Beware of being "Catfished"

[Jordan99]

I recently had two experiences I'll share with you for the safety of other girls here. In the first experience, a *girl* and I befriended each other on VTF and I shared my personal e-mail address with *her*. After a few very brief e-mails, *she* requested photos of me in my thong bikinis and any other pool or beach photos I might be willing to share with *her*. I quickly realized this was most likely a boy or worse, some older man trying to collect photos of young girls.

In the second experience which really hurt, I'd developed what I thought was a very close relationship with another *girl* on VTF. We shared extensive stories with each other and I was positive we'd become friends. After many, many PM's and e-mail exchanges, *she* offered to send me explicit photos of *her* and her boyfriend engaged in sex. I declined and out of concern for her, warned her that since she was only 15 thru 17, it would be against the law to share such photos with me or anyone else. What I received back was a scathing PM from *her* and an indignant response...we're no longer friends.

BEWARE! In my humble opinion, I think there are some people on VTF who are not who they present themselves to be. As another person recently posted, please be careful about sending out compromising photos of yourself and if you are offered nude photos or photos of a sexual nature from underage people, that is a federal offense to receive or transmit such photos.

[Candy in CT]

Be so careful. This is why I never ask for any shots of anyone and I will never send any shots of me.

[Jordan99]

Be so careful. This is why I never ask for any shots of anyone and I will never send any shots of me.

Good Call!

[Barbara.]

I also never send photos of myself of any kind to anyone for privacy reasons. I also never give out my e-mail or any information that may jeopardize my privacy.


Paranoid or to overly cautious??????

[Sina-B]

what is VTF?
For a long time I thought about publishing a picture of myself here. And I have decided for that, which you can see in my profile.

[Barbara.]

what is VTF?


VTF is virtual teen forms

[Sina-B]

VTF is virtual teen forms

Hope, not this forum.

[DanielleIU]

There are a lot of people here that don't tell the truth, or distort facts, or are not the people they say they are. I recently experienced that myself and felt very vulnerable and threatened. Sad part is that I really liked, and still like, this person..... a good friend. VT is a place where we should all feel safe.

Also, I'd suggest NOT moving off this platform to email until and unless you're very comfortable. It's TMI and carries risks and implications as Barbara mentioned. Everyone makes mistakes, but the rules here can be your friend.

[Anneki]

Nobody....nobody should share photos with anybody they don't know irl. And even if you know the person there is still a risk that photos suddenly are everywhere.

[Barbara.]

Hope, not this forum.
Unfortunately there are, although the great efforts of the mods to keep us safe the are few get through the cracks.

[ChloeF]

I also never send photos of myself of any kind to anyone for privacy reasons. I also never give out my e-mail or any information that may jeopardize my privacy.


Paranoid or to overly cautious??????

Totally normal, l've had a couple asking for private details too but it's usually been girls l barely know and within a couple of replies in private chat.
Anyone getting to 100 posts really quickly and then rarely adding anything more is enough to make me wary of their intentions too.

[Candy in CT]

Totally normal, l've had a couple asking for private details too but it's usually been girls l barely know and within a couple of replies in private chat.
Anyone getting to 100 posts really quickly and then rarely adding anything more is enough to make me wary of their intentions too.

I tell other girls always go with your feeling dealing with someone. If they are a little to "Helpful" or like that just do what you feelings tell you.
Oh and never send shots out you would want your Grandmother to see. Keep in mind she just might.

[Jordan99]

There are a lot of people here that don't tell the truth, or distort facts, or are not the people they say they are. I recently experienced that myself and felt very vulnerable and threatened. Sad part is that I really liked, and still like, this person..... a good friend. VT is a place where we should all feel safe.

Also, I'd suggest NOT moving off this platform to email until and unless you're very comfortable. It's TMI and carries risks and implications as Barbara mentioned. Everyone makes mistakes, but the rules here can be your friend.

I agree. This person is very fortunate that I don't forward the offer to send me the sexually explicit photos to the Moderators. Instead, I'm giving *her* the benefit of the doubt because I still consider her a friend who simply made a terrible mistake in judgment.

[LITTLEANGEL19]

I Would agree with the other I have told and always will tell other girl's nude or semi-nude photos. A few girls I know did send pix to anyone from ANY one they strike up a friendship on ANY forms on, Also giving your e-mail address could as Jordan has found out unfortunately. Jordon I hope you reported the two that you talk about to the a Moderate on here. Jordan thanks for your post as it will be useful to both new and all other members.
Take Care Everyone, Have a good and safe weekend.
XX

[ImJulia]

Thanks for sharing

[PrincessCassie]

You just have to be careful and use common sense

[Cangirl]

It sucks that this happens. It's happened to me too. I've met some "girls" and chats are fun and sharing life stories and things but then the pic request comments start and when I say I dont send pics they stop talking. It hurts because it's like being taken advantage of kind of in a way.

