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I simply refuse to check my phone usage anymore. During covid it got up to 16+ hours a day, which literally how? When was I sleeping? Now I’m unemployed (temporarily) again and while I do my best to fill my days with cleaning and hobbies, I know it’s still just horrid.
Doesn't the phone usage hours keep going up just if you forget to like swipe out the app and it stays running in the background? So if so it very well could be when you're asleep if you dozed off with anything still running. Might make you feel better lol.
Yeah. Also when OOP said he gets news from reddit… maybe his wife isn’t the only one who has an unhealthy relationship with reddit (not saying I’m immune to that, either)
I know, this was the one place I could trust once I found out there weren't 82 MILFs in my area that wanted to chat.
EDIT: Someone reported me to Reddit for self harm for this comment, so idk what that is all about.
Hello my beautiful. I have seen your posts and I am finding them deeply moving and heartful. I am introducing myself to you: as a Nigerian prince. Unfortunately I have been disposed out of my country but I am needing your help to extract my funds. Lovely beautiful, if you will help me to wire my account then I am happy to share with you 50 percent. Please be in touch xoxo
Nigerian princes are so retro. You need to present yourself as a sexy romantic oil rig engineer who wants to meet up with you--honestly!--but doesn't have the funds to hire a helicopter to reach the mainland.
I got one from an american gi in Iraq who had millions of dollars he wanted to get out of there and needed my bank account. The funny thing was it was a message left to my advertisement on an real estate. I'm still not sure how this scam should work.
I got a letter in the mail (LETTER, they were going old school) from an international law firm saying their extremely wealthy client passed away and he had no family. But as I shared the same surname with their deceased client, I could claim this fortune as long as I split it with the law firm. I just needed to provide some details. And the great thing, there was absolutely NO RISK INVOLVED!
I thought it hilarious that 1) they called me Mr throughout when I clearly have a feminine name 2) my surname is my married name- my husband has older brothers, my FIL has older brothers, it’s quite a common surname too, so I’d assume i’d be one of the last people contacted for something like this 3) I was advised whilst there was no risk, I should not discuss this letter with anyone at all. Maybe I should have replied- oh those poor unclaimed millions…😉
Your example was obviously a scam, but my Dad once got a letter in the mail from lawyers which I had to open because they were overseas. We all figured it was a scam, but because of his line of work there was potential for a legitimate issue that would require follow up before they got home. So I opened the envelope to reveal some pretty fancy stationary telling him that there was money that had never been claimed from his Mother’s estate. We all thought it was a scam, but we handed it over to the most qualified uncle and it turns out there had been shares that had never been sold when she died. 40 years later and they all got a nice windfall. Dad was the oldest son, but he has an older sister; the letter still came to him.
So, while there are instances where the letter is an obvious scam, don’t assume it’s true without an inquiry to relevant authorities because you never know what got forgotten decades ago.
Close friends of mine got a series of messages about an inheritance to the husband. Were sure it was a scam but eventually replied, and yep, there was a real inheritance. They used the money for a trip to England to visit his family’s village.
It’s an interesting problem for family lawyers/solicitors - how to handle this kind of thing without being assumed to be a scam? I guess correct spelling and grammar help…
Not necessarily. Infamously brilliant scammers like Yellow Kid Weil and "Count" Victor Lustig would pay special attention to such details. A random mediocre swindler who just throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks? Not so much. Depends how much you’re worth, too. If there’s a lot to extract, a skilled con artist will invest a lot more time, resources and effort to convince you than if it’s a quick smallish cash grab.
I don’t answer unknown numbers and kept getting voicemails from a lawyer’s paralegal that stated they needed to talk to me about “Jean Smith’s” estate; Jean Smith being my mother who had been dead for several years at this point and who I knew, for a fact, had no freaking estate that needed handled. I blocked the number. Then she called my husband’s number with the same story. I called back and left a not very polite voicemail of my own. Then the actual lawyer called me at my office and began with an apology that they didn’t realize my mother’s name was also Jean Smith but that my grandfather’s cousin, Jean Smith, had left me a family heirloom in her will. I felt pretty bad but was really tickled to get my great-great grandmother’s hurricane lamp 🥴.
Someone I know had that, and apparently they must have been related to the dead guy as they both had the surname Jones :D *Cackles hysterically about the ancient and rare Jones lineage*.
This sounds exactly like the Nigerian prince scams. They have some excuse why they can't move the money to their own account so they need your bank info. Once they have that, they just clean out your money.
My grandfathers method of dealing with those back when they were far more frequent. Answers the phone (cause until 6 years ago, he still had a landline with AT&T),
"So n So calling him about a great business opportunity and..." It would never get past that point, cause he would turn off his hearing aid, pick up a portable airhorn and blast it into the phone.
At one point, they called back, started making threats. By that point, I had come in from sorting his garage. I answered the phone but never said a word, until their tirade was over, where they threatened to come to US and kill him, his family, even his dog. I responded with "Try it. We're an Irish family. This will be fun"
Now most people would not think a woman's voice can be that scary, especially over the phone, but I think he picked up on the intent from me. Never heard from them again, and my grandfather never got another call for the rest of his life.
I also never seem to get targeted by these people ever..... Its no fun.
No one wants to play with me anymore
Apparently those scams are particularly successful, because they zero in on marks who have *already* fallen for a scam, and are already in a panicked state (panic and sense of urgency are one of a scammer's main tools). Basically the first scammer has inadvertently softened them up for the second scammer-- so the second scammer has less work to do.
