“Catfishing” a way for scammers to make up fake profiles and identities to trick people into romantic relationships. A story that I found in the Huffington Post that was interesting what that of Marissa Williams, a 19 year old female of Tuscaloosa, Alabama who lured men into her home with the use of Facebook. During this time she was living with her aunt and uncle. Her aunt did not like what she was doing on the Internet because she would bring over these strange men and preform sexual activities in exchange for money (2015). Marissa got so furious with her aunt and having her in her business that she deleted her and blocked her from seeing her Facebook. In return the aunt “catfished” the niece by creating a fake profile. She created a profile
The other side: “The Face” Catfishers go to Facebook to collect information from people to be “the face” of their false profile and start deceiving people. Emily Burns, an editor at Berry agree, “She had been scammed out of over $2,500 and was on the verge of selling her SUV to send the scammer more money. She was planning her future around the lies he told her”. She believes that Catfish is still present as one of her coworker, Aundrus Poole, is being used as “the face” to deceive others with the promise of a future together when in reality all is a fraud or scam to steal money from them. How a person could be so easily deceived?
There have been cases of spurned relationships via face-book and people can use it to
In most cases practical jokes, or pranks, seem funnier to the person staging them than the actual person being pranked. In the present day and age, pranks have found their way past the typical-fart-thing-under-the-couch-cushion, to more elaborate and harmful schemes of sorts. Adverse antics such as these have been found in most every online dating site and have achieved the nickname of “catfishing”. Ellen McCarthy explains, “…catfishing is a uniquely modern one: a single lie, enabled by the cloak of technology, that stretches, morphs and multiplies until whole personas are fabricated, emotions are manipulated and hearts are broken.” She continues to say that incidents of catfishing usually involves an elaborate lies that revolve around a life-threatening long-term disease or an overseas deployment and basically anything that one can think in order to avoid any face-to-face meeting (McCarthy). A very recent and more infamous incident occurred in the fall of 2012, right in the heat of the college football season. Manti Te’o, an all-star linebacker for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, had just been narrowed down to the top three candidates for the Heisman Trophy, the most prestigious award any college football player can receive regardless of position or seniority. He stated he had a girlfriend he met online that lived on the other side of the country while attending Stanford University, who had Leukemia. Everything was true from what he believed about her, and from outside sources, he received the news that she died of her life-threatening cancer on September 12, 2012, just a day after his Grandmother died. Finding out he had been “catfished” by none other than a male family friend who had once been a family friend, inflicted a major blow to his football career. Erik Brady states from back when the story hit the news, “Before
Jillian Harris of The Bachelorette just shared some exciting news with her fans. Jillian is pregnant with her first baby and couldn't be more excited. The news was actually revealed on Jillian Harris' blog today along with a photo of her baby bump. Jillian is already several months pregnant, but was able to keep it a secret from her fans until now.
The issue of sex offenses being committed using social media sites, such as Facebook, is a growing issue in today’s society. This research is designed to determine whether an average Facebook user believes the social media site is used as an avenue for committing sex offenses. In order to conduct the research analysis there will be a Qualtrics survey given to 113 social media users in the Treasure Valley. The survey questions will be based on previous research that has shown demonstrating chances of a sexual predator committing a sexual offense while using Facebook. The results from the survey will be compared to the literature research to understand if an average Facebook users participated in the survey have the potential to conduct acts similar to an online sexual predator. This is based on analysis from the ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children) task force stating some sex offenders use the privacy and anonymity of the internet to prey on children and teenagers that have unsupervised access to the internet (Hagan, 2010). Present research also focuses on sexual and cyber behavior to understand the psychology behind using manipulation and other tactics to lure underage victims into meeting in person. The importance of the research is to determine whether there is a relationship between the use of Facebook and committing sex offenses. Literature on social media fantasy is used to analyze how different personas are created, and an altered reality is lived by the
Cat fishing in its most basic terms is the process of starting an online relationship while using a fake profile. Since the Internet has advanced in so many ways, this has become a serious worry with the majority of online users. The Internet and all of its platforms have allowed us the capability of easily hiding our true identity online from other users. First Section: Boy Meets Girl The first term that related to the Catfish episode was disembodied audience.
