Ella Germein, BTN Reporter: Six out of ten young Australians admit to talking to someone online they've never actually met and over a quarter have sent photos or videos. So how do we know the people we are talking to online actually are who they say they are?
Student: I’ve definitely have had friends that I’ve have met online.
Student: These apps are like dangerous.
Constable Lauren De Gabriel, South Australian Police: Impersonation scams are growing. People are pretending to be someone that they're not. They're doing it to gain your trust, to try and get something from you, so they'll do anything to try and manipulate you to get what they want.
It's often called Catfishing, when someone sets up a fake online identity and uses it to trick you into thinking you have a real friendship or relationship with them.
They can also use your personal information, your photos, your videos to bully, blackmail, scam or steal your identity.
Student: Yeah a lot of people I know have had trouble like being catfished or scammed.
Student: People can like post a photo on Instagram and look completely different from the editing apps that are happening.
Julie Inman Grant, Commissioner of eSafety Australia: You know, we have dealt with over just this year, over two thousand cases of under 18s experiencing image-based abuse, where they shared an intimate image or their nudes with someone that they thought loved them or that they could trust and then they found out the hard way they couldn’t. It's an incredibly distressing thing, it’s a form of image-based abuse.
It's a very real problem, so it’s important that you know how to spot a catfish.
Student: You can tell if they’re fake or not, by their followers, by their profile, by the photo.
Are their photos real? And are actually the person in them? If you put them into a reverse image search and they pop up anywhere else or under a different name, most likely they're using a fake profile to catfish you. You can also search for their name and their social media profiles.
Student: Honestly, double check who the person is and just look, their mutual friends, their profile, who they’re friends with, what servers they may be in and just make sure that their story makes sense, that they’re not making something up. Just the basics really.
Trent Ray, Co-Founder and Director of Cyber Safety Project: They might not share any or have any mutual friends with out as well, so they will be a complete stranger. Um, they may not have many followers themselves across their social accounts. Inconsistent or really vague information that they share about themselves.
It's also worth thinking about how do they communicate? Do they seem to know a lot of personal information about you or are they saying things like ‘I really like you’ or ‘I love you’, or does it all just seem a little too good to be true?
Julie: They can spot when someone is vulnerable, that someone who might need companionship, that might need affirmation and they’ll give you all sorts of compliments and everything you wanna hear.
So it’s at this point they might try and encourage you to send some personal information or even share some secrets, they might try get you to send money or even want you to send intimate photos or videos.
Trent: Another big red flag is that they might refuse to do things like video chats.
Yep, if they claim they can't show you what they look like in a video chat because their camera isn’t working, they're almost certainly not who they say they are.
Julie: We just have to teach people to question everything, like this is, it’s okay to be cynical when meeting people online or at least questioning because you just don't know, what you don't know. Just protect um, your privacy and your privates.
The good news is there’s lots of things you can do to prevent yourself from being catfished.
Things like adjusting your privacy settings on your apps to control what you share, who sees it and who can comment or who can contact you.
Student: Instagram, I do not use as much because I’ve come to realise it’s mostly focused on sending pictures.
Student: I try use things that keep me anonymous, like Discord, Snap Chat, you have location and friend permissions, who you can talk to your mutual friend servers, you can turn those things on and off, scam messages, I use all of those to keep me safe.
And being wary of what people can see in your photos. Do you think could they find you from say seeing your school uniform badge or maybe knowing what your local sports club you play at?
Constable De Gabriel: We kind of have to be politely paranoid about who we’re talking to and just have a think, why might this person want to be my friend? What are they trying to get me to do? What are they trying to get me to say? What’s really happening here?
But if you have been catfished or maybe you suspect you’re being catfished right now, don’t worry there’s lots of things you can do.
First up, stop all conversations or at least maybe put it on pause just while you check the warning signs. Screenshot, block and report any fake accounts. And if you have already sent images or videos that you might be a little bit worried don’t worry, you can get help with that too.
Trent: Don't share any more personal information and don’t succumb to their threats or their requests. Simply block them and make sure you report them to the app or application you’re participating on or game. And then it’s their responsibility of the app or platform to actually help you and if you’re still not getting help or support, then you can actually reach out to the office of the e-Safety Commissioner at eSafety.com.au there are some really helpful resources, but also a place where you can go to report if you are receiving cyber harms.
Julie: When you report to us, we’re not here to judge, we’re not here to shame. We are here to help you. So if your images are up there, we’ll help you get it down. What I would say is, and I’m not wagging my finger here, but like if you've never met the person in real life, you really don't know who’s behind it, so don't share intimate imagery or videos with someone you've never met because you just don't know who they are, what their intentions are.