When the term "catfish" was first coined, it was generally used only in a dating context. It described the act of tricking someone into believing you're someone you're not, so as to pursue a romantic relationship. Nowadays the term is generally used more broadly to describe identity scams, whatever the purpose or context. There are even some celebs who have opened up about being catfished!
Notre Dame senior standout linebacker Manti Te’o, now an NFL free agent, was embroiled in a catfishing scandal a decade ago, but is now detailing the whole story in a Netflix documentary called 'Untold: the Girlfriend Who Didn’t Exist.' He had revealed in interviews at the time that his girlfriend, Lennay Kekua, a Stanford student, had died of leukemia at nearly the same time Te’o’s grandmother passed away, but added that he had never actually met Kekua in person, only spoken with her virtually. It turned out that Kekua was an entirely fictional person created by Ronaiah “Naya” Tuiasosopo, who also appears in the documentary. Te'o talked about the documentary on CBS Mornings and said, "In order for me to kind of heal from this, I needed to reveal it."
Check out this gallery to find out which celebrities have fallen victim to catfishing scams.