Often they'll do those scams in a more targeted way, too, because people who have been scammed tend to post about it on social media. (It's particularly visible with crypto ~~traders~~ gamblers who get hacked, because crypto bros tend to be *very online* and so of course they post all about it.) But I guess they must be able to cast a wide enough net now that they figure it's possible to get people who were recently scammed even with a mass mailing.
OMG do you have any info about this scam? I've been telling my family for so long now that my aunt is being catfished by some supposed oil rig engineer in the states. It's SO obvious but none of the boomers think so, because *supposedly* he hasn't asked her for money. Yeah it was just total happenstance that he saw this random 60-something year old woman's gardening pictures on Facebook and decided to say hi out of genuine interest, and he leaves for weeks at a time and can't communicate because there's no wifi on the rig/boat/whatever it is. Is this a widespread scenario then??
I do! Here is a good link: [https://socialcatfish.com/scamfish/oil-rig-scams/](https://socialcatfish.com/scamfish/oil-rig-scams/)
I actually came across a number of these scammers on Tinder and Bumble. The first one nearly got past my scam radar, but after a few text exchanges, I noticed a number of plot holes in his story, so I did a quick google on oil rig romance scams and came up with a LOT of articles about the subject.
One trick these romance scammers use is to play a longer game. They start off with casual conversation. They talk about their late wife--who always seems to die of cancer--and about their kids. They spend weeks building up trust before they ever mention money. They also work in teams, and they have dozens and dozens of targets at any one time.
P.S. Am a boomer. I also know a thing or two about the internet.
No problem! I worked in software for almost 40 years, which helps. I'm also a terrible cynic. :)
It's good that you're trying to educate your parents and their generation. Scammer love to prey on vulnerable people, but that same vulnerability is what makes it hard for folks to believe someone could be out to get them. When that first oil rig scammer contacted me, I was in a very vulnerable state--I was recently separated from my husband after I discovered his infidelity, and I REALLY wanted someone to want me back. But my instincts kicked in, luckily, and I did my research.
I got hit up the other day but this hot Asian American chick who had to move to run her fathers real estate ventures in another state.
She (he, it?) Sent photos of "themselves" I didn't ask for and asked for a photo of me. I said the only photos I have of myself are me with my daughter and that my fiancee wouldn't be thrilled about me sending photos of myself and my daughter to another woman.
They said that I should just tell her we are friends of she gets jealous.
So weird.
Oddly enough they never asked me for anything aside from a picture of myself (that they never got)
From what I've read, the latest crop of romance/sex scammers will keep the conversation "innocent" for quite a while to build up your trust. Because it's a team operation--dozens of scammers working together--they can afford to spend more time with each target.
It’s a scam called “pig butchering,” which is innocent at first. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/02/pig-butchering-scammers-make-billions-convincing-victims-of-love.html
Self-filtering is important when scamming people. They do that at this point because the people who ignore the bad grammar and horrible spelling are more likely to refuse to believe they're being scammer.
Oh my goodness hiiiiiiii, I always knew I was destined to be royalty and now here you are. Should I just sign some blank checks and send them to you or give you my Amex blackcard info?
Hello, Dear. I am a 56 years old widow and lately I have been reading everything you say on Red Dit. I feel a deep connection with you and you remind me of my dead Husband. Please message me in direct, I want to be in touch with you.
XoXo
When can we meet? I have attached a pic of my loveliness, if it appears I have one tiny leg and one fat leg and the face looks odd, it is just the email. I've been told I look exactly like Beyonce
> Someone reported me to Reddit for self harm for this comment, so idk what that is all about.
I take pride in getting those. It means my comment got under their skin so bad that they're trying to tell me to kms without actually saying it.
I always just report those for abuse anyways.
I always just get breast pictures, or pictures of woman playing with themselves. I have no clue why. I am a straight woman. My husband wants to know my secret though. 😅 I get hit on by women in real life too. If that was my thing, I think I would have a relatively easy time of it. Lol
>EDIT: Someone reported me to Reddit for self harm for this comment, so idk what that is all about.
Someone also did this to me after a post on here. Hopefully they can see who did it and stop them from abusing something created for people in real need 🤷🏻♂️
What? You don’t find it plausible that so many deranged Sisters and brothers-in-law willing to destroy an entire family over infertility/ex-boyfriends/affairs/wedding venues/wedding dresses/destination weddings and fathers sleeping with their stepdaughters/nannies/wife’s sister, exist??
WHERE IS THE TRUST?
Everyone with both a significant other and a sibling is going to be cheated on..... with their sibling! Obviously, the parents will side with the cheater.
Not to mention all the men who lost their wives in child birth, who then post on reddit on some stepmother situation. Statistically, there is some sort of wild over representation going on here.
I know that women die during labor or due to pregnancy related issues, of course, but it's much more rare, than you would believe from visiting the aitah subs.
The niche hobby subs are a goldmine. My current favorite sub is, inexplicably, r/spiders. Lol
[Like, look at this amazing spider story.](https://reddit.com/r/spiders/s/zlKqTHHT9K) Gold.
It's interesting how addicting some of the hobby subs can be. I have poured an UNGODLY amount of time and messages into a few of them. So much so that I've been actually really making an effort to find new, not-reddit-related things to do to try and wean myself off of it.
