The story exposes a long list of fake profiles that ‘catfished’ men across Ireland – including professional football players from The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) and the podcast’s co-host Johnny ‘B’ O’Brien. Throughout the episode, O’Brien and co-host Johnny ‘Smacks’ McMahon speak with some of the men affected by the catfish – ‘Nicky’ – bringing awareness to the dangers of it.
Catfishing is more common than many people realise, according to Statista, 22% of people personally experienced it between 2022 and 2023. Many incidents take place online, and there is a lot of stigma still present – with lots of people probably wondering, ‘How did you not know?’.
So what signs should you look out for?. Reluctance to meet in person. A common theme throughout the GAA Catfish case was that they didn’t meet any of the men in person, using reasons like a death in the family to explain it. Emotional manipulation. “The catfish may use emotional manipulation – so they create a sense of urgency or drama to elicit sympathy or attention, almost playing on your guilt or shame,” Suglani says.
Again, this was a common theme throughout the GAA Catfish saga as fake family members accounts were made to text co-host O’Brien asking why he wasn’t replying to ‘Nicky’. Asking for money. Although not all of this was due to catfishing and online dating, Alderson says catfishers often build trust and emotional connections with their victims to ultimately ask for money.
