Every year, 20,000 people are catfished, and 35% of online dating app users encounter one. Catfishing involves falsely identifying oneself to interact with others.
Victims of catfishing can experience mental and financial damage. In 2020, the financial damage of catfishing worldwide hit $600 million.
To avoid such damage, users must take time to check the identity and authenticity of the people they interact online. However, spotting a catfish can be challenging with the many online interactions.
You can do a catfish lookup if you think you’re being catfished. Read more to learn how to do a catfish lookup and the step-by-step process of the different methods.
- Catfishing involves falsely identifying oneself to interact with others online, leading to potential mental and financial damage.
- Social Catfish offers reverse image searches for catfish lookups, helping users verify someone’s identity and run background checks.
- Intelius provides reverse phone lookup services to help users identify potential catfishers and offers a 6-day trial period for new users.
- TruthFinder is an online platform offering information services, including catfish lookup by name, utilizing public documents and profiles.
- Google’s reverse image search is a free tool to search for images and helps users identify catfishers by comparing uploaded images to those online.
- Microsoft Bing offers a reverse image search service similar to Google, allowing users to find similar images and sources.
- TinEye is a private and secure reverse image search engine for finding images and verifying dating profiles.
- Yandex is a Russian search engine that allows users to perform reverse image searches, even with partial images, to identify sources and potential catfishing.
- To avoid falling victim to online dating scams, users can conduct a catfish lookup, with reverse image searches being one of the most effective methods.
How to Do a Catfish Lookup?
A social media catfish gets their photos online from someone else. This is why a reverse image search is best for a catfish lookup. It searches the internet to find similar images, their sources, and other information about the photo.
There are many available tools to use for reverse image searches. Some of these are free. Users can use a reverse image search to do a catfish lookup.
Find out the different catfish lookup methods below.
Method #1: Catfish Picture Lookup
Social Catfish is an online investigation service that offers reverse image searches.
Initially, the platform started as a blog to educate people about online scams and catfishing. Then, it became a platform to verify someone’s identity and run background checks.
To do a catfish lookup in Social Catfish’s reverse image search, follow the steps below:
Step 1. Go to the Social Catfish website. Upload the image of the person you want to search for.
Step 3. After the website analyzes the picture, click “Yes, I understand” to access the result.
Step 4. The website will then report all the people that match the picture.
To access the full report, users must purchase a subscription plan:
- $5.99: 5-day trial period for Social Catfish’s unlimited image search
- $26.99: regular monthly subscription
Method #2: Catfish Reverse Phone Lookup – Intelius
Intelius is a public record business that offers information services. This service includes property searches, background checks, and reverse phone lookups.
Intelius is also available for Android and iOS. This allows users to do catfish reverse phone lookups from their mobile phones. To make it easier and more accessible.
Follow these simple steps for a catfish reverse phone lookup on Intelius:
Step 1. Go to the Intelius website and select “Phone.”
Step 2. Enter the phone number used by the person suspected of catfishing.
Step 3. Verify your age. Sometimes, the report may include graphic content, so verifying the user’s age is necessary.
Step 5. Only a preview of the result is available. This only includes the telecommunication carrier, approximate location, and whether the phone number is mobile or landline.
Accessing the full report from Intelius requires an account and a subscription plan.
| Price | Description |
| $0.95 | 6-day trial period |
| $34.95/month | Intelius’s standard people search service with reverse phone lookup |
The 6-day trial period can be great for those who want to experience the service before fully committing to the monthly plan.
Method #3: Catfish Lookup by Name – TruthFinder
Truthfinder is another online platform that provides information services similar to Intelius and Social Catfish. It offers users access to public documents, such as contact information, social media profiles, criminal reports, etc.
Users can use this service to do a catfish lookup by name. Here are the steps:
Step 1. Go to the Truthfinder website, type in the person’s name, and click “Search Now.”
Step 2. You will see a report of everyone who shares the same name as the person you are looking for.
You can check each profile to see if someone is using the same pictures or information as that person.
A lookup service is the most efficient way to verify someone’s identity. However, social media can also be a good tool for searching people.
Read this article to learn the different ways to look for someone on social media.
Method #4: Conduct a Google Image Search to Find a Catfish
Google’s reverse image search is an excellent tool for searching photos. It is also free and can be used on smartphones or any computer.
Follow these simple steps to do a Google reverse image search:
For Desktop Computer
Go to https://images.google.com/. Click the camera icon or paste the image link. To upload a picture, drag the image or simply upload it from the computer’s hard drive.
For Mobile Phones
Open the Google browser and click the camera icon. Take a picture of the image or upload it to Google Lens. Click “Search.”
Check each image result to see if a picture is similar to the one you uploaded.
Method #5: Discover a Catfish Using Microsoft Bing Reverse Image Search
Microsoft Bing, also known as Bing, is an internet search engine owned by Microsoft. It was founded in 2009 to replace live search.
Like Google, it is also free to use. It offers various search services, including web, video, image, and map search products.
To do a reverse image search through Bing, go to https://www.bing.com/visualsearch. Drag the image you want to search. You can also paste the image’s URL, search for files, or take a photo directly from your camera.
| 💡Did You Know: Daily searches on Bing amount to nearly 900 million. |
Method #6: Use TinEye Reverse Image Lookup to Find a Catfish
TinEye is a reverse image search engine dedicated to looking up pictures. TinEye can be used to find out the source of an image, look for a higher resolution of the picture, discover an edited version of the image, or verify a dating profile.
Additionally, searching with TinEye is private and secure. Images used to search TinEye are never saved or indexed.
To look for pictures using TinEye, go to https://tineye.com/.
You can search there for a photo in many ways.
Step 1. Upload the image from a computer or mobile device
Step 2. Use the image URL address
Step 3. Drag the image from a tab to your browser
Step 4. Copy and paste the image
| 💡Pro Tip: If you want to search images more easily using TinEye, you can install it as a plug-in in the Google browser. You only need to right-click any web image and select “Search image on TinEye” from the context menu. |
Method #7: Find a Catfish Through Yandex Image Lookup
Yandex is a Russian search engine that offers internet search services. Like Google and Bing, users can search for images, videos, and maps with Yandex.
Users can find out what or who is in the image on Yandex. Even if the user only has a part of an image, it is enough to search for its full version.
Follow the following steps for a reverse image search using Yandex:
Step 1. Go to the Yandex website.
Step 2. Select “Images”.
Step 3. Click the camera icon on the search bar.
Step 4. Upload the image.
Step 5. You will then see similar images to the photo you uploaded.
The results can be helpful if you want to locate the source of the picture. You can be sure if the person is using images from the internet.
Wrapping Up
The last thing users want to experience is falling victim to online dating scams. To avoid this, users can do a catfish lookup if they feel they are being catfished.
One of the best ways to do a catfish lookup is through a reverse image search. It can identify if the images used are from somewhere else or others are using them.
Users can try the abovementioned methods and choose which will work for them.
FAQs on Catfish Lookup
Do catfish use Google Chat?
Fraudsters use chat services like Google Chat since it offer some privacy compared to other platforms. Before sending someone money, bank information, or sensitive data, ensure you are working with someone you know.
What do catfishers want?
Catfishing occurs when someone uses a false identity to take advantage of someone’s trust. Some people catfish others to participate in cyberbullying.
What to look for when being catfished?
Signs that you are being catfished are when they want to know your personal details, request to keep the relationship secret and ask for money. Additionally, they avoid face-to-face contact.
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