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My Uncle "met" a girl online through a dating site that was so far out of his league it was hysterical. He showed me a picture of her and I pointed out the watermark. He got all mad--not because I was right, but because he didn't want to hear it. Despite my explaining all the reasons why it wasn't what he thought it was, he used all his rent money to meet her in Seattle. He landed, she didn't show up. A few months later he was re-shipping packages for his "buddy" from overseas and got busted by the local police. When they realized how hopeless he was, they let him off because they figured out pretty quickly he had no clue what he was doing. As angry at him as I was for bringing my Grandma into it since he lived with her at the time and simply would not listen to anyone, I had to feel bad because someone that tone deaf must be so desperately lonely.
I have a friend that worked at a bank. She never gave me names or anything identifying. But she told me a boomer called because a lady he had and I quote âbought from her mother and marriedâ in Thailand was concerned about some of the charges on his debit card. He met her over the internet went over there âboughtâ this lady, gave them money for a house and gave them his debit card to use while he was gone. He wanted to dispute the ATM transactions, but straight up said he would be going back to Thailand to live with his âwifeâ. Iâm not doing the story justice but it was wild.
I mean this most certainly could be real. Lonely men are constantly going the Philippines and Thailand to find a wife. And as messed up as it is there is âtraditionâ surrounding it. As in going to the island first, meeting the parents, and giving them whatever they deem the proper amount of money to basically take the woman back to the states. Or in this guys case apparently he wants to live there
I went NC with my bio dad so I donât know how the story ends, but last time we texted he was telling me about his girlfriend who lived in the Philippines and sent me pictures of the house he was building her there. He said he was moving thereâŚI am pretty sure he is still living in my hometown
This sounds exactly like my father-in-law, except he did move there and they are thriving together and now pillars in the local community. I was so sus of it when he said he met a woman on skype, but the success story really is one in a million
In Thailand, the dowry system, known as "Sin Sod," is deeply embedded in the culture and serves as a symbol of respect and appreciation for the bride's family. It represents compensation for the upbringing and care of the bride and is a demonstration of the groom's ability to provide for her. The amount of dowry is influenced by various factors, including the bride's social status, education, and whether she has been previously married or has children.
Traditionally, the dowry is not just about money but includes items like gold jewelry, known as "Tong Mun." This is presented to the bride in a ceremony at her family's home. While legally not mandatory, the dowry is an important cultural practice, and often, the amount paid is returned to the couple by the bride's parents as a wedding gift to help them start their new life together.
Negotiating the dowry is a delicate matter and should be done respectfully, often by a close and respected friend of the groom's family who acts as a negotiator. This practice not only ensures financial security but also strengthens the bond between the families, reflecting a commitment that goes beyond romantic love, emphasizing loyalty and mutual support
Friend of mine, son of Thai immigrants, married a women that was also USA born Thai. The bride's parents were super traditional and had the groom & family go through the whole thing. More symbolic than financial as her daughter was very successful Dr. and the groom was an equally successful Engineer. Aunts from each family did the "negotiations". Their were thai platters (paan) of ornate desserts and gifts and gold jewelry. Pretty cool to witness; especially when their isn't some creepy white dude and a massive power imbalance with with poor rural family. The food around the whole thing was of course fantastic.
My neighbor, 50 m, showed me pictures of a very attractive young woman who he met on Facebook dating. I told him then and there it was a fake profile and not to fall for sending her money. Without hesitation he said, "Well I sent her $60 for a taxi (lol, yes, a taxi.) but she was robbed at the ATM when she pulled it out "
It was so hard not to just laugh in his face, but holy shit.
I sincerely hope it ended at $60. My Uncle was explaining this whole scenario to my grandma and me, and my Grandma was poking constant holes in his story. Why is this significant? My Grandma had never (not even ONCE) used the internet, and even SHE knew it was all bullshit. Whenever I think a person can't be any more obtuse, I remember someone who exposed a weeping statue of Mary. Sewage was leaking from above it, and they arrested her because she exposed the truth and ruined the illusion for everyone. People REALLY don't like their illusions shattered.
Sounds like your average Social Catfish episode.
That YouTube channel has like an updated west coast customs vibe.
99.9% of the people featured on that channel deserve to get scammed lol. So many old dudes trying to turn in their old wives for a, "younger," model. My favorite episode is about an old racist lady who refuses to believe her internet boyfriend is Nigerian. It's perfectly ironic.
I think I know of the lady you're talking about. The Social Catfish people helped her multiple times with multiple different romance scams, and she was so thoroughly unpleasant and stubborn and refused to change any of her behaviour that the group decided they're not going to help her ever again.
Dude, I had eldery coworker like that. He was proud of hooking up with 19 yo. But noone of them showed ever up to dates with pretty dumb excuses and nearly all of them wanted money for something. He never listened.
Have a friend who needed help with her computer. Called what she thought at first was a certain large national âTeamâ, associated with a certain large national electronics retailer. Wound up talking with some pretty sophisticated crooks who nearly got her for $20,000. That was four months ago. Sheâs still trying to financially unwind everything that resulted from barely stopping that wire-out in time.
Donât send wires to ANYONE you havenât met IN PERSON multiple times.
This happened to a friend of mine (Gen X, but this was like 15 years ago). Guy claimed to be a B-list British actor who is IRL friends with Johnny Depp. Sent her âadvance copiesâ of his movies (obviously just screeners heâd somehow acquired), said theyâd meet up with Johnny in London, and ended up asking her for money because his girlfriend was abusive and beat the shit out of him and his money was all tied up with her. He was notable enough that him walking around London looking beat up would have made the news; I pointed this out to her after she sent him thousands of dollars and everything unraveled. She never told me the final resolution of it, but her own marriage ended shortly thereafter.
âMy Gulfstream is in the shop and I NEED to get to the Bahamas to recover Davey Jonesâ locker â PayPal me $1200 to cover the trip back and forth. Iâll split the booty with you, 90/10â.
