Does being a catfish...

Does being a catfish break SW TOS?
Seems so common on here, use someone's photo and all of a sudden there's boners everywhere completely unaware that if you reverse search the photo/s that they've clearly used someone else's ID

Weird behaviour

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ViciDraco · 41-45, M

The intelligent ones are at least savvy enough to start using AI gens, haha. I honestly haven't cared enough to do image searches unless they start DMing me though. Which is rare enough. One did not long ago. The reverse image search didn't return anything (it feels not as good as it used to be btw) but the person wanted to take messaging off site and that's just too big of a red flag within a day or two of messaging.

My suspicion is that scammers actually got a few wins here recently and that's why we're seeing so many recently. There's a fresh feeding frenzy because some fools paid out money.

idontcareok · 70-79, M

@ViciDraco how can anybody even with half a brain give money to a person online, without seeing them in real life, and knowing them for a while, and i mean like dating etc. even then be careful why and how much, and what for

ViciDraco · 41-45, M

@idontcareok I don't know. My brother almost fell for it when he was eighteen. But he didn't have money of his own and asked me for help since he was living with me. I had to break it to him he was being scammed and he would have fallen right in it he hadn't been dependent on me. They find those with emotional desperation and a lack of online social experience. Which seems like it should be getting more and more rare, but not rare enough.

HoeBag · 46-50, F

@ViciDraco

The intelligent ones are at least savvy enough to start using AI gens

Here's the thing - a lot of times, it is evident that the pics are AI or heavily altered photos.
Even if the pics DO look really convincing, no beautiful woman or "adult actress" is going to be on SW looking for romance or trying to gain customers.

People have to use common sense or think critically. It shouldn't have to take someone doing a reverse image search to know what is "bull".
Plus, anyone who has been on the internet more than a month should KNOW that people are not always honest.

ViciDraco · 41-45, M

@HoeBag I wish I was as optimistic about the intelligence of internet users as you are. The sad reality is that this stuff is so prolific because they've found enough rubes to make it worth doing.

HoeBag · 46-50, F

@ViciDraco I guess I do overestimate people's intelligence.
The days before the web, scams might have been harder to detect but today, even a moment's research is very telling.

What I think is MOST bizarre about all this - Sometimes we hear stories about people getting scammed out of their entire life savings, maybe into several hundred thousand dollars.
I always think, "If they were smart and disciplined enough to earn and save THAT much money, wouldn't they ALSO be smart enough to not get scammed?"
The average m0ron isn't going to have a six-figure net worth.

ironborn · 51-55, M

@HoeBag It's the vulnerable I worry about, seen plenty on the TV in the uk, seemingly normal people falling in love with a catfish and losing everything. Sad.

HoeBag · 46-50, F

@ironborn Sometimes I wonder how legit those stories are. Like did they fabricate a story just to have something to show on TV, or how often does it REALLY happen?

I mean I know people DO get scammed but if someone is intelligent enough to build note-worthy wealth, how would they suddenly lose their minds like that?

ironborn · 51-55, M

@HoeBag love is blind they say!

ViciDraco · 41-45, M

@HoeBag A lot of the big numbers come from older people who are either not as technically savvy or are suffering age related mental decline but once did earn enough to build a retirement fund. A friend of mine's mother fell for one and lost a lot. I don't know how much, but she had to stop living on her own and move in with relatives after it. I think it's really a sign that she shouldn't have been living on her own by that point anyways. She was definitely losing her mind. She burned the hell out of her feet by walking barefoot on the road in Florida during the summer too. So there were other signs.

HoeBag · 46-50, F

@ironborn Some of the victims say that their online lover sweet-talked them. Does anyone actually fall for that today?

@ViciDraco Yeah if someone is not all upstairs anymore, sure they can fall for scams. I just wonder about the younger ones who may or may not have wealth.

If some online scammer tried to get me, I have this $25 restaurant gift card they could try to snag. 😄 There's my vast fortune