One of the drawbacks of using dating apps to find a potential partner is the uncertainty that comes with not knowing whether or not the person you're talking to is actually who they say they are.
And with more people than ever turning to Tinder, Bumble, and Hinge to search for their special someone, it's important to know how to spot someone that's using another person's pictures to deceive their dates - also known as a catfish.
A woman on TikTok named Jocelyn has shared her experience with a catfish in a video on her account, @jjustjocelyn, where she revealed she was planning to meet up with a Bumble match named Myles before a clue in his text messages set alarm bells ringing.
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Jocelyn, from Ontario, Canada, explained that when she sent a text to Myles from her iPhone, the message was green - which indicated the number she was given was attached to an Android phone, as messages sent to other iPhones are blue.
But in Myles' photos on his Bumble profile, he was clearly wearing an Apple Watch, prompting Jocelyn to do further investigation into who her date really was.
She said in her video: "I matched with this guy on Bumble, as one does. He was good looking, I was into it. I didn't give him too much information about myself because I've definitely chatted with people too much on the app.
"He said we should get dinner sometime, and I thought that was great because obviously, I don't want to talk in the app, I want to meet in person to see if I really like him. I give him my number and I say text me when and where we should meet for dinner.
"He texts me pretty quickly, and when I reply, I notice that it's green. Now, why does that matter? This is the guy I matched with. What is he wearing? An Apple Watch. What does green mean? It means he doesn't have an iPhone."
Jocelyn then said she stuck Myles' photos through a reverse Google Image search and found the pictures actually belonged to a model from New York named Ron - and not to the person she was talking to on Bumble.
She added: "I did a reverse image search of some of the pictures he used on his profile, and what do we have here? An Instagram model from New York! I live in Ontario, so that's not adding up.
"The guy I matched with is pretending to be somebody named Myles, not Ron, who is the actual guy that's in the pictures. Thankfully I had hardly spoken to this guy and I'd invested 0% of my time. Either way, stay woke ladies and stay alert. There are catfishes everywhere."
And commenters on Jocelyn's video - which has been viewed over 1 million times - were quick to praise the woman for her detective work.
One person said: "Good observation skills! And thanks for the tip."
While another added: "You're basically a detective now. What a great catch."
Jocelyn has even had a response from Bumble themselves, who have confirmed they've removed the catfish's profile from their app.
They said: "We’re so sorry to hear about this! We’ve found the member and permanently removed them."
If you're concerned about a potential catfish and want to double-check their photos for yourself, can perform a reverse image search by going to Google Images and clicking the camera icon, which allows you to either paste an image URL or upload a picture from your computer.
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