catfisher

plural catfishers

1. Someone who fishes for catfish.

   Synonyms: catfisherman

2. Someone who catfishes (creates a fake profile).

   I’ve done a lot of online dating and I’ve had catfishers hit on me before, but usually it’s obvious.

   2016, Diane Kelly, Death, Taxes, and a Satin Garter, St. Martin’s Paperbacks, →ISBN, page 39

   3 more examples

   The latest in a long line of dirty dating tactics to emerge is “wokefishing,” a term coined by writer Serena Smith. “People masquerade as holding progressive political views to ensnare potential partners,” Smith told Vice. Wokefishermen can be thought of like catfishers — those who use fake online personas to defraud victims — but only for sex instead of money.

   2020 July 30, Ben Cost, “Wokefish’ dating trend: Shady men are pretending to be progressive on apps”, in New York Post, archived from the original on 06 Oct 2020

   Catfishers lie and mislead people in their search for intimate and personal relationships through text, chat rooms, email, instant messaging, and other apps.

   2021, Renee Hobbs, “How Do People Decide Who and What to Trust?”, in Media Literacy in Action: Questioning the Media, Rowman & Littlefield, →ISBN, part II (Judgments about Taste, Quality, and Trust), page 215

   ‘Lots of really smart people get taken in by catfishers.’ ‘Catfishers? Is that what you think is happening?’ ‘I don’t know. I think it’s possible.’ ‘You watch too much internet,’ Roly scoffed and they walked on in silence.

   2021, Clodagh Murphy, The Reboot, Balally Books, →ISBN

   Synonyms: catfish