Catfishing — Don’t Be Manti

So, by now you've heard (covered around 6:15am on Monday)...I got in a little "trouble" with our consultant, who ripped me a new one for not overly-covering this ridiculous Manti T'eo catfishing story.

I apologize if I've let you down, JoyFM'ers.  I honestly didn't think you wanted to hear much about it. There are far more pressing (and frankly, more interesting) stories I'd like to talk with you about...but if I disappointed you by not diving head-first into this media mayhem like every other DJ on the planet, please accept my apologies.

Besides, would you take advice from THIS guy???  (Yes, that's actually my consultant, Paige, whom I'm supposed to take seriously.  We took this shot in a "50 Shades of Paige" stint back in '11)

However, true to my own form, I decided to turn a negative into a positive and spin it.  Instead of making fun of a Notre Dame college kid who was duped in a less-than-elaborate scam, I thought I'd pass along some info to you so that months from now, I don't get an angry phone call from my consultant for not covering YOU.

I know YOU'RE far too smart to fall victim to something like this, but perhaps you know someone who could benefit from this info.  Please feel free to pass it along.

So here are a few red flags to look for from a government blog, if you find yourself in an online romance.  Here is some behavior to keep an eye on to avoid sweetheart scams:

• Pictures the scammer sends of themselves that show a VERY attractive person, and appears to have been taken at a professional agency or studio
• The scammer seems to have ridiculously bad luck -- gets in car crashes, arrested, mugged, beaten, hoospitalized, all within the course of a few months
• The scammer says they're native-born American, but uses poor grammar like a non-native English speaker.

There are more tips here.  Basically, buyer beware, and if it seems too good to be true, you may be dating Clint Eastwood's version of President Obama.

<3 LD