These reality checks will help you tune up your radar and go into any new relationship, especially any new online relationship, with open eyes.  And those open eyes are your best protection for your open heart.

Are You Being Baited by a Catfish?

10 Online Dating Reality Checks

By: Anne Wade

1. Too Good to Be True.  I’m a top model making over $1m a year. I’m CEO of a billion dollar international company. There’s a reason for the old saying “If something seems too good to be true it probably is” and catfish profiles often fall into this category. Some red flags – like too many claims to beauty, fame, and fortune – are pretty common.

2. Grammar and Spelling Fails.  

Foreigners often slip up on landmarks, news, pop culture, and sporting or cultural events. And they are notorious for spelling, sentence structure, and grammar mistakes. If it sounds fishy, you are probably being baited. 

3. No Pictures or Fake-looking Pictures.  

If all their photos look a little too professional, watch out. It’s easy to snag photos from around the internet, but tools like Scam Digger, Romance Scam,Google Goggles, and CamFind can help you check them out. Become a Photo Sleuth!

4. Gets Too Personal, Too Serious, Too Fast.

Catfish are notorious for rushing things. They are pros at listening to you describe your hopes and dreams and offering them back to you as their own. If your own dating or Facebook profile is full of intimate details, they may have even created their own with your hopes and dreams in mind, a “perfect match” right out of the box.

5. Major Illness or Injury

This one’s a doozy and getting more sophisticated. Everything seems to be going along just fine when suddenly there is an emergency.  It might be a serious illness, an accident, a death in the family, or any number of urgent situations.

6. Asks for Money.

If they ask for money, run! And lock the door behind you – no more communication of any kind.  It’s too easy to slip up and inadvertently share too much information.

7. Won’t “Go Live.”

 It’s common for catfish to want to see you live on Skype or Facetime, but somehow their own equipment never seems to work. Or they claim to not have any equipment which should be viewed as ludicrous since they have something on which they can set up a profile and communicate with you. 

8. Buying You with Gifts.

Though this sounds counterintuitive for someone who is trying to scam you, it’s easy enough to order gifts like flowers and candy over the internet and even use stolen cards or account information to pay for them.

9. Facebook Fakers.

Also applies to Twitter. If this person has fewer than 100 friends, few or no personal posts, photos that look professional and that don’t include family, friends, or friendly events, beware.  If it is a new profile and they are already fishing that’s also a clear warning.

10. One-Sided Information Exchange. Catfishers love to get you talking about yourself.  They are expert at seeming incredibly interested in everything you have to say. They are also expert at withholding their own information.

Just keep in mind that the Catfish is counting on you to make that and other excuses on their behalf. 

They know exactly how to get you caught up in the romance and to jettison your common sense. And they are very, very good at it.

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Slide 5 - from SomeecardsSlide 10 - SocialChamps