There are a lot of surprising viral moments on TikTok, but user @tanithgregory’s path to virality was particularly unexpected. She managed to earn hundreds of thousands of likes on a video after calling out a man’s attempted catfish on Tinder.
Captioned “How NOT to catfish 101,” @tanithgregory’s video gets straight to the point. It sees Gregory, using TikTok’s green screen feature, perusing the Tinder profile of a man supposedly named “Andrew.” Behind her, a tall and uniquely attractive white man grins at the camera.
As the video begins, Gregory dives immediately into the action.
Gregory informs “Andrew” that if he’s “going to go to the effort of cat fishing people on Tinder,” he should at least consider “cropping the Google search” out of the image. As she speaks, Gregory points to the top of the screen, where a Google search for “Tim Johnson model” still decorates the top of the image.
Commenters were quick to tease “Andrew” for his terrible attempt at catfishing.
“This has killed me,” one commenter proclaimed. “Outright dead.”
Some viewers found it particularly amusing that “Andrew” claims to be “loyal” in his profile, and also lists himself as 48 years old. If the model he chose is even nearing 48, I seriously need to rethink my beauty regimen.
Apparently missteps like this are relatively common. Several commenters pointed out that “so many don’t know how to crop.”
Other women chastised Gregory for giving men hints to better avoid being found out next time. “Don’t be telling them how to fix their mistakes,” one user wrote.
My own quick Google search for “Tim Johnson model” did not quickly yield the photo used in “Andrew’s” dating profile, so at least he wasn’t lazy enough to select the first Google image result. If only that same effort had extended to his cropping ability.
A few sympathetic users expressed empathy for “Andrew” and his foiled attempt at lying online. “I feel sorry for him,” one user wrote. “He’s so [in]secure about himself he had to get someone else’s picture instead.”
Another user proposed the idea that the profile really did belong to Tim Johnson, and he merely “Googled a photo of himself because he doesn’t have it in his phone, but forgot to crop it.” Even if this were true, however, he still lists himself as “Andrew” on the profile.
At least his mistake was a boon to viewers, serving them up with a good laugh at his expense.
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H/T Yahoo