March 2022 www.womanthismonth.com 78 SEVEN WAYS TO SPOT A CATFISH ON DATING APPS! Online dating is extremely common these days, so it helps to know these tips to stop yourself from being ‘Tinder Swindled’. Everyone is talking about the new Netflix documentary, The Tinder Swindler. Whilst we are shocked by the amount of money he ‘swindled’ from his victims, and his short five months in prison, it all came down to one thing… the art of the ‘Catfish’. ‘Catfishing' is when someone creates fake profiles on social media sites to trick people into thinking they are somebody else. Whilst the modern-day world of dating apps allows us more accessible ways to find a potential match, there is always that risk of someone pretending to be something or someone they are not. So, before meeting your match face-to-face, doing a bit of digging on them is a must and there are certain signs you can look out for which will tell you someone is a catfish. The experts at Wethrift share the main reasons why someone would create a fake profile and seven ways you can spot whether the person you are chatting with is the real deal, or somebody who could potentially put you in danger. Here are the three kinds of catfish: A human-controlled fake profile One of the hardest to catch out because there will be an actual human controlling the messages. This will be someone trying to push a certain agenda, whether that’s a service, product, or scam. Lonely Catfish This one is a little more on the sad side. Someone who might be lonely, and obviously quite self-conscious, and just wants to chat. Whilst it may not be dangerous as such, it can still mess with people's lives. Dangerous Catfish This would be someone pretending to be someone else; trying to plan a meet-up with malicious intentions. LIFESTYLE | opinion
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