Page 13 | I am being catfished right now!

cuckyplunt · 25/02/2024 10:06

Intercom are coming to arrest me in the next few days for dodgy doings on my phone. They didn’t specify what I’d actually done..

cuckyplunt · 25/02/2024 10:07

Interpol .. not intercom😀

LittleGreenDragons · 25/02/2024 10:15

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 25/02/2024 10:01

And just had a friends request from a widowed American from Texas posing in his Stetson hat by his 4X4.

Really? Not even a heart surgeon? Not an Afghanistan veteran? No photos of him with Rusty, his elderly Golden Retriever? Just widowed? Don't I deserve better?

A man in a stetson makes my heart flutter, especially if it's slightly tilted down. Does he not look rugged like an old fashioned cowboy similar to Kevin Costner in Yellowstone? Pass him to me

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 25/02/2024 10:27

LittleGreenDragons · 25/02/2024 10:15

A man in a stetson makes my heart flutter, especially if it's slightly tilted down. Does he not look rugged like an old fashioned cowboy similar to Kevin Costner in Yellowstone? Pass him to me

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Oh very much so, rugged, and a driveway wide enough for his and hers 4x4 and the matching Stetsons.

Does he like kittens though?

AliceOlive · 25/02/2024 10:36

Garlickit · 24/02/2024 17:59

They're convinced they're in some kind of emergency. The journalist telling her story describes how the scammers manipulated her state of mind - they kept her on the phone for five hours, talking to different team members - and preyed on fears for her toddler's safety.

There's only one thing I would definitely have done differently: she accepted a callback from the financial authority's switchboard number. I would have called it myself. A hacker could still re-route an outgoing call but, if you've been that badly compromised, you're probably fucked either way.

The scammers did tell her she'd been hacked, though, so maybe I'd have lost faith in my simple check by that point!

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I linked this article earlier in the thread. I still think she’s ridiculous for going through with it. She questioned them a few times then still went ahead with it. Everyone she spoke with had a “slight accent”. Did she really think our FBI investigators are all from other countries?

Sone of their original story matched what a scammer and his cohort told my husband. Rental car found on the border of Mexico with blood, drugs and money in it and it had been rented in my husband’s name. My DH kept them on the phone for about 30 minutes, playing along then eventually told him he’d been in a date with his mother, so whatever he’d done, she was in on it it, too.

Chickenkeev · 25/02/2024 10:39

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 25/02/2024 10:01

And just had a friends request from a widowed American from Texas posing in his Stetson hat by his 4X4.

Really? Not even a heart surgeon? Not an Afghanistan veteran? No photos of him with Rusty, his elderly Golden Retriever? Just widowed? Don't I deserve better?

😂😂😂😂😂

Newsenmum · 25/02/2024 10:42

I know I’m getting old as I never get propositioned anymore, sigh

rainydaysandwednesdays · 25/02/2024 10:59

mynameiscalypso · 23/02/2024 21:46

You realise that the person who sent the message could well have been trafficked and is being held as a modern slave in a scam centre right?

🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄🙄

effoffwind · 25/02/2024 13:28

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 25/02/2024 10:01

And just had a friends request from a widowed American from Texas posing in his Stetson hat by his 4X4.

Really? Not even a heart surgeon? Not an Afghanistan veteran? No photos of him with Rusty, his elderly Golden Retriever? Just widowed? Don't I deserve better?

Perhaps he is waiting to start his job on an oil rig with limited WiFi ?

Which will obviously be heart breaking due to the speed of your love story

And of course keeping in touch with that one child who's lost the mum in a terrible accident and boarding elsewhere

This was my life on Fitbit but it's all stopped now

Noseyoldcow · 25/02/2024 13:48

I have the worst singing voice in the world. Think of an out of tune foghorn. When I got a yet another call from my local loft insulation bloke l let him have both barrels of "I will always love you" at top volume. He hasn't called back.....

Uricon2 · 25/02/2024 13:53

ChardonnaysBeastlyCat · 25/02/2024 10:01

And just had a friends request from a widowed American from Texas posing in his Stetson hat by his 4X4.

Really? Not even a heart surgeon? Not an Afghanistan veteran? No photos of him with Rusty, his elderly Golden Retriever? Just widowed? Don't I deserve better?

😂My favourite (usual buzz cut silver fox type, FB message years ago) claimed to be...an astronaut.

I suppose it would be the ultimate good reason for not being able to meet in person "Sorry, on the ISS this month, but I need money for my sick hamsters knee operation"

Zone2NorthLondon · 25/02/2024 13:56

Uricon2 · 25/02/2024 13:53

😂My favourite (usual buzz cut silver fox type, FB message years ago) claimed to be...an astronaut.

