Like most women who spend too much time online, I get approached on social media by men who give off massive scammer red flags. I block, delete and move on. Author Becky Holmes decided to have some fun with them instead. The result was Keanu Reeves Is Not in Love With You: The Murky World of Online Romance Fraud.
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Scammers who target women tend to follow similar scripts. (The scripts are a little different for male victims, which may be the subject of the next book.) They usually claim to be widowed, and either a soldier or an oil rig worker (jobs with a built-in excuse for any lapses in contact). They start with “love bombing,” a too-good-to-be-true online romance with promises to meet in person (but plans keep getting delayed). Then there’s an “emergency” where the scammer needs a relatively small amount of money, maybe a few hundred, which for some reason must be delivered via crypto or gift cards. The emergencies and demands for money keep escalating for as long as the victim can be strung along.
Some will even run a secondary scam where, once exposed, the scammer will claim “I started out trying to cheat you, but I’ve developed real feelings for you.” Others have infiltrated Facebook support groups for scam victims, claiming to know someone who can get their money back — just send them a few bank details. Holmes includes resources for scam victims in the UK.
One scam variation is the celebrity imposter, who wants money for a “private, unadvertised performance for superfans only,” or for a charity (but the money has to be sent through him, for tax purposes). At one point, Holmes created a group chat for the five Keanu Reeveses who were following her. She also heard from scammers claiming to be Liam Neeson, Brad Pitt, Prince William and, inexplicably, Prince Andrew. (Holmes drily notes that she’s a few decades too old for Andrew’s reputed taste.)
Holmes enjoyed messing with the scammers, dropping comments like, “Can I bring my sister when we meet? I’ll have to release her from the tumble dryer, but she should be dry by then.” She gave out addresses in imaginary towns with names like Knackered Sphincter. She sent “gift card codes” like 5UCH 4 RU8815H 4TTEMPT or U 4R3NT V3RY G00D 4T TH15. She occasionally claimed to have flown to Los Angeles (or wherever the scammer claimed to be) so they could meet up for a quickie wedding. When nothing else got rid of them, she’d claim to have just killed someone. (At least one scammer claimed he could connect her with someone who could get rid of the body — and would take payment in gift cards).
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This long comment from gkrevvv in Kos’s diary The Widening Gender Divide is Fueling Far-Right Extremism.
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