My recently widowed father (72) is planning a trip across the country to meet a woman who he claims called him by accident and with whom he has since built a romantic (remote) relationship. Here’s what he’s shared with me:
- He received a “wrong number” call from a woman that led to a number of other conversations online and on the phone that started to take on a romantic tone.
- He believes she is real because he has checked her out online, including validating that she is indeed the CEO of her company, is 40 years old, and is originally from Taiwan. Haven’t seen this myself.
- She says she runs this company with her brother in Canada and her father back in Taiwan. The details of the company were not clear to me.
- They have exchanged photos but not video because her webcam is not working.
- He is planning a trip to Los Angeles (from the East Coast of US) in a few months to meet her in person. She said her driver will pick him up at the airport.
- No money has been asked for or sent, according to him.
This is obviously a scam, right? But, without there being an ask for money I can’t figure out the angle and haven’t been able to convince him to disengage.
It is either going to be an ask for money to help her overseas family or a “can’t lose” investment in her company. I’m guessing she’ll back out of the travel plans last minute so they never meet OR he’s going go there and have his organs harvested.
Does anyone recognize this scam? What should we expect next? Has anyone else successfully talked their elderly loved ones out of one of these?
Others mentioned it, but this is a clear pig butcher attempt. I get them through text about twice a year. As soon as I politely ask them if they’re trying to perform a pig butcher or ir they know what one is, they usually shut up.
Your father will lose everything if you can’t convince him of this.
This is definitely a scam, though I’m also confused by your dad traveling, usually that’s other way around (and that’s where “cimolications” happen where money is “needed”).
Try to tell your dad what you expect coming - there will be complications and she will ask for money. Likely only a little at first, but the number will be rising.
Also, since they are impersonating (or acting like) a public figure, try searchig for the name online. Your dad is likely not the first (or last) that fell for this particular scam. Other people might be sharing stories with this person. There might be messages shared that people exchanged with the scammer - these will likely match those sent to your dad (the scammers usually have multiple people going at the same time). Use that - if your dad reads on the internet the exact message he got from his love interest, that hopefuly will ring some alarm bells. Though in the age of AI this might not be the case anymore, it’s worth a shot.
Talk with your dad, ask how things are going and try to be vigilant for money being asked for. Try to poke holes in the stories but be gentle so your dad doesn’t shut you out - he will likely not be that willing to listen. One way or another he will get hurt - you can just minimize the financial damage - or limit it to emotional only.
Good luck.
“her driver” will be a white van
No organs will be harvested: he’s too old for that. But it doesn’t mean he won’t be butchered: he will be butchered like a pig
The meeting will be called off last minute and it will either be a shady investment or ill father in South Asia.
It is utterly important for you to stay with him and plan this through, as it seems like he already trusts the scammer more than you. You are losing him.
Being the CEO of a company and not having a working webcam seems like a dead straight no-brainer giveaway that this is a scam. I mean, you know… a CEO who can’t do video Zoom meetings? Come on.
So he’s flying to LA to be taken who knows where alone in a car with her driver? Dude NO, absolutely NOT. Please talk your dad out of this, srsly.
Just in case he needs some more red flags
A lot of people mentioned the broken webcam as evidence of the scam. I would add that modern AI tools can deepfake a video stream, apparently this already happens in other tech scams where the scammers immitate real people that have a LinkedIn account and existing online presence.
And because her web cam doesn’t work, she might have use Linux.
Just as NostradamusJamiroquai predicted
@[email protected] what about check out the registration of that company at Taiwan with official site? https://gcis.nat.gov.tw/mainNew/
The company is real. The person the dad is talking to isn’t the real CEO. The public presence will all check out. If the dad can validate that publicly, the scammer found the info publicly and is just an imposter.
Some variety of a so-called Pig Butchering Scam.
^^ This. here’s a bit of the show Last Week Tonight going over how the scam works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pLPpl2ISKTg
Oddly enough, I got into a real relationship with a woman who texted me when she had the wrong number. She lived about 180 miles away in the city I grew up in. We were meeting up every week for quite a while.
John Oliver deserves a Congressional Gold Medal in recognition for all of his work. He has made a point of not only reporting on, but actively antagonizing, bad people in positions of power and bad corporations. And he’s managed to be quite funny while doing it. The man is a national treasure.
Appreciate this. Seems right on the money.
Have him watch this!
She’s probably going to say her car/something broke down and she needs money ASAP to meet him.
Also, lol @ CEO of a company that doesn’t have any device with a working camera…This alone is enough honestly.
Every cell phone for the last 10+ years has a front facing camera and internet connection.
Last time I saw that happen, it took all of 30 seconds to walk one office over and appropriate that laptop
What should we expect next?
Likely she will cancel the trip at the last second and claim to have a work or family emergency. Then she will need money.
Or shortly before the trip she will share an investment opportunity and offer him to join her in it. It will turn out to be fake.
Or both.
Hey now. There’s also the “lure someone to a remote location, kidnap him, and beat him up until he transfers you a bunch of money”.
That’s very unlikely. These romance/pig butchering scammers operate from outside the USA and have no interest in attracting the kind of attention such an attack would bring.
Planning the trip is almost certainly to build trust and make the relationship seem real. All with the goal that the target willingly gives the scammer the money. If he goes to Los Angeles after she cancels, there will be no driver to pick him up.
That’s very unlikely.
No, its extremely unlikely.
Among your other points, a wealthy 40 year old CEO looking for romance is going to pick a guy below her age, not one who’s 72.
Pretty sure the only organ they’ll harvest is his wallet but they can cut pretty deep financially, and break his heart.
Know any real women who might make a better match for him?
a wealthy 40 year old CEO looking for romance is going to pick a guy below her age
oh dude i have a surprise for you
people don’t just want to fuck folk younger than them
Okay I’ll include her own age and maaaaybe up to 10 years older. But anyone aiming 30+ years older than themselves probably has a financial motive.
I think this is part of the problem. He doesn’t have a strong social circle and most of what it had been had been her friends, now mostly lost. He’s still pretty healthy but has other life situations keeping him trapped in place. Figuring out how to get him out of the house might be a good next step, once we can break him of this.
but has other life situations keeping him trapped in place.
I recommend to work on this certain problem.
Day trip, vacation, whatever… But he really needs it, as this story has clearly shown.
Man, if I had a nickel for every time I saw this:
Wrong number ✅
Beautiful Asian woman living in LA ✅
Owns her own business, jewelry/fashion design/finance ✅
Mysteriously keeps the conversation going even when told it’s a wrong number ✅Tries a romance angle to suck you in to a crypto “investment” in 3-2-1…
Typically run out of boiler room call centers in Myanmar using, essentially, slave labor:
He did mention specifically she was “oriental” as if it was some kind of check in the “not a scam” column.
Not sure the link there… Is it a known thing that old men have a weak spot for women of Asian heritage?
It helps explain why their English isn’t great. The guy behind the profile is likely in Southeast Asia, so it explains when he slips up with some phrase from that region.
I don’t know about “weak spot” but there is a certain fetishization of Asian women they may be leaning in to.
sounds like https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_butchering_scam it’s in early phase so far
One of my uncle is currently involved in scams like this one with multiple women at the same time. They all love him, they all want his money. Last time I checked, he lost most of his money and almost became homeless.
I hope you can do anything to your father because he will lose a lot.
One of my uncle is currently involved in scams like this one with multiple women at the same time. They all love him, they all want his money.
that’s awesome, that he’s stringing them along and wasting their time
Last time I checked, he lost most of his money and almost became homeless.
oh… :/