[Abbeys]

Hi Jordan.

I can't tell you how sorry I am that this has happened to you.

When you trust someone and they betray that trust it is one of the worst things that can happen.

Thank you so much for sharing and making other people aware.I have never heard the expression "Catfished" before.

I can only say the people that have upset you have lost a wonderful friend.

Abbeys.

XXXXX

[angelina]

It is a good guidance rather than a mere thread..

[Brigje]

Hi Jordan, as Abbeys wrote; I can only say the people that have upset you have lost a wonderful friend.

Brigje X

[Jordan99]

Hi Jordan, as Abbeys wrote; I can only say the people that have upset you have lost a wonderful friend.

Brigje X

Thanks, Birgje and all others who have shown compassion. If this person is/was truly a girl, I feel completely betrayed because of all the experience and stories we shared. I thought I'd made a true friend on here but for *her* to feel "threatened" and "vulnerable" simply because I declined wanting to see the explicit photos and warned her of the illegality of transmitting such photos shows she is either naïve or some guy getting cheap thrills wanting to share pornographic pictures. Depending upon *her* follow-up PM's or posts, I still have the PM's and e-mails and will indeed share with the MODS. Hopefully, we'll simply be able to put this ugliness behind us and go our separate ways.

[Alexis16]

You just have to be careful and use common sense

Ya 100%. Its usually pretty obvious who the fakes are

[Jordan99]

Ya 100%. Its usually pretty obvious who the fakes are

Agree, Alexis. I've learned my lesson and will be MUCH more careful in the future!

[MikaylaP]

Agree, Alexis. I've learned my lesson and will be MUCH more careful in the future!

Sorry this happened to you. Thnx for sharing this though so us girls know. :(

[Jordan99]

Sorry this happened to you. Thnx for sharing this though so us girls know. :(

No problem, Mikayla. Don't want to see this happen to anyone else though, I'm sure it will :( By the way, I accepted your friend request, Thanks :)

[gymgurl]

thats not fun at all :(..

[LucyCee]

I don't even take any nudes of myself or give any to my bf or others. You never know who they'll share them with.

[JustHaveFun]

I have been asked to email others in PM but I haven't I would rather exchange reddit usernames to avoid using an application that pics can be sent on.

[Malina_Alvarez]

I agree. This person is very fortunate that I don't forward the offer to send me the sexually explicit photos to the Moderators. Instead, I'm giving *her* the benefit of the doubt because I still consider her a friend who simply made a terrible mistake in judgment.


I am in no way defending such actions, BUT, according to the age implying in your profile, IF you are indeed 19 as the profile is implying then you are not considered as 'underaged' as the US laws imply. But, on the other hand, if the ones that was offering you nudies are 'underaged' as the US laws imply then yes it is against state and fed laws, not for them to send mostly, but for you to recieve or possess. Here in mex we do not have such laws as even as low as 13 COULD be considered as NOT 'underage' but also there are other countries that do not have or honour 'underage laws' like as do the US and it is these people that can get away with such actions and there is simply nothing the US can do about that if it is not happen in US control borders or soil. It is just best to be careful of who out there and even though cam is not permitted here it is probably best to use that on another site that honours that and get to see just who it is or may be you are be-freinding. At least in this way you can see them and they can see you. As far as emails, i, myself do not bother with them (or any other social medias). I just find all of it nothing but for spams.

[Suzy18]

Thanks for this topic Jordan but something strange happened to me some time ago and that ,, girl" is still here on the VT Forums.

In the past I had e-mail contact with her and she always used two different e-mails and one of those e-mails she said was of an uncle of hers and she told me he didn't use it anymore. I asked cos you could read a male name and not her name.

She also sent me her nude pics and also once a pic of a female friend of hers. But when I wanted to look for her on Facebook (she told that friend had an FB account), I couldn't find her friend's account.

I stopped the contact but I decided to send again a mail to her. And now it happens: I got a mail back and it was if a man was writing to me. At least I had that feeling and that person claimed that I was a man and that I had sent messages to a cousin of that girl.

The ,, girl" is still here on the forum and I'm confused about that weird story and decided to stop the contact. You know I also had sent pics of mine to her in the past.

