of real friends on social media. The easiest way to verify the legitimacy of accounts on Instagram or Twitter is by checking the following they have. The consistent activities across different platforms define the account as real, and they are whom they claim they are. 

They Will Ask You for Money

The ultimate reason for catfishing is to gain some illegal benefits. If you are flirting with a person online who is in financial trouble and you are the one who can save him, according to him, then the best thing you can do is to cut that person out of life and block all contact. There are also possibilities they won’t ask you for money directly. Instead, they give you hints about miserable situations. In case this happens to you, give them moral support and ask them to take a loan from a bank or use a credit card. Trusting a person you met online may lead you to face serious consequences.  

They are Available only at Specific Hours 

 Got a message from your online friend at 4 AM? Don’t you find it fishy, especially if this happens quite often? Why not that person available during the day hours? The catfishes often communicate with their targets at unsocial hours. This is because they live a double life. They perform their actual life tasks during normal hours; that’s why they are only available at such stupid hours for communication. If any of your friends texts you at such ambiguous times and gives you suspicious reasons about not being able to talk during normal day hours, simply get rid of them as soon as possible. 

 Try SmallSEOtools’ Pro Image Search Tool

 SmallSEOtools.com offers a highly advanced and reliable image search tool that helps you detect any fake profile on social media instantly. Simply copy the pictures of any suspicious profile and paste them on this image search catfish tool. The tool will scour the internet to find similar pictures on the web. So, if they are using stolen images, it will be highlighted in the given results. The best part is that this image search tool digs deep into the web and provides you with reverse image search results from all major search engines. The pro image search utility allows you to make a photo search for only $0.0329. You can also opt for a monthly package of only 9.89/Month. This will allow you to detect the authenticity of any profile or track up to 300 pictures.

Final Words 

 The information stated above would have guided you on how catfishes target their prey to gain benefits. Finding such scammers easily is surely not an easy task. However, the suggestions we have stated in this post will surely help you spot catfishes and avoid any undesired situations. The assistance of modern facilities like catfish photo search tools can also be helpful in detecting fake people on the web.