How many men who claim to be secret agents have you come across?

[twentytwentyvision]

It seems to be a common theme amongst con artists or those who are married and have an extra family somewhere.

I've now heard of 3 or 4 guys who have very confusing and suspicious back stories and explain everything away as they work for intelligence services and can't possibly answer any questions about their whereabouts or why they're not contactable for long periods of time.

I'm surprised to have heard of so many mysterious men claiming to be secret agents. I've seen it a few times here as well - where someone is worried about a friend or relative having got involved with a guy who claims to be a secret agent.

I was wondering how common it is - if anyone else has met a man who's claimed he's a spy - or if a friend/relative has got involved with someone like this. I think it's loosely linked to the works on an oil rig and is uncontactable story which I have also heard of!

[threesecrets]

None... only on that tv programme based on a true story- Mrs Wilson

[awesomeaircraft]

No secret agent, but met a guy in a club in London who pretended to be French. It went down like a lead balloon when he realised that I am fluent.

[tsmainsqueeze]

This happened to a friend of mine years ago , i never met him but smelt a rat straight away ! friend was totally taken in , i remember her telling me they were on a date and he said he was wired up, quite a few other really unbelievable things too.
She is an intelligent woman but a total disaster when picking men.
Until this thread i would not have believed any one else had ever experienced this !!

[Tablefor4]

@Terralee [detour] Might either his regiment or the National Army Museum be interested in having the uniforms as items?

[Abhannmor]

Imagine thinking women will be impressed because you are a trained killer. Hard to know what's worse really ; the Walter Mittys or the psychos who actually were in SAS or the Paras.

[Oliversmumsarmy]

None personally but do know a woman who works in the offices in the MI6 building (I think MI6. The one that got blown up in the James Bond movie)
She is definitely not a spy. I think she works in something boring like the accounts department.

A friend once showed us a text from her OLD bf saying that he couldn’t talk to her for at least a week as he was visiting a secret underground government research facility where mobile phone were confiscated
We all said in unison
“He’s married”

[DianasLasso]

The only two genuine members of the intelligence service I've known were women. Both very low key about their jobs.

Reading the obituaries of one of them was like a real life Judy Dench's M! Only this woman wouldn't have been so stupid as to get herself kidnapped.

[SeaEagleFeather]

One, after knowing him a long time, and it was clear he'd been retired for 20 years from that role. I'll never know if it was true, but there are several things that add up to being more than some fantasist. He showed me a couple of handguns that were -extremely- well locked away with frankly illegal rounds and that when he died, the police collected. Certain other little straws in the wind didn't add up to being a bullshitter, and he definitely knew too much military information for his ostensible job. His technical knowledge level was also far higher than his claimed job, too.

It's not impossible that he'd managed to get the firearms and information from other sources, but this was pre-internet days.

I'd kinda like to know the truth, but never will!

[Miljea]

Decades ago I met an English bloke when I was walking alone 😬 in Malaysia's Cameron Highlands, along a river trail (2-3 hour round trip from where I was staying with a female travelling companion who didn't want to go out).

He was a fair bit older than me, utterly charming. I gathered he was 'military', over in KL for an trade fair'. He took me the Ye Old Smokehouse, where he was staying and we had afternoon tea. My travelling companion was green with envy!

Caught up with him a couple of times a few months later in London (Cumberland Hotel for dinner). Finally he admitted he was a legitimate, military-associated arms dealer.

Turns out he was 🤔😂.

[NorthernChinchilla]

We have two in the wider family. One has got an OBE (or similar) for his 'services to the nation'

Both delightfully boring blokes who wont discuss their jobs. Also work with v high ranking officers who equally keep stuff quiet.... all genuine.

If I met someone who claimed this I think my eyebrows would rise off my face... not least because of my level of vetting

[EL8888]

1 lm sure he does though. He’s a friend and makes it sound dull

[InDeoEstMeaFiducia]

Or they're doctors, that's another one that's common to lie about.

[Terralee]

Turns out my dads late elderly neighbour served in what I think was called the Intelligence Corps in Ww2.

We know because he had no NOK but liked my dad & therefore left his house for my dad to clear out when he died aged 96, my dad found his Intelligence Corps uniform, badges, medals & a gun!! The gun was kept next to his bed.

My dad got rid of the gun but kept the uniform etc as the old man was obviously proud of his service, we're not really sure what to do with it all.

[twentytwentyvision]

I think the closest a lot of these guys will probably ever come to "heroic" roles is being a member of their local neighbourhood watch when they're older

[bowchicawowwow]

My friend dated a proper Walter Mitty back in the early 00's. He said he was in the SAS and would stand her up for dates on the pretence of being on a secret mission and text her from his 'special' phone that couldn't receive incoming messages (a payg Nokia 3310 a which he had filled the inbox on so couldn't receive any more messages) She's normally a rational intelligent woman but was sucked in by his BS.

Turns out his lived in the next town and was married with four kids. Never been in the army and worked in a factory

[funnylittlefloozie]

Never met any secret agents, but i did meet a lot of military types who swore they were Special Forces. I just smiled and nodded, and shagged them if i felt like it, but they all went on the mental "dump pile".

[GinWithRosie]

None...and if they actually DID tell me that I'd laugh their arses off the planet!!

Ffs you'd have to be pretty stupid to fall for that...an actual secret agent is NOT going to tell you!! Bloody hell 🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️

[Shinyletsbebadguys]

About 15 years ago I went on a date with a man who told me he had been rejected from MI5 because he was just too tough and perfect. I suspect I was not his prospective audience because I laughed outright (then went home )

Exdh mother truly believes he did private security in the middle east for a year (he worked as a security guard in Northampton).

Dp doesn't want to be a secret agent but he would quite like to be one of our local community safety team because they look like power rangers and he wants to know if they stood on each others backs would they turn into a giant robot power ranger like in the TV series ?

[Pelleas]

It's definitely only men who need to lie to get laid - I don't know a single woman who'd need to lie to get sex

Not entirely true. It's nigh on impossible to get a shag if you're below a certain level of attractiveness. However, if a woman falls into that category, lying about being in MI5 or any other job will make no difference - men don't shag women on the basis of what their job is, however impressive.

[Aragog]

None.

Surely they wouldn't be able to tell just anyone. You'd have to be at a very committed stage of relationship to be told that kind of information.

Unless it's a double bluff of course?!

[annabell22]

An ex of mine was in the Met Police and after some time on the beat joined SO6 (diplomatic protection). He used to tell people he was a fibreglass salesman!

[emilybrontescorsett]

category12 😆😆😆😆😆

[VivaMiltonKeynes]

None

[emilybrontescorsett]

stCharlotte no I’m not saying that. What I said was he was THE most suitable person I have ever met to be in the SAS. He would not bat an eyelid about killing anyone or anything. I include all humans in that. Due to his appalling childhood experiences he appeared to lack empathy for living things.
Most people would struggle to kill kittens and dogs, let alone humans.

[category12]

and admitted he was shown how to drown kittens as a boy by his adoptive mother. Sounds more like he was brought up to be a serial killer.