When you are on top of things, you realize that some people you call friends are big fakers. You are never sure where you stand with them, or what their true intentions are as far as their friendship with you goes.

We call them phonies, and you should avoid them if you can. But before that, you have to spot them first; and here's how.

1. Their Body Language Will Be Off

Facial expressions and other forms of body language can tell you a lot about someone. A fidgety and uncomfortable person who blinks a lot and has issues maintaining eye contact is obviously trying to hide some uncomfortable truth from you.

If they do this many times when around you, then you should be careful because the person is probably not the friend you thought they were.

2. Your Gut Says No

Your gut feeling, if you can hear it over the sound of your mind trying to figure out if you are dealing with a real friend or not, will always tell you the truth.

You can always sense when someone is not who they say they are if you listen closely enough.

The problem is that we often ignore the warning signs and decide to give the wrong person the benefit of the doubt. That is how we end up with the wrong people in our lives.

3. They Tell Inconsistent Stories

People who tell the truth stick to their narratives, even if no one believes them. They know the truth will come out in the end.

But a phony tries to tell the story in a manner that creates a certain impression. For this reason, a phony will always tell a story that changes with each retelling.

4. Fake Smile

There are times we also fake smiles, maybe to avoid a confrontation with some annoying idiot. But when someone is always faking a smile, that is very telling.

When someone is smiling for real, you can tell by looking at the eyes. Wrinkles will form at the corners of the eyes, and the skin between the eyebrows and upper eyelids will move down.

You don't see this with a fake smile, however genuine it seems.

5. Always Unavailable When Needed

A true friend will care and support you, and you will want to do the same for them. But when a friend is never available to you, know that they are fake and don't really give a damn about you.

A fake friend is the worst kind of enemy because you will never see their attacks coming. Look out for the above 5 signs if you want to identify phony friends and get them out of your life because they will mess it up if you let them stick around.