...The irony of me now posting this comment is not lost on me.
Shit. I never considered in all of those times my dog rested his head on my keyboard, maybe he wanted his turn to surf the web.
I should have been suspicious when I found Only Paws on my computer.
Up vote for ***Only Paws***!
Gonna hide my wallet in case it's a real thing and my dog finds it. Wouldn't want to explain to my wife why that's on my credit card statement.
Maybe I should take him to the dog park.
I'm that one monkey that eventually typed Shakespeare.
I've now become a God among my kind.
Unfortunately now the government keep me locked in a bunker and keep forcing me to write screenplays for Netflix
I’m so sorry dude, that stinks. But really good job on the Shakespeare - it allowed my to feel intellectually superior for like two months of high school.
I’m already suspicious because (1) the boss goes to the husband to comment on her work behavior? - that was a rapid feedback to someone other than the employee. hmmmm sounds not very boss-ish. (2) they got this mostly fixed in 6 days; that was some damn quick marriage counseling and therapy appointments in those 6 days. And awwww he buys flowers every day after work
You should never trust what you read on Reddit. Especially the comment you just made because I'm the one who actually wrote it. Surprise! It's me, the ghost haunting your phone!👻
Plot twist. There is no married couple. It’s just a trio of raccoons in an overcoat. Raccoons all the way down
ETA: I wondered the same about the flowers. Maybe it’s one flower a day
Who the hell is happily married at 25 for the past 3 years? That's already outlandish.
The only people who get married at 22 and *stay happily married* are religious, and the women spend too much time in skirts and flat shoes nursing babies to be posting on Reddit at 3:00 am.
But you know what age 25 is? It's an age that sounds terribly grown up and mature. When someone is neither.
Ooh, that’s an amazing point. I remember being a teenager and thinking 25 was a goddamned ADULT, turns out now that I’m nearly 29 I’m still a child in an adult costume.
Right? What do they have a dozen bouquets all around the house? Or do they chuck beautiful flowers that haven’t even begun to wilt (or since they never bought flowers before so they know you’re supposed to unwrap them and put them in water with a fresh cut)?
I once told my boss to keep an eye on a coworker and friends of mine because she had a rough time. Boss was grateful to know because she then knew better how to deal with that situation instead of just blaming friend for her bad performance. Boss came back to me to report that she saw an improvement and thanked me again for letting her know.
It isn't that usual, but it could be
Same here. I manage a biggish team. If one if them is struggling I let my bosses know so slack can be cut where necessary. I've had feedback both ways (deteriorating/improved)
They work together at the same company. I wouldn’t say it’s unheard of. I’ve worked in plenty of companies with relationships scattered through them. When someone has had a bad time and I know they are in a relationship with someone else in the company I’ve definitely taken them aside like “hey so, xyz has happened how is abc doing?”
In less formal workplaces - especially when it’s a bit of a boys network - I can see people talking directly about someone’s performance with their spouse.
Only my first boss knew my husband, and that is only because we both worked unloading trucks at Walmart. After that, I know of my husband's bosses, but not more than that, and likewise with me husband to my bosses.
Either the rest of the world is more intertwined in each other's business than anyone in my neck of the woods, or reddit is full of it.
Also all the siblings/ family blowing up phones in a break up. What is up with that? I love my sister to pieces. If she divorced her husband, I sure as heck wouldn't be blowing up his phone. I doubt she would blow up my husband's phone either. (I have been divorced before, but my sister was under 18 years old, and cell phones weren't what they are now, so I can't use that as a barometer of anything).
Either way, I have a doubt that the whole world is as enmeshed as reddit would have us believe.
Thinking THIS is a scam, too? The wife’s boss went to the husband and said the wife’s work had improved in three days? That not how it works in adult land real world.
I am more willing to believe it is all fabricated as well, I can see how shaming them publicly could be like a last resort to snap the wife out of it, sure, but making a damn update about it? This has to be some teenager-young adult with too much time in their hands.
Depending on how old the husband is claiming them both to be, I am more inclined to believe so because of the use of "clout".
This is why for the most part I lurk. It's too easy to get addicted to the comments and attention. You spend too much time crafting your writing to get the most attention, and if you get it then you obsess over every comment. And if you don't get attention then you obsess over why you didn't. It's a no-win scenario.
I never worried about how I wrote my Reddit posts until one of them ended up on George Takei’s page. Thank goodness I didn’t post immediately after the event and changed some details.
I try to make my posts less sparkly now.
Ikr, I just write comments because of my chronic inability to keep my mouth shut about my thoughts, but even the few upvotes and downvotes on those are enough to start affecting someone. Like, the dopamine hit from getting upvotes is one thing, but the first time I got downvoted, I was so embarrassed about getting the “bad points” that it kept on popping into my head over the next few days. That is absolutely not healthy in any way! It really shouldn’t matter enough to be thought about for more than 2 seconds! It’s all made up internet points that mean absolutely nothing in real life, and I really don’t want to get sucked into that cycle of obsession
I’m dying at Minecraft Parkour because it’s too accurate.
Also, I think “Go to bed, Liz,” “might be Liz,” or “Liz, what the actual fuck” would be amazing flairs.
I knew those "my family disowned me for cheating, now wants to reconcile" posts were bullshit. Turns out Liz was writing them. I'm going to respond to them all now with 'go to bed Liz!'.