It was also quite weird that it sometimes took a lot of time till I got answer by her e-mail.

:confused:

[Jordan99]

This *girl* I mentioned recently updated her user name and posted a new picture of herself. Her new picture was copied and pasted from Pinterest so now I know this is a fake.

[nicole97]

This *girl* I mentioned recently updated her user name and posted a new picture of herself. Her new picture was copied and pasted from Pinterest so now I know this is a fake.

We may be talking about the same person because I've had something similar happen on this site. I was chatting offsite with a "girl" who posted regularly on here and she sent some pictures of herself. While the pictures were PG-Rated they just had a look about them that made me suspicious. I put them into google reverse image search and sure enough, they were from a photoset which included nude and pornographic images of the same model. I asked her about it and got blocked off from all further contact.

To be honest I wasn't that shocked. "Her" stories were very hard to believe and made me think that at best "she" just wanted to live that fantasy, but I suspected the entire account might be fake as well.

As a general rule I block anyone who tries to push me to send pictures of myself like that. I always make it perfectly clear that I'm not interested and there's no "deal" where we trade. Even if they're not catfishing, it's an obvious and troubling show of lack of respect.

[missy_moo]

I've been frequently this forum on and off again for almost 8 years and I can tell almost straight away who's dodgy and who's not. They always ask the same questions. It's such a shame because most of the girls I've shared DMs with have been really nice.

[Jordan99]

I think I may know who you are talking about. There is someone here who sounds like they are living a fantasy and seems a little too helpful at times. They seem nice so I haven’t said anything

Yeah, and after my most recent post about *her* having copied and pasted *her* photo from Pinterest, now *she* has removed that photo. I wish I could go back in time and would have sent the PM's to the Moderators so *she* would have been banned. So obviously a fake living some perverted fantasy pretending to be a girl and you're right. *She* went on and on trying to be "helpful". I even complimented *her* for *her* advice but then the PM's between us got way too personal and now I have truly learned my lesson. I'm considering posting the username but have a feeling this user will be discovered soon enough. For those of you who have PM'd me, you know who this user is.

[JustHaveFun]

Yeah, and after my most recent post about *her* having copied and pasted *her* photo from Pinterest, now *she* has removed that photo. I wish I could go back in time and would have sent the PM's to the Moderators so *she* would have been banned. So obviously a fake living some perverted fantasy pretending to be a girl and you're right. *She* went on and on trying to be "helpful". I even complimented *her* for *her* advice but then the PM's between us got way too personal and now I have truly learned my lesson. I'm considering posting the username but have a feeling this user will be discovered soon enough. For those of you who have PM'd me, you know who this user is.

You should report her to the moderators anyway, it's likely they have the changes logged on their server. They should know about this.

[Katrinchen]

You should report her to the moderators anyway, it's likely they have the changes logged on their server. They should know about this.

YES - you should report it - no way to let such people online :mad:

[Nikki_1]

It's kinda scary when you realise that you don't really know who you are talking too... I was a 'friend' of, who I thought was a girl but, like what happened to you 'she' started asking me for pic's of me that I thought were a bit strange for a girl top be asking me so I didn't send any and I ignored 'her' because I don't want to be doing anything like that because I don't think a 'real' girl would ask for anything like that, I know I wouldn't so... Girls... pleas, please, PLEASE be careful, there are a lot of 'weirdo's' on the net and NEVER send anything that you will regret!!!!
I think that, in time, they will give themselves away and show their true colours.

All stay safe... Nikki x

[hayley2003]

at my house we have a bunch of internet rules. Can't do these things without getting permission first


no sending of pictures
no recieving of pictures
can't give out phone, address of anybody
can't accept money for anything
can't buy anything
can't signup for things
can't give out facebook name
can't go meet an internet friend somewhere
can't do anything that is against the law


there are more, but those are main ones.

[Candy in CT]

at my house we have a bunch of internet rules. Can't do these things without getting permission first


no sending of pictures
no recieving of pictures
can't give out phone, address of anybody
can't accept money for anything
can't buy anything
can't signup for things
can't give out facebook name
can't go meet an internet friend somewhere
can't do anything that is against the law


there are more, but those are main ones.

Damn I did not see you at all in my house. It is like we have the same rules.

[Dalcourt]

Puberty for Girls :arrow: Puberty for All

Since some male forumers expressed interest in this topic I'm moving it with the OP's permit.