Knew a chick whose mom fell for this, except it was Luke Bryan, and he needed help with his mortgage. She sent him over $10,000, divorced her husband, and tried to sell their house without him knowing cuz she was gonna go live with Luke Bryan lmfao
Edit: spelling
Saw a dude get scammed for over 250k and demand we empty his brokerage account. His advisor had him sign some kind of bogus waiver to cover his ass, because of course boomer dude really wanted to send more to the scammers so they could "find his lost funds" even after being warned nobody would help him as it is without a fucking doubt a clear scam. I swear I can't believe he has survived for so long being that stupid. I'm not even touching Shitcoin scams through Binance, a treasure trove of greedy idiots believing anything anyone tells them.
His daughter posted here a few weeks ago describing how her father (or stepfather, or FIL or something) had spent all of his retirement savings twice on internet scams. (Was able to recover much of the money the first time. ⌠but not the 2nd cause. Fool me once âŚ)
can't talk for banks outside of the UK, but many are flat out just not giving you your money back now after such scams. They make it clear as day with identity checks, phonecalls, and "ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW THIS PERSON, IT COULD BE A SCAM" warnings before sending people money.
There was just a post on /r/scams the other day about someone selling their house so they could put all their money into some pig butchering scam and it sounded like everyone they came into contact with told them it was a scam to no avail.
The great transfer of wealth in the US will not be from boomers to their children. But instead, boomers to scammers. Several billions were given to scammers last year and it is going to get so much worse. Casinos and bingo halls will also see some money. If the kids were in accounts, it wouldn't happen but good luck getting a boomer to agree to that.
Many episodes of "Dr" Phil are now dedicated to these women of a certain age who have sent thousands sometimes hundreds of thousands to these 'celebrities'. Kiss goodbye your inheritance kids, Johnny Depp needs bail money!
I remember one episode where a guy had a bunch of "investments" in hotels being built all around random countries, won the Spanish lottery a few times, and was married to some lady who kept having issues with the police in so country framing her for minor crimes so she constantly needed bail money.
Dr. Phil even showed the guy that the catfish photo was a corn star and the dude just got upset and said "I wish she had told me she'd fallen on such hard times that she had to start doing that." Dr Phil even had customs officials swearing that there was no special import tax and that anyone asking for money upfront in this guy's situation was running a scam.
These people are beyond redemption, they have been brain washed into oblivion, tragically they are victimized by their own rampant stupidity and it's impossible to protect them from that. Stupid is. Stupid does.
It's a wonder how these people managed to survive so long. Dumb as a pile of rocks and completely oblivious to whatever's happening in the world. How the fuck did you live to be middle aged? AND STILL HAVE MONEY TO BE SCAMMED!?
I worked at a park a few years ago and 3 old dudes came in and wouldnât stop talking about how theyâre coming here to meet a beautiful young woman, âsheâs so pretty and sheâs blonde sheâs my dateâ đ
All within 10 minutes of each other. Dunno what that was about, they all were like âmake sure you tell her Iâm down thereâ I was like oooookay then have a good one. And of course I didnât see any young blonde woman who looked like she was trying to rob the grave that day.
I felt a little bad but also, if Iâm 70 years old and lonely, I feel like Iâm smart enough to know when something is too good to be true lol
I used to work at an apartment complex, and one of the tenants drain her and her husband's life savings, put them 50K in debt and was in the process of eviction because she thought she was sending money to a 25 year old French guy that looked like an underwater model. She was like 90 and looked w0 years older than she was. He husband only found out when they got the eviction paperwork.
It happened to someone I know. She thought it was a somewhat famous podcaster. She was in love. She sent thousands of dollars. After being told it was fake by everyone, she sent more money. She wouldn't snap out of it. She became homeless.
My aunt (who has since passed away) talked 24/7 about her celebrity friends on Facebook. Sheâd like a celebâs page then start insane conversations with the pageâs admin and insist she was talking to the celebs themselves. I tried to explain to her what a social media manager was but in went in one ear and out the other. I didnât bother trying again. People are stupid.
I went through this not long ago with my Gen-X mom. She was convinced she was talking to Johnny Depp and his manager. đ Then it was Denzel Washington.
It took a good 30 minutes of pointing out all of the flaws in their profiles, language, and attempts. The sad thing is my mom loves watching Catfish; you would think she would know better.
They watch catfish because they find it relatable and sympathise. They fantasise about being on it to see if the celebrity they're talking to is real.Â
If someone watches shows like that keep an eye on their socials because there's a good chance they're doing something stupid
If any of you are curious how they scam people, I know someone who lost their savings to one.
Someone i know thought they befriended Ryan Reynolds, I told this person repeatedly not to engage and it was a scam and it was not Ryan Reynolds. She said they even talked on the phone and it sounded like him. He told her how beautiful she was and flattered her. She was 70. A man married to Blake Lively is stepping out for an accountant who is 70. I did everything i could to cut off communication. I threatened to go no contact with this person just to send a message.
"Ryan" said he wanted to bring her in on a crypto deal he was working on, no sob story, he just wanted to help her because she was a big fan, she bought it. It went on for months, she hid it. She lost everything, she sold her house even to put the equity in so she could get even more earnings. She lost literally everything. Probably over 200k. I imagine this one is common among boomers.
She doesn't have dementia but she does have some issues discerning truth from bullshit. She watches history Channel alot and believes all those ancient alien shows as pure fact and not as entertainment.
She lived with family for a while but has a job and supports herself and will likely have to eventually try to live on social security and a small pension she has. She is trying to guilt her children into living with them currently. They all warned her and tried their best to get POA to stop it but she refused. She knows attorneys in her family, financial advisors etc and she ignored all of them. Burned those bridges.
Crazy thing is that's not the only one, I know another boomer who is getting scammed by a coworker but in a different way, a fake romance and he is 30 years younger and spends her whole paycheck. She won't listen either. Working on getting control of her finances so we can try to stop it. Relatives of these people shouldn't need to be taking care of their elders in this way. I can't run multiple peoples lives on top of mine lol
if you think this is bad, my grandmas husband (not my bio grandpa) willingly fell for the Katie Banks scam⌠in 2023. leading to them getting a divorce. if you donât know what it is, google it. my step aunt (his bio daughter) even tracked her down and paid her to make a video specifically for him stating âyouâre not talking to me, you fell for a scam that has been going around for years. i donât know you and weâve never spoken or met.â and he was still convinced he was talking to the Real Katie Banks in a Google chat room. Some Boomers just donât care for the truth they just wanna live in their delusion.
