Research Questions

Blog Title: The Impact of Catfishing on Modern Society (United States and Canada)

Research Questions:

•              What percentage of the population is involved in online dating, and how many of those accounts are fake? What percentage of the online dating population has been catfished?
•       What can online websites do to minimize catfishing?
•       Do we all portray a fake self to some degree online? Where is the line crossed to label this as catfishing?
•       Is there legal action if someone is caught as a catfish?
•            For what other reasons  do people make fake profiles?

As a group we decided to do our blog and research report on catfishing and the psychological effects. After research we have found that there are a significant number of sources containing data on the frequency of catfishing, its online presence and its overall impact on society. 

Are We All Catfish?

Everyone at some point or another has catfished, whether it’s deceiving an exciting life through our profile bios or using the wide range of filters on Snapchat. We use the anonymity of the internet to hide insecurities such as being overweight, acne and birth defects in order to fit in with society's idea of beauty. This form of catfishing isn’t to manipulate or scam but rather to appear more attractive or interesting to gain more popularity on social media; to look our Sunday best, have all the right angles, always on our “Good side” and constantly putting our best foot forward to portray our best self.

We edit our pictures using apps or filters to make ourselves look better and even “un-tag” ourselves from pictures that we believe we don’t look good in; but is this catfishing? We believe it is; it’s fit the definition of luring people in by means of a fake online profile. (https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/catfish) Research shows more teens are using social media to use as a platform to quantify themselves, this is what leads to internet addiction. These people who catfish base their popularity off of the amount of followers they have and how many likes they receive on their pictures. They soon become addicted to the attention which can result in them finding new ways to catfish to keep increasing their popularity. [1]

7 in 10 girls have self esteem issues where they believe their performance in school, relationships and looks are not good enough.[2] Social media acts as a gateway to become someone better but also acts as influencer that creates these self esteem issues within teens. Teenage girls are reportedly “more afraid of gaining weight than getting cancer, losing their parents, or nuclear war.”[3] This is caused by many factors with false advertising being one, where photoshop is used to remove flaws creating an almost unrealistic image. The media is making young girls fear curves, their height, stretch marks and cellulite. This fear leads them to using their own catfishing techniques to become someone else, however, it’s not only false advertising that motivates them. People they know and friends as well who also edit their own profiles make them conform.

Even if unintentionally done, everyone seems to do some form of lying on online profiles; leaving out information about themselves, portraying a “perfect” life is simply deceiving and false. Although one may not want to admit it or have never really thought about it before, falsity on our online profiles is inevitable. While writing this blog, thinking about our own profiles, we realize that even we have performed some type of catfishing; editing our profile pictures to portray a false-self or editing our information to exclude unflattering characteristics. Therefore, we believe everyone does portray a fake self online to some degree. Where this crosses into catfishing is when you intentionally create a false profile using other people’s information or photographs to lure others into a relationship of some type, either romantically or friendly.

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[1]  By Hakala, Kate, 2014 : We’re All Catfish: The Plight of Staying “IRL” in the Digital Age, Retrieved by:

http://www.nerve.com/books/were-all-catfish-the-plight-of-staying-irl-in-the-digital-age

[2]  By Mchugh, Molly, 2013: 11 Facts About Teens, Retrieved by: http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/its-catfishing-season-how-to-tell-lovers-from-liars-online-and-more/#ixzz4YiiGJdL9

[3]  By Vaynshteyn, Gina, 2014: Why Photoshop is More Deadly Than you Thought, Retrieved by: http://hellogiggles.com/photoshop-deadly-thought/

Fake Photos and Catfishing

Fashion Blogger admits to photoshopping her photos saying

“I've been guilty in the past of using it to manipulate my body. Please remember to NEVER COMPARE YOURSELF TO OTHERS, because NOT EVERYTHING U SEE IS REALITY. If you see someone with a flat stomach or flawless skin online or in a magazine, remember that's not how a body MUST look. Love yourself for who you are.”  

She wanted everyone to know things you see online isn’t always real, you can’t believe even the biggest stars. She posted pictures that she had photoshopped and compared it to the original photo, she wanted to raise awareness of all the unrealistic standards that are set due to photoshop and other photo-editing software.

“I stopped manipulating my weight in photos with Photoshop about a year ago, so these photos are between 1-2 years old. But I just felt like I had lied to my readers and needed to come clean. I’d been wanting to do this post for a while, but had to wait until I was brave enough to do it."[1]

She hopes more people admit to photoshopping and are okay with showing their flaws because no one’s perfect.

