APATAP 2019 Annual Conference

Catfishing is a unique crime in which a subject creates a fake online persona in order to scam others.  The term was coined by the 2010 documentary “Catfish” as a reference to putting catfish in cod tanks during transpacific shipping in order keep the cod actively swimming.  In cyber environments, the analogy is that the catfish keeps online users thinking and on alert for scams.  The film later gave rise to the 2012 MTV series “Catfish,” and several high profile cases of online scams, most notably the 2013 false girlfriend persona of Notre Dame football player Manti Te’o.  In 2013, the Bureau of Diplomatic Security, Office of Protective Intelligence Investigations (DS/PII) became involved in a complex catfishing investigation when the U.S. Embassies in Moldova and Bulgaria received separate phone calls that an American female high school student was reportedly kidnapped in Bulgaria.  An extensive investigation involving DS, the FBI, and Bulgarian authorities to find the missing student ensued, but could not locate her.  Further investigative efforts revealed anomalies in the story.  A review of cell phone records and social media profiles determined that missing student was actually a fictitious persona created by one of the callers to target the second caller, who was the “boyfriend” of the fictitious persona.  The persona turned out to be an actual person whose online identity was stolen by the subject.  The subject used both physical stalking and cyberstalking to collect intelligence on the girl.  The subject then used the fictitious female profile to lure his male schoolmates into sexting him, instigating violence amongst them, and placing them at risk for being predated on by sex offenders.  The subject’s masterful plot was exposed by DS/PII, and he was arrested and convicted.