Ever thought that your conversation with a partner was too good to be true? Ever wondered why that beautiful person only has one picture with minimal followers? Often find yourself feeling disappointed by your partner not wanting to meet-up or call, instead, spending hours messaging online? If you answered yes to most of these, then you, my friend, have found yourself a catfish.

What is Catfishing?

The advent of technology has meant that the ever-growing world has gotten smaller. Unknown dissimilarities have become more common, and the wandering-eye of the dirty dog need’nt wander, as the images move instead. All of these seemingly contradictory changes have meant that it’s just too damn easy to pretend to be someone else. From fake photos to bum-numbing stories — this, my friends, is known as the nightmare of catfishing.

When ‘is lying a sin’gets googled, the results vary, with the most popular stating that it depends on the ‘truth it deforms’. Now, if the truth deformed is the authenticity of the loving connection between two people, then show me the change.org petition to ban all forms of it – watch me sign that twice. The term ‘catfishing’ was first coined on Nev Shulman’s MTV show Catfish. Here, the world witnessed the culprits being caught red-handed and, often, left speechless on camera.

Do people still Catfish?

Despite the success of this show, catfishing still happens on a large-scale. A 2018 survey by a Hungarian men’s lifestyle brand revealed that 1 in 3 dirty dogs are tricked into sending money or sexually explicit photos. As stated by the founder, catfishing causes ‘real emotional damage and financial damage.’ It’s even worse in America, where more than half the dirty dogs out there say that they’ve seen someone else present fake information. In short, there are tonnes of phonies out there. You need only google Catfish to find countless articles discussing the concept in action.

How to escape a catfish?

So, where does that leave us? The wonderful world of CLiKD App blog readers have come this far down for answers. First thing’s first, if you ever find yourself in a position where you suspect that you’re being duped by someone special, ask yourself: have you met the person yet? Have you had a phone call with them? Have you even seen more than 5 photos of this person with other people? These phonies hide behind fake images and false stories, so they usually can’t produce photos on-demand or speak on the phone, let alone meet-up.

Next on the list are all the online tools out there. The suspect’s social media is always a good place to start. If you find yourself asking for their socials and you’re met with a long-winded reply, you should delete your account, turn off your phone, and throw it out the window. Okay, maybe don’t be so dramatic… but you get the message.

Another useful tool is the reverse image search tool. This tool searches for any images that are similar to the image you originally searched. This is super helpful during a ‘too good to be true’ moment. Now, everyone is beautiful in their own way, but we’ve also all had our moments when we’re talking to someone who we feel is just too attractive for us. In these times, it helps to have a quick reverse-image-search. At least this way, you prevent any future tears if caught by an absolute story-teller.

See? I wasn’t joking when I said that it’s raining catfish and dogs! We have tonnes of dogs out there looking to secure a multitude of lucky nights. Also, what seems like an equal amount, if not more, phoney cats out there looking to secure a quick bit of dosh. I can only implore you all to stay vigilante and fall in love — don’t fall over.