Varying from boredom to revenge, many people are motivated to lie about their identity. It may simply stem from entertainment or trying to fool you for financial gain. Where there are many avenues to protect yourself meeting new people physically, there are quite a few people who do not always know who they are talking with. Today, we at Advanced Private Investigator & Security of Miami, FL would like to present you with some tools to help you avoid being catfished. You are most likely to hear the word catfish when talking about online dating since catfish is a term used to describe somebody who lies about their online identity. Below are a few tips to protect yourself against catfishing.
Insist on Phone Calls/Facetime
Though it doesn’t guarantee they are as slim as their photographs, speaking to somebody over the phone can be a great first step in confirming somebody’s identity. Where text conversations can be separated by minutes or even hours that allow the other person to calculate their answers, phone calls can also show a much more realistic side to somebody as the conversation flows naturally. When speaking to somebody on the phone confirm their gender, expected accents, and the voice sounding about the right age.
Search Social Media
Even if they have restricted privacy settings, social media can provide a wealth of information and if you met this person on a dating site you can potentially able to identify their profile through mutual friends or their pictures. When confirming someone’s social media, note the following:
– Number of friends.
– Date of profile creation.
– Friends from profiler’s origins.
– Lack of the personal posts.
– Tagged in group photos from friends.
Do Not Send or Wire Someone Money
Behind many cases of online fraud, financial gain is the motive. Unless it is entirely your decision, never be sending money or goods to somebody you haven’t met. by sending money or goods to somebody online, people are often socially engineered (tricked) into showing their wealth or how much they care. Red flags include individuals asking for money, extravagant money or ailments with the individual or family members, incredible stories as to why they cannot have money sent direct, as well as pressure to buy gifts.
Learn Why They Want to Avoid Meeting in Person
When you try to meet in person, but they have constant excuses or canceling multiple times. It is common for people get a false sense of security when they arrange to meet up with somebody. Since the intention to meet up can be enough to remove some doubt from your mind, this is a common technique catfish use to build trust.
Things to look for:
1) Last minute cancellations are excused with unfortunate reasons
2) Conveniently working out of the country or city for a long period of time
3) Repeated illness
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Trust your gut instinct and don’t be pressured into doing something you are uncomfortable doing as it may not be obvious why the person you are speaking to has lied about their identity initially or ever. If you are running into issues confirming the identity, call Advanced Private Investigator & Security of Miami, FL and let us investigate the person in question.