[Barbara.]

at my house we have a bunch of internet rules. Can't do these things without getting permission first


no sending of pictures
no recieving of pictures
can't give out phone, address of anybody
can't accept money for anything
can't buy anything
can't signup for things
can't give out facebook name
can't go meet an internet friend somewhere
can't do anything that is against the law


there are more, but those are main ones.
My mother basically has the same rules for me also. I always thought she was being unfair, and after reading this thread now I see that there is a reason for her rules.

[Katie2003]

at my house we have a bunch of internet rules. Can't do these things without getting permission first


no sending of pictures
no recieving of pictures
can't give out phone, address of anybody
can't accept money for anything
can't buy anything
can't signup for things
can't give out facebook name
can't go meet an internet friend somewhere
can't do anything that is against the law


there are more, but those are main ones.

My mom has the same rules, and many others for us. I wasn't allowed to use the computer without her supervising until I turned 15 a few weeks ago, never had my own phone either. We aren't even allowed to look at Facebook. She checked out VT after I told her I wanted to join a teen oriented discussion forum.

I'm positive that she has been right with those restrictions. Would you want parents that didn't care and let you do anything you wanted to?

[InternetTeen]

The internet can be a dark and dangerous place.

[Uniquemind]

at my house we have a bunch of internet rules. Can't do these things without getting permission first


no sending of pictures
no recieving of pictures
can't give out phone, address of anybody
can't accept money for anything
can't buy anything
can't signup for things
can't give out facebook name
can't go meet an internet friend somewhere
can't do anything that is against the law


there are more, but those are main ones.

All good rules and mine are very similar, except there are exceptions for irl family friends we already know, and in that sense I can accept and send pictures.

I will also be allowed to buy things in a few months online without supervision upon my birthday as long as I can afford it.

But I also have more code of ethics online in addition to what’s listed here. I definitely don’t even feel comfortable meeting internet-friends online.

[Brigje]

Having house Internet rules is good and one thing, living up to it is another thing. I think that these days we all get explained and warned about it (by parents and school etc.). But to comprehend it is more important than just “house rules”.

We all get “catfished” sooner or later, it is a part of being online and in a forum like VT. We learn to distinguish between good and bad, real and fake, over time and by experience and hopefully without too much of trouble.

A Question;
To about what age do you think it is okay for parents to check on your phone tablet laptop history etc?
My parents never did, which made me feel more responsible for my “activities” and it did build trust between us.

[Katie2003]

Having house Internet rules is good and one thing, living up to it is another thing. I think that these days we all get explained and warned about it (by parents and school etc.). But to comprehend it is more important than just “house rules”.

We all get “catfished” sooner or later, it is a part of being online and in a forum like VT. We learn to distinguish between good and bad, real and fake, over time and by experience and hopefully without too much of trouble.

A Question;
To about what age do you think it is okay for parents to check on your phone tablet laptop history etc?
My parents never did, which made me feel more responsible for my “activities” and it did build trust between us.

My mom always had to be right alongside me to use the computer at home, until I turned 15 in April. That's also when I got my first phone, and she has it set up to track everything. Other than her and my dad and big sis, there are only about 5 or 6 friends that even have my number. She can read all my text messages and see who I call by using either her phone or the computer, and it also tells her in real time exactly where I am.

I know quite a few other kids my age that their parents track everything they do as well. Since I'm not doing anything I shouldn't, I don't mind and if it keeps me safer, then I'm all for it. Only once so far has she questioned where I was, since it was a place she didn't recognize but I was with a girl I know and her mom so everything was OK.

I honestly won't mind if mom continues to track what I do until I'm 18, or even beyond that if she thinks she needs to. Knowing that she can does help me to think and make appropriate choices.

[Suplad]

Thanks

[cinderfella]

I think people should ask more specific questions and details then repeat it over time. This is how I avoid being catfished. Most people who lie about a detail probably can't repeat it again and again.

[Jrunner]

BEWARE! In my humble opinion, I think there are some people on VTF who are not who they present themselves to be.

^ this

[Mswimmer]

Having house Internet rules is good and one thing, living up to it is another thing. I think that these days we all get explained and warned about it (by parents and school etc.). But to comprehend it is more important than just “house rules”.

We all get “catfished” sooner or later, it is a part of being online and in a forum like VT. We learn to distinguish between good and bad, real and fake, over time and by experience and hopefully without too much of trouble.

A Question;
To about what age do you think it is okay for parents to check on your phone tablet laptop history etc?
My parents never did, which made me feel more responsible for my “activities” and it did build trust between us.

Exactly the same thinking

[rangerohio1]

girls do this too I had many times a girl send me pics and its not even her

[Hermes]

...Here in mex we do not have such laws as even as low as 13 COULD be considered as NOT 'underage' but also there are other countries that do not have or honour 'underage laws' like as do the US...

