Fake/Old Pics on Hookup Apps/Websites

[BreedMeNYC]

I really just want someone to help me understand the mindset here. 

When I'm on an app like Grindr, or a site like BBRT, or any other hookup site, I constantly see pictures that are clearly very old or clearly very fake. Old pictures can be a giveaway when there's a mirror selfie showing an iPhone 4 (which came out in 2011 I think?), or the the photo quality is so low/pixelated that you can tell it's not from the last decade. Recently a man send a selfie taken on a flip phone -- and not the kind you can still buy if you're one of those people who don't want a smartphone. Fake pictures are harder to spot, but generally: if you think a profile is too good to be true, it probably is. If I see a 22 year old on Grindr with the hottest body I've ever seen, claiming to have a 10" dick... I'm gonna be skeptical. (And if someone that young and hot and vain doesn't have their instagram attached, that's an even bigger red flag because they love attention on social media lol)

I've also noticed some guys will crop their mirror selfies in a way that seems specifically motivated by a desire to hide the old phone model. At least in these cases, the deception seems very purposeful. 

Others, more recently, will use AI filters on their faces to seem younger, blonder, or whatever-er. AI is good but it's not good ENOUGH to be imperceptible. The faces still have a hint of cartoonishness that you can see when you look closely. 

I tend to be hyperaware of any signs that the person I'm chatting with might be a catfish. (I had a bad catfish-turned-stalker situation a few years ago and that sticks with you!) So I understand that some people don't see the red flags and continue to chat or trade pictures or whatever. 

But what is the end result? Why would someone send a picture from 2011, knowing damn well they don't look the same now? The reason can't be that they aged well and haven't changed... if that were true, they wouldn't resort to 13 year old pics. So what happens when they show up at my door, or I show up at theirs. Setting aside any safety issues, and setting aside any possibility that the other person will be uncomfortable saying anything or obligated to just see it through, doesn't the catfish feel embarrassed? 

I just don't see the point! Have you been in a situation where you've been catfished, but just went through with the hookup anyway because it's too awkward to back out? Maybe that's the reason... maybe the embarrassment is worth the few times where it leads to sex anyway. 

[BootmanLA]

Bear in mind the complaints so many people have over flakes and no-shows from "the apps". Sure, it would be obvious that someone doesn't match his pics *IF* he showed up at your door, but if he has zero intent of actually showing up - either he wants a hot online session, or just gets off from "attention" (even if earned through false pretenses), then the risk is close to zero.