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!

Not happened to me, but a friend I was at school with was completely taken in by a stalkery need who had been at our school, when we were in our twenties.

The only two people I know who worked or still work for the security services are rather boring and have normal marriages and relationships (both women).

People who claim to be SAS are branded Walter mitties by the Armed Forces.
More often than not they are normally single men middle aged men called Brian who stilllive at home with their mums and work in IT.
Or maybe they did 3 months with the Territorial Army 30 years ago which makes them Special Agents !

I had to fire somebody once because his whole CV was a complete fabrication. He said he was ex-SAS, a front line medic in Afghanistan and a bunch of other bollocks. His degrees were made up and he'd never been in the SAS. Loads of other dodgy stuff too, he said his girlfriend was pregnant (she didn't exist) and he nicked a load of money out of the safe. He was only on the premises for a week!

@GemmeFatale
I'm also from Cheltenham. My stepfather worked at GCHQ. Apparently he didn't do anything exciting at work. Often claimed to the cleaner/ tea boy/ filing clerk.

When he died unexpectedly we found out he was far from the above!

I can remember years ago when I was a child, having a neighbour who was in her 70s, and this strange bloke started to appear, he was in his 50s, she said he was her friend and he was ex-SAS. My dad used to snort and say yeah right. He is a conman sniffing around for dosh. He told me that when I got older some bloke tells you they are ex-SAS or in the intelligence services, nod and back away.

I had a work colleague, single, 40s, intelligent, critical thinker, was doing a lot of speed and on line dating. She was excited once about a guy she had met. She said to me you will never guess what he does, I said as a joke, is he a spy or ex-SAS per chance, never thinking for one moment she would be taken in by this. Yes, he was working for the intelligence service according to him, which he revealed immediately they met......

Lol. So funny. I wouldn't believe them.

Ive dated a few "civil servants" who told and nothing about their jobs. Could have been intelligence, or could have been the tax man... or bigamists.

The only person I knew who was recruited was when we were both Oxford postgrads, and was of interest because of his unusual combination of languages. Not an ‘in the field’ role.

I dont know any women who have dated secret agents, but my DH met one through work. Turned out he was actually a convicted pedo ex-policeman, but used "i was in the secret services" as that had a better ring to it.

None for me but just watching True Lies with a fake agent who tried to recruit Jamie Lee Curtis. Great old film

So as not to drip feed - I'm not involved with anyone claiming to be a spy but 2 of my closest friends recently have been: one of these men was a many times convicted con artist and the other clearly has a family (that one has a different SIM card and phone number every time he reappears)

Coincidentally I did once apply for a job at Mi5, but I didn't even get asked to come for an interview!

@GemmeFatale

I used to live in Cheltenham. Every other bloke there is a secret agent. The ones who say they are aren’t. The ones who ‘have a boring office job’ might be. 😉

I was just coming on here to say exactly this!

NC for this just in case he is actually in the secret service and tracks me down.

Ex friend of mines partner is apparently a spy. It’s really sad, she has a baby with him as well and sees him one night a fortnight (if that). Not even a whole day! As in he comes at 9pm and leaves at 6am the next morning. He apparently travels everywhere for work and gets no holiday, also a very shitty salary. She said he earned the same as her and she works in a restaurant.

I cut the friendship a while ago because she was using me as a bit of an emotional punching bag due to him not being around at all, not sure if anything has changed.

I worked for a government department full of 'spooks' and they all called themselves 'policy analysts'. If you meet a man who describes a job so boring that your mind freezes, he's probably a spy

I have met an international arms dealer at the pub, though.

None but every bloke I met in a bar when I was young was either a fireman or a gynacologist. I never did understand why they thought the second one made them attractive, or was it supposed to be funny?

I once worked with a female teacher who had been an officer in the intelligence corps and worked in Russia. She taught her 6yos Russian (amongst other things).

None...but it's a common occupation for conmen on the crime channel.

They usually lead a double life...sometimes with another family and are fraudsters.

None.
I would work on the theory that the sooner someone told you this, the less likely they were to actually be one.

The real agents wouldn't blow their cover just to impress a man or woman, and I don't think they're allowed to say either so the ones who say they're in MI5/MI6 are probably bullshitting, and yes Craftycorvid the SAS seems to be the biggest regiment in the world judging by the amount of men who said they were in it! Billy bullshitters...

None but I think I know one and my brother used to work with one - an academic. That was confirmed, his identity was revealed by a newspaper. He was working for the wrong side. A lot of people who get imprisoned for spying are apparently academics and it does make me a bit suspicious now.

You read my mind BackforGood..

If they were they couldn’t say they were so anyone ‘admitting’ to it in a short term relationship clearly isn’t and anyone believing that some cockwomble spinning them that line is a fool!

@Powerplant

None for me but just watching True Lies with a fake agent who tried to recruit Jamie Lee Curtis. Great old film

I love love love that film.

Friend's dad used to tell us he was former MI6. Turns out he was just a massive peado. Also Cheltenham

One of our old neighbours a few years ago was one of those policemen who carry guns and disappear for a few days, I forget if he guarded the royals or politicians. It was true he did this, but it was a great opportunity to have another life, his childless wife found out he had a six month old baby with one of his colleagues.

A girl I knew was dating a guy, then it got a bit weird, so she broke things off, and he continued to contact her all the time saying increasingly fantastical things culminating in being a secret agent for a foreign power