Phishing Catfishes
Proceed With Caution + Don't Fall For Their BS
The only kind of catfish I like is filleted, battered, and deep-fried.
But out here on the wacky and wild World Wide Web? Theyāre slippery, sneaky, and a total pain in the ass.
Every weekāhell, every dayāsome scammy phish tries to slither into my inbox or DMs. They act like long-lost lovers, concerned bankers, or friendly tech support bros.
āClick here!ā āUrgent notice!ā āVerify your account!ā
Itās all the same bullshit: a fake front, a hook, and the hope that youāll bite.
Stupid fucking phish.
PHISHING + CATFISHING IN 2025
Phishing isnāt just email spam from Nigerian princes anymore (though yes, theyāre still around too). These days itās more sophisticatedāand way more dangerous. Think:
Fake social media profiles sliding into your messages with a āHey cutie šā
Texts pretending to be from FedEx or your bank
Emails from lookalike domains (think āpaypa1.comā instead of āpaypal.comā)
Pop-ups saying your computer has a virus (it doesnāt, but click that link and it soon will)
Phishing is social engineering, and catfishing is its cousin. Same playbook, different endgame: they manipulate emotions, create urgency, or prey on loneliness, hoping youāll spill your data, send your money, or worseātrust them.
Honestly? All of us are vulnerable. That includes smart people. Creative people. LGBTQ+ folks looking for safe community spaces. Older folks just trying to check their email. Teens trying to buy a concert tee. Anyone whoās distracted, tired, or just too damn trusting.
We all want to believe people are who they say they are. But online, trust needs a filter.
AVOID THE PHISH FRY
Slow down. Scammers want you to act fast. If itās urgent, itās probably fake.
Check the source. Hover over links. Look at the actual sender address. If it smells fishy, it probably is.
Never share personal info through email or text. No legit service is going to ask you to āconfirm your passwordā via DM.
Use multi-factor authentication whenever possible. Yes, itās annoying, but if someone gets your password, it will likely protect you from way more annoying (and costly) things.
Reverse image search. Especially for sexy DMs or dating profiles that feel too good to be true. Catfish hate being reverse-Googled.
Trust your gut. If something feels off, walk away.
If someone really wants to get to know you, theyāll prove it. Slowly. Over time. Without asking for gift cards, logins, or nudes in the first ten minutes.
Be cautious. Be curious. Be a little bit cynical.
And when in doubt? Block. Report. Move on.
The only thing worse than getting catfishedā¦is pretending it canāt happen to you.
Keep calm and fish (safely) on!
Clint šāļø
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Thank you. Yes, YOU, boo!
ON THIS DAY = APRIL 30
BIRTHDAYS
1820 = Matilda Mary Hays = British actor and writer š
1839 = Tsukioka Yoshitoshi = Japanese artist š
1877 = Alice B. Toklas = American-born memoirist š
1908 = Eve Arden = American actor
1909 = F. E. McWilliam = Irish sculptor and educator
1923 = Percy Heath = American bassist
1926 = Cloris Leachman = American actor and comedian
1938 = Gary Collins = American actor and talk show host
1944 = Jill Clayburgh = American actor
1945 = Annie Dillard = American writer
1946 = Bill Plympton = American animator, producer, and screenwriter
1954 = Jane Campion = New Zealand filmmaker
1956 = Lars von Trier = Danish filmmaker
1969 = Onir = Bengali Indian filmmaker š
1975 = Johnny Galecki = American actor
1976 = Amanda Palmer = American singer-songwriter and pianist
1980 = Sam Heughan = Scottish actor, producer, author, and entrepreneur
1982 = Kirsten Dunst = American actor
1985 = Gal Gadot = Israeli actor and model
1986 = Dianna Agron = American actor and singer
EVENTS
1789 ā On the balcony of Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, George Washington takes the oath of office to become the first POTUS.
1859 = Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities is first published in the literary periodical All the Year Round in weekly installments until November 26, 1859.
1921 = Marcel Proust publishes the first part of Sodome et Gomorrhe (aka Cities of the Plain), part of his 16-volume opus Ć la recherche du temps perdu (aka In Search of Lost Time and Remembrance of Things Past). The themes of male and female same-sex passion interwoven into the previous volumes now come to the fore in an extended essay on the homosexual.
1939 = NBC inaugurates its regularly scheduled television service in New York City, broadcasting President Franklin D. Roosevelt's N.Y. World's Fair opening day ceremonial address.
1939 = The 1939ā40 New York World's Fair opens.
1993 = CERN announces World Wide Web protocols will be free.
1997 = Ellen DeGeneres comes out on her eponymous tv show Ellen in
āThe Puppy Episodeā that drew 42 million viewers.
HOLIDAYS + OBSERVANCES
PORTRAIT + QUOTES OF THE DAY
āIt was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way ā in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.ā
Charles Dickens, A Tale Of Two Cities
āHave a heart that never hardens, and a temper that never tires, and a touch that never hurts.ā
Charles Dickens
Thanks Clint. Honesty Day you say. Honesty doesn't get a month or a week, just 24 hours.
Wednesday is Buddha Day, Om bum Budhaya namah.