Catfishing is a term that I would imagine bridge players would have heard by now, although also one that I think people don’t consider enough in the context of online bridge.

Could you fall victim to the illegal schemings of a catfishing scam? Would you be able to recognise the signs of a potential catfish criminal online in the guise of another bridge player?

Online bridge is experiencing vast growth. With its boom, online bridge might find itself a target for spam, exploitation, and the classic catfish.

Here’s why bridge players should learn to recognize the signs of catfishing scams, and treat newcomers to the table with a healthy amount of suspicion.

What Is Catfishing?

Catfishing is a type of online scam that traps the user into exchanging information, favours, contacts, or money.

Why would anyone hand over these things to a random stranger online?

The catfish scammer doesn’t appear like a random stranger. Instead, a catfish takes time to get to know their victim. Exchanges appear to happen voluntarily as gifts, but are in reality expected by the scammer.

Popular “ways-in” are online relationships, where the catfish uses an entirely fake or constructed profile to appear real and often needy. When victims are vulnerable, the catfish scammer finds an easier route to their heart and wallet.

Could you be catfished?

Most people would say no.

I would encourage you to research news headlines. See some television shows about catfishing.  The catfish scammer has patience. Successful scams have spanned over months or years, just for the scammer to build the victim’s trust enough.

Would you still consider yourself immune to a catfishing scam, if an online contact seemed honest enough?

Why would catfishing happen within bridge?

While catfishing scams often use relationships, lust, infatuation, or love as their method, criminal methods are always evolving – and now, it’s evolving alongside fields like online bridge and e-sports.

Why would catfishing happen within online bridge? Why wouldn’t it?

The overall method of a catfish involves trust.

A false sense of trust can be built in many different ways, including through what feels like eons of friendship or bridge.

But once your friendly bridge acquaintance starts demanding larger amounts of money or asking weirder questions, do you smell a catfish yet?

How can you spot a catfish?

It can be incredibly difficult to spot a catfish, especially when you consider the suspected person a trusted friend or contact. But almost all catfishing scams will eventually share some characteristics that define them.

• Multiple online profiles under various names, with no explanation of why.
  
  
• Increasing for favours or money, even if they seem like small ones (or take months before they ask).
  
  
• Questions about your financial or personal situation that might seem a little odd at first.
  
  
• Refusal to provide verifiable personal information about themselves. Unfortunately, some catfishing scammers are blatant enough not to care, or might feed the victim false information to gain their trust.
  
  
• A refusal to make phone or video calls. Catfishing scammers usually aren’t who they say they are, and phone or video calls are more likely to put their falsified information on the spot. If someone won’t speak to you one-on-one, always wonder why.

Have you wondered about the potential catfishing danger the internet hides around every corner? Have you ever ran into a catfishing scammer in the past?