If you have engaged with internet culture at all in recent years, you have probably come across the term “catfish”, first coined in the 2010 documentary of the same name. A catfish is someone who uses false information to cultivate a persona online that does not represent their true identity. This commonly involves using stolen or edited photos, usually taken from an unwitting third party.

Catfish will use this information to create a more appealing version of themselves, then engage in continued one-on-one interactions with another person (or people) who are unaware of the deception.

If you think too hard about the sharing economy, things get weird. We’re perfectly willing to get in a stranger’s car (Uber) or stay in a stranger’s home (Airbnb) — both of which we can arrange via smartphone app. These services offer certain trust markers, such as verification and user reviews, but that doesn’t guarantee a positive, or even a safe, experience, as two guests at a Los Angeles Airbnb discovered recently.

Celebrity endorsement scams are getting big in 2018, according to the ACCC. Reports of these types of scams have increased 400 per cent this year, and the amount of losses reported have gone up a huge 3800 per cent. As for why - the ACCC has called internet giants Facebook and Google to task for their role in displaying ads that link back to these scams.

Hundreds of Commonwealth Bank and ANZ customers have fallen victim to a phishing scam after downloading fake Android banking apps. The malicious software, which closely resemble the ANZ and CBA banking apps, remained undetected on the Google Play Store for weeks. Here's what you need to know.

Despite the influx of dating apps that have exploded onto the scene, Tinder is still the app of choice for meeting potential lovers today. The problem is the app has become a feeding ground for scammers creating fake profiles solely for the purpose of extracting money from users. Here are some tips to help you weed out the fakers on Tinder.

Browser developer tools are super-handy, allowing you to do all sorts of wonderful things to the sites you visit. All good things, of course. But, through social engineering, these tools can be used for evil. Turns out this was enough of problem for Facebook to stick a very visible warning in the website's source code.

Over half of Amazon sales come from third-party items. But the reviews on those items are not trustworthy. Following a BuzzFeed News report on the weird world of fake Amazon reviews, the podcast Reply All interviewed a fake review writer, who revealed "the hallmark of a fake review."

Travel inherently includes some security risks, because part of security is knowing how things are supposed to work, so you can recognise what's sketchy. Go to a new city and you might fall for a taxi scam, get pick-pocketed — or get your money stolen by an ATM skimmer. We talked to Daniel Smith, security researcher at cloud security company Radware, about how to avoid sketchy ATMs when you travel.

Buying on Amazon is increasingly an exercise in trust. While the company has taken steps to mitigate the spread ofsponsored product reviews and fake ratings, illegitimate sellers are still finding ways to scam consumers. The latest trick? Gaming Amazon’s popularity ranking system and taking over the “Best Seller” tag — arguably a pretty important marker when it comes to buying something with which you may be unfamiliar.

Scammers are impersonating NBN staff, demanding payments in iTunes cards and other gift cards, for services that will never be connected. It's not a new scam but with the NBN in the news, criminals are using the infrastructure company as a cover to go after vulnerable people. Here are some simple tips you can pass on to family and friends that may be vulnerable.

What's worse than being catfished? Being scammed out of money by someone you thought liked you. Romance scams are on the rise, and these shameless grifts cost consumers more money than other kind of internet fraud. Here's what you should watch out for if you're looking for love.

We hear the same messages from large tech companies and security specialists all the time. Don't click on links from unknown and untrusted sources, and don't fall for over-the-phone scams. Many banks and other companies never send links in email in order to "train" us in being cyber smart.

But every now and then, companies do dumb things that leave us scratching our heads. Like what Microsoft did with a friend of mine earlier this week.

Late yesterday I received a strange text from "PayPal" informing me that a payment for $999.99 had just been declined. It looks like we might have a new scam on our hands.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has released their annual Targeting scams report as they kick off Scam Awareness Week. They found that more people than ever are being scammed and that the amount of money we're losing is up on previous years with the average loss pegged at $6500.

As we've noted many times, Amazon is cluttered with fake reviews, and it takes work to sift through them. BuzzFeed dives deep into the economy of these fake reviews, which includes a subreddit tragically named /r/slavelabour. (The name is kind of a joke, but a very sad and true one.) The whole piece is just as depressing, as it basically spells out how utterly doomed Amazon reviews are.

A short-lived and relatively unknown cryptocurrency project built on Ethereum called Prodeum disappeared this weekend - along with the money a small number of hapless investors sunk into it. All that remained of its website was a white page with the word "penis" written on it.

Spotting a fake app is usually pretty easy, but that hasn't stopped hackers and scammers from trying to trick us. The latest example is a pair of fake Telegram apps that look and work just like the real thing, but bombard you with ads to make extra money.

At some point, we've all been contacted by a Nigerian prince, long-lost uncle, or some guy that just can't manage to get a bank account with the promise that if we just make one small wire transfer we'll have millions in our account by morning.

Video: If you've ever tried to win that super big stuffed animal for your sweetheart at the ring toss and just ended up embarrassing yourself, it's possible that you've long suspected that carnival games are rigged. It won't win you any prizes, but this video explains the mechanics of exactly how you're taken for a ride.