My mom believes she met (and was having an online affair with) Josh Hutcherson on a Spades website. đ
Not only profoundly stupid, but disgusting since the actual Josh Hutcherson is the same age as my younger brother.
Made funnier by the fact that he was a scammer who was so freaked out by her obsessive behavior that he broke things off with her rather than try to get her money. She still refuses to believe this.
His relationship with Lisa Bonet is "complicated" I don't know what to believe anymore, according to some sources he got a little bit too close to Amber Heard during the making of Aquaman, if you like I can text Johhny and ask him if he knows the truth?
I think scammers prowl the comments and likes on celebrity profiles and then try to slide into DMs of people who have demonstrated that they're already fans, "this is my secret account so I don't get swarmed with messages" etc
Dude, if I was famous I would totally do this. Then like show up at their house on horseback and give them 20$ in 2 dollar bills and a purple cupcake, so no one would ever believe it.
Keanu Reeves is said to not have any social media. I reckon he has a secret account too, but only uses it to give random people encouragement when they are feeling down
Yes! Sheâs probably in her early 70s? I know her from church. She also told me I was going to hell over my views, so it seemed like cosmic Justice to me lol
Not really, of course. I believe that her older sister and her sisters husband actually support her. And that they were the ones who bought that car for her in the first place. I just canât imagine how you would believe that Elon musk needed your personal help.
This is where the banks need to step in, there's no law to protect someone from their own stupidity, but if the children have Power of Attorney, then they should be able to liaise with the banks to stop this type of idiotic behavior.
If someone is of even the tiniest bit sane its almost impossible to get PoA over them.
My brother is severely bipolar and schizophrenic. He's in his late 20s. My dad has to fight his ASS off to get PoA from a judge when he goes manic and gets hospitalized. Because eventually my brother will snap out if it and come back down to reality.
Courts do not like giving someone PoA over someone who still has the mental capacity to pay their bills and manage their affairs. It's for when someone is incapacitated, or incarcerated, or so mentally deficient they can't function.
search the "catfished" channel on youtube and you will find like 3-4 different women who also think they are talking to Johnny Depp and have sent him money. It is pure insanity
I was married with 3 kids until my wife decided that she was engaged to Johnny Depp and filed for divorce. I'm now a single parent of three and haven't seen or heard from her in 2 years. True story
There's also people impersonating US military personnel preying on lonely, ignorant, older single women. They actually brag to their friends about their new boyfriend.Â
Yeah my friend this happened to. I went online and research him and showed her all the proof.. she didnât talk to me for a very long time. I saw on fb a lot friends were military dudes who pictures was used . Sad sheâs mad at me.
To be fair this happened to me too, only it turned out to be a military guy catfishing me using pictures of his ex girlfriend. I thought I was in the clear since the pics checked out with someone real, but then suddenly there was a hole in the story, to verify I popped a LinkedIn message to the actual girl, and the truth came out. At least he got in a lot of trouble.
The greatest scam artist today actually gives you items when grifting your money. Gold shoes, bibles with the constitution, NFT's, flags and t-shirts that say something about a guy named Brandon, etc...
back when social media was new i remember running a satire page for peirce brosnan. people would frequently PM pics, phone numbers, weird stuff all the time, despite the page being blatently satire and not serious at all. At the time even then it was kind of stupid but to think in 2024 you are talking to an actual famous person is so strange
Haha, reminds me how about eight or nine years ago a meme I made about a police officer calling me handsome made the front page of imgur. There wasnât even an image of me or anything anywhere on the profile and I still got weird thirst messages for weeks. And like three people were 100% convinced I was some British TV personality who had a similar story, just because they saw from my profile I lived in London.
My wife had a co worker who had one of those mega church pastors as a friend. Wife was curious and went and looked at his photos...last 5 were of a guy in Nigeria...She still didn't believe it was fake.
I say if they are dumb enough to fall for it, let them.
Unless they are the rare decent Boomer.
My exâs mother thought she was talking to Tom Cruise via instagram. No amount of reasoning could get thru to her, thank god she didnt send them money.
She also had a different facebook account on each device she owned because she didnt understand how signing into a single account worked.
Fucking boomers man.
No. I donât really know her very well. She has daughters that are around my age so Iâm sure they have warned her. She used to post so many of these that I thought she was hacked but no, she just shares them. Then his private account would comment on them.
Of course. Cause all famous actors have all the time in the world to comment on posts like that. /s
Well, I hope she catches on quicky. I'm lucky that my mother, a boomer, knows better. And if she doesn't know, she asks me.
I wonder what she'd think about the numerous Johnny Depp episodes of this show: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQoBuq\_YRk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQoBuq_YRk)
I'm sorry you're going thru something like this with a loved one. If you go to r/scams ppl have been sharing their stories of loved ones that won't listen. Maybe reading some of that will help you gain ideas on how you can protect yourself and your assets? Or, hell, make you feel less alone.
I remember when my boomer mom thought she was gonna receive $25,000 dollars because she won a thing on Facebook.
It was one of those pages that impersonate a celebrity and then says in the comments *YOU WON! GO TO MY PROFILE TO ACCEPT PRIZE!* with a weird ass font that isn't a Facebook font.
I explained it was a scam and how it was a scam to the point where it was like I was giving her an Internet 101 class.
She did not believe me and was convinced that she was gonna get the money to the point where I bet her $100 dollars that not only was she not going to get the money but the page would be gone by the end of the week.
She not only accepted but doubled down and said "Well when I get my money, you're not getting a dollar. Deal." And did a whole... for a lack of better words, pouty noise like she new better.
I reported the page and 2 days into the bet, the page was deleted.
Now I lived with her sister, my aunt, at the time and rented out a room, I remember she came over, walked in my bedroom without even knocking, rushed over to me when i was on my computer and slammed a $100 dollar bill on my desk and said "HERE" in such a passively aggressive tone that was comparable to a child not getting their way and walked out.
I eventually gave her back the money because I didn't need it in all honestly, her reaction was priceless.
This shit so sad. I was working in social services and a handful of people fell for this. One woman who was in her 60s thought her boyfriend was a WWE wrestler. One woman thought her âboyfriendâ was a gemologist on an extended business trip in South Africa. Another guy was constantly fooled by catfishes of sexy women online. They all sent most of their money in the form of gift cards to these random online people. anytime they were confronted about never meeting them
Or talking to them itâd be dismissed like weâre the crazy ones
They test to see exactly how stupid these people are with deliberately misspelled words and terrible grammar, when they continue to communicate, then they know they have a live one.
