Beware, as It Always Is Catfishing Season.

• Position: ONLINE THREATS

Despite warnings from the Federal Trade Commission, a public NFL victim, and an MTV reality show, the number of catfishing victims has increased by 50% in the last three years. Catfishing is when someone fakes an online identity to scam victims for money, romance, or physical harm. These online relationships can last for months or even years.

SocialCatfish.com--a resource to verify online identities--has released a study on 'The Number of Catfish Victims in Each State" using data from the FBI.

The 10 states with the most victims are California (2,105), Texas (1,238), Florida (1,191), New York (782), Pennsylvania (577), Washington (493), Virginia (480), Michigan (461), Illinois (463), and North Carolina (432).

The 10 states with the fewest victims are Vermont (25), South Dakota (31), Wyoming (33), North Dakota (35), Washington, D.C. (36), Montana (42), Delaware (48), Rhode Island (51), Hawaii (59), and New Hampshire (68).

Puerto Rico is the U.S. Territory with the most victims (49), while American Samoa has the fewest, reporting zero cases.

Here are five signs you are being catfished:

You are asked for money. This may sound so obvious but, if the...