Escort scam

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Partner received a message last night on whatsapp from an escort site saying he owed money due to booking an escort and wasting her time by not turning up. He denies this, obviously.
A Google search shows up that this is a common scam, however, most of what I've read says the scammers pose as escorts and target those who try to book them.
Partner obviously denies this too.
I don't believe him. I believe it's a scam as it's almost word for word what I've just read on Google, but I believe he must have at least enquired to be targeted.

Any experience with this? What would you believe?

It sounds rather strange to me.

Yes love, it’s a scam …….

However, has his behaviour given you cause for concern lately?

Ask him to respond requesting evidence of the booking. Be interesting to see how he respnds to this.

It's very likely to be a scam.

How did you see it? Did he just show you voluntarily or did you go on his phone?

No but I barely have sex with him anymore since having a baby and he does like a drink.

I had a boyfriend years ago who was visiting escorts. It's not outside the realm of possibilities. If this is something they are doing in my experience they would be secretive with their phone/ laptop use, have changes in their usual schedule to go and meet them (quite similar to an affair really), with the added expense on top- these girls are not cheap. Do you think it's possible that he might have the opportunity and the means? Do you have separate finances?

He responded and they appear to have blocked him

He's shown me his bank statements and there's no transfers but there are some cash withdrawals. He has an explanation for them but how do I know if it's true.

But if it was a scam, surely he'd have to know them in the first place in order for them to actually get the money from him. Escorts don't generally accept traceable bank transfers/card payments due to a) tax implications and b) traceability of clients/repercussions if clients' wives found out. I feel like there's more to this than he's making out.

Not sure on the first part as from what I've read on Google, it is a genuine scam, so they wouldn't actually know them.
There's a few people on forums who state they've never used or enquired about escorts, but majority says it's people who enquire who get targeted.

OP, I’d just move on - perhaps your DH has been looking at some dodgy sites? If you have no reason to think he’s being unfaithful, I’d leave it rather than stir up trouble over what might be nothing,

What @sesquipedalian said

Receiving the message doesn’t mean he must have contacted escorts. If this is a professional scam operation (and it sounds as though it is, if you’ve seen more or less word-for-word scam messages reported online) then the scammers get phone numbers and email addresses through data breaches, phishing, and bulk buying from data brokers. They then mass-message all the contacts and work on the basis that the whilst the majority will recognise it as a scam or not respond, a minority of people who have been doing something they shouldn’t and believe they have been caught will respond and pay up when blackmailed.

In the absence of any concrete evidence of anything else, I’d simply ignore it.

To add: if he responded (presumably saying he had no idea what they were talking about?) and was immediately blocked, that doesn’t sound very much like an agency pursuing money they think they are owed from a customer.

That's true. Thank you

The relationship is over whatever the outcome of this latest little sordid situation

If it is because of a data breach, then you and your DH should think about changing passwords for websites you use (this one for starters). Are you using old passwords not changed for a while?

It's a scam. Message enough people and somebody will pay up, possibly because they did book an escort. It's a bit like that helpful man who calls me about fraud on my credit card, but doesn't know the last place I used it, try often enough and someone will hand over their card details.

Did it read like a generic message or did it include his name?

They're not going to block him if he genuinely owes them money. It's a scam, let it go otherwise you risk damaging your relationship for no reason.

First rule of dodgy emails/texts DON’T reply!!

No name. The exact same message comes up on a reddit forum, word for word, when googled.

Scam. Just move on.

Its a scam.... they are not actually escorts... they are scammers who hope to scare people into paying.

Clearly you have no trust in him
The relationship is rotten