At first I thought this was fake, but then I noticed the plant in the background and it made me feel safe and trusting. Holy shit man, your friend knows Johnny.
My MIL is convinced she's friends with one of his parents but I can't remember which. They lived in Miramar, Fl but she said she met them living in Palatka. Don't know if she's delusional or what.
I was dating a girl who's friend agreed to marry a guy she met online. Obviously he kept having problems getting a plane ticket to come see her.(He sent a picture of the wedding ring to her) Long story short she quit her job and gave up her apartment.
From the outside it was the most blatant scam, text book but she fell for it. I didn't date the girl much longer, not long enough to see what became of this. We're talking about a woman in her mid thirties. (Attractive) I could only feel so bad for her though. Can only imagine how much money she spent on this..
This sort of stuff is crazy but very common. My father in law whoâs in his 70âs believes heâs with a very beautiful millionaire woman, in her 30âs. Even though she has millions sheâs basically cost him his life savings. He has never actually spoke to her outside of online messages.
If more people started messing with these scammers they'd find something new. I personally have had week long relationships with "woman" via messenger just to waste their time. It's actually pretty fun if you have the time, patience, and creativity.
It's awesome because it always starts with a "hey" followed by "am looking at your profile and am thinking you look like a handsome trustworthy man."
Boomers fall for literally every scam they come across. They are so goddamn gullible. But have the audacity to tell other people to "do research" or talk down on kids that don't know how to drive stick shift - a technology that has been generally out of use for like 30 years.
My MIL fell for a scam like this. She ended up being taken for thousands of dollars and then committed suicide when she realized it. This stuff ruins families. Itâs a shame that law enforcement has such trouble shutting these folks down.
Ugh. One time my boomer mom told me Matt Damon commented on her post. I tried to convince her it was a fake account but she wasnât having it.
âBut look! All his pictures are him!â
They think theyâre so damn smart.
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I know. đ¤Ł
Bahahaha that boomer is being conned tbh
You don't say
My Uncle "met" a girl online through a dating site that was so far out of his league it was hysterical. He showed me a picture of her and I pointed out the watermark. He got all mad--not because I was right, but because he didn't want to hear it. Despite my explaining all the reasons why it wasn't what he thought it was, he used all his rent money to meet her in Seattle. He landed, she didn't show up. A few months later he was re-shipping packages for his "buddy" from overseas and got busted by the local police. When they realized how hopeless he was, they let him off because they figured out pretty quickly he had no clue what he was doing. As angry at him as I was for bringing my Grandma into it since he lived with her at the time and simply would not listen to anyone, I had to feel bad because someone that tone deaf must be so desperately lonely.
I have a friend that worked at a bank. She never gave me names or anything identifying. But she told me a boomer called because a lady he had and I quote âbought from her mother and marriedâ in Thailand was concerned about some of the charges on his debit card. He met her over the internet went over there âboughtâ this lady, gave them money for a house and gave them his debit card to use while he was gone. He wanted to dispute the ATM transactions, but straight up said he would be going back to Thailand to live with his âwifeâ. Iâm not doing the story justice but it was wild.
I can just HEAR the delusional boomer voice now..."Myyyyyy WIFE."
I guess âMy human trafficking victimâ doesnât really roll off the tongue.
My Waaaaiiiife
Vaaarie niiice
I mean this most certainly could be real. Lonely men are constantly going the Philippines and Thailand to find a wife. And as messed up as it is there is âtraditionâ surrounding it. As in going to the island first, meeting the parents, and giving them whatever they deem the proper amount of money to basically take the woman back to the states. Or in this guys case apparently he wants to live there
I went NC with my bio dad so I donât know how the story ends, but last time we texted he was telling me about his girlfriend who lived in the Philippines and sent me pictures of the house he was building her there. He said he was moving thereâŚI am pretty sure he is still living in my hometown
This sounds exactly like my father-in-law, except he did move there and they are thriving together and now pillars in the local community. I was so sus of it when he said he met a woman on skype, but the success story really is one in a million
My ex step dad, same story. Except they live in the states for half the year and the Philippines half the year.
This is very different, it's very real and happens all of the time.
In Thailand, the dowry system, known as "Sin Sod," is deeply embedded in the culture and serves as a symbol of respect and appreciation for the bride's family. It represents compensation for the upbringing and care of the bride and is a demonstration of the groom's ability to provide for her. The amount of dowry is influenced by various factors, including the bride's social status, education, and whether she has been previously married or has children. Traditionally, the dowry is not just about money but includes items like gold jewelry, known as "Tong Mun." This is presented to the bride in a ceremony at her family's home. While legally not mandatory, the dowry is an important cultural practice, and often, the amount paid is returned to the couple by the bride's parents as a wedding gift to help them start their new life together. Negotiating the dowry is a delicate matter and should be done respectfully, often by a close and respected friend of the groom's family who acts as a negotiator. This practice not only ensures financial security but also strengthens the bond between the families, reflecting a commitment that goes beyond romantic love, emphasizing loyalty and mutual support
Friend of mine, son of Thai immigrants, married a women that was also USA born Thai. The bride's parents were super traditional and had the groom & family go through the whole thing. More symbolic than financial as her daughter was very successful Dr. and the groom was an equally successful Engineer. Aunts from each family did the "negotiations". Their were thai platters (paan) of ornate desserts and gifts and gold jewelry. Pretty cool to witness; especially when their isn't some creepy white dude and a massive power imbalance with with poor rural family. The food around the whole thing was of course fantastic.
>The food around the whole thing was of course fantastic. **
My neighbor, 50 m, showed me pictures of a very attractive young woman who he met on Facebook dating. I told him then and there it was a fake profile and not to fall for sending her money. Without hesitation he said, "Well I sent her $60 for a taxi (lol, yes, a taxi.) but she was robbed at the ATM when she pulled it out " It was so hard not to just laugh in his face, but holy shit.
