As online dating continues to evolve, deceptive practices have grown in breadth and sophistication, spanning from classic catfishing to more systemic forms such as pig-butchering and Intimacy Manipulated Fraud Industrialization (IMFI). Although these mechanisms vary in their methods, they share a troubling core: psychological exploitation that produces substantial emotional, mental, and financial harm for those targeted. This narrative literature review surveys these deceptive phenomena, detailing how they function, their psychological impacts, and the structural factors that enable their proliferation. While catfishing began as a relatively isolated form of deceit, technological advances have amplified its reach and persistence, leaving victims emotionally distressed and often hesitant to report because of stigma and shame. The review also describes pig-butchering as a hybrid of romance and fraud, wherein emotionally manipulative relationships are steered toward fraudulent investment activities, frequently leveraging cryptocurrency scams to extract funds before the victim is left financially ruined. Catfishing is shown to be more pervasive than once assumed, with digital platforms and online communication tools enabling longer, more convincing