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Mistaken identity weirdness

22 replies

TinderPants · 09/11/2022 12:59

I have name changed for this as I'm sure you'll understand.

Something really bizarre happened the other day. I was in a department store in the centre of my small city. I heard someone call my name, and turned to see a woman looking at me in a friendly yet quizzical way. She asked how I am and we exchanged a couple of pleasantries until I confessed I just couldn’t place her. She told me her name, and said she was struggling to think where we’d met too.

I asked if she was a service user of where I work. Nope! She asked if I knew so-and-so or had connections to a nearby bigger city, where she then said she’s moved to.

She then clicked her fingers and said we’d matched on Tinder. I was once on Tinder, but as a woman looking for a man (who incidentally I found, and have now been happily dating for over a year). I am entirely heterosexual.

Two older women who I presume were her relatives then appeared round the corner and she quickly said “Nice to bump into you, you really are beautiful!” and dashed off towards them.

What the hell went on here? If she hadn’t known my name, I’d have thought it was mistaken identity or some weird scam. We’re both very distinctive in an otherwise very homogeneous city (but don’t belong to the same minority as each other). She was also extremely beautiful, and had a massive scar down her face. I’m not brilliant with faces and names, but she had such a presence that I’m sure I’d have remembered hers.

My name is fairly unusual but not massively so. You’d all know how to spell/ pronounce it, but it's not in the top 100 for my generation. Also, she looked mid twenties, I'm in my 40s, so it's unlikely we've met though everyday life such as kids or social circles. Help!

OP posts:
TinderPants · 09/11/2022 13:10

Shameless bump

OP posts:
wishing3 · 09/11/2022 13:13

Bizarre-do you have open social media? Maybe she Facebook stalked you and forgot she didn’t really know you? Could be a friend of a friend?

Swissnotswiss · 09/11/2022 13:13

I think it probably was just a coincidence. I was mistaken for someone else and eventually realised that I knew the person she had mistaken me for after a very weird conversation. Coincidences do happen!

TinderPants · 09/11/2022 13:17

wishing3 · 09/11/2022 13:13

Bizarre-do you have open social media? Maybe she Facebook stalked you and forgot she didn’t really know you? Could be a friend of a friend?

Thank you. I'm only on FB and have it locked down to Friends. I also don't use my real name on FB for work reasons, so whilst I could have come up as a suggested friend or have friends in common with her, she'd only see my profile picture and not know my real first name.

OP posts:
TinderPants · 09/11/2022 13:21

Swissnotswiss · 09/11/2022 13:13

I think it probably was just a coincidence. I was mistaken for someone else and eventually realised that I knew the person she had mistaken me for after a very weird conversation. Coincidences do happen!

Ha! That's funny!

I suppose it is possible that she mistook me for someone else with the same first name. The whole thing was so bizarre that I just couldn't think properly in the moment, and then she made a quick exit.

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bigfamilygrowingupfast · 09/11/2022 14:17

Do you have a sister? My mum quite often has random people chatting away to her and then she realises later they're a friend of her sisters 🤣

TinderPants · 09/11/2022 15:10

I do have a sister, but we don't have the same name! Also, we have a ten year age gap, she's short and curvy, and I'm tall and skinny...

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ForestLilac · 09/11/2022 15:15

At first I thought you were the Spanish cleaner 🤣.

Lampan · 09/11/2022 15:16

Could someone be using your picture and name on a fake Tinder account? (Well obviously you’d have no idea but it might explain it?)

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 09/11/2022 15:17

Do some reverse image searches on your FB profile pic and see if someone is using your pic to catfish

AlwaysFoldingWashing · 09/11/2022 15:21

ForestLilac · 09/11/2022 15:15

At first I thought you were the Spanish cleaner 🤣.

GrinGrin

FinallyHere · 09/11/2022 16:18

SliceOfCakeCupOfTea · 09/11/2022 15:17

Do some reverse image searches on your FB profile pic and see if someone is using your pic to catfish

This.

I'm sorry.

ThatsRoughBuddy · 09/11/2022 16:41

You know each other in a parallel universe. There was a blip that caused this version of her to remember briefly what the parallel version of her knows. Obviously. 😜

Zoomingo · 09/11/2022 16:43

I reckon someone has got your picture and used it

Zoomingo · 09/11/2022 16:44

Or you've done a Susan Kennedy and slipped on Milk and lost your memory

wackamole · 09/11/2022 16:52

Was it just your first name she knew/said? Could she have overheard someone else say it, or was there anything you were wearing/carrying that would have had it visible? (I once had a conversation with someone on a London bus who addressed me as "Ms. Mysurname", and I didn't realise until after I got off that I still had the auto-printed luggage claim tag on my bag. )

It's interesting that she said Tinder specifically - could be someone "borrowed" your pic, or perhaps your profile caught her interest and she was confused thinking that you'd actually matched.

TheSpottedZebra · 09/11/2022 16:56

God I'm such a cynic I'd be checking for my wallet and my phone, in case it was a distraction pickpocketing.

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 09/11/2022 17:07

Yeah I'd be wondering if she was practising her 'pickup' routine and using cold reading to get details or had heard you say your name/read it on something earlier in another shop e.g. when answering your phone or using your wallet.
I say this because a bloke did an identical one on me once.

TinderPants · 09/11/2022 17:29

I'm howling at the Spanish cleaner reference, and loving the parallel universe and slipping on milk theories.

I like the other explanations much less, and that's why it's still bugging me. Surely if someone was setting up a fake profile to catfish, they wouldn't use the same name as the genuine person? And they wouldn't be fishing in the same pool so to speak; they'd find a photo of someone from the other side of the world, surely?

I wasn't pickpocketed and didn't even have a handbag on me. I had my phone and keys in my jacket pocket as I'd just popped into the store on the way back from a hospital appointment. I wasn't on a shopping trip per se, just buying a gift for a loved one.

Hmm... my FB profile picture came up with nothing on a reverse search. I can't remember what photos I used when I did have a Tinder account. I'll ask my boyfriend if he remembers.

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TinderPants · 09/11/2022 17:31

wackamole · 09/11/2022 16:52

Was it just your first name she knew/said? Could she have overheard someone else say it, or was there anything you were wearing/carrying that would have had it visible? (I once had a conversation with someone on a London bus who addressed me as "Ms. Mysurname", and I didn't realise until after I got off that I still had the auto-printed luggage claim tag on my bag. )

It's interesting that she said Tinder specifically - could be someone "borrowed" your pic, or perhaps your profile caught her interest and she was confused thinking that you'd actually matched.

Just first name, yes.

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TinderPants · 09/11/2022 17:31

PeekabooAtTheZoo · 09/11/2022 17:07

Yeah I'd be wondering if she was practising her 'pickup' routine and using cold reading to get details or had heard you say your name/read it on something earlier in another shop e.g. when answering your phone or using your wallet.
I say this because a bloke did an identical one on me once.

Now that IS creepy! I hope you had enough presence of mind to tell him to do one.

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Findmeintheshed · 09/11/2022 22:43

I'd say (especially if you are very attractive) someone has stolen your name and photos to catfish guys on tinder.
I know someone it happened to, it's not uncommon.

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