This is an example of online peer pressure and conformity, where people believe they have to live up to unrealistic expectations synthesized by the media. Teens editing their own photos who want to live up to these expectations is one way of dealing with their insecurities. These false photos and ability to edit excessively has led to teens trying to edit their own lives and bodies to fit the unrealistic expectations created by changing their photos; teens have developed eating disorders, like bulimia, anorexia, and dysmorphia. A study was done by researchers who asked young girl questions about their popularity and academics, “the study suggests that the teen’s self-image is largely based on how she believes others see her,” said Jennifer Pfeifer, an assistant professor of psychology in Oregon. This is the supporting argument on how young teens are affected by the media and will do anything to get approval of others, even if the life they are portraying is completely false. This is a clear motivation for catfishing and supports the idea that everyone tries to portray a fake-self online to gain approval of others.[2]

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[1]  By Huffington Post Canada, 2014: Fashion Blogger Admits To Photoshopping Images On Her Site, Retrieved by: http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/08/15/blogger-admits-photoshop_n_5682692.html

[2]  By Timmons, Rachel : How the Modeling Industry Affects a Young Girl’s Perception, Retrieved by: https://rachelleet.wordpress.com/articles-and-news writing/how-the-modeling-industry-affects-a-young-girl%E2%80%99s-perception/

Anonymous

One of the largest and well known groups of hidden identities goes by “Anonymous”. The group is known for hacking and shutting down multiple websites, relating to the government, major corporations, and religious groups. They do do not have any set guidelines, they do whatever they want and whenever they want, whether it’s hacking into accounts to steal money or rebeling against the governtment propoganda. They began in 2003 and did mediocre pranks that got them large critism from the media. But in 2008 they caught the medias attention by campaigning against the Church of Scientology. They had multiple DDoS attacks on the Church’s website and sent black faxes to waste all their ink catidges. [ i ] In 2010, they attacked multiple websites of large companies like VISA, Mastercard, and Amazon. The anonymous group claims that they do whatever they want whether the public views it as good or bad, but they always have a reason for their actions. Anonymous has grown into such a large group that they have even more groups associated with them such as LulzSec and Operation AntiSec which have also targeted the government and specific media groups. Since the groups power has been recognized and they gained large numbers, they started holding rallies (in person) around the world for protesting and are well known to wear the iconic Guy Fawkes mask to keep their identity hidden. Anonymous takes their hidden identity very seriously, for instance when an Internet security company named HPGary threatened to disclose the members of the group to the FBI, they took action immedieatly. After hacking the firms website, they proceeded by retaining thousands of private e-amils and posting a message on the company website. [ ii ] The group has gained the most admirers from it’s campaign against ISIS.  They hacked and actively took down websites relating to the spread of propoganda with terrorism, the group claims that they are against injustice. Most recently, the group has involved itself in taking down the Trump Towers website after Donald Trumps remarks on Muslim immigrants in the USA. The group has been involved in many contriversal situations with members from all over the world. In 2012, Anonymous was claimed as one of the “100 most influential people” in the world by Time news magazine. Most catfish situations are looked at negatively but Anonymous  has done some good for the use of false identities.

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[i] Raza, Ali (January 25, 2016). The Anonymous Group: What is it and How big is it. Retrieved from https://www.hackread.com/anonymous-group-what-is-it-and-how-big-is-it/

[ii]Sands, Geneva (March 19, 2016). What to Know About the Worldwide Hacker Group ‘Anonymous’. Retrieved from http://abcnews.go.com/US/worldwide-hacker-group-anonymous/story?id=37761302

Psychological Reasons Behind Catfishing

To generally go over the psychological reasons behind catfishing, many people often wonder the reasons why someone would catfish another person. Catfishing is very manipulative and often times the catfish feels guilty emotions later on for using lies to trick another person into such a vulnerable position. There are many reasons that stem into the idea of deciding to make a fake identity, one of them being just out of loneliness. Someone may be really self-conscious but seeking a form of human connection that they believe they can’t get unless they pose as someone else. They may not be confident in their appearance and use a better looking person as bait to attract.  Social anxiety is another common issue associated with catfishing, the person may feel more comfortable with hiding behind a screen and using a mask to socialize with others. Another reason why someone may catifish is wanting to contact someone they already know to see how they would react to talking to a new person. This has be done for instance to test if their boyfriend/girlfriend is loyal or to stay connected with someone that is distancing himself or herself away from the real person. Of course from an outside perspective this is pointless behavior because a relationship without trust is unhealthy and if someone does not want to associate with you anymore you shouldn’t force a connection. But to a catfish this is not comprehendible with their selfish needs to please themselves. Negative emotions such as anger from being rejected may be associated as well for the reason people catfish. Many feel the need to seek revenge on someone that may have done them wrong so they create a fake profile in order to mess with them on an emotional basis or seek materialistic things. The non-typical reason why someone would be a catfish is out of boredom. They created a fake account just as a form of entertainment because it brings them excitement to see how someone would talk to them thinking that they’re someone else or this may be the case of being a pathological liar. Once it gets to a certain point where the receiver wants to meet up, they feel uncomfortable admitting that they aren’t the person that they acted as. There have been many serious cases of making fake profiles used to cyber bully. An example of this was the John Doe case. Four Illinois teenagers from his high school created a Facebook Profile used to impersonate him. They used many of his pictures on the profile and added a lot of friends from school to make it seem legit. The students that were running this page made very vulgar and racist posts to make John look bad. This page was so believable that even a football recruiter for a college that was considering him raised concern about this page. Doe suffered from sever emotional distress and since then the profile has been removed and law charges have been made. [ i ] Catfishing has been taken more seriously over the years and laws have been enforced on those that take is lightly.