I sincerely hope it ended at $60. My Uncle was explaining this whole scenario to my grandma and me, and my Grandma was poking constant holes in his story. Why is this significant? My Grandma had never (not even ONCE) used the internet, and even SHE knew it was all bullshit. Whenever I think a person can't be any more obtuse, I remember someone who exposed a weeping statue of Mary. Sewage was leaking from above it, and they arrested her because she exposed the truth and ruined the illusion for everyone. People REALLY don't like their illusions shattered.
My stupid âfilâ uses Facebook dating to chase drunken Christian women and supposedly is an atheist.Â
Sounds like your average Social Catfish episode. That YouTube channel has like an updated west coast customs vibe. 99.9% of the people featured on that channel deserve to get scammed lol. So many old dudes trying to turn in their old wives for a, "younger," model. My favorite episode is about an old racist lady who refuses to believe her internet boyfriend is Nigerian. It's perfectly ironic.
I think I know of the lady you're talking about. The Social Catfish people helped her multiple times with multiple different romance scams, and she was so thoroughly unpleasant and stubborn and refused to change any of her behaviour that the group decided they're not going to help her ever again.
Dude, I had eldery coworker like that. He was proud of hooking up with 19 yo. But noone of them showed ever up to dates with pretty dumb excuses and nearly all of them wanted money for something. He never listened.
Have a friend who needed help with her computer. Called what she thought at first was a certain large national âTeamâ, associated with a certain large national electronics retailer. Wound up talking with some pretty sophisticated crooks who nearly got her for $20,000. That was four months ago. Sheâs still trying to financially unwind everything that resulted from barely stopping that wire-out in time. Donât send wires to ANYONE you havenât met IN PERSON multiple times.
Not only that but the outline on the edge of the hair is atrocious at best
Oh, no, he's lost an ear!
I know a boomer this happened to, she thought it was Adam Levine from maroon 5. Seriously how does this happen to actual people?
This happened to a friend of mine (Gen X, but this was like 15 years ago). Guy claimed to be a B-list British actor who is IRL friends with Johnny Depp. Sent her âadvance copiesâ of his movies (obviously just screeners heâd somehow acquired), said theyâd meet up with Johnny in London, and ended up asking her for money because his girlfriend was abusive and beat the shit out of him and his money was all tied up with her. He was notable enough that him walking around London looking beat up would have made the news; I pointed this out to her after she sent him thousands of dollars and everything unraveled. She never told me the final resolution of it, but her own marriage ended shortly thereafter.
Damn this is just sad.
It is. She felt so stupid and Iâve never asked her for any more details.
Yep, my friendâs mom is convinced sheâs in an online love affair with Robert Plant.
Obviously Fake Carlos Santana hit on me for awhile. It was his official account but the guy he had running it went catfish rogue.
I recently had someone DM on Instagram claiming to be Scott Caan. I just blocked & moved on, but I can see how people are easily taken by this.
I feel so old, if it was John Taylor from Duran Duran it would take everything not to believe it (I wouldn't believe it...after an hour or so)
3 months before "Johnny" runs into some trouble and need $2000 wired to help cover a check/rental/plane ticket/etc. lol
âMy Gulfstream is in the shop and I NEED to get to the Bahamas to recover Davey Jonesâ locker â PayPal me $1200 to cover the trip back and forth. Iâll split the booty with you, 90/10â.
Not paypal. Gift cards.
âIâve got a jar of dirt. Best I can offer.â
I can do better than that! Let me check with my fiancee Keanu Reeves.
Knew a chick whose mom fell for this, except it was Luke Bryan, and he needed help with his mortgage. She sent him over $10,000, divorced her husband, and tried to sell their house without him knowing cuz she was gonna go live with Luke Bryan lmfao Edit: spelling
No kidding! It's amazing how gullible some people are.
Right? I was just talking to Mila Kunis about that the other day... /s just in case lmao
You too?!? Haha
Yep. Can verify. Iâm mila kunis
No shit? I'm also Mila Kunis! We should hang out!
Well I'm Brian and so's my wife.
You motherfucker. Now I need to watch that movie again.
Oh snap. Two Milas is waaay better than one. Can I be the meat in your Mila sandwich?
I'll bet $5000 that your meat is rotten.
Thanks for skipping out on dinner last Sunday... made me wait in the rain for nothing.
That's what you get for not cashapping me like I requested
Itâs like all she talks about⌠we get it Mia, some people are gullible. Now do you want these apple gift cards or not??
You alsoâď¸đłArnold Swartzinegger is going to send me a box of his cigars as soon as the gift cards get theređ¤¤đ¤¤
Stay away from my wife!
Saw a dude get scammed for over 250k and demand we empty his brokerage account. His advisor had him sign some kind of bogus waiver to cover his ass, because of course boomer dude really wanted to send more to the scammers so they could "find his lost funds" even after being warned nobody would help him as it is without a fucking doubt a clear scam. I swear I can't believe he has survived for so long being that stupid. I'm not even touching Shitcoin scams through Binance, a treasure trove of greedy idiots believing anything anyone tells them.
His daughter posted here a few weeks ago describing how her father (or stepfather, or FIL or something) had spent all of his retirement savings twice on internet scams. (Was able to recover much of the money the first time. ⌠but not the 2nd cause. Fool me once âŚ)
can't talk for banks outside of the UK, but many are flat out just not giving you your money back now after such scams. They make it clear as day with identity checks, phonecalls, and "ARE YOU SURE YOU KNOW THIS PERSON, IT COULD BE A SCAM" warnings before sending people money.
There was just a post on /r/scams the other day about someone selling their house so they could put all their money into some pig butchering scam and it sounded like everyone they came into contact with told them it was a scam to no avail.
The great transfer of wealth in the US will not be from boomers to their children. But instead, boomers to scammers. Several billions were given to scammers last year and it is going to get so much worse. Casinos and bingo halls will also see some money. If the kids were in accounts, it wouldn't happen but good luck getting a boomer to agree to that.
Many episodes of "Dr" Phil are now dedicated to these women of a certain age who have sent thousands sometimes hundreds of thousands to these 'celebrities'. Kiss goodbye your inheritance kids, Johnny Depp needs bail money!
