If you watch T.V. or watch MTV you have
probably have watched or heard of the show "Catfish." If you haven't
seen or heard of it then as of right now you are probably completely confused.
Catfish is a show in where people meet someone online and want to meet them in
person. When they try to figure something out before the plans always fail. Two
guys come in and do some private research to track the mystery lover. While the
person is all too excited to meet the face to the profile picture, 9 times out
of 10 they become heartbroken, mad, or in utter disbelief. I mean who could
blame them? Falling in love with a person who they think could be "the
one?" Don't get me wrong, it does sound a little crazy, but for some
people it is the real deal.
By now you are probably thinking,
"Well who would do that? Fall in love with a person they have never even
met." To be honest as of September 18th, 2015, 49,250,000 people have
tried online dating. Now this is mainly adults using eHarmony or Match.com. Now
that was just adults. What about teenagers? Well, with today's media there is a
lot of ways that teens can meet someone. There is Facebook (kind of old school
I know), Instagram, Twitter, Kik, and a newer app called Tinder. Within these
apps you can meet random people and get to know them. But are they really who
they say they are? Statics say that 10% of people who sign up are sex
offenders, again, this is only for online dating sites. But this doesn't mean
you are off the hook. On a personal encounter there was a friend of mine who
was in a group chat with friends and other people, a few months go by and turns
out there was a pedophile in that group chat. You are never safe.
So now you are reading this and are
probably wondering how to know if you are a victim of a fake online love, well
here are some ways to find out. First off if they seem too good to be true,
more than likely it is. Now this may not be entirely true, but keep an eye out
for these next signs. Second, if you meet someone online and they can relate to
just about anyone then more than likely they are made up, you can't relate to
everyone. Also, if the person you are talking to starts to get serious after
just meeting you, you are more than likely involved in the scam, but you will
begin to be blinded by love before you know it due to their sweet talk. Fourth
thing, this one is probably the most obvious, if they can't video chat with you
because "things came up" or that they can't get their camera to work
then more than likely, you guessed it, you are being catfished. Number five on
the list is if they are mainly traveling along the Middle-East or Africa for
work or something then you should probably distance yourself. Next, if they
begin to ask you for money and ask you to send it to someone else, then this is
a catfish, so don't start falling for their sob story about their pets or
family. If they find you out of the blue and you have no idea who they are,
just ignore them immediately. If there is no pictures of their friends and
people that seem like they don't know them, he is probably a catfish. Last but
certainly not least, if they look like they should be a model, more than likely
their pictures are just off of the internet.
There you have it. Don't forget to always
be careful and cautious when you meet someone you don't know online, you never
know who they really are. If you follow these signs and don't fall head over
heels in love you should be okay. Warn others about the risks if they are talking to an online stranger. You never know who it could be.
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