OLD guy says he's a government researcher

[boswellwell]

I’m on an OLD app, I got a message from a guy with no pictures, when I asked him for a picture of himself his response was he can’t because “I work as a government research scientist” and went on to say “I have a number of qualifications so research many things. These days mostly interface of humans and technology and some of their military applications is all I can say.”
“I will have to in fact get security clearance for you but only if we are getting married”
“I'm afraid I must obey my work regulations so picture is not negotiable - we don't just get sacked but jailed after court martial!”
“I'm afraid I cannot send pictures on kik or Skype either for exactly that reason! Russians to name one are always looking for an opportunity of identity fraud and I could lose my job for that!”

Of course I’m suspicious and don’t believe him for a second but I’m curious to why someone would say this ? Could he be married? Surely he’d still send a pic privately over Snapchat or something?
He’s very keen to meet in person too and he’s looking for a serious relationship 😬

Utter bullshit. Hundreds of people of government researches who require security clearance because they have access to data. They are not stopped from being online.

Those so have those jobs may be on line but would never ever ever talk about it to a stranger online!

Court martial is army talk. So he’s confused there. You can’t court martial a civil servant.

Those people who are actually spies are not on social media full stop. They aren’t using it as a chat up line on tinder!

As you know, his name's Dwayne and he's a double glazing salesman. (Sorry Dwaynes). I wish I had the personality to meet him somewhere public, tell him how fortuitous your meeting is, because you are a sleeper agent for the KGB and they're gonna make him an offer he can't refuse. Only joking. There was a case recently of several women who had spent years being abused and drained of cash by one of these creeps, a spy on the run. They can be funny, fantasists, then again not.

😂😂😂 complete nutcase

Top level security requires someone to be developed vetted

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/security-vetting-and-clearancee*

It's funny isn't it - the correct terms are openly published in the internet for all to see but these fantasists can't even be arsed to find out!

I know, no points for preparation or research. Surely part of the fun of lying is making it believable!

His English reads "off" and very similar to many scammers based in Nigeria that I have had the misfortune to bump in to whilst OLD.

Block and move on.

(Never engage or give advise, tips etc on the language as you are just helping them refine for future victims)

When I did OLD I met an ‘army pilot’. I’d only just left the RAF so asked what he flew. Not a pilot (actually quite a cool job in its own right, And would have gone on a date if he hadn’t lied).

I also met someone who ‘worked for Blackwater’ aka watched too many movies.

My first ever job required me to sign The Official Secrets Act, when it was a thing. I felt VERY important

Oh gosh thanks guys that is exactly what I needed to hear 😂 proof that it is all bullshit so I have no doubt whatsoever.
He's actually from London and I'm in Yorkshire so it might be a little bit cruel to actually arrange a date just to play along with him 😂

Tell him you run MI6 and have decided to take James Bond up on his offer for coffee instead

Play along!

Ask him how you can meet if you can’t know what he looks like! Will he need to wear a disguise as a (probably fat older) man ???

It’s all bullshit op from a Walter Mitty style fantasist.

Hahaha. Utter bull crap.

Say "oh that's handy, I have DV clearance already" and see what he does

Twaaaaaaaaaaaat

I have to say, if I were a bloke making up a fantasy life to try to get into women's knickers, "research scientist" isn't the obvious story to concoct

So as well as being a liar who is poor at research (irony alert), he isn't very imaginative either...

Luckily your locations give you a very easy out on this one

I work for the government, and in a former role worked on sensitive matters, and that is definitely a load of tosh. No one in that kind of job would say those kind of things when messaging someone for the first time during OLD. Talking about court martial is also bullocks.

He’s definitely making it up.

Horseshit. I've been through developed vetting, worked with plenty of secret squirrel types and done a spot of that sort of work myself. There are all sorts of limitations on social media depending on your vetting level, working grade and operational department (I was police, I'm sure the military and MI5/6 have more stringent standards).

You sure as fuck wouldn't tell someone what you did for a living if you were that limited and your life so controlled by it!

You usually said you did something very dull or generic - I used to say civil servant and nothing else unless pressed on the point for more detail.

And actually yes partners etc are vetted by employers in these situations. I would not have passed DV if I was with my now DH back then due to conflict of interest. Therefore I wouldn't have been able to take up that role.

Looper

I've been contacted by one of these through OLD and played along a bit. Turned out to be a phone w*ker.

I would not have passed DV if I was with my now DH back then due to conflict of interest.

I think you are confusing two different things. Unless your DH is a terrorist you would "pass" DV - DV is primarily about security breach risk - ie. blackmail risk.

DV is not about "conflict of interest" it's about objectively what is your risk of breaching security in respect of classfied information, whether you are trustworthy and whether you are vulnerable to blackmail (which is mostly about whether you are being fully open with them during the DV process - they know it all anyway!).

Being employed in a role that you are not suited for because of a conflict of interest due to your DH is a different thing - that is about conflict of interest in that role.

So for example if you were being DV because you were going to be employed in the MOD dealing with top secret weapons and your DH worked for an arms manufacturer who was a big MOD client for top secret weapons supply - you may "pass" DV as you are assessed as someone who is objectively not a security risk because you have no terrorist links, no "dark past" and not a blackmail risk because you have been fully open with them about everything, but you wouldn't be fit for that role in the MOD because of a potential conflict of interest. That is different from not being objectively "security cleared" at DV level.

I would reply:

Ooh! Kind of like Danger Mouse?

Grade A loon. Avoid.

It's Kim Jong In. Send him a photo of yourself in your best tinfoil hat.

Nope.

Fantasist.

If he really was something like that, he'd have a perfectly ordinary profile and call himself a 'civil servant'.