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[i] Liebelt, Jim (Sepetember 29, 2009). Cypberbullying: Four Teens Sued for Creating Fake Facebook Profile. Retrieved from http://www.crosswalk.com/blogs/liebelt/cyberbullying-four-teens-sued-for-creating-fake-facebook-profile-11609103.html

Catfishing Used for Scamming

When people hear the word “catfish” the first thing they often associate it with is online dating, but there are many more reasons why people create a false identity. For instance, it is used for scamming such as the well known “Nigerian Prince” scam. This scam has been e-mailed around thousands of times, since the first years of when e-mail existed.  In fact, it is highly likely that you received some variation of the e-mail at a point unless it went straight to your spam folder. The sender impersonates himself as a wealthy ambassador or member of foreign royalty. After making a formal introduction, he offers a big reward if you help move millions of dollars from his homeland into your bank account. Word play is used to deceive the reader to feel convinced and encouraged to believe the deception. He proceeds by asking to send your banking info as quickly as possible to pressure the recipient even more. This may seem like something hard to believe that someone can fall for but it happens quite often, just as much as people fall for online-dating profiles. Of course over the years, we are more educated and informed of such frauds and therefore are less gullible to such lies. This scam is also now known as “419” or the “Advance Fee Fraud” scheme and millions of e-mails are sent each year. [ i ] Another common scam is called the “Russian Brides Scam” where someone impersonates living in Russia and is looking to marry someone from America. After talking and romancing the other for a decent amount of time, they proceed to ask for favours regarding money. In some cases they contact you and then once they feel the receiver is hooked and has caught feelings, they will disappear. Not long after they disappear, they reappear only to tell you that they’ve been in a accident and are in desperate need of financial help. There have been countless situations that someone popular on the web has been contacted by multiple people that claim their images were used to impersonate them and that they sent money to them. People can be very manipulated when it comes to emotional play of words. Both of these scam examples are related to guilt tripping and psychologically manipulating the receiver to trust the sender. Catfishing is commonly used to gain something from someone. It is important to never trust someone with your banking info until you have met them in person or they provide sufficient evidence that they are real.

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[i] O'Neil, Lauren (November 7, 2013). 'Nigerian Prince' email scam actually 200 years old. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/newsblogs/yourcommunity/2013/11/nigerian-prince-email-scam-actually-200-years-old.html

What is Catfishing?

The lives of Americans and Canadians in modern society have become dependent on technology to a very high extent due to the various great improvements that continuously come about. Our world revolves around smartphones, laptops, social media and all things virtual. From children and teenagers, to adults and the elderly, people young and old use technology to communicate, search, share, and learn. This virtual reality has its benefits; however, it also has its drawbacks. A main drawback is something called catfishing.

You may be wondering now, “what is catfishing?” Catfishing is when a person makes a fake account (or accounts) on social media like Instagram or Facebook, to trick people into believing he or she is someone that he or she is not. People who partake in catfishing are called “catfishes.” Catfishes create their fake identity by finding and using pictures of unsuspecting people online and by making up believable life stories. They even add fake friends, fake jobs, and fake life experiences to their profile. The means behind catfishing is usually to spur up online relationships. A professor at the University of Wisconsin named Catalina Toma studies online dating and has found that "deceptions are frequent but subtle: a 2008 study she co-wrote found that 81% lie about their age, weight or height" (Rothman, 2013). Catfishing occurs immensely on online dating websites where “unknowing victims will fall in love with women or men they meet online – with no idea the person behind the screen is someone completely different” (Flynn, 2016). Catfishes usually pretend to be something they wish they could be, in order to feel liked by others.

