Lonely Harts Scam: Case Cosed She got away

Looks like this one got away. It’s been three weeks since we have had any communication. Alice has started sending me more images of their “Child”. This is directly aimed at the heartstrings. Unfortunately, I was too busy with my real life to respond other than a few short words.

If you think of it, from a dating or a romance scam point of view that would show a lack of interest. In either case, it would mean that I would not be a good fit. So I personally do not blame them for giving me the flick. But there may be more to this story.

Looking at the chat records they have not logged back in for almost three weeks. This could mean that they have had issues with the account? Lonely heart scammers will often be running more than one scam at a time. So if they were reported from another mark it would make sense to burn all their other “projects” and hide for a bit. Who knows

What have we learend from Alice?

Though catching a scammer and reporting them to the police is always a goal for this sort of “Reverse scam”. The goal of this interaction was to highlight the psychological tools used by a scammer to get us to trust them. So what did we learn?

Con artists sell the dream (Money, Love, Power)

A con artist attacks the hopes and dreams of their victims. We all want to feel like we have some kind of control over this world. A little more money, A little more power to do what we want and a whole less lonely. A con artist will use these dreams to bait the hook.

How to protect yourself?

If it is too good to be true it is.

Con artists are patient and will often wait weeks if not months to spring their trap

Con artists know that time heals all wounds and builds trust. The longer they wait. The stronger the relationship they build (Be it false) the more likely you are to pay out larger sums of money.

Con artists like to make you think they have money so you don’t expect them to ask for it

Nobody expects Elon Musk to ask for $40 to pay for drinks. But a homeless person asking for directions to the medical clinic makes you suspicious. We all have these prejudges and con artists know that by showing they have money (Even when they don’t) disarms your defences and triggers the dreams.

You are better at conning yourself

We are our own worst enemy. A con artist will tell you enough information for your brain to run wild and fill in the blanks. We love a good story. We love stories that might result in getting some kind of prize.

So long … I will miss you Alice sort of.

To be honest even a basic search on my name and phone number would have led them to this website. I will miss messing with this scammer. But honestly, because the account was connected to my real name there were some dangers involved. So maybe it was for the best.

So unfortunately the story with this scammer ends here…….

But wait there is a new scammer!!

I’m already working on a new scammer that has contacted me… This time using Snapchat. The problem with this one is that some of their images are not family-friendly. Though I’m far from prudish I would not like those kinds of images to be associated with my website. So I am going to have to think about how I’m going to visually present this.

There are also issue with taking screenshots with Snapchat as it alerts the scammer that has happened. I have a workaround however that has its own risks.

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