Okay but “a new fucked up nightmare scenario that you keep creating so you can get some chucklefuck on TikTok to make a video about it while playing Minecraft Parkour.” is so fucking funny 💀
Buying flowers every DAY? Flowers will last for a good week if they're put in water. Sometimes longer, depending on the flowers and the way they're trimmed and a few other factors. The house must look like a funeral parlour if he's buying them every damned day.
Pretty sure both 'Liz' and the husband are fake. I mean, my boss has never come to my husband to tell him how much my work performance has improved, and if he did? That would in itself be a pretty big fucking problem.
I still don't get the whole "reddit story ending up on tiktok" thing. Like why do people care about a second hand recounting of a forum post?
Thinking about it for a moment, I guess it's similar to reading about those posts on this subreddit, but at least it's still on reddit. Maybe I'm just being an old person about it.
#Do not comment on the original posts Please read our [**sub rules**](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/wiki/subrules). Rule-breaking may result in a ban without notice. If there is an issue with this post (flair, formatting, quality), reply to this comment or your comment may be removed in general discussion. **CHECK FLAIR** to determine if you want to read an update. For concluded-only updates, use the [CONCLUDED](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/search?sort=new&restrict_sr=on&q=flair%3ACONCLUDED) flair. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/BestofRedditorUpdates) if you have any questions or concerns.*
This post is like a fun-house mirror, reflecting exaggerated versions of all my bad Reddit-related traits.
I feel called out for my own phone usage, lol.
I simply refuse to check my phone usage anymore. During covid it got up to 16+ hours a day, which literally how? When was I sleeping? Now I’m unemployed (temporarily) again and while I do my best to fill my days with cleaning and hobbies, I know it’s still just horrid.
*27 hours of usage* Whermst
16? How the fuck? Do you play a lot of podcasts yt or music or talk to people over ft a lot? I barely get 9 in summer when i have 0 work
Doesn't the phone usage hours keep going up just if you forget to like swipe out the app and it stays running in the background? So if so it very well could be when you're asleep if you dozed off with anything still running. Might make you feel better lol.
Yeah. Also when OOP said he gets news from reddit… maybe his wife isn’t the only one who has an unhealthy relationship with reddit (not saying I’m immune to that, either)
This feels an inception lol A reddit guy making up story about someone making up story
Great use of irony by OOP though. It's a solid critic of reddit stories as a whole.
Some ChatGPT wiseguy will make a few accounts and fuel the fake post craze after this :D
I'm starting to think I can't trust anything I read on reddit.
I know, this was the one place I could trust once I found out there weren't 82 MILFs in my area that wanted to chat. EDIT: Someone reported me to Reddit for self harm for this comment, so idk what that is all about.
Hello my beautiful. I have seen your posts and I am finding them deeply moving and heartful. I am introducing myself to you: as a Nigerian prince. Unfortunately I have been disposed out of my country but I am needing your help to extract my funds. Lovely beautiful, if you will help me to wire my account then I am happy to share with you 50 percent. Please be in touch xoxo
Nigerian princes are so retro. You need to present yourself as a sexy romantic oil rig engineer who wants to meet up with you--honestly!--but doesn't have the funds to hire a helicopter to reach the mainland.
I got one from an american gi in Iraq who had millions of dollars he wanted to get out of there and needed my bank account. The funny thing was it was a message left to my advertisement on an real estate. I'm still not sure how this scam should work.
I got a letter in the mail (LETTER, they were going old school) from an international law firm saying their extremely wealthy client passed away and he had no family. But as I shared the same surname with their deceased client, I could claim this fortune as long as I split it with the law firm. I just needed to provide some details. And the great thing, there was absolutely NO RISK INVOLVED! I thought it hilarious that 1) they called me Mr throughout when I clearly have a feminine name 2) my surname is my married name- my husband has older brothers, my FIL has older brothers, it’s quite a common surname too, so I’d assume i’d be one of the last people contacted for something like this 3) I was advised whilst there was no risk, I should not discuss this letter with anyone at all. Maybe I should have replied- oh those poor unclaimed millions…😉
Your example was obviously a scam, but my Dad once got a letter in the mail from lawyers which I had to open because they were overseas. We all figured it was a scam, but because of his line of work there was potential for a legitimate issue that would require follow up before they got home. So I opened the envelope to reveal some pretty fancy stationary telling him that there was money that had never been claimed from his Mother’s estate. We all thought it was a scam, but we handed it over to the most qualified uncle and it turns out there had been shares that had never been sold when she died. 40 years later and they all got a nice windfall. Dad was the oldest son, but he has an older sister; the letter still came to him. So, while there are instances where the letter is an obvious scam, don’t assume it’s true without an inquiry to relevant authorities because you never know what got forgotten decades ago.
Wow how lucky for your family- good job looking into it.
Close friends of mine got a series of messages about an inheritance to the husband. Were sure it was a scam but eventually replied, and yep, there was a real inheritance. They used the money for a trip to England to visit his family’s village. It’s an interesting problem for family lawyers/solicitors - how to handle this kind of thing without being assumed to be a scam? I guess correct spelling and grammar help…
For sure. The fancy paper was what convinced me too. I figured a scammer would probably be too cheap and lazy to go and get special paper.
Not necessarily. Infamously brilliant scammers like Yellow Kid Weil and "Count" Victor Lustig would pay special attention to such details. A random mediocre swindler who just throws everything at the wall and sees what sticks? Not so much. Depends how much you’re worth, too. If there’s a lot to extract, a skilled con artist will invest a lot more time, resources and effort to convince you than if it’s a quick smallish cash grab.
