Catfish Identities are essentially impostors – scammers. Because scammers steal images owned by others, they can pretend to be anyone they want. This type of scammer con happens to millions of people yearly.
Scammers rely on building your trust in them. Their stories and situations can seem real to begin with, but usually end up with a totally immediate emergency situation. And then there is another calamity and another. They might be after your money, secrets, love, attention, gifts, family, or even your life.
They don’t need you to trust them forever and, after a while, the red flags may begin to add up in your mind. However, for as long as you can and do trust them, they have you in their web. And they will use every lie, trick, and excuse to keep you right where they want you to be.
It is your job to protect yourself from a scammer. You might think that the person you’re talking to online is who they claim to be. But how do you know for sure?
Is Catfishing Illegal?
Having a distinct online identity and even catfishing someone (as long as no money or gifts are exchanged or requested) is legal in most cases. This means that a scammer could be pretending to be someone else and not even be breaking the law!
You might be sharing private personal photographs or information with someone older or younger than you thought. And not even the gender they claimed to be. Many scammers claim they are United States citizens, but live or work internationally in 3rd world countries such as Belarus.
The reality is that you should fact-check every person you regularly connect with online. The best way to do this is by image search. This is because scammers can’t use their real photographs. So they have stolen the images they are sending you from the web! When you search for the photos they have sent you, you can unmask the scammer(s) in your life!
How to check
- Go to Social Catfish.
- Select “Image”.
- Then, upload or browse the images you have saved from a scammer’s texts, emails, social profile, dating profile, etc.
- Clear images are essential for a successful search.
- Search the best pictures you have first and crop any additional backgrounds (for instance, if you took a screenshot from Facebook and the background for your web screen shows).
- Review results.
- Social Catfish sorts your results into similar and exact matches. Review both.
One plus is that the site’s algorithm will continue to scan the web for your scammer’s images regularly. You may find a match that links to other fake scammer profiles or to the original person, who owns the photos. The original owner probably doesn’t know they’re being used incorrectly by a scammer!
You should now Take Action. Once you find results that prove you’re dealing with a scammer, block their profile. Also, contact the site or platform where you met them and report their fake profile. If you have lost funds or money, report the crime to the Federal Trade Commission.
How to research Catfish Identities
For the price of one cup of coffee, you can prevent even one more day of anguish due to being conned by a scammer. Don’t let scammers steal your money, account or credit information, gift cards, or identity. Send a message to catfish and scammers by taking action and finding proof on Social Catfish.
Social Catfish has the tools that scammers hate! We can help you search by name, username, email address, phone number, and search by image. Conduct a reverse image search today !!
Or search by NAME EMAIL PHONE USERNAME IMAGE
They Respect Your Privacy
A Shared Experience
I had been chatting with a man for quite some time – several months – he said he was an archaeologist and we had some interesting conversations. This is an account of what happened next.
He had just won a contract for a dig in Europe. I am going to be a little vague here to protect everyone’s identity. He returned home but was called to check the dig site on short notice. He planned only to be gone a couple of days, so did not have time to set up some financial things for his kids before he left.
On the second day that he was at the site, his worker, who accompanied him from the States, was injured while they were examining a cave. This delayed his return when planned. At the same time, my friend’s son was due to go home for Christmas from boarding school. He realized that he had neglected to arrange a flight home for his son. He also had not sent a tuition payment that was due. My friend asked me if I could send $1,200 to the school for the tuition and his son’s airline ticket.. My friend assured me that he would be home by Christmas Day and would pay me right back.
The Plot thickens
Sounded like a real dilemma and although it would put me in a financial bind if I didn’t get the money back by the first of the month, I didn’t even consider that he would not be home and paying me right back. He sent me wire directions to send the money to the Registrar at the school. I had no reason to question it and did not check any of the details.
Then the story got worse. The hospital was demanding $800 cash before they would operate to set the compound fracture in the man’s leg. And the injured worker was threatening to call the police if my friend went home and left him. My friend did not have that much cash and he asked me for it. I couldn’t come up with it and so my friend did not get home for Christmas with his kids and I did not get my money back when I expected it.
And Thickens some more
When the first of January came, I got to wondering if the son had gotten back to school somehow even though his Dad had not gotten home. I contacted the woman, who was supposed to be the Registrar at the school. In a conversation with her, I learned that she had been corresponding with a person – an archaeologist – in the same little village in this remote country in Europe. She sent me a picture of this person, who she said was her fiance. She had been sending him money and he was supposed to come home the previous weekend but was delayed.
The picture did not in any way resemble my friend. Her fiance was 60-ish, a grandfather, raising a 3-year-old grandson. My friend was in his 40’s or 50’s, we had never discussed age, but he had two teenage children – a boy 15, and a girl 13. I had a picture of them. But two archaeologists in this same little village??? Both need money??? And with similar first names. We both became suspicious.
I had heard about this site that would do picture scans for scammers. I found it on the Internet and sent her a guy’s picture through the scan first while I dug to find a picture of my friend with his kids. The first scan came back with 25 perfect matches. He was an Argentinian celebrity with many copies of the exact match for the photo she had. We had proof that her fiance was not who he said he was.
Another photo scan
A scan of my friend’s pictures – I sent two through the scan – came back with no 100{0cdeda01f3f3bfc56e7a77b9bf298b3f7d32c3660f53c61fbe1a94dd1c6575f6} matches, however, I am still unsure about who he really is. He claims he was not the same person posing as the fiance of the other woman. He says someone must have stolen HIS identity from the village.
As for the money I sent for the son’s tuition and transportation, the “Registrar” woman says she sent it to her fiance’s brother to pay bills. Now how did my friend’s son get home for Christmas????
In conclusion, something definitely is fishy about this whole story – so it is time to beware. It is a shame because I really liked this guy as a friend. It is happening to hundreds of women a year so don’t feel embarrassed, if you’ve been deceived also. Just don’t send money that you can’t afford to lose. And Guys, you need to be aware also, it is not just guys that pose as someone or something they are not — there are women who do it too. I guess you could say, that if it seems too good to be true, then it probably is.
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