What's catfishing in German? Meaning explained

Catfishing is a buzzword that sneaks into German from the English-speaking world. In this practical tip, we explain exactly what it means and how you can protect yourself from catfishing.

What does catfishing mean?

English or German - Catfishing is a term in the modern cyber world:

• In biology, "catfish" in German means "catfish" or "real catfish".
• In modern language, the term refers to a person who has a certain behavior: a catfish pretends to be someone else on the Internet. Either as a real other person or as a fictitious person.
• The term catfish is used again and again in German. He is closely associated with words such as "identity thief", "imposter", "charlatan" or "swindler".
• The name supposedly comes from the fact that real catfish are used to catch cod in order to pretend that the cod is still free in the sea.
• Without this illusion, he would vegetate lazily.
• On social media, a catfish creates an illusion and keeps you happy with its ever new stories.
• The MTV / Nickelodeon series "Catfish - Lovers on the Net" tries to find alleged Catfish and to find out their real identity and motives.

What distinguishes a catfish?

A catfish shows typical procedures and different motives:

• He uses fake profiles, whose name, profile pictures or contacts do not allow any information about himself.
• The method of catfishing is to create a romantic online relationship with someone on social networks.
• This relationship can be thought of as an adventure in the cyber world; the wrong identity could serve as self-protection. If someone is too shy or already forgiven in the real world, the wrong identity can protect against consequences.
• Or the relationship is designed to bully a specific person, for example with the goal of the victim telling intimate secrets to the catfish. They can then be used against them or the catfish simply makes fun of the victim's thoughts and feelings.
• Many a catfish want to distinguish themselves from their friends by making their naive victim fall in love with them through their clever behavior.
• A motive for a catfish can also be to gain compassion, affection, favors or even money by manipulating people.
• A catfish can be a sociopath who understands the feelings of his fellow human beings, but does not emulate them.

How do I protect myself from catfishing?

Some practical CHIP tips will help you to recognize Catfisher. Ultimately, however, you should above all pay close attention to how much you entrust online to someone you have never met in person:

• A good way to spot Catfisher is to expose fake photos or use reverse image search to find out if a photo is private or widely used and widely used.
• We also give you further tips on how to recognize fake profiles on Facebook, online dating sites and at Tinder.
• But be careful: Even if a profile on a social network appears to belong to a real person, you cannot immediately be sure that it is not a catfish. If in doubt, speak to this person personally about the profile or the last time you made online contact.
• Despite these indications, not every catfish can be recognized. Even if you have a hard time dating online: Better keep your most intimate, delicate and personal thoughts to yourself as long as you have never met an internet acquaintance in the real world.

In further practical tips, we will explain other fashion words from the cyber world, such as noob and nerd.