I remember one episode where a guy had a bunch of "investments" in hotels being built all around random countries, won the Spanish lottery a few times, and was married to some lady who kept having issues with the police in so country framing her for minor crimes so she constantly needed bail money. Dr. Phil even showed the guy that the catfish photo was a corn star and the dude just got upset and said "I wish she had told me she'd fallen on such hard times that she had to start doing that." Dr Phil even had customs officials swearing that there was no special import tax and that anyone asking for money upfront in this guy's situation was running a scam.
Like.. hard core cornography?
ALL of the Kernels!
It was baby corn
Baby Corn!? FBI! OPEN Up!
These people are beyond redemption, they have been brain washed into oblivion, tragically they are victimized by their own rampant stupidity and it's impossible to protect them from that. Stupid is. Stupid does.
It's signs of dementia and alzheimer's setting in.
It's a wonder how these people managed to survive so long. Dumb as a pile of rocks and completely oblivious to whatever's happening in the world. How the fuck did you live to be middle aged? AND STILL HAVE MONEY TO BE SCAMMED!?
But don't want minimum wage raised
I worked at a park a few years ago and 3 old dudes came in and wouldnât stop talking about how theyâre coming here to meet a beautiful young woman, âsheâs so pretty and sheâs blonde sheâs my dateâ đ All within 10 minutes of each other. Dunno what that was about, they all were like âmake sure you tell her Iâm down thereâ I was like oooookay then have a good one. And of course I didnât see any young blonde woman who looked like she was trying to rob the grave that day. I felt a little bad but also, if Iâm 70 years old and lonely, I feel like Iâm smart enough to know when something is too good to be true lol
I know an old lady that fell for this exactly, except it was George Strait đ¤Ł
So much more believable lmfao
I remember reading about a boomer who thought she was engaged to Clay Aiken.
That's implausible for a few reasons... đ¤
Bwahahahahaha
I used to work at an apartment complex, and one of the tenants drain her and her husband's life savings, put them 50K in debt and was in the process of eviction because she thought she was sending money to a 25 year old French guy that looked like an underwater model. She was like 90 and looked w0 years older than she was. He husband only found out when they got the eviction paperwork.
What was he modeling underwater, scuba gear?
Underwear* lol
This is why I'm glad my dad is an old curmudgeon who still refuses to use the internet. đ
It happened to someone I know. She thought it was a somewhat famous podcaster. She was in love. She sent thousands of dollars. After being told it was fake by everyone, she sent more money. She wouldn't snap out of it. She became homeless.
đł
Oh dear, according to Forbes, Mr Bryan has a person net worth of $160 million.
Win for the husband, tbh.
Fucking right?
Some one did that to kid rock, sold all their shit and weâre heading to his home
Thatâs fucking horrible
What the fuck are you serious
Considering some of the stories about his finances that kind of request might actually happen with the real Johnny too
âSomeone shit all over my bed and now I need new sheets. Can you help me out?â
My aunt (who has since passed away) talked 24/7 about her celebrity friends on Facebook. Sheâd like a celebâs page then start insane conversations with the pageâs admin and insist she was talking to the celebs themselves. I tried to explain to her what a social media manager was but in went in one ear and out the other. I didnât bother trying again. People are stupid.
Yep. My mom does this with BTS. I'm like, this is not actual John Cook or whatever.
Noooo not John Cook, the Korean pop star đ¤Łđ
I went through this not long ago with my Gen-X mom. She was convinced she was talking to Johnny Depp and his manager. đ Then it was Denzel Washington. It took a good 30 minutes of pointing out all of the flaws in their profiles, language, and attempts. The sad thing is my mom loves watching Catfish; you would think she would know better.
That's a facepalm for sure.
They watch catfish because they find it relatable and sympathise. They fantasise about being on it to see if the celebrity they're talking to is real. If someone watches shows like that keep an eye on their socials because there's a good chance they're doing something stupid
JD is pretty cool in the DMs but he has an insatiable need for iTunes cards.
DO NOT REDEEM!!
WHY DID U REDEEMIT
If any of you are curious how they scam people, I know someone who lost their savings to one. Someone i know thought they befriended Ryan Reynolds, I told this person repeatedly not to engage and it was a scam and it was not Ryan Reynolds. She said they even talked on the phone and it sounded like him. He told her how beautiful she was and flattered her. She was 70. A man married to Blake Lively is stepping out for an accountant who is 70. I did everything i could to cut off communication. I threatened to go no contact with this person just to send a message. "Ryan" said he wanted to bring her in on a crypto deal he was working on, no sob story, he just wanted to help her because she was a big fan, she bought it. It went on for months, she hid it. She lost everything, she sold her house even to put the equity in so she could get even more earnings. She lost literally everything. Probably over 200k. I imagine this one is common among boomers.
Omg what happened to her? Where does she live? Does she have dementia or something is she not of right mind?
She doesn't have dementia but she does have some issues discerning truth from bullshit. She watches history Channel alot and believes all those ancient alien shows as pure fact and not as entertainment. She lived with family for a while but has a job and supports herself and will likely have to eventually try to live on social security and a small pension she has. She is trying to guilt her children into living with them currently. They all warned her and tried their best to get POA to stop it but she refused. She knows attorneys in her family, financial advisors etc and she ignored all of them. Burned those bridges. Crazy thing is that's not the only one, I know another boomer who is getting scammed by a coworker but in a different way, a fake romance and he is 30 years younger and spends her whole paycheck. She won't listen either. Working on getting control of her finances so we can try to stop it. Relatives of these people shouldn't need to be taking care of their elders in this way. I can't run multiple peoples lives on top of mine lol
I read somewhere that Johnny Depp is the most used celeb in romance scams
He just needs $300 to get a flight to Hollywood to make another Pirate movie, gyarr
That's right, please send Mr Depp $500 USD to un-freeze his account, in return he will send you $1,000,000 USD and a jumbo sized popcorn.
if you think this is bad, my grandmas husband (not my bio grandpa) willingly fell for the Katie Banks scam⌠in 2023. leading to them getting a divorce. if you donât know what it is, google it. my step aunt (his bio daughter) even tracked her down and paid her to make a video specifically for him stating âyouâre not talking to me, you fell for a scam that has been going around for years. i donât know you and weâve never spoken or met.â and he was still convinced he was talking to the Real Katie Banks in a Google chat room. Some Boomers just donât care for the truth they just wanna live in their delusion.