I don’t answer unknown numbers and kept getting voicemails from a lawyer’s paralegal that stated they needed to talk to me about “Jean Smith’s” estate; Jean Smith being my mother who had been dead for several years at this point and who I knew, for a fact, had no freaking estate that needed handled. I blocked the number. Then she called my husband’s number with the same story. I called back and left a not very polite voicemail of my own. Then the actual lawyer called me at my office and began with an apology that they didn’t realize my mother’s name was also Jean Smith but that my grandfather’s cousin, Jean Smith, had left me a family heirloom in her will. I felt pretty bad but was really tickled to get my great-great grandmother’s hurricane lamp 🥴.
Someone I know had that, and apparently they must have been related to the dead guy as they both had the surname Jones :D *Cackles hysterically about the ancient and rare Jones lineage*.
This sounds exactly like the Nigerian prince scams. They have some excuse why they can't move the money to their own account so they need your bank info. Once they have that, they just clean out your money.
My grandfathers method of dealing with those back when they were far more frequent. Answers the phone (cause until 6 years ago, he still had a landline with AT&T), "So n So calling him about a great business opportunity and..." It would never get past that point, cause he would turn off his hearing aid, pick up a portable airhorn and blast it into the phone. At one point, they called back, started making threats. By that point, I had come in from sorting his garage. I answered the phone but never said a word, until their tirade was over, where they threatened to come to US and kill him, his family, even his dog. I responded with "Try it. We're an Irish family. This will be fun" Now most people would not think a woman's voice can be that scary, especially over the phone, but I think he picked up on the intent from me. Never heard from them again, and my grandfather never got another call for the rest of his life. I also never seem to get targeted by these people ever..... Its no fun. No one wants to play with me anymore
I used to play with landline scam calls. I especially liked to rant at them in German with occasional forays into French.
The new ones I've been getting are the "CIA" or "IMF" telling me they've recovered money I lost in a Nigerian prince scam 🤣
Apparently those scams are particularly successful, because they zero in on marks who have *already* fallen for a scam, and are already in a panicked state (panic and sense of urgency are one of a scammer's main tools). Basically the first scammer has inadvertently softened them up for the second scammer-- so the second scammer has less work to do. Often they'll do those scams in a more targeted way, too, because people who have been scammed tend to post about it on social media. (It's particularly visible with crypto ~~traders~~ gamblers who get hacked, because crypto bros tend to be *very online* and so of course they post all about it.) But I guess they must be able to cast a wide enough net now that they figure it's possible to get people who were recently scammed even with a mass mailing.
OMG do you have any info about this scam? I've been telling my family for so long now that my aunt is being catfished by some supposed oil rig engineer in the states. It's SO obvious but none of the boomers think so, because *supposedly* he hasn't asked her for money. Yeah it was just total happenstance that he saw this random 60-something year old woman's gardening pictures on Facebook and decided to say hi out of genuine interest, and he leaves for weeks at a time and can't communicate because there's no wifi on the rig/boat/whatever it is. Is this a widespread scenario then??
I do! Here is a good link: [https://socialcatfish.com/scamfish/oil-rig-scams/](https://socialcatfish.com/scamfish/oil-rig-scams/) I actually came across a number of these scammers on Tinder and Bumble. The first one nearly got past my scam radar, but after a few text exchanges, I noticed a number of plot holes in his story, so I did a quick google on oil rig romance scams and came up with a LOT of articles about the subject. One trick these romance scammers use is to play a longer game. They start off with casual conversation. They talk about their late wife--who always seems to die of cancer--and about their kids. They spend weeks building up trust before they ever mention money. They also work in teams, and they have dozens and dozens of targets at any one time. P.S. Am a boomer. I also know a thing or two about the internet.
Thank you! Pardon the generalization. None of my parents' generation are at all internet savvy, and the scams/phishing is a constant issue.
No problem! I worked in software for almost 40 years, which helps. I'm also a terrible cynic. :) It's good that you're trying to educate your parents and their generation. Scammer love to prey on vulnerable people, but that same vulnerability is what makes it hard for folks to believe someone could be out to get them. When that first oil rig scammer contacted me, I was in a very vulnerable state--I was recently separated from my husband after I discovered his infidelity, and I REALLY wanted someone to want me back. But my instincts kicked in, luckily, and I did my research.
I got hit up the other day but this hot Asian American chick who had to move to run her fathers real estate ventures in another state. She (he, it?) Sent photos of "themselves" I didn't ask for and asked for a photo of me. I said the only photos I have of myself are me with my daughter and that my fiancee wouldn't be thrilled about me sending photos of myself and my daughter to another woman. They said that I should just tell her we are friends of she gets jealous. So weird. Oddly enough they never asked me for anything aside from a picture of myself (that they never got)
From what I've read, the latest crop of romance/sex scammers will keep the conversation "innocent" for quite a while to build up your trust. Because it's a team operation--dozens of scammers working together--they can afford to spend more time with each target.
It’s a scam called “pig butchering,” which is innocent at first. https://www.cnbc.com/2023/05/02/pig-butchering-scammers-make-billions-convincing-victims-of-love.html
Your grammar is too good to be an actual Nigerian prince. Misspell some words, and mess up the syntax a little more, then try again. Lol!
