How to not get catfished online when looking for love

Love is tough enough without catfishes (Source: Getty Images Credit: METRO/mylo)
The internet gives us so much right, but also so much wrong and heartbreak.

Web anonymity has given a rise to creeps, trolls and also catfishes – people who prey on the romantically lonely and hopeful by pretending to be someone they’re not.

Whether they do it for money, for fun or because they’re scared of being themselves, MTV has a whole U.S. TV show dedicated to them all. And yes, it’s coming over to the UK.

So if you’re using the web to find love and you don’t have Catfish hosts Nev and Max to help you investigate matches, how can you protect yourself?

Here is our guide to not getting catfished online
(Credit: MTV)

1. Don’t be afraid to turn detective
   Relationships are about trust, I know. But in this case, it’s okay to check them out and do a bit of digging – after all, your heart and your pride are on the line here.

There are simple tricks you can use to check if they’re using someone else’s picture, for example. Google’s reverse image search can allow you to see if those impossibly hot pictures of your beau belong to someone else.

You can also search for people’s phone numbers using tools like reverse look-up to check who the number you’ve been texting is registered to.

2. Be smart
   You know what they say – if it’s too good to be true, it often is.

That’s not a comment on your ability to score a hottie, of course. You no doubt deserve the finest things in life, so go you.

But it’s good to wonder why every photo of your new match looks like it’s from a modelling profile.

As eHarmony says, a normal person’s profile will have family pictures, trips abroad, nights out with friends and the like. Does this person look like they have a real life?

Look for details in the photos too – wedding rings, locations, time of day. There might be huge giveaways to who they actually are.

For example if they’re wearing a sweater with a different university logo on it than they say, then you know you’re in trouble.

3. Ask to webchat
   And be suspicious if they refuse to webchat. Always.

In this day and age when 80 per cent of online adults have smartphones and probably ones with front-facing cameras, it’s unlikely they don’t have the means of talking to you or at least taking a selfie.

4. Or ask for a selfie with your name/specific message on it
   This technique is good enough for this James Franco fan (even if it meant he was chatting up a 17-year-old – awkward). It’s good enough for you.

It will only take your online lover a few moments and you can be sure they’re not using some random photos to lure you in.

Oh dear James
5) Don’t give them private information or money
We’ve seen the scenario hundreds of times before on MTV’s Catfish.

The hopeful’s online love has got into financial trouble, or their family’s sick, or some other scenario. And before they know it the hopeful has given away hundreds if not thousands of their hard-earned cash…to someone they’ve never met.

Computer forensic professor Jonathan Rajewski says that the stranger danger lesson we learned as kids should be applied here.

‘If you were approached at the store by a complete stranger, would you start a meaningful relationship with them? Would you want your real-life friends to know that you associate with strangers?

‘If you answered “no” then why would you do so online?’

Well, exactly.

6. Try and meet them ASAP
   And don’t believe the bulls**t excuses if they won’t.

Don’t leave it for years on end. How can the relationship ever progress to something more if you never meet?

Catfish creator and co-host Nev Schulman’s advice is to take a step back.

‘You kind of have to start to step back and say “Okay, wait a second, I’ve asked about meeting up, I’ve asked about video chatting, it hasn’t happened yet…

‘How much am I going to let my emotions get involved with this person who I don’t know yet?’

It might have worked for Lauren, but she was an exceptional case
7) Don’t be afraid to walk away
If they don’t want to meet you, don’t want to webchat, or won’t even send you a photo, then don’t let them waste your time.

You’re better than that