What does catfish

People choose to catfish other people for a variety of reasons. Some of the reasons people catfish include:. The most common reason people will catfish others is a lack of confidence. When someone is catfished, it can be extremely damaging to their mental health — especially if they are emotionally invested in a friendship or romantic relationship with the catfisher. Victims of catfishing can find it extremely difficult to trust after their experience — affecting relationships both personal and professional.

Financial loss and mental illnesses such as anxiety and depression can all come about because of catfishing. This can lead to serious longterm problems such as anxiety disorders and depression. It can difficult to spot a catfish. Although the signs you might be getting catfished can be different for each situation, some of the most common signs that you could have fallen victim to catfishing include:. Although most people feel confident that they would know if they were communicating with a completely fabricated identity, it is also very easy to assume after seeing a few images and some conversation that you are communicating with exactly who you are looking at in the images!

It is important to remember that although many of the signs that you are being catfished listed above can be indicative of something sinister — they can also be completely innocent too. How Does Catfishing Relate to Cyberbullying? Why Do People Catfish? Some of the primary reasons behind catfishing include: Insecurity : If a catfisher feels bad about who they are in real life, they may try to create an identity that conforms more closely to what they wish they could be.

This often includes using photos of someone they feel is better-looking than them. Concealing their identity : There are several reasons why people want to conceal their identity online. When no one knows who you are, it is easier to troll people on discussion boards because of the lack of repercussions. Some people intend to cheat on their spouse or significant other and feel the best way to get away with it is to falsify their identity.

In other instances, a person hides their identity to extort money from someone else. If the person figures out the scam, they cannot tell authorities who the attacker is because of the catfisher's false persona.

Mental illness : In some cases, people who suffer from depression or chronic anxiety may choose to get involved in catfishing. With a more attractive, successful, or gregarious identity, they get a self-esteem boost whenever they engage with others online.

Revenge : Some catfishers seek revenge on the person they are impersonating. Experimenting with sexual preferences : Some catfishers use the practice to explore their sexual identities. They assume the sexual preference they are interested in online, using an identity different from their own. As they engage in social interactions under that identity, they get a sense of how it would feel to live that lifestyle full-time.

To harass their target : When someone has been trying to stalk, bother, or pursue someone online, the target often blocks the aggressor on one or more social media platforms. When this happens, the attacker may use catfishing to continue their pursuits. In this way, they can keep tabs on what they are doing, when, and with whom. Their Profile Picture Remains the Same. They Avoid Meeting Up. They Ask You for Money.

They Are Over the Top. How Fortinet Can Help. What does it mean to catfish someone? What do you do if you get catfished? Why do people catfish? How can you tell if someone is a catfisher? We got five catfish off the lines and went home. Examples of catfish. An atlas of freshwater and marine catfishes. From the Cambridge English Corpus. Gold prospecting may also frighten these large catfishes in the areas where they spawn.

From Wikipedia. An alternate possibility is that they are used in feeding; similar structures in the stegophiline catfishes are used to gather mucus and scales.

Freshwater catfishes and barbs from those rivers migrated and mated to exchange their genetic materials about 10, years ago.

Freshwater catfishes from those rivers migrated and mated to exchange their genetic materials about 10, years ago. Typical examples are the electric eel, the electric catfishes, and electric rays. Many types of suckermouth armoured catfishes remain undescribed. Voltage-clamp analysis of currents produced by glutamate and some glutamate analogues on horizontal cells isolated from the catfish retina. All three major bullheads can be confused with other catfishes by novice anglers. The smaller ariid catfishes have minor value as public and home aquarium fish.

Like all other catfishes, it has barbels around the mouth which contain taste buds that help the animal find food at night. Thus, juvenile catfishes generally resemble and develop smoothly into their adult form without distinct juvenile specializations. Furthermore, the numerically dominant larval species of metazoan parasites infecting the catfish had very high mean intensity values table 1. If you've been chatting away to someone for a while and everything seems great, but then they ask you for money, think about it for a while before you send them any.

Is it very early in your relationship? Is it appropriate for them to be asking someone they've only known for a short time and may never have met in real life for money?

It's common for catfish to ask you for money that appears to be for your benefit. For example, they want to come and visit you but they can't afford the plane ticket, so they ask you for the plane fare. Another technique is to start by asking for a small amount of money, then gradually asking for more and more each time. You may want to be generous, especially if you're in a new romantic relationship, but think about your best interests first.

Relationships normally develop over weeks and months. If someone is telling you things like 'I love you' and 'you're the one' and 'I can't live without you' within a few days, this should set off alarm bells. Have you spoken to the person face to face? Even if they live in another country, there are lots of ways to meet them online now, like Skype and Facetime.

If they're avoiding showing you their face, this could be a sign that they're not who they say they are. Try to arrange a face-to-face chat early in the relationship.

Be honest with yourself.