Chapter 2

I was at a loss for words.

"You reached out to me because you wanted to get back the $8500 you lost, right?" I asked, puzzled.

"No," he replied quickly. "The $8500 isn't a big deal to me. If she hadn't blocked me, I might have continued sending her money. What really hurt was being deceived emotionally. I thought I had found my ideal type, someone who even matched my aesthetic preferences down to the smallest detail. But now I know she's just a despicable scammer, and I've found the real person in the photos. It doesn't hurt as much anymore."

Wow... Even though I usually remained calm, I couldn't help but feel a bit awkward being praised like that. I couldn't help but think to myself: My goodness, what a hopelessly romantic and gullible handsome guy! No wonder he got scammed!

But considering his good looks and my desire to catch the person impersonating me, I pretended not to react and gave him my Facebook contact.

He quickly verified and added me.

"What do you want me to do to help you?" he asked.

I thought for a moment and replied, "Do you still have your chat history with her? Could you organize any relevant information like her phone number, address, and photos and send it to me?"

"Sure," he responded promptly. Half an hour later, he sent everything over.

As I carefully reviewed the messages, I couldn't help but squint my eyes. The scammer was very cautious and didn't provide much useful information, only mentioning that she was a junior in college. However, there were plenty of photos because the naive but good-looking guy had asked for proof that she was the person in the pictures. Many of the photos were taken after I entered college, showing me participating in department activities and in the background of the girls' dormitory.

This meant that the person impersonating me was likely a girl and someone close to me.

But one thing puzzled me: the naive but good-looking guy was generous with his money and quite good-looking. Why would the scammer delete him so quickly?

I couldn't help but ask.

It took him a while to reply: "I never sent her any photos of myself. When she asked to see my pictures, I told her I was too ugly and didn't deserve her. But I suggested we could video chat if she wanted. After I said that, her attitude towards me turned cold. I sensed it, so when she asked for money to buy some in-game items, I sent it right away. But she still deleted me."

I sighed. "What should I do now to help you?"

Luckily, he didn't seem to need any consolation. I took a moment to think and then said, "Since she only deleted you and you two haven't had a complete fallout, you could try adding her back, pretending you don't know anything, and ask why she deleted you. Then, slowly try to get more information from her. If she asks for more money, I can cover the expenses."

"Sure," he agreed without hesitation. "But if I need to relay our conversations to you, it might be inconvenient sometimes. What if one of us is busy and doesn't see the messages in time?"

Hearing this, I also felt it might be a problem.

"Why don't we swap phone numbers?" he suggested tentatively. "If there's something urgent, we can call each other directly."

Normally, I wouldn't give my phone number to a stranger so easily. But to catch the person impersonating me, I agreed.

The naive but good-looking guy was very cooperative. He sent me a screenshot showing that he had re-added the scammer and was waiting for her to accept.

I was a bit anxious, but after ten minutes, there was still no response. I didn't know if the scammer hadn't seen the request yet or if she was too guilty to add him back.