Catching catfish not only calls for cat fishing rigs but also the best bait for catfishing to entice the elusive scavengers. Diverse eating habits of different ‘cat’ species have brought forth a wide range of baits. Choosing the right one is easy if you go by the book but using one properly to ensure success is only an acquired skill.
Imagine a scenario where a man has created a Facebook profile and structured his online persona in a way that showcases what he believes to be his best attributes. He shares posts about his love for sports, cooking and literature. Over a short period of time, a young lady sees his profile and is intrigued by all the things that he has shared about himself publicly. She reaches out to him via a private message and over a period of time, of texting and sharing pictures, the two begin to build a relationship.
Identity stealing was an issue I familiar with since 2008. I was working at the internet cafe (warnet) at the time. Media covers countless stories about “Catfish”. Many people became victims. Lesson I learned was not to reveal the full identities including date of birth, simply because I use it to stay in touch with people whether I know them well or not. After all, social media was an informal platform of communication at that point.
Lately, Internet social sites, like facethejury.com and hotornot.com, both with membership in the millions, have become a way to get easier access to hook ups. Teenagers can post their personal profiles on these sites, many without consent from their parents, and spend hours in chat rooms talking about sex or making plans to meet a person and have casual encounters.
We really do not know who we are befriending on the net or the people we chose to date online. The fact that we talk to these people online and see their status updates does not mean we know then truly. These people make up facts about themselves and we can’t even see or sense. What we should know is that “all sociopaths are different, some wait for the perfect prey, others simply target someone that has previously been victimized and is vulnerable, or lonely” (Online). One thing sociopaths know how to do is sniff out trust from others and it is easier done on the internet because you can't see them, so it's a double win for them because it takes less hassle. Because you give them all the ammunition they need in your profile it because easy for them to spot their next target or should I say victim. They know your hobbies and interests, things that are important to you therefore they rewrite their own profile to match yours making them seem like the perfect partner or friend because both of you are interested is almost the exact same things. (Online). Remember they are sociopaths the goal is to lure you in so you can lose control and trust them completely. If its seems too good to be true then it most likely not
Catfishing is a term coined after the 2010 documentary ‘Catfish’ that featured a man who fell in love with a woman online who wasn’t who he thought she was. A catfish refers to someone online who significantly deceits someone else by creating a fictitious online identity according to ____. This often includes using someone else’s photos, snatching their personal and playing them off as their own (http://consumer.findlaw.com/online-scams/what-is-catfishing.html?version=2).
Stalking has been considered illegal conduct for many years. However, the use of online servers like Facebook has made online stalking, also known as “creeping”, an everyday transgression that is becoming increasingly normalized. “Creeping” is the act of searching through someone’s profile, status, friends list, events, and pictures without the person’s permission or knowledge. Just the definition of “creep” means to “move slowly and carefully, especially in order to avoid being heard or noticed” according to the dictionary. This is not far from the definition of “stalking” which is “the willful and repeated following, watching, and harassing of another person” (Pathe & Mullen, 1997). However, social media participants around the world do not see the correlations. For example, a 2012 research study asked, “when does creeping get weird?” and a 17-year-old girl responded by saying “I feel like now, it’s not really weird for anyone anymore” (Marwick, 2012). This is a clear example how normalized this transgression has become in our society. Therefore, this research paper is aimed at
Social media and infidelity has been a trending topic as technology has evolved. In the text book Human Sexuality: From Cells to Society, Rosenthal explains new different ways of adultery. One of them being internet infidelity. Rosenthal (2013) explains internet infidelity as “an extra marital relationship that begins on the internet; it can involve flirting, emotional intimacy, sexual talk, or other events, which take energy away from the primary relationship and hurt it in some way” (p. 223). People sometimes use social media to flirt with old flames from the past. Social media can be a gateway to endure in sexual relationships or just to flirt with other females. Some people endure in internet infidelity because they are not satisfied in
There have been situations where people have been lured to meet up with who they’d consider a friend under false pretenses. Getting catfished can put one in a dangerous situation.