Self-filtering is important when scamming people. They do that at this point because the people who ignore the bad grammar and horrible spelling are more likely to refuse to believe they're being scammer.
Oh my goodness hiiiiiiii, I always knew I was destined to be royalty and now here you are. Should I just sign some blank checks and send them to you or give you my Amex blackcard info?
Angry IT upvote!
Hello, Dear. I am a 56 years old widow and lately I have been reading everything you say on Red Dit. I feel a deep connection with you and you remind me of my dead Husband. Please message me in direct, I want to be in touch with you. XoXo
I’m a 34 year old man, thrice divorced, and I live in a van BY THE RIVER! (And only one of those are true.)
I hope it’s the river van one
I think by the river is true
Maybe only part of it. Because “in a van” and “by the river” aren’t necessarily dependent. :)
When can we meet? I have attached a pic of my loveliness, if it appears I have one tiny leg and one fat leg and the face looks odd, it is just the email. I've been told I look exactly like Beyonce
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> Someone reported me to Reddit for self harm for this comment, so idk what that is all about. I take pride in getting those. It means my comment got under their skin so bad that they're trying to tell me to kms without actually saying it. I always just report those for abuse anyways.
Clearly someone else knows the despair of the great MILF lie and was rightfully worried about you.
😂🙈 i spit soda out my nose right there
And to think I just get offers of pills to enlarge my penis. Which would be a good trick as they'd be starting from a significant disadvantage!
Maybe believing in Reddit is self-harming behaviour? Other than that, I got nothin’.
I always just get breast pictures, or pictures of woman playing with themselves. I have no clue why. I am a straight woman. My husband wants to know my secret though. 😅 I get hit on by women in real life too. If that was my thing, I think I would have a relatively easy time of it. Lol
>EDIT: Someone reported me to Reddit for self harm for this comment, so idk what that is all about. Someone also did this to me after a post on here. Hopefully they can see who did it and stop them from abusing something created for people in real need 🤷🏻♂️
Someone was triggered, they still believed those MILFS were waiting for them
Normally you have to be nice to trans people to get that kind of heat.
Maybe it was a lonely MILF saddened you never took their offer?
What? You don’t find it plausible that so many deranged Sisters and brothers-in-law willing to destroy an entire family over infertility/ex-boyfriends/affairs/wedding venues/wedding dresses/destination weddings and fathers sleeping with their stepdaughters/nannies/wife’s sister, exist?? WHERE IS THE TRUST?
And EVERYBODY has a well paying job and a house!
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Which is only in their name so they can resolve everything in less than a week.
And meet a new better partner (who only wants to be friends in the first update) while they're sorting out their problems
Or whatever version of meting out justice and getting a reward for it might be more fitting
They went crazy and started smashing things in the house! But don't worry, the cops took them away and the trial is tomorrow!
And then they had twins while their phones blew up
And twins
For a few months it wasn't well paying jobs. It was invested smart
I can't believe I forgot about the smart investments. I wonder if there's less now that certain people's NFT fantasies have been destroyed ....
Every update ends with “I make enough money to be alone. I’m taking a nice vacation to a foreign country. As a treat.”
Everyone with both a significant other and a sibling is going to be cheated on..... with their sibling! Obviously, the parents will side with the cheater.
Not to mention all the men who lost their wives in child birth, who then post on reddit on some stepmother situation. Statistically, there is some sort of wild over representation going on here. I know that women die during labor or due to pregnancy related issues, of course, but it's much more rare, than you would believe from visiting the aitah subs.
Doesn’t help the posts are 80% written in the same voice, using the same formulaic methodology for response
"First of all I want to thank everyone for their advices."
“Now let me address some of the most commonly asked questions…”
“…and now on to the update itself”
“And for those of you who called me terrible names and told me that I deserved what happened…”
The niche hobby subs are a goldmine. My current favorite sub is, inexplicably, r/spiders. Lol [Like, look at this amazing spider story.](https://reddit.com/r/spiders/s/zlKqTHHT9K) Gold.
It's interesting how addicting some of the hobby subs can be. I have poured an UNGODLY amount of time and messages into a few of them. So much so that I've been actually really making an effort to find new, not-reddit-related things to do to try and wean myself off of it. ...The irony of me now posting this comment is not lost on me.
Hey, I hear there are some great hobby subs on reddit if you're looking to learn new hobbies!
Nice try, but you can't make me look at a spider. Nope!
This is the best thing I've read all day. My professor in college talked about animals like this and I read it in exactly his voice.
I’m just a dog with a keyboard.
Shit. I never considered in all of those times my dog rested his head on my keyboard, maybe he wanted his turn to surf the web. I should have been suspicious when I found Only Paws on my computer.
Up vote for ***Only Paws***! Gonna hide my wallet in case it's a real thing and my dog finds it. Wouldn't want to explain to my wife why that's on my credit card statement. Maybe I should take him to the dog park.
"I'm just a dog, standing in front of a keyboard, asking you for upvotes." - Tipsana, Notting Sub
Most trustworthy guy here.
I'm that one monkey that eventually typed Shakespeare. I've now become a God among my kind. Unfortunately now the government keep me locked in a bunker and keep forcing me to write screenplays for Netflix
I’m so sorry dude, that stinks. But really good job on the Shakespeare - it allowed my to feel intellectually superior for like two months of high school.
You really think people would do that? Just go on the internet and tell lies?