So why is it called “catfish?” The term started being used in 2010, after a documentary called “Catfish” was made. The documentary is about a man named Nev Schulman that falls in love with a 19-year-old woman named Megan via the Internet and even through phone calls. He also spoke to her “mom, stepdad, and half-sister” online. The documentary ends with Schulman discovering that “Megan” was a phony account run by a 40-year-old woman named Angela who’s married. She admitted she was the face behind the profile the whole time. After meeting and finding out about Angela, Schulman tells a story about catfish and live cod were shipped together to guarantee the quality of the cod and to keep the cod vigorous. He tells this story as a metaphor to describe people like Angela saying “there are always ‘catfishes’ in our lives who keep us alert, active and on our toes” (Flynn, 2016).

There are different types of catfishing scams. One specifically is called the “419 Nigerian Prince Scam.” This is one of the most known and one of the oldest catfishing scams that has evolved over time. It started with needing money to get the prince out of jail. Personal information would be needed in order to send the money. The most recent version is people pretending to be distant relatives on Facebook saying that they know a wealthy person in need of money because they don’t have current access to their own. The catfish claims he or she will give a large payoff in return as soon as the person gets access to the money. A second type of catfishing scam is called the “Russian Brides Scam (Romance Scam).” This scam occurs when an American or Canadian is contacted by a man or woman (from outside of the country) looking to marry and settle down. After some time, the catfish asks for money for things like the internet and for plane tickets. Another version is when the catfish disappears for some time and then reappears saying he or she needs money for medical expenses because of an accident. 

If you want more information about catfishing and how to avoid it, check out "Minimization of Catfishing"




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1. Catfishing – What is it, where it came from and the Psychology Behind Catfish Online Dating Scams. (2016, August 02). Retrieved February 03, 2017, from https://socialcatfish.com/what-is-catfishing-online-dating/

2. Flynn, E. (2016, September 09). What is catfishing and how do you know if it’s happening to you? Retrieved February 03, 2017, from https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/1754916/what-is-catfishing-and-how-do-you-know-if-its-happening-to-you/
3. Rothman, L. (2013). The Catfish Came Back. Time, 182(1), 59.

The Legal Truth about Catfishing in the United States and Canada

With the emotional impact and the blur of anonymity involved in catfishing, many believe legal action should be a consequence. However, with little exception, there is currently no legal course of action specifically targeting catfishing in Canada or the United States. Max Joseph, one of the hosts of the MTV show, "Catfish," put it perfectly in an interview with the network.

"It’s identity fraud -- it’s emotional bullying and manipulative. I do think that there will be a point in the future, near future, where it will be regulated and various forms of catfishing will be illegal. And people will look back at this time, in like the early stages of the Internet where you could do anything and say you were anyone -- and there was this show called Catfish with these two guys going around to talk to people who had been catfished.[i]"

Although catfishing does not have any specific legal action, "catfish" can still be charged in the United States and Canada depending on the intent of the catfishing. For example, while laws vary from state to state, when the primary intent of the fake account is to swindle money, the "catfish" can be criminally charged with fraud. However, cases involving emotional damage are usually limited to civil suits, with most catfish avoiding criminal charges through the judicial system.

In Canada, there is a three-tiered assessment to determine whether emotional harm or stress is pertinent to result in charges. There must be a "degree of outrageous conduct, conduct intended to produce harm, conduct resulted in a visible and provable medical illness."[ii] If a valid defense can negate mental illness and/or fraud there is no chargeable offense.

Other possible legal charges could include misappropriation of likeness since many catfish use other people's photos and content without consent. Defamation is another possible charge due to the fact that whomever's image is being used is connected with the content the "catfish" posts and therefore false statements could harm the victim's reputation. Stalking or harassment could be another valid charge for the victim to claim as well.

Despite a lack of catfish-specific laws in the US and Canada, some progress is being made.  A relatively new law called the Catfishing Liability Act of 2016 took effect November 1 in Oklahoma. It will allow victims to get a restriction against people using their names, pictures or voice to create a fake identity on social media. There has been a lack of momentum in terms of police action being taken against other people's non-consented use of photos. That is why this law is considered to be the first of its kind. Oklahoma State Representative John Paul Jordan, who sponsored the bill, said the injunction could allow greater attention for Facebook and Twitter to remove the fake accounts and try harder to figure out who truly made them.  Jordan mentioned in an interview that other states such as California, Pennsylvania and Texas are looking to create catfishing laws of their own. If you cannot prove actual damages but you win, the award will be at least $500[iii].