Regardless of legal technicalities it is not wise to exchange pictures with someone you have never met. Even people you should be able to trust can turn. Revenge porn is a problem, i.e. where there is an acrimonious break-up and one of the people either posts private pictures on the Internet, or threatens to do so as blackmail.

As soon as someone asks for pictures I would be wondering about their motive and whether they are who they claim to be and by the time someone reacts badly to declining to send pictures, whether being indignant or just stopping chatting, you can be pretty pictures where their objective all along, not friendship.

It's a pity to have become emotionally invested in a *friendship* that turned out not to be, but that's a risk when starting to chat. The best you can do is pick very carefully who you start to chat to in private to based on how genuine they seem to be in public, i.e. their forum posts, and back out as soon as it seems dodgy.

And, as a back stop, avoid giving out details that allow people to track you down in real life, or harass you on other platforms (including the phone network).

[Jericho14]

I’ve been catfished once by a guy who was my age pretending to be a woman. Luckily he didn’t spread my nudes online (Including a pic with my face)

Aside from asking specific/personal questions over and over again. I’d also suggest not showing your face when sending nudes (unless you're chatting with a real person and you’ve trusted each other)

[mick01]

I've been catfished on here by a "friend" who sent me an unsolicited picture of his naked "dad" and offered his "dad's" phone number so that I could call him anytime for advice. That was pretty gross. That was the last day he was on VTF.

[Birds18]

Or just don't send pix at all to anyone. I wouldn't send pix to my best friend let alone somebody on the Internet.

[Karmic]

Most people have Skype nowadays and a simple call is good enough to tell if someone's real or not nowadays, although I personally use discord.

[Emilyyy]

Yeah I'm always super careful on here and keep any conversation over PM on here and don't give out email or even Facebook easily

[sammydavis]

That’s really scary. That’s why I don’t give out my personal contact info to anyone unless I know them in person

[CuteGuy889]

It depends....I have sent old+present photos of me (shirtless + in my undies) to 2-3 gys and girls who wanted to see me when I used to be skinny and now after gaining weight....

[HeyCameron]

I honestly don't trust most of the people who message me, and I won't be sending any pictures. Not to mention I'm not interested in talking to users who are only in it for pics, legitimate or not.

[Anna Kadlecova]

I ussualy dont answer on weird messages. However I had some conversations with "fake" girls - so I report them.

[Anna Kadlecova]

We may be talking about the same person because I've had something similar happen on this site. I was chatting offsite with a "girl" who posted regularly on here and she sent some pictures of herself. While the pictures were PG-Rated they just had a look about them that made me suspicious. I put them into google reverse image search and sure enough, they were from a photoset which included nude and pornographic images of the same model. I asked her about it and got blocked off from all further contact.

To be honest I wasn't that shocked. "Her" stories were very hard to believe and made me think that at best "she" just wanted to live that fantasy, but I suspected the entire account might be fake as well.

As a general rule I block anyone who tries to push me to send pictures of myself like that. I always make it perfectly clear that I'm not interested and there's no "deal" where we trade. Even if they're not catfishing, it's an obvious and troubling show of lack of respect.

Oh, I think that I know this girl. I sent her a PM that her picture is very erotic and I can found some pornographic pictures of her. And - and she admit that she made some photo sets.

I dont drust that any 15yo girl is Ok wit it, that everybody on google can see her vagina and boobs...

[onyx]

Is it wrong to cat fish people to see pictures of their pets?

[Spooky_Eli]

Is it wrong to cat fish people to see pictures of their pets?:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:.. wait- what?

[onyx]

:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:.. wait- what? what if you heard they got a new puppy and wanted to see the puppy, is it ok to catfish them then

[Spooky_Eli]

what if you heard they got a new puppy and wanted to see the puppy, is it ok to catfish them thenSeriously?

[onyx]

Seriously?
I mean show them pictures of your catfish so they show you pictures of their puppy, I went way too far with this dumb joke didn't I

[Spooky_Eli]

I mean show them pictures of your catfish so they show you pictures of their puppy, I went way too far with this dumb joke didn't I
no, no, in fact, i don't think this joke has gone far enough:lol:

[onyx]

no, no, in fact, i don't think this joke has gone far enough:lol:
lol this is just getting weird

[Spooky_Eli]

lol this is just getting weirdvery. but to awnser your og post, i think its fine to do... what ever the f*** you said, idk im tierd here gimmie a breack