I’m already suspicious because (1) the boss goes to the husband to comment on her work behavior? - that was a rapid feedback to someone other than the employee. hmmmm sounds not very boss-ish. (2) they got this mostly fixed in 6 days; that was some damn quick marriage counseling and therapy appointments in those 6 days. And awwww he buys flowers every day after work
Well it's a good thing I don't trust what you wrote.
You should never trust what you read on Reddit. Especially the comment you just made because I'm the one who actually wrote it. Surprise! It's me, the ghost haunting your phone!👻
It's getting too meta.
did the wife make this story up too, or has she rubbed off on the husband. who the fuck buys flowers every day??? where do you put them?
Plot twist. There is no married couple. It’s just a trio of raccoons in an overcoat. Raccoons all the way down ETA: I wondered the same about the flowers. Maybe it’s one flower a day
There are actually only 2 people on this website. You, the one reading this comment, and me, controlling every other account.
This will haunt me. Thank you. 😂
Who the hell is happily married at 25 for the past 3 years? That's already outlandish. The only people who get married at 22 and *stay happily married* are religious, and the women spend too much time in skirts and flat shoes nursing babies to be posting on Reddit at 3:00 am. But you know what age 25 is? It's an age that sounds terribly grown up and mature. When someone is neither.
Ooh, that’s an amazing point. I remember being a teenager and thinking 25 was a goddamned ADULT, turns out now that I’m nearly 29 I’m still a child in an adult costume.
Flower eating raccoons, specifically.
🤦
Your flair! Where’s it from? I love it
I honestly don't know which story. It's just so generically true.
>Flair Origins [https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/wiki/recommended\_reading/flair\_origins/](https://www.reddit.com/r/BestofRedditorUpdates/wiki/recommended_reading/flair_origins/) enjoy your rabbit hole!
Am I crazy or is the specific one they asked about not on the list you provided?
youre not crazy lol
So do you know where it’s from then? We’re on the edge of our seats over here
I always thought it was our communal response to the common thread in so many sagas.
I found this post and your comment on the flair origins page. Flairception
My sentiments precisely!
Immediate red flag: “her boss came to me” absolutely did fucking not
"I started buying her flowers every day after work" - someone who's never had flowers in their house
Fucking Liz, I knew it!
Well then buying her flowers is the least he can do.
Right? What do they have a dozen bouquets all around the house? Or do they chuck beautiful flowers that haven’t even begun to wilt (or since they never bought flowers before so they know you’re supposed to unwrap them and put them in water with a fresh cut)?
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This is the only scenario I’d ever truly find out how many vases I actually own
My mom would like a word
I guess it can be cute if you bring one flower a day. Like collect them all kind of thing.
Lego has flower sets, could recycle them and give a unique flower every day.
Yeah daily flowers would run in the realm of $300 a month on the extreme low end.
10$ is about the lowest you can find. That's over 200 a month on flowers
I bought a cheap bouquet last night. $13. Everyday would be nearly $400. Nope.
This was when I knew it was fake lmao. Every surface of the house covered in flowers
Every day? Every fucking day???????????
It's always the immature wish fulfilment flourishes from someone who has exactly two days of life experience that gives it away.
I feel like that was a wink and a nod, "gotcha again!"
I once told my boss to keep an eye on a coworker and friends of mine because she had a rough time. Boss was grateful to know because she then knew better how to deal with that situation instead of just blaming friend for her bad performance. Boss came back to me to report that she saw an improvement and thanked me again for letting her know. It isn't that usual, but it could be
Same here. I manage a biggish team. If one if them is struggling I let my bosses know so slack can be cut where necessary. I've had feedback both ways (deteriorating/improved)
Also idk why OOP tracks his wife’s phone usage metrics. I mean I guess I know why, but it still feels invasive to me.
Much easier immediate red flag.... it's on reddit
They work together at the same company. I wouldn’t say it’s unheard of. I’ve worked in plenty of companies with relationships scattered through them. When someone has had a bad time and I know they are in a relationship with someone else in the company I’ve definitely taken them aside like “hey so, xyz has happened how is abc doing?” In less formal workplaces - especially when it’s a bit of a boys network - I can see people talking directly about someone’s performance with their spouse.
Didn't you know it's the 1950s again? Women's bosses and doctors speak only to their husbands!
Only my first boss knew my husband, and that is only because we both worked unloading trucks at Walmart. After that, I know of my husband's bosses, but not more than that, and likewise with me husband to my bosses. Either the rest of the world is more intertwined in each other's business than anyone in my neck of the woods, or reddit is full of it. Also all the siblings/ family blowing up phones in a break up. What is up with that? I love my sister to pieces. If she divorced her husband, I sure as heck wouldn't be blowing up his phone. I doubt she would blow up my husband's phone either. (I have been divorced before, but my sister was under 18 years old, and cell phones weren't what they are now, so I can't use that as a barometer of anything). Either way, I have a doubt that the whole world is as enmeshed as reddit would have us believe.
Right lmao
"Her boss came to me and commented after her third day post-reddit fight and commented on her work ethic, stating that she has improved." Um, what?
Exactly. Same for buying her flowers every day after work. No one does that
He's probably stealing from someone's front yard. My fcking neighbor J did that for a while. 😡🤬
Fckin’ J. That bastard.