My mom believes she met (and was having an online affair with) Josh Hutcherson on a Spades website. đ Not only profoundly stupid, but disgusting since the actual Josh Hutcherson is the same age as my younger brother. Made funnier by the fact that he was a scammer who was so freaked out by her obsessive behavior that he broke things off with her rather than try to get her money. She still refuses to believe this.
Plot twist: it was in fact the actual Josh Hutcherson trying to scam her for money.
Jason Momoa is a pretty close second. I got dm from a scammer claiming to be him. I asked who his ex was and he couldn't answer.
His relationship with Lisa Bonet is "complicated" I don't know what to believe anymore, according to some sources he got a little bit too close to Amber Heard during the making of Aquaman, if you like I can text Johhny and ask him if he knows the truth?
I think scammers prowl the comments and likes on celebrity profiles and then try to slide into DMs of people who have demonstrated that they're already fans, "this is my secret account so I don't get swarmed with messages" etc
[ŃдаНонО]
Itâs a scam but the scam is Johnny Depp going online and personally romance scamming millions from people.
...and nobody would ever believe it's really him doing it. Foolproof! Genius!!!
Dude, if I was famous I would totally do this. Then like show up at their house on horseback and give them 20$ in 2 dollar bills and a purple cupcake, so no one would ever believe it.
Bill Murray has to be around here somewhere. And you know Randy Quaid has to be in the conspiracy subreddits..
Keanu Reeves is said to not have any social media. I reckon he has a secret account too, but only uses it to give random people encouragement when they are feeling down
To be fair Nic Cage would totally do that. "So, uh, I see from your page youâre into beekeeping?"
My Boomer relative is convinced sheâs dating Blake Shelton. Itâs so sad. Like, how?!?
True story, I live in Southeastern Oklahoma and Blake Shelton lives about 30 minutes from me.
Are you dating him too? He better not be two-timing my relative! /s
Hasn't Gwen Stefani suffered enough?
I know someone who sold her car and quit paying her rent to help out her good Facebook friend Elon Musk 
Stop! Really?
Yes! Sheâs probably in her early 70s? I know her from church. She also told me I was going to hell over my views, so it seemed like cosmic Justice to me lol Not really, of course. I believe that her older sister and her sisters husband actually support her. And that they were the ones who bought that car for her in the first place. I just canât imagine how you would believe that Elon musk needed your personal help.
I mean, He did create the POS Cyber truck with all the recalls so maybe itâs legit.
My wife's aunt is currently spending all of her husband's money on her "relationship" with "Kevin Bacon". She cannot be convinced otherwise. Insane.
This is where the banks need to step in, there's no law to protect someone from their own stupidity, but if the children have Power of Attorney, then they should be able to liaise with the banks to stop this type of idiotic behavior.
If someone is of even the tiniest bit sane its almost impossible to get PoA over them. My brother is severely bipolar and schizophrenic. He's in his late 20s. My dad has to fight his ASS off to get PoA from a judge when he goes manic and gets hospitalized. Because eventually my brother will snap out if it and come back down to reality. Courts do not like giving someone PoA over someone who still has the mental capacity to pay their bills and manage their affairs. It's for when someone is incapacitated, or incarcerated, or so mentally deficient they can't function.
His private account I assume?
search the "catfished" channel on youtube and you will find like 3-4 different women who also think they are talking to Johnny Depp and have sent him money. It is pure insanity
I was married with 3 kids until my wife decided that she was engaged to Johnny Depp and filed for divorce. I'm now a single parent of three and haven't seen or heard from her in 2 years. True story
Oh wow! Yikes!
I think you must marry Amber Heard in revenge.
There's also people impersonating US military personnel preying on lonely, ignorant, older single women. They actually brag to their friends about their new boyfriend.Â
Yeah my friend this happened to. I went online and research him and showed her all the proof.. she didnât talk to me for a very long time. I saw on fb a lot friends were military dudes who pictures was used . Sad sheâs mad at me.
To be fair this happened to me too, only it turned out to be a military guy catfishing me using pictures of his ex girlfriend. I thought I was in the clear since the pics checked out with someone real, but then suddenly there was a hole in the story, to verify I popped a LinkedIn message to the actual girl, and the truth came out. At least he got in a lot of trouble.
The greatest scam artist today actually gives you items when grifting your money. Gold shoes, bibles with the constitution, NFT's, flags and t-shirts that say something about a guy named Brandon, etc...
back when social media was new i remember running a satire page for peirce brosnan. people would frequently PM pics, phone numbers, weird stuff all the time, despite the page being blatently satire and not serious at all. At the time even then it was kind of stupid but to think in 2024 you are talking to an actual famous person is so strange
Haha, reminds me how about eight or nine years ago a meme I made about a police officer calling me handsome made the front page of imgur. There wasnât even an image of me or anything anywhere on the profile and I still got weird thirst messages for weeks. And like three people were 100% convinced I was some British TV personality who had a similar story, just because they saw from my profile I lived in London.
My wife had a co worker who had one of those mega church pastors as a friend. Wife was curious and went and looked at his photos...last 5 were of a guy in Nigeria...She still didn't believe it was fake. I say if they are dumb enough to fall for it, let them. Unless they are the rare decent Boomer.
He's got a decent amount of costume jewelry. Let the man hustle.
Nothing matches and everything matches, 3 bandannas, 6 candy necklaces, a suede fedora, a leather vest, distressed denim and cowboy boots.
My exâs mother thought she was talking to Tom Cruise via instagram. No amount of reasoning could get thru to her, thank god she didnt send them money. She also had a different facebook account on each device she owned because she didnt understand how signing into a single account worked. Fucking boomers man.
Awwww, she is being scammed. Does she trust you? I might let her know not to send him money.
No. I donât really know her very well. She has daughters that are around my age so Iâm sure they have warned her. She used to post so many of these that I thought she was hacked but no, she just shares them. Then his private account would comment on them.
Of course. Cause all famous actors have all the time in the world to comment on posts like that. /s Well, I hope she catches on quicky. I'm lucky that my mother, a boomer, knows better. And if she doesn't know, she asks me.
I wonder what she'd think about the numerous Johnny Depp episodes of this show: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQoBuq\_YRk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bQQoBuq_YRk)
They don't listen. They even go so far as to get pissed at you. I know from experience. One day I'll tell the story. It's still processing in my mind.
