Fishing for Catfish

Playing them at their own game

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

The initial approach will seem innocent enough. A simple message from someone you don’t know, you look at the profile picture and they look worth chatting with so you respond and start a conversation. In the beginning it will all be very chatty as they get to know you - and you get to know them. There will be an extensive back story about their family and what’s happening in their life, and probably lots of messages going back and forth.

You might notice they rarely use your name, if at all, instead you’ll be called ‘honey’ or ‘sweetie’ or ‘dearie’. They probably don’t work, if you ask them that, and if you ask to speak on a voice or video call there will be a reason why they can’t do that - the camera or microphone is broken, for instance. If they could get a new phone they’d love to chat with you as much as you want, but they can’t afford it.

It may be only after a few days or a week or so that they have money issues and ask if you could help them, maybe for a new phone, something their children need, medication for health issues, anything that might touch your heart strings. If you ask how you can help them out with what might only be a small amount to start with, it’ll probably be by voucher - they certainly aren’t likely to give you their bank details for an online transaction, or accept a cheque in their (fictitious) name.

If you’ve seen all these red flags the best thing for you to do is block them and forget them. You certainly shouldn’t be sending money to someone you don’t know, have never spoken to or seen live - regardless of the pictures of them that you have seen.

If you should decide to play them at their own game you can start by finding out where they are really based which can be done by finding out their IP address. You only need a simple knowledge of computers to do this. Take a look at the catfish’s link in the browser bar and copy it (let’s say it’s an Instagram account - it could look like https://www.instagram.com/alisonjeff___179033568/ Go to Grabify.com and follow the instruction to obtain a link (make use of one of the alternate domain links). Keep that tab open and, when you’re chatting with the catfish, tell them that you’ve got something really funny to show them and send the Grabify link. When they click on it they will simply go to their profile page and see nothing odd - but if you now refresh your Grabify tab you will see their IP and a lot of other information at the bottom of the page. Unless they are using a VPN this will show where in the world they really are.

If you want to tease the catfish you could say that your bank account is frozen at the moment due to suspicious activity - an excuse they might have used to require a voucher rather than bank transfer - but you’ll help them when you can. Ask for their address so you can send some flowers to cheer them up, maybe. The address won’t be theirs, of course, but will be where they say they are, then later tell them that you’ve posted them a cheque! Play with them for a while - but never send them anything or give them any real personal details - until you decide to let them know that their game is up.

The more times catfish get played with the less faith they’ll have in what they’re doing and maybe they’ll decide to earn an honest living instead!

Good luck with your fishing!

I’ll be posting examples of catfish I have caught which you can follow in the links below.

LINK #1 Alison - approached through Instagram                                         Back to New Models