Therefore, it is clear that catfishing is becoming a more prevalent issue in both the United States and Canada. It is important that law makers and politicians support laws like the Catfishing Liability Act to keep online dating and social media users safe from "identity thieves" as well as to discourage people from trying lure others in for money, fake relationships, emotional harm, etc. Despite the opportunity for indirect legal action, it is highly unlikely the victim will win the case.

Thus, it is important that new legislation directly addressing catfishing is put into place in order that catfish can be more easily charged with a criminal offence and to better outline civil remedies for victims who have been emotionally or otherwise injured.

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[i] Ossad, Jordana (November 3, 2016). Crimes of the Internet: Should Catfishing Be Illegal?. Retrieved from http://www.mtv.com/news/2753443/catfish-illegal-nev-schulman-max-joseph/.

[ii] WebPreserver (March 5, 2015). Cybercrime Update: CatPhishing. Retrieved from https://webpreserver.com/cybercrime-update-catphishing/.

[iii] Morrison, Sara (May 17, 2016). New Anti-Catfishing Law is the Toughest in the US. Retrieved from http://www.vocativ.com/319357/new-anti-catfishing-law-is-the-toughest-in-the-us/.

Catfishing and Fake Accounts

The online dating environment is a place filled with hopeful romantics who want to express their true selves in order to find the best match possible, right? Are all online dating profiles filled with true identities? Today it is said that 1 in 10 online dating profiles are fake[i]. Catfish, as we can see, are everywhere... not just in the ocean. The increasing number of fake profiles and catfishing incidents prove this point.  

The term "catfish", in the online dating context, was popularized by a documentary series of the same name on the specialty channel Music Television (MTV). This show also provided far greater insight into the world of fake dating profiles and the frequency of catfishing.  Statistics obtained from the series are as follows.

•         73% of catfish use other people's photos for their profile
•         69% used a different name than their own
•         64% were female while 53% of victims had been female
•         25% lied about their occupation
•         24% lied about their sexual orientation
•         15% knew their victim in real life
•         11% of relationships that involved a catfish had mutual catfishing
•         11% lied about where they reside [ii]

 Therefore, as you can see, catfishing involves any form of lying on a dating profile. It is simply impossible to gain statistics on the amount of people who lie on their dating profile. However, catfishing involves the act of lying to lure.

An interesting test was done for a peer-reviewed journal titled Fake Identities in Social Media: A Case Study on the Sustainability of the Facebook Business model. The three authors performed a test using Facebook and fake profiles. Despite there being no legitimacy to the profiles, the following few tables shows the information provided on the fake profiles and the results of the test in terms of how many friends they gained in the three active weeks.

Date	Lena	Melissa	Laura	Ilse	David	Chris	Ferdiand	Mitzi
3/26/2012	94	76	55	56	46	53	11	48
4/11/2012	218	178	200	60	63	100	14	75
6/26/2012	237	204	272	66	74	111	20	99

The paper found that certain aspects of the dating profile, including location, work, education and interests all played a major role in how many friends each profile gained[iii].

This shows the ability of fake profiles to gain momentum and truly reach many people. This is true in online dating as well. Fake profiles have the ability to impact many people's lives and can have a far greater virtual and psychological impact than most people realize.

A story of catfishing that spread through the media in 2013 was one involving an American football player, Manti Te'o. At the time, Te'o was a linebacker with Notre Dame's Fighting Irish. He had claimed to have fallen in love with a woman named Lennay Kekua, a "woman" he claimed to have met online. Months into the relationship she died. However, she never really passed away because she was not a real person. In actuality, Lennay did not exist, but someone else did and that person was catfishing Te'o. Even to this day, the facts surrounding who really perpetrated the hoax is unclear. While stories like this seem few and far between, the act of catfishing is far more common than one could imagine. Most simply don't receive the international attention that the Te'o incident got and many more are most likely never reported.

As one can see, the act of catfishing and the presence of people acting as catfish online are common in today's society. Subsequent posts will look into what this means for society, what we can do to stop the lying, the psychological impact and the legal actions that can be or are being taken against Catfishing. 

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[i] Farr, Christina (October 30, 2012). Online daters, be warned! 1 in 10 profiles are scams, report reveals. Retrieved from http://venturebeat.com/2012/10/30/online-dating-scam/.

[ii] Fitzpatrick, Molly (February 23, 2016). A statistical analysis of all four seasons of 'Catfish'. Retrieved from http://fusion.net/story/188777/catfish-tv-show-episodes/.

[iii] Krombholz, K., Merkl, D. & Weippl, E. J Serv Sci Res (2012) 4: 175. doi:10.1007/s12927-012-0008-z