I suppose it would be the ultimate good reason for not being able to meet in person "Sorry, on the ISS this month, but I need money for my sick hamsters knee operation"

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Astronaut, yes can see he’d be short a bob or two and need some earth money for emergencies

LoctiteStuck · 25/02/2024 15:28

That story that @samarrange posted above from Vanity Fair is quite the read.
Given he was actually working as a surgeon, the way she met him and the fact he is good looking (if that's your type) I think many women would have fallen for his tales. I mean who wouldn't want to be taken out for Michelin starred dinners in Venice by a handsome surgeon who'd supposedly carried out pioneering surgery.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/celebrity-surgeon-nbc-news-producer-scam

The Celebrity Surgeon Who Used Love, Money, and the Pope to Scam an NBC News Producer

When Benita Alexander fell for celebrated doctor Paolo Macchiarini—while filming a documentary about him—she thought her biggest problem was a breach of journalistic ethics. Then things got really interesting.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/celebrity-surgeon-nbc-news-producer-scam

Cerealkiller4U · 25/02/2024 16:07

AmaryllisChorus · 24/02/2024 12:57

Again, I did wonder what those women understood of social media when they were saying: he knew my dad's name, my sister's name - all this private information, so it had to be someone I knew. And I was thinking, it was never private - every person and event in your life was on SM and accessible worldwide to anyone with an internet connection. People don't realise how very public their lives are.

Edited

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100%. I work in this industry!!

WoollyRosebud · 25/02/2024 16:21

How exciting, Stephen Fry wants to be friends with me. Had a lovely email from him today. Have to say his command of the English language seems to have deteriorated. Can’t be arsed to play with him so have deleted and am watching the Six Nations match instead

Andnowshesatoddler · 25/02/2024 17:29

Has he told you of his son's cancer pains yet?

PUGMEISTER21 · 25/02/2024 17:35

Haha I told one of these car injury claims people that my head had fallen off in thw accident as well

ZombiesAreClammyDodgers · 25/02/2024 17:36

This book is a must read. :)
Keanu Reeves Is Not In Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud https://amzn.eu/d/5WmuSID

Judecb · 25/02/2024 17:37

This is definitely wrong. The picture and the story will all be fabricated. Delete and block!

IncreasinglyGrumpy · 25/02/2024 17:38

qualitychat · 23/02/2024 21:34

I received a friend request on Facebook just now. This is definitely someone catfishing me. He comes from Austin, Texas but has pigeon English. He is a Marine Engineer living in Sweden. He does a very dangerous job. He is a nice looking man, he has sent me a photo. He tragically lost his wife 5 years ago due to medical negligence. Am I wrong in stringing him alone?

I'm 58 and just started getting these- I watched a programme on BBC3 about the scale of the operation, I wouldn't engage at all even to wind them up.

RecklessGoddess · 25/02/2024 17:46

String him along, then come up with some tragedy happening in your life that requires lots of money, then ask him if he can give you several thousands to help you out. I've done that before, they suddenly lose all interest in you 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Justsaynonow · 25/02/2024 17:48

LoctiteStuck · 25/02/2024 15:28

That story that @samarrange posted above from Vanity Fair is quite the read.
Given he was actually working as a surgeon, the way she met him and the fact he is good looking (if that's your type) I think many women would have fallen for his tales. I mean who wouldn't want to be taken out for Michelin starred dinners in Venice by a handsome surgeon who'd supposedly carried out pioneering surgery.

https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2016/01/celebrity-surgeon-nbc-news-producer-scam

There's also a podcast (S3) and Apple tv show (S2) about it: Dr Death
https://wondery.com/shows/dr-death/season/3/
https://tv.apple.com/ca/show/dr-death/umc.cmc.2f3u49pdimqf2ow8cgrqhr4dk

Dr. Death - Season 3: Miracle Man

Paolo is a smart and handsome surgeon, renowned for his ability to perform surgeries that transform his patients’ lives. When television producer Benita covers him for a story, he’ll transform her life too, but not in the ways she expects. As Benita cr...

https://wondery.com/shows/dr-death/season/3

Shellyth · 25/02/2024 17:51

I’ve had the car accident phone call. All went well until I told him I died in the accident 😂😂.

Jellykat · 25/02/2024 17:58

Blimey, i'm so boring the only scammers i get is the automated ' someone has made a large payment using your card' one..
Why cant i have a Surgeon or Stetson hat wearer?

Lollingabout · 25/02/2024 18:02

qualitychat · 24/02/2024 10:02

He wants my phone number. I am all for scamming him but I can't work myself up to actually talk to him.

If this ever happens to any else please give them your local police station number!