Everything You Need To Know About Catfishing—Explained

Slate defines a catfish as “a person who creates a fake online profile in order to fraudulently seduce someone. It has also become a verb to refer to the act of doing so.” Want to look like an e-girl? There’s a filter for that. How about getting some instant abs? Strategic cropping will do the trick. Need “’proof” of where you live? Just Google it. Everything you need to back up a fake identity is more accessible than ever, with technology as its evil enabler.

If you watched Netflix’s social media reality show The Circle, then you know that real emotions are involved, for both the catfish and its catch. In the show, the contestants are holed up in separate rooms and interact with each other using a fake social network called "The Circle." But here’s the thing: They can be anyone they want. Some chose to be authentic, but a few had fun catfishing other players in the game. As expected, people were led on and some got hurt. The identities could be fake, but repercussions of a fake identity—whether in a reality show or IRL—are fucking real.

First of all, why is it called “catfishing?”

Meet Nev Schulman, the guy behind the 2010 documentary Catfish:

A decade ago, he thought he met his soulmate online, only to find out later on that she’s actually a 40-year-old married woman who made up details to fuel their online relationship. In the online world Nev was led to believe, he fell in love with a 19-year-old woman from the Midwest. But because of inconsistencies in the woman’s story, he traveled to Michigan with his brother and filmmaker friend and ultimately discovered the truth.

"There are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh."

The woman’s husband, Vince Pierce, was the one who inspired the title of the documentary through his metaphorical explanation below:

“They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. They’d keep them in vats in the ship. By the time the codfish reached China, the flesh was mush and tasteless. So this guy came up with the idea that if you put these cods in these big vats, put some catfish in with them and the catfish will keep the cod agile. And there are those people who are catfish in life. And they keep you on your toes. They keep you guessing, they keep you thinking, they keep you fresh. And I thank god for the catfish because we would be droll, boring, and dull if we didn’t have somebody nipping at our fin.”

Watch it here:

After Catfish came out, Nev received a flood of messages from people who experienced the same thing, and soon MTV backed him up and launched a TV show about it.

P.S. Nev eventually found his happy ending, so good for him!

Types of catfishing

In this interesting article by Digital Trends, author Molly McHugh wrote that catfishing is not “one size fits all.” Here are some she identified:

Revenge catfish: “This catfish feels he or she was wronged by you (or someone or something you’re tied to) and is pathologically creating this online romance simply to get back at you.”

Bored catfish: “This catfish has an Internet connection and too much time on his or her hands. You may or may not know this person.”

Secretly-in-love-with-you catfish: “This catfish harbors an unrequited crush on you, and for some reason doesn’t find him—or herself good enough in real life to go for it.”

Scary catfish: “This catfish is simply out to break hearts and cause chaos.”

Lonely catfish: “This catfish usually has some sort of sob story and needs someone to talk too, and with a pretty picture and a Facebook profile, you’ve become that person.”

Is catfishing illegal and punishable in the Philippines?

Esquire Philippines consulted Prof. JJ Disini, managing partner of the Disini Law Office and an associate professor and head of technology law and public policy at the U.P. College of Law. Atty. Disini said that there is no provision in Republic Act 10175, or the Cyber Crime Prevention Act of 20120, that covers catfishing, or the act of creating a fake persona on the internet to target someone for abuse, deception, and fraud.

However, Atty. Disini pointed to RA 11313 or the so-called Safe Spaces Law in the case of gender-based online sexual harassment.

Article 2, Section 12 of RA 11313 states:

Gender-based online sexual harassment includes acts that use information and communications technology in terrorizing and intimidating victims through physical, psychological, and emotional threats, unwanted misogynistic, transphobic, homophobic, and sexist remarks and comments online whether publicly or through direct or private messages, invasion of victim’s privacy through cyberstalking, and incessant messaging, uploading and sharing without the consent of the victim, any form of media that contains photos, voice or video with sexual content, any unauthorized recording and sharing of any of the victim’s photos, videos or any information online, impersonating identities of victims of online or posting lies about victims to harm their reputation or filing false abuse reports to online platforms to silence victims.

The penalty for offenses under this law is prison correccional (six months to six years) or a fine of not less than P100,000 but not more than 500,000, or both.

In this case, Atty. Disini says alleged victims can come forward and file a complaint if they so choose and present evidence to the satisfaction of the prosecutor.

How to tell you’re being catfished

If you would like to befriend someone online, or take your relationship to the next level, it's always the responsible thing to verify his or her identity. Here are some red flags to watch out for to see if you have a catfish in your midst:

1. They don’t provide vital/basic info. Think: religion, age, occupation, etc.
2. They don’t give you their Instagram handle or they “don’t have social media at all.” It’s 2020; who doesn’t have any sort of social media presence? Even your tita has one! P.S. If they don’t have many followers or friends (like only one friend), it might be a red flag too.
3. They postpone meeting up IRL—or doing video chats.
4. They’re wearing sunglasses or are actively covering their face.
5. All the pics on their profile are group photos—you can’t even really tell who they are.
6. Their pics are grainy or from far distances away. You won’t be able to identify any facial features.
7. They won’t pick up a phone call. A man catfishing as a woman or vice versa will need planning to make this believable, so it’s not going to be on the spot.
8. Their story doesn’t add up, aka they are “too good to be true.”
9. They’re using someone else’s photos. Conduct a Google reverse image search based on the photos they’re using. If the photos are linked to someone else’s profile, that’s a catfish.
10. Their only photos are professional—no candids. If a day-to-day, raw photo is hard to find, it’s a warning sign.
11. They ask you for money. You should never send money to ANYONE you have never met, unless it’s for a legit charity.
12. Something just feels off. Trust your instinct; it can save you.

Sources: Teen Vogue, Digital Trends

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