At National Online Safety, we provide multi-award-winning online safety education for the whole school community. It’s our mission to make the internet a safer place for children. We believe that when children go online to learn, communicate or play, they should be able to do so safely. That’s why we provide schools all over the world with the knowledge they need in order to tackle new and evolving online risks.
Catfishing
Fake online profiles are hardly new, but some individuals on the internet take it to the next level - formulating credible life stories, using authentic-looking pictures and effectively crafting a believable identity to fool the unwary. What do these people actually want, and how can we learn to spot them? Our bite-size video on catfishing explains how to avoid being reeled in.
What is catfishing?
Catfishing is when a person creates a fake online profile to trick people into thinking they’re someone else. They make their victim believe they are exactly who they say they are.
Catfishers make up life stories and use photographs of unsuspecting victims from social media sites to create fake identities. They share false life experiences, jobs, friends, and photographs.
For more information on the associated risks and online safety tips for parents and carers, watch our explainer video, available to those with a National Online Safety membership.
