Catch the Catfish

Have you heard of the term "catfish"? Here's how Urban Dictionary describes it:

A lot of people attribute this term to the 2010 documentary, "Catfish". Go find it and watch it after reading this blog post ;-)

My friend was recently catfished. Well, almost. It was by sheer coincidence that I told her about "Catfish" and it made her realize that someone on her social network might actually be catfishing her. After doing some googling, she soon confirmed that her stalker was maintaining two separate Facebook page profiles to support his lies (both pages have been deleted) and he's actually a 50-something guy from another country 0_o

Catfishers prey on emotional vulnerabilities; it toys with the human need to socialize and to connect on a personal level. Here are some tips for protecting yourself against catfishing:

1. Limit what you share about yourself.
When you meet new people on random occasions, you don't immediately tell them about that time when you were a kid and you did that embarrassing thing, right? Right? Well, if you do, then you should probably rethink your self-preservation methods ;-) While we want to believe there's good in most people, it's wise to be a bit distrustful of new people you meet online. Do it the old-fashioned way: develop a real friendship first before disclosing anything personal.


2. Review the privacy settings of your online interactions.
That's what those privacy settings are for! Be as secretive as you want to be. Besides, if someone's genuinely interested to be your friend (or more), they would be serious about it and do something proper, like start a real friendship or have a coffee date, not stalk you online.


3. Think before you post.
Are you giving away any personal information or revealing opinions about yourself in that post or comment? Catfishers horde stuff like that and use them as bait to pull you in slowly.


4. Research.
Whenever you make a new, random connection online, use your googling powers to check if they are really who they say. There are common signs that tell if someone may be catfishing you. Check out this blog post to learn what those are.


5. Meet up ASAP!
This is self-explanatory, but be smart about how you do it. Ask a trusted friend to go with you or to stay near where you will be. Meet in a safe, public place (like a cafe or restaurant) in the daytime.

Read more: this other blog post has more tips about keeping yourself safe from cyberstalking.