I've played over 500 games on chesscom in the last year at between 700-1050 rating. Its hard to point out a cheater but sometimes you just get a hunch, then on review of the game, they blundered twice in the first dozen moves then the game shifts dramatically. Early game rated 600, mid 1500+.
Whats more common is cheesy tactics. Kid will go on YT and watch a video about some cheeky opening and mimic that. Things like early queen pushes. Once you punish it, they crumble. So you get these players that have inflated ELO. If they can't do the one opening they know, they simply don't know the general tactics.
Then there are the smurfs. They don't last long at low rating but these people are the worst. They exist in any online game.
Whats more common is cheesy tactics. Kid will go on YT and watch a video about some cheeky opening and mimic that. Things like early queen pushes. Once you punish it, they crumble. So you get these players that have inflated ELO. If they can't do the one opening they know, they simply don't know the general tactics.
Then there are the smurfs. They don't last long at low rating but these people are the worst. They exist in any online game.