'Catfishing' and online extortion - Urban legend or real concern?
In the past few days, I have had some listeners telling me terrible stories that I hope you can learn from. That's why for Social Media Tuesday, we are unpacking the reality of 'catfishing'.
Let’s start off with a definition: 'Catfishing', according to Urban Dictionary, is when someone pretends to be someone they are not by using social media platforms such as Facebook to create false identities and to pursue people in deceptive practices – particularly deceptive online romances.
In the one example that I heard, a man was approached by a person that he believed to be a beautiful young woman. They started chatting on Facebook. Things escalated quickly and soon they were exchanging nude pictures. Next thing he knew, he was being threatened that his images would go viral online unless he paid vast quantities of money.
In another example I heard, a young man writing exams had his Facebook identity cloned and nude pictures were “doctored” with his face on them. He was told by his online “twin” that unless he paid thousands of Rands into a particular e-wallet account, the images would be released.
What is described above is extortion – which is a crime where money (or another advantage) is gained by using threats or force. From my research, it appears that there are syndicates operating in the country using this form of trickery to extract vast amounts of money from people.
'Catfishes' will be removed by social media platforms if they have pretended to be you and you report them with the images that they have made. If someone is trying to extort money from you, DO NOT PAY THEM! It will be a bottomless pit and they will not stop trying to extract money from you. If necessary, report them to the police, but nine times out of ten if you refuse to pay they will move onto the next person.
Verlie Oosthuizen
Shepstone & Wylie Social Media Law Department