The term ‘catfish’ in modern society does not only carry the meaning of an aquatic creature often found in lakes and creeks, primarily hunted for food.

Internet catfish are individuals who mask themselves as other people or create personas to impersonate online and trick people who they interact with for various reasons. People may catfish others to either get money out of them, manipulate them for personal enjoyment, trick them into giving them personal information, and many other intentions that can vary catfish to catfish.

According to xnspy.com, 25 percent of catfish use fake occupations, 64 percent of catfish are female, 69 percent use fake names or aliases and 73 percent use profile pictures that are not of themselves.

The common consensus when it comes to the mentality of a catfish is the concept that they enjoy the idea of having complete control over their targets and alter their perceptions and thoughts from a single message.

Not only do catfish attempt to form romantic relationships to get close to their targets, but some people only require a decent friendship in order to feel comfortable sharing personal information, which is only less work for the imposter behind the computer.

Internet relationships are very steadily becoming more common in the modern day society, according to xnspy.com. Six percent of couples apparently meet through various websites or dating apps, compared to the three percent recorded back in 2005. There is also a large portion of online relationships that are strictly through the internet. Couples can go ages without actually meeting each other, usually do to finanicial standing that prevents them from being able to travel.

The promise of these kinds of relationships makes it easy for a catfish to easily reel in their targets, knowing that they don’t even have to meet their “partners.”

In terms of staying safe, it’s important to know some key techniques in ensuring your online friend or partner is for real. Often, catfishers are debunked by testing their video calls. If they agree to a video call and show that their are real, living and breathing as who they say they are, you are more than likely in the clear. A red flag can often be  indicated if your friend or partner refused video call or often flakes out on scheduled ones for one reason or another.

It would also be smart to try a method frequently used on the MTV show “Catfish.” Suspicion can be raised by simply doing a backwards Google search of the photo used by a person. More than likely, if a person is who they say they are, little to no results will show up.

Ensure your safety by noting red flags signalled by your online peers.