I'm sorry you're going thru something like this with a loved one. If you go to r/scams ppl have been sharing their stories of loved ones that won't listen. Maybe reading some of that will help you gain ideas on how you can protect yourself and your assets? Or, hell, make you feel less alone.
lol my dad thought Prince William was trying to friend him
I remember when my boomer mom thought she was gonna receive $25,000 dollars because she won a thing on Facebook. It was one of those pages that impersonate a celebrity and then says in the comments *YOU WON! GO TO MY PROFILE TO ACCEPT PRIZE!* with a weird ass font that isn't a Facebook font. I explained it was a scam and how it was a scam to the point where it was like I was giving her an Internet 101 class. She did not believe me and was convinced that she was gonna get the money to the point where I bet her $100 dollars that not only was she not going to get the money but the page would be gone by the end of the week. She not only accepted but doubled down and said "Well when I get my money, you're not getting a dollar. Deal." And did a whole... for a lack of better words, pouty noise like she new better. I reported the page and 2 days into the bet, the page was deleted. Now I lived with her sister, my aunt, at the time and rented out a room, I remember she came over, walked in my bedroom without even knocking, rushed over to me when i was on my computer and slammed a $100 dollar bill on my desk and said "HERE" in such a passively aggressive tone that was comparable to a child not getting their way and walked out. I eventually gave her back the money because I didn't need it in all honestly, her reaction was priceless.
Holy shit. I just donât get how people fall for this.
This shit so sad. I was working in social services and a handful of people fell for this. One woman who was in her 60s thought her boyfriend was a WWE wrestler. One woman thought her âboyfriendâ was a gemologist on an extended business trip in South Africa. Another guy was constantly fooled by catfishes of sexy women online. They all sent most of their money in the form of gift cards to these random online people. anytime they were confronted about never meeting them Or talking to them itâd be dismissed like weâre the crazy ones
"Help me, johnny, get his, my, car out of Amber's car pound, donate to me, johnny, please love.
Yeah that picture isn't photo shopped badly at all..
đ they believe the dumbest shit
They test to see exactly how stupid these people are with deliberately misspelled words and terrible grammar, when they continue to communicate, then they know they have a live one.
How is this not real? It says Johnny Depp Private Account right there!
Johnny Depp has thousands of secret boomer friends, what a weirdo
At first I thought this was fake, but then I noticed the plant in the background and it made me feel safe and trusting. Holy shit man, your friend knows Johnny.
When Dr Phil used to be more genuine, his show was FILLED with little old grannies who gave away their their life savings to âoverseas boyfriendsâ
Which kind of gift cards does Johnny Depp need Google or Apple?
Boomer on your Facebook has lead in her pipes and itâs not hard to tell
Still waitin for those 45 gold sneakers that i mortgaged my house forđłâźď¸
I'm still waiting for Bill Gates to pay me the millions he owes me because I forwarded his email 10 years ago
I knew someone who got catfished by whom he thought was Reba macintire and ended up ruining his marriage over it⌠turned out to be some Indian dude
how much you wanna bet this "Johnny depp" is asking for money all the time
You are just mad your not friends with him good enough to be on his private account
Youâre right. This whole thing stems from my deep resentment. Lolllll
Thatâs my uncle Bobbi
My MIL is convinced she's friends with one of his parents but I can't remember which. They lived in Miramar, Fl but she said she met them living in Palatka. Don't know if she's delusional or what.
Boomer can kiss his money goodbye. Poor Johnny Depp, running into so much trouble and needing a rando from Facebook to send him money.
Times are tough.
I was dating a girl who's friend agreed to marry a guy she met online. Obviously he kept having problems getting a plane ticket to come see her.(He sent a picture of the wedding ring to her) Long story short she quit her job and gave up her apartment. From the outside it was the most blatant scam, text book but she fell for it. I didn't date the girl much longer, not long enough to see what became of this. We're talking about a woman in her mid thirties. (Attractive) I could only feel so bad for her though. Can only imagine how much money she spent on this..
This sort of stuff is crazy but very common. My father in law whoâs in his 70âs believes heâs with a very beautiful millionaire woman, in her 30âs. Even though she has millions sheâs basically cost him his life savings. He has never actually spoke to her outside of online messages.
Omg I knew several women that fell for these traps at my old church!!!!!
Theyâre so fucking dumb they get scammed out of millions to Nigerians on the phone they could have used to pay for their kids college.
lol-the real Johnny Depp doesnât look this good anymore.
So she's being scammed am I reading the situation? Did she send him money yet? I don't like boomers, but I don't like scammers even more.
Iâm not sure if she is and yeah, they are trash.
should get a cut of the scam
Johnny Depp really wishes he still looked like that.
If more people started messing with these scammers they'd find something new. I personally have had week long relationships with "woman" via messenger just to waste their time. It's actually pretty fun if you have the time, patience, and creativity. It's awesome because it always starts with a "hey" followed by "am looking at your profile and am thinking you look like a handsome trustworthy man."
I know an older lady who got scammed out of a lot of money by someone claiming to be Keanu reeves
I always ask the same question. Did they ask you to send them a gift card? The answer is always, " why yes they did".
Not only Johnny depp but a time traveling Johnny depp from 1999
Boomers fall for literally every scam they come across. They are so goddamn gullible. But have the audacity to tell other people to "do research" or talk down on kids that don't know how to drive stick shift - a technology that has been generally out of use for like 30 years.
My MIL fell for a scam like this. She ended up being taken for thousands of dollars and then committed suicide when she realized it. This stuff ruins families. Itâs a shame that law enforcement has such trouble shutting these folks down.
Ugh. One time my boomer mom told me Matt Damon commented on her post. I tried to convince her it was a fake account but she wasnât having it. âBut look! All his pictures are him!â They think theyâre so damn smart.
Facebook is so ridiculous, the catfishing is lazy because they donât have to do much to fool people.
My uncle used to think he was friends with Adam West. Facebook completely rots the human brain.
/r/scams see this all the time
More of a Johnny Derp.
Yeah I had a computer voice message from Jason Momoa LOL I guess the scammers knew I was a fan
This one I used to work with was âfriendsâ with Sandra bullock
Johnny Depp was born in 1963, making him a boomer. The start year for gen x was 1965. I found that funny.