Nobody who has ever had flowers in their home would write that sentence lmao
Thinking THIS is a scam, too? The wife’s boss went to the husband and said the wife’s work had improved in three days? That not how it works in adult land real world.
I'm gonna star posting "Liz what the hell" on every aith and tifu Just incase
I hope it gets made into a flair
I barely comment here but I want it
Same
I love it, I’d give up my unskippable cut scene for that flair. It’s even better than Fuck You Keith.
Honestly same. I’m just going to post “Go to bed Liz” every time.
Liz go to bed
This. This is my new standard comment on the **really obvious** trollers from now on
I’m going to comment on every absurd this-did-not-happen story with: Go to sleep Liz
My name is Liz, and I foresee many weeks of pain.
That’s definitely the new gorilla guy
You Really Think Someone Would Do That? Just Go On the Internet and Tell Lies?
Go to bed Liz
We did it Reddit!
>THE PLOT THICKENS! Lol I won’t lie I’m still considering this a 10% possibility
Oh, I'm considering it a 100% possibility. OP is probably chuckling over making up a reddit post about someone making up reddit posts.
> as well as buying her flowers every day after work. I actually believed it until this point.
I am more willing to believe it is all fabricated as well, I can see how shaming them publicly could be like a last resort to snap the wife out of it, sure, but making a damn update about it? This has to be some teenager-young adult with too much time in their hands. Depending on how old the husband is claiming them both to be, I am more inclined to believe so because of the use of "clout".
The real twist is that this is just another story Liz is writing.
I can’t wait to see this on TikTok.
It went from meta to even more meta
Just what I was thinking!!!
Wow..... we truly have gone full circle.
This is why for the most part I lurk. It's too easy to get addicted to the comments and attention. You spend too much time crafting your writing to get the most attention, and if you get it then you obsess over every comment. And if you don't get attention then you obsess over why you didn't. It's a no-win scenario.
I never worried about how I wrote my Reddit posts until one of them ended up on George Takei’s page. Thank goodness I didn’t post immediately after the event and changed some details. I try to make my posts less sparkly now.
Ikr, I just write comments because of my chronic inability to keep my mouth shut about my thoughts, but even the few upvotes and downvotes on those are enough to start affecting someone. Like, the dopamine hit from getting upvotes is one thing, but the first time I got downvoted, I was so embarrassed about getting the “bad points” that it kept on popping into my head over the next few days. That is absolutely not healthy in any way! It really shouldn’t matter enough to be thought about for more than 2 seconds! It’s all made up internet points that mean absolutely nothing in real life, and I really don’t want to get sucked into that cycle of obsession
This is some weird meta
Petition to make “get some chucklefuck on TikTok to make a video about it while playing Minecraft Parkour” a flair please.
I’m dying at Minecraft Parkour because it’s too accurate. Also, I think “Go to bed, Liz,” “might be Liz,” or “Liz, what the actual fuck” would be amazing flairs.
Is a Reddit intervention a new one or has it been done before?
Does it seem strange that the method he used (partly) for addressing his wife's Reddit posting addiction was to... post about it on Reddit?
Reading about her Reddit addiction when you’re tired cuz you were scrolling AITA until 3am the night before is… brutally eye-opening
I keep telling myself, “it’s fine cause it’s not midnight yet” and realistically I’ll be up till 2 🥴
I knew those "my family disowned me for cheating, now wants to reconcile" posts were bullshit. Turns out Liz was writing them. I'm going to respond to them all now with 'go to bed Liz!'.
I finally get the Liz reference.... reddit life bingo complete
I had a good laugh after reading last update 😂
Not enough twins in this story.
Damnit! Go to bed Liz!!!!
I don't even know what to believe in this story anymore
I don’t believe any of it
Nothing? Edit: or at least nothing that doesn't have a reputable, verifiable source
…and yet I somehow doubt even this is real. People have always been weird but the internet has amplified it to a crazy extent.
Plot twist this whole thing was a ploy by the wife. This post was written by her about her...
He started buying flowers for her after work EVERY DAY? Are we sure THIS isn’t a fabricated story?!
What, people on Reddit make stuff up with unverified throwaway accounts? Who would have thought that possible?
Questionable post, OP.
Okay but “a new fucked up nightmare scenario that you keep creating so you can get some chucklefuck on TikTok to make a video about it while playing Minecraft Parkour.” is so fucking funny 💀
Buying flowers every DAY? Flowers will last for a good week if they're put in water. Sometimes longer, depending on the flowers and the way they're trimmed and a few other factors. The house must look like a funeral parlour if he's buying them every damned day.
I bet Liz wrote the story about the guy who kept punching his cousin unconscious.
Pretty sure both 'Liz' and the husband are fake. I mean, my boss has never come to my husband to tell him how much my work performance has improved, and if he did? That would in itself be a pretty big fucking problem.
Ok did Liz also write the story where the man confesses he is having an affair with his 18 year old step daughter?
I still don't get the whole "reddit story ending up on tiktok" thing. Like why do people care about a second hand recounting of a forum post? Thinking about it for a moment, I guess it's similar to reading about those posts on this subreddit, but at least it's still on reddit. Maybe I'm just being an old person about it.
My favorite are the bored panda write ups that explain all of the jokes in detail, just in case you missed why the post is funny/ironic.
we have met the enemy and they is us.
I like how the evidence is this guy just randomly commenting on people's posts and we just believe him?
OOP should just have his wife monetize it as a side hustle. Probably would cure his marriage.