Advice from a former catfish, ama

First of all. I'm not doing this to justify my behavior. I know what I've done is wrong in so many ways. But I am open to questions, both in the comments and in the DM:s, I wont delete this account.

Hopefully I can shed some light on what goes through the mind of a catfish.

I've been catfishing people for as long as I can remember, since before it even was a word.

I did it for the attention, the confirmation and mostly the sexting. The dopamine rush is extremely addictive and it's very hard to stop.

I've quit because it's a fucked up thing to do and it makes me a bad person. It makes me an unproductive and needy piece of shit and I hate myself when I do it.
Also I realize that I cause harm and anxiety to others.

But the least I can do is to offer some advice, ask me anything.

I'll start off with the basics.

What does a catfisher hate? Any kind of questions about verification. Asking for a video call. A question to pose for a selfie in a certain way or to hold up a piece of paper with a specific word on it. Asking for social media presence. Getting these kind of questions in a conversation would just make me delete the contact and move on.

How do you spot stolen pictures? This is tricky. Don't rely on reverse image search, there are ways to get around those. Just ask for specific selfies or video to spot the catfish.

What are obvious red flags? Not wanting to share socials, wanting to take the conversation to apps like Telegram or google chat, not wanting to share any kind of information or inconsistency in information. Not being verified and suspicious excuses. Remember, a voice memo, a "this is me now" selfie or even a phone call is not valid verification