Catfishing is when someone uses a picture or video that is not them personally, to trick people. It’s pretty popular on dating sites and social media just in general. But when we started work this morning, this is not something we figured would be up for discussion. Sure enough, Gyu-min ‘SanGuiNar’ Lim, formerly of the London Spitfire found that Overwatch Pro Players photos are being used to catfish on dating apps. You read that right.
In America, catfishing targets tend to be huge mainstream media stars. In Korea though, esports players are major mainstream media stars! This particular bit of drama came to life on January 4th, when SanGuiNar posted about it on Twitter:
— SanGuiNar (@SanGuiNar_14) January 3, 2021
“I have some bad News today. First It’s 2 AM in korea so maybe I can type little weird sorry. One of my fans said someone acted like me and GZ Charge’s ChoiSehwan and dated with another fan. He used snapchat to text other fans and used me and ChoiSehwan, Chara’s picture.
“I don’t used snapchat and never send message to fans first. Don’t have confused. He is not me.”
It doesn’t really seem that odd to us that esports players would be the target. Esports is a serious pastime in Korea, and idols/pop stars aren’t really allowed to date. It’s a bit of a generalization, but many K-pop stars have a “no dating” clause in their contracts. So if someone saw a member of Blackpink on a dating app, for example, it would be incredibly suspicious.
Esports players are some of the biggest stars in Korea though, so the notion that Overwatch players are being used as catfish pictures isn’t farfetched. Is it weird and gross? Absolutely. Hopefully, the pros will reach out to their fans on social media and make this known to circumvent catfishing. There have to be people that fantasize about finding someone famous on a dating app and wind up in a relationship with them.
But it’s far more important to be diligent in situations like this. In America, actors and cosplayers alike have all been the victim of having their faces and likenesses used. Even this writer has a friend or two that has had their identity stolen to use on Tinder.
This is just a gross thing to see. There is nothing wrong with using dating apps to find that special someone – or that special someone for right now. Hey, we don’t judge. But using someone else’s fame, success, or looks to try and make a connection is pretty much always going to backfire. Don’t do this. If you see someone suspicious, Overwatch pro players or otherwise, and suspect a catfish, report it.
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