Catfishing

When it comes to catfishing, there are many risks involved. Individuals on the receiving end of catfishing “may experience sadness, anger, confusion, reduced self esteem, and even homicidal or suicidal thoughts once the deception is discovered” (Campbell and Parker, 2022). The effects of catfishing on a person’s psyche are almost detrimental to who that person was prior to the incident of the vast betrayal. Individuals tend to think psychological risks are the only risks involved for people who are being deceived. 

Apart from the detrimental psychological effects catfishing has on the victim, there can also be life altering physical effects as well. The form most often thought of as a tangible repercussion is financial loss of the victim. According to (Whitty and Buchanan, 2016), at least 230,000 UK citizens have fallen victim to financial fraud through the guise of online dating. (Whitty and Buchanan, 2016) discuss a “Scammers’ Persuasive Technique Model” to which financial scammers flow through in order to be successful in their con. In some of the earliest stages of the discussed model, “the scammer declares their love for the victim and requests that their relationship move from the dating site to Instant Messenger (IM) and email, stating they want an exclusive relationship with the victim” (Whitty and Buchanan, 2016). Through this, the scammer is able to begin the grooming process. The scammer is very precise about when they begin to ask for money from the victim. Throughout the weeks, months, and even years that the con lasts, the scammer is developing an intimate relationship with the target. They begin asking for small favors or gifts. After this test, the scammer will most likely come up with a story as to why they need small amounts of money. An example given by (Whitty and Buchanan, 2016) states “a ‘doctor’ might contact the victim telling them their loved- one is in hospital. Money might be requested to pay fictitious hospital bills, or for air- plane tickets”. Only after this does the scammer jump to larger sums of money. Side effects from falling victim to financial catfishing can include disbelief, confusion, loss of status, social ridicule, loss of assets, depression, etc. Interestingly, (Whitty and Buchanan, 2016) found that most of the individuals who were victim to online scammers felt more anguish over the loss of the intimate relationship rather than the loss of the money itself. 

Is catfishing always pretending to be a whole different person?

The short answer is: no. Catfishing is a very broad term that individuals tend to associate with the complete fabrication of oneself online. Catfishing can look like a lot of different things. It can look like a photo that is presented on a Tinder photo that was taken 4 years ago with 50 lbs less than their current weight. It can look like a man saying he is 6 '4 " but is really 5' 8. Overall, catfishing is intentional deception when it comes to online dating. A perfect example of this is exemplified in a client analysis conducted by (Knafo, 2021). Within this analysis, (Knafo, 2021) discussed a female client portraying herself as a man online. By some simple photo editing, she was able to seduce and deceive hundreds of unsuspecting women since she was the age of ten. Within the conclusion of this piece, it is revealed that the ‘catfish’ was actually suppressing her sexuality.