Getting back at faceless tormentors

MTV’s “Catfish” host Nev Schulman (right) helping out a guest

Unlike many new TV shows that merely freshen up old program formats that have clicked with viewers for many years, the MTV production, “Catfish,” rides the new social media craze.

Its resident host-investigators use their plugged-in expertise in the new media to be of help to hapless victims of the nefarious scam called “catfishing”—described as a “type of deceptive activity involving a person creating a  ‘sock puppet’ social networking presence for illicit purposes.”

In other words, “catfishing” scammers use social media to achieve nefarious personal and financial objectives.

The way the show sees it, there are many people who engage in this, and some of them hurt and fleece their victims where it really hurts.

That’s where the show steps in, helping people victimized by the scammers get back at their faceless and heartless tormentors.

The telecast of “Catfish” we viewed late last month focused on the weird case of a young woman who got to know and fell in love with a hunk she met online, where a combination of looks, animal appeal and a kind and caring heart captivated her.

Trouble is, her happiness didn’t last, because she soon discovered that her online friend and lover was not quite the prize catch he initially seemed to be.

That turned out to be the understatement of the year. When the show’s expert investigators peeped under the rug, they uncovered a much bigger and more complicated tale of betrayal:

The initial scammer had other fictitious handles—who serially led to the real online person—who turned out to be not a guy at all! Huh?

That’s right, “Blu” turned out to be a tomboy—and, perhaps even more shocking for our easily fooled heroine-victim, she didn’t look dishy at all!

The unmasked victimizer apologized for treating her so shabbily, but it was too little, too late.

Still, the bruised victim surprised everyone by not berating her doubly duplicitous tormentor from head to toe.

Instead, she thought about the whole traumatic experience, and opted to take the high road of forgiveness.

She probably realized that her own naivete and ga-ga cluelessness were partly to “blame” for her totally being fooled by her online friend-turned-fiend.

She had learned a big “life lesson” in a painfully instructive way, but it didn’t mean that she would become a bitter, suspicious person as a result.

We hope that the show’s viewers similarly learned to look before they leap when it comes to online relationships.

It’s a scary new world out there, with people pretending under the cloak of anonymity to be more beautiful, richer and more desirable than they really are.

So, make sure that you aren’t caught in the gullible maw by a catfisher’s bright and shiny hook!