Catfishing Explained: Celebrity stories and prevention

The term "catfishing" was coined by Nev Schulman with the 2010 documentary called Catfish. It means to deceive someone online into thinking you're someone you're not. The phrase originates from the myth that live cod are shipped with catfish to keep the cod active.

People disguise themselves online for many reasons. Often it is for attracting a partner they otherwise couldn't, sometimes it's for requesting or stealing money, sometimes people catfish to explore living as alternative genders, races, sexualities and lifestyles.

A few celebrities whom have been catfished include: NFL player Manti Te'o - Manti had an online only relationship for 4 years with someone he called his girlfriend Lennay Kekua. In fact, it was a man named Ronaiah Tuiasosopo who had been a friend of the Te'o family.

John Henson: T.V. host Henson was tricked by a catfish named Hope Jackson. She and Henson exchanged emails for weeks as he believed she was the mother of a terminally ill daughter who was a huge fan of Henson and his show Wipeout. In fact she was lying to get money from him.

Kimberly & Brad Paisley: Musician Brad and actress Kimberly were catfished by Hope Jackson as well. She told them the same story as Henson about a dying daughter. Jackson got Brad to sing to her and received dozens of communications from them before they realized the scheme.

Mandisa, Natalie Grant, Francesca Battistelli, Carmen Hope Thomas were all victims of catfishing by Hope Jackson. There were also Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders and others who were all tricked into believing they had a superfan with a sick child.

Catfishing has also been used by the Television show To Catch A Predator with law enforcement officers pretending to be underage children and developing online relationship with potential sexual perpetrators who are then caught in the act of intent and attempt to commit a crime.

Serious crimes have been committed due to catfishing such as cyberbullies disguising their identity in order to torment someone until they commit suicide, such as the case with Megan Meier.

There are also murders that have happened due to catfishing like Kacie Woody who thought she had an online relationship with a 17 year old boy, but in fact had given her home address to a 47 year old man who abducted and then killed her immediately before committing suicide.

The best way to prevent yourself from being catfished is to ensure someone's identity by video chatting with them. Also look for stories/photos that seem to good to be true, anyone proclaiming love extremely quickly, and anyone with multiple profiles/names on various sites.