What is "catfishing" and why is it dangerous?

Advocates are calling on residents to stay vigilant online after police revealed that "catfishing" played a major factor in a triple homicide in Riverside.

"Catfishing is a core piece of what's happening out there that's harming children," said Mark Berkman, CEO of the Organization for Social Media Safety.

Berkman defined "catfishing" as someone impersonating another individual on social media. They can do this by using a profile with a fake name, age, appearance or gender. He added that it's a working definition because the term is evolving with each new case. Catfishing can be used by predators to trick someone into divulging personal information, similar to what police say happened in a grisly triple homicide in Riverside.   

"Parents and children should realize that these predators are very sophisticated," said Berkman. "So it can be very hard to differentiate a real account from an individual that's catfishing and using a fake profile."

Berkman added that catfishers will use all types of platforms and it is a major red flag if your child is talking with someone they've never actually met in person. 

"We've seen catfishing cases on major platforms like Snapchat, Instagram, gaming platforms as well as Fortnite and Roblox," he said. 

According to Berkman, the first step to protecting your kids is to warn children about what catfishing is. Secondly, set the social media ground rules.

"Especially for younger teens, certainly 'tweens,' not connecting with individuals that they do not know in real life, preferable who are not their own age," he said. 

Thirdly, parents should look into installing third-party safety software.

"Software parents an use that will scan for certain harmful contain that may come across your child's social media account," said Berkman. 

Finally, Berkman said that social media platforms need to work with parents in order to protect their children. His organization has worked on legislation to do so. 

"Our major initiative this coming year is a piece of legislation called 'Sammy's Law," he said. "That would require all social media platforms to give parents the choice to use third-party safety software that certainly can be a frontline defense against predatory behavior.