How The Hell Do People Still Get Catfished?

Yesterday I learned the story of my coworker Big Ev's journey to Barstool, which included him being completely catfished by someone pretending to be Gaz and coming all the way to New York City from Ohio for an interview that didn't exist. Things worked out for Ev, obviously, but this topic being brought up forced me to look a bit deeper into whether or not romance/relationship based catfishing still exists. Spoiler: It does. I understand how Ev fell into this trap. He already had a relationship with the company, it was an incredible opportunity and he was super eager. I get the trap he fell into. What I don't understand, is how this still happens to anyone in a relationship.

I assume everyone at this point knows what catfishing is, but I'll do a brief explanation anyway. Someone pretends to be someone else on the internet, convinces someone they are this other person, person falls in love, often ends in heartbreak. That's pretty much it.

How this show is still on television is beyond me. Catfishing should have become extinct the MOMENT webcams and video chatting services were widely produced and owned. I'll be honest, I am a man who is not foreign to the idea of finding women to talk through social media, a place where anyone can pretend to be anyone. So, let me use this experience to help any of you who may be potential catfish victims out. Here is a little chart I put together to help you figure out whether or not you are being catfished.

I'm not usually one to oversimplify things, but I'm really not sure how it can extend much beyond this. I understand that feeling that some incels/weirdos get where it seems like it is too good to be true (it is) and they want to live in this mystery land. I'm not talking about those weirdos here. We're talking about normal people who somehow still fall for this nonsense.

Listen to Big Ev talk about his journey to Barstool and what he's been doing since in today's Token CEO episode here: