Catfishing refers to roping in suckers with fake dating profiles, which became more common due to photo filters and photoshopping.
The term became popular with the 2010 documentary "Catfish" where a man develops an online friendship with who he believes to be an 18 year old girl from the Midwest who turns out to be a 40-year-old housewife. The woman's husband compares her behavior to that of a catfish being shipped with live cod to prevent the cod from becoming pale and lethargic. Such practice was described in 'Essays in Rebellion' (1913) and 'The Catfish' (1913) and MTV ran a show based on the movie from 2012 to 2025.