10 Things That Only False and Untrustworthy Friends Do (Yours Too?)

Have you had an unpleasant experience with fake friends in the past, or do you currently suspect that the friendship with your girlfriend or boyfriend is not a real one? Then you should watch this article, because here you will learn about 10 unmistakable signs of fake friends.

1. They Shut You Out

Real friends go through thick and thin together. Of course, this doesn't mean that you have to spend every free minute together, but if you find yourself excluded from common activities like parties, you should be suspicious. A real friend would never intentionally leave you out—quite the opposite. He would rather try to postpone his own meetings so as not to have to miss seeing you. So if you find out from others that your boyfriend or girlfriend is once again going out without you, and at worst is trying to put you off with a lie, this is a clear sign of a false friendship.

2. They Are Unreliable

Even among good friends, something can always come up. Even in this case, quantity makes the poison. If you're constantly turned down at the last minute, or don't get a notice of cancellation, or you're on your way to a date only to find that you've been stood up, then this literally reeks of a fake friendship. Unreliable friends aren't real friends. They also don't care if you made special efforts to meet them. You are at most a fun pastime for them, but not a person they would go out of their way for in the slightest.

3. Trouble and Nothing But Trouble

Yes, there is that person who always gets you into trouble. These can be situations ranging from semi-innocuous but unpleasant moods, to frequent arguments over trivialities, to activities that put you in conflict with the law. For example, a friend who is involved in crooked business and thinks he has to drag you into these shady affairs is definitely not a real friend, because he risks your future life in addition to his own possible criminal consequences. Anyone who deliberately puts you in danger will certainly not be on your side when it comes down to it. You should be wary of people who cause more trouble than pleasure.

4. They Don’t Celebrate Your Success

Rivalry exists everywhere, especially at work. In your circle of friends you should certainly have everything but rivals. So if someone doesn't celebrate your personal successes and achievements because he or she wants to be better than you, you can be sure that he or she is not a true friend. True friends are happy about your successes. They celebrate with you from the bottom of their hearts, because they recognize and appreciate the hard work behind those successes. A begrudging friend will even wish you failure in order to either promote themselves or make you look like a failure in front of others. Such a friend will secretly rejoice in anything that hurts you and your career.

5. They Want to Manipulate You

Real friends accept each other as is. A fake friend will not really accept you. Even worse, he or she will try with all his or her might to make you a pawn whose rules he or she sets. He or she will manipulate you for his or her own purposes. You are supposed to be what they want you to be, and you are supposed to dance to their tune whenever they want you to. If you don't fit into their pattern, they show their true face. Your life is in a way determined by them. Any form of resistance is not tolerated by them. You become like a puppet, and when you no longer meet their expectations, they will give you the cold shoulder.

6. They Behave Differently When In a Group

Real friends always behave sincerely and authentically. False ones, on the other hand, stand out because of their changeable, contradictory behavior as soon as they are in a group. This shows you that you only see one side of them. If your supposed best friend behaves strangely, that alone need not be a red flag. It only starts to become a big problem when these inconsistencies are constantly and directly related to you personally. In this case, you must assume that your friend is really just playing a game with you and has not been treating you seriously.

7. They Bad-Mouth You and Others

If your boyfriend or girlfriend is constantly bad-mouthing others behind their backs, you can be sure that he or she will maintain the same behavior when it comes to you. That is, as soon as you're not around, they won't be shy about bad-mouthing you. Such bad-mouthing suggests a fake friend. Real friends have little need to put their colleagues or you in a bad light. They show respect for you and others.

8. They Always Want Something From You

A good friendship is based on reciprocity in every way, because life involves give and take. If someone is constantly asking you for favors, but you find that he or she is hardly willing to do anything for you when you need their help, it should then be clear to you that you are dealing with a fake friend. Moreover, you can recognize such fake friends by the fact that they only show up at your place when it suits them. If you give such people the proverbial inch, they take a mile.

9. It’s Always About Them

A healthy friendship is anything but one-sided. It is different with false friends. They talk about themselves all the time, demand your unlimited attention and never let you have a say. In return, they are unwilling to listen to your problems—or at least getting their attention when you need it is very difficult. Such an unbalanced relationship, even on a friendly level, can safely be called a fake friendship.

10. They Lie and Take Advantage of You

At the end of the day, fake friends betray you wherever and whenever they can. Their word is not worth much. On the contrary, as soon as you trust them with a secret, or count on them in a difficult situation, you can be sure that they will let you down mercilessly. While in a real friendship values and norms such as honesty, reliability, or respect are paramount, a fake friendship will lack all of that. For such people, you are nothing more than someone who can be taken advantage of and deceived by hook or by crook.

Today’s Conclusion

No matter their names or origins, you can safely do without fake friends. The described signs can help you to better distinguish the wheat from the chaff and to banish harmful false friends from your life forever. Trust your gut reaction, because it rarely deceives you. That's it for today.