This episode is all about Catfishing on online dating sites.

In this episode, I discuss the Tinder Swindler, a popular Netflix documentary about a man who conned several women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars.  He called himself Simon Liviev and claimed to be the heir to the "king of diamonds".

After matching with a woman on Tinder, he would portray himself to be wealthy, intelligent, charming, and adoring.  Initially, he would wine and dine his targets. He spent a lot of money on them, as well as attention to earn their trust.  He was considerate, thoughtful, and sweet.  After a short amount of time, he would tell them he loved them and would entice them with a romantic vision of a beautiful future as husband and wife.

Once  he felt as though he had earned their trust, he would claim to be in a desperate and dangerous situation that required their financial help.  He would tell them his assets were frozen or he couldn't access his own fortune and he needed them to step in and rescue him.
While it's unlikely that most of us would ever encounter someone as masterful at manipulation as him online, fake profiles and catfishing are common.  In this episode, I share two examples of how my own image and likeness were shared on dating apps in an effort to manipulate people.

The first example was shared with me by a woman who was using an app called Zoe in Oregon.  The woman using my photos claimed to be a freelance photographer.  The second example was shared with me by a man who was on the app Plenty of Fish in North Carolina.

These are a few of the tips I share to help you avoid falling prey to catfishing:

1. Be cautious of people who appear particularly alluring... Exotic lifestyles, unique and fancy jobs... Stuff that seems too good to be true.
2. Often times Catfish will delete their dating profile soon after matching.
3. The Catfish may be "active" and "online" an unusually high amount of time.
4. They may ask you to talk through Google Voice or a different app- not using a normal phone number
5. They may refuse to  FaceTime or Video Chat
6. If you search their name and cannot find them on social media, LinkedIn, or just by googling their name and location, as for more information.
7. Be cautious if they delay a face to face visit or cancel on you.

Unfortunately, these manipulative people prey on people who are new to social media and online dating.  If your gut is telling you something is off or someone seems to be too good to be true... listen.