Why Are Online Dating Romance Scammers Called Catfish? These are frequently romantic relationships, and online dating websites and cell phone dating apps are fertile hunting ground for catfish. Catfishing has unfortunately become a common term in the English language, despite being a nasty epidemic, however the real question is where did it come from? In a catfishing scam, a person on the internet will create a fake identity and try to romance or seduce their target. The phenomenon of internet predators that fabricate online identities and entire social circles to trick people into emotional/romantic relationships (over a long period of time). Online dating scams are one of the newest and most recently publicized catfishing scams although, they’ve been going on a lot longer than people know. Catfishing is the activity of luring someone into a relationship by means of a fictional persona carried out via dating websites and apps, social media, chat rooms and instant messaging platforms. Read on to discover the crucial red flags to watch out for. What Is ‘Catfishing’? catfishing, poetry, poetry slam, writing November 16, 2019 April 10, 2020 By Lila C Duville. Why Do They Call it Catfishing? Here’s the story behind the terminology: > They used to tank cod from Alaska all the way to China. Men and women have lost their hearts and large amounts of money to those online romance scammers, falling victim to the catfishing nets. When cod was caught in the ocean, it would be stored in a tank with water beneath the ship. In the documentary, 24-year-old Nev Schulman carried out an online relationship with 19-year-old Megan Faccio from Michigan. “Catfishing’ refers to a scam where someone, the ‘catfish,’ creates a fictitious online identity and seeks out online relationships. But, Megan Faccio did not even exist. The term is a fishing term for those who caught cod. Possible motivations: revenge, loneliness, curiosity, boredom The term catfishing was inspired by the 2010 documentary "Catfish." Catfishing is a deceptive activity where a person creates a sockpuppet presence or fake identity on a social networking service, usually targeting a specific victim for abuse or fraud. 1. It was actually started in the 2010 documentary Catfish, staring Nev Schulman and Michigander Abby. Some believe that the name was revived in the popular vernacular courtesy of a 2010 documentary film called “Catfish.” The film follows a young photographer as he develops a relationship with a woman on Facebook he thinks is young and single, but she’s really 40 years old and married. The term ‘catfish’ as a reference to people who create fake accounts online, was originally created in the movie documentary ‘Catfish’ (2010). "Catfishing" is the term used for a particularly cruel kind of online scam. They won’t pick up a phone call. 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