Catfishing

I don't necessarily think it's very common but I wouldn't say it is rare either. It couldn't be if there are enough supposed instances to make a TV show out of it. Although, reality TV can be just as fake as people acting like someone else online but that's not here or there. On that note, I don't think catfishing is limited to online dating. Fraud is fraud, this just so happens to have a specific name.

I don't think catfishing isn't something anyone should fear but it's really dependent on the individual. If a person is willing to take anything someone they haven't met in person says online at face value and not dig deeper, I feel like it's on them. How much effort is someone willing to go through to make someone online prove they are telling the truth? If someone online is dancing around the subject of meeting in person and continues to make excuses, then that's a red flag and they should stop talking to them.

I think it is a symptom of not really knowing what to do without the face-to-face element. There are no signals on how to proceed. I understand people don't want to come off as rude or pushy but there is a point where they have to realize things can't stay in the dark forever. Again, they have to choose to dig deeper, if they refuse to do so then they are asking for it.