Catfishing: what the law says

“These misrepresentations can be supported by using technology to ‘prove’ a version of themselves which isn’t real, such as editing images,” he added.

How can targets spot a potential catfish?

According to Metro, “alarm bells should ring if someone you’ve matched is really reluctant to meet up in person or constantly bails and attempts to reschedule keep falling through”. 

Other warning signs include them avoiding phone or video calls, and asking for “money or favours” or for “sexy pics and videos”, said the paper. A catfish may also “go AWOL without any explanation”, come on “super strong”, and be “shifty about giving you different social media profiles”.

Age UK advises being wary if “you’ve searched their name on the internet but they don’t seem to exist” or “the photos don’t match the photos on their dating profile”. Also take care if “their stories sometimes conflict with each other, or don’t quite add up”, said the charity.

What are the laws on catfishing?

Catfishing “is not an offence in its own right”, said The Times. A 2014 review of social media and the law by the Lords Communications Committee concluded that sufficent laws were in place to prosecute criminal offences committed over social media.

Internet law specialists Cohen Davis solicitors explained that with the exception of harassment, “there are no criminal laws against impersonation on social media”.

But “while fake online profiles on social media might not by themselves be illegal”, the law firm added, “there are other activities that engage catfishing or fake online accounts that may turn otherwise lawful activity into activity which is unlawful”. 

When does it cross the legal line?

Catfishing “might be illegal” if the fraudster obtained money or goods “due to the fraud”, said Cohen Davis.

A catfish could also be charged “with a number of non-consensual sex related criminal offences” if “romance fraud had led to sexual contact”, because “any consent given by the victim to the contact could be rendered void”, according to the firm.

And if a victim has handed over private information, they “may pursue a claim for breach of privacy against the fraudster in the civil courts”.

Planned changes to the Online Safety Bill will also require social media sites and search engines “to stamp out fraudsters and scammers on their platforms”, said the government.

Under the proposals, published earlier this year, search engines and platforms that host user-generated content, video-sharing or live streaming will have “a duty of care to protect users of their services from fraud committed by other users”, the government said. “This includes ‘catfishing’ romance scams.” 

Why is catfishing making headlines?

The hit podcast Sweet Bobby, produced by Tortoise Media, has played a key role in bringing the issue of catfishing to the public’s attention and sparked a campaign for online deception to be made into a specific criminal offence.

Article source: https://www.theweek.co.uk/news/technology/957670/catfishing-what-the-law-says