Online Romance Scammer

I posted my beautiful photos online.

Someone commented below, accusing me of being a scammer.

I thought it was a joke to get my attention, but when I came back, my Facebook was flooded with messages.

Hundreds of people tagged me and sent private messages demanding I return their money.

I was completely bewildered. When I opened the comments section, I found that the comment accusing me of being a scammer had hundreds of replies.

Someone had explained the situation and received a lot of likes:

"This poor guy and girl got tricked in an online romance scam and were swindled out of $8500."

"How can someone be so handsome yet so naive? Handsome idiot, you're so cute, I feel sorry for you. Bad woman, hurry up and return the money!"

"Online dating scammer, may your whole family suffer! You even scammed the handsome guy's money, hurry up and return it!"

"I checked out the handsome guy's profile. He likes the type of woman the blogger is, no wonder he got scammed so badly. Let this be a lesson, remember that the prettier the woman, the more likely she is to scam you. @Blogger, stop pretending to be dead and return the money!"

I posted some beautiful photos of myself on a website, and before long, the comment section was flooded with accusations, all demanding that I return the money and subjecting me to online abuse.

I was stunned.

I clicked on the profile of the person who claimed to have been scammed.

His latest post was a video of himself, tearfully saying that he really liked his online girlfriend's type, but he got scammed and felt very sad.

The guy was indeed very handsome, with a bit of a "boy-next-door" look.

Even I had to admit he was my type at first glance.

No wonder passersby felt sorry for him and rallied to his defense.

But he caused me to be insulted and abused online!

I held back my anger and looked through the screenshots he posted of his conversation with the scammer.

The girl had said she wanted to buy a game skin, and the handsome idiot agreed, transferring $8500 to her.

When he tried to message her again, he found that she had blocked him.

There were no photos, and the profile picture wasn't mine.

Just based on his words, he claimed I had scammed him.

I let out a frustrated laugh and immediately posted a screenshot of my bank account showing a seven-figure balance:

"Sorry, I don't need to waste my time scamming for such a small amount of money. Besides, I'm single, and my social media profile picture is not this one. Your naive guy must have been scammed by someone else pretending to be me."

Apparently, my seven-figure balance was very convincing, and the people who had been defending him were stunned and started to change their tune:

"With that kind of balance, a wealthy woman indeed doesn't need to scam anyone."

"A seven-figure bank balance and she's so good-looking. Forget the handsome idiot, wealthy woman, if you're single, how about considering me!"

After clearing my name, my roommate called me to eat, so I logged off the social media platform.

When I logged back in before bed, I found that the naive guy had messaged me.

"Sorry for causing you trouble. But I still want to ask, is this really not your social media account? She sent me a lot of photos, I checked, they weren't stock photos, otherwise, I wouldn't have been so easily fooled."

I chuckled softly and sent him a screenshot of my real social media profile picture: "This is my actual profile picture. See if it matches. As for the photos you mentioned, I don't know which ones they are. Can you send them to me?"

Within a minute, he sent a few pictures over.

These photos included some that I had only posted in my Moments, not on any other platforms.

Some were taken by someone else.

Without exception, they were all very personal, everyday photos.

Originally, I was a bit nonchalant, thinking he was just using stock photos to scam people. But now, I sat up straight in bed.

Oh my God, who was this person, using my real-life photos to scam people online?

The naive guy might not even be the only one who got scammed!

This was about my reputation and image, and I couldn't sleep anymore. I thoughtfully composed a message:

"These photos you have are quite private, usually only posted in my Moments, not on other platforms. As for those taken by someone else, I have no idea when they were taken. I don't know if you're the only one who got scammed, but this behavior is clearly affecting my reputation. Can you help me find out who she is? As a reward, I can help you get back that $8500."

The naive guy's side showed he was typing, but no message came through for a long time.

I didn't mind, patiently waiting.

Then I saw his reply: "I don't want the money, just give me your social media."

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.

At that moment, the door to the dormitory swung open.

Evelyn casually tossed her bag onto her desk.

A roommate sitting nearby noticed and exclaimed, "Evelyn, is that a new bag? It must have cost a fortune! You really splurged!"

Eight thousand?

I was extremely sensitive to that number now and couldn't help but glance at Evelyn.

Sensing my gaze, Evelyn curled her lips in a smug smile.

Leah, who had a good relationship with Evelyn, spoke enviously, "Yes, it cost a fortune. But it wasn't Evelyn who bought it herself; it was a gift from one of her admirers. Apparently, he wanted to give her a gift directly, but she wasn't satisfied with any of the options, so he just sent her the money instead. I'm so jealous of Evelyn. She's gorgeous and her admirers are so generous."

"It's not that big of a deal. You all will definitely meet generous admirers too," Evelyn said modestly with a smile. "I just happened to meet one, but I've already made things clear with him. After all, I have a boyfriend now, and I can't string him along."

"What? You're in a relationship?" The roommate looked shocked.

Leah interjected, "Yes, Evelyn started dating today. She's with Oliver now."

With that, she glanced at me with a sidelong look. "If all goes well, Oliver will treat our dorm to dinner this weekend. Lyra, you should come too."

"You can bring your boyfriends as well. Otherwise, I worry Oliver might feel awkward being the only guy," Evelyn added.

If it weren't for the slightly provocative look she gave me, she might have seemed quite generous.

I was stunned by her hostility.

Oliver was the school's heartthrob and Evelyn's secret crush. He had pursued me for a while before I turned him down. Since then, Evelyn, who had always liked to compete with me, became even more antagonistic, often causing trouble for me in the dorm.

Since we were roommates and had to live together for a few more years, I decided to let it go.

Now, her words were clearly aimed at me. First, she was showing off in front of me. Second, I was the only one in the dorm without a boyfriend, so I would be the odd one out if I went alone.

"I'll be busy then, so I won't go," I said. In fact, it wasn't an excuse. I was genuinely busy trying to find the person impersonating me.

However, as soon as I finished speaking, Leah exclaimed, "Really, Lyra? What could you possibly be busy with? Oh, don't tell me you're still hung up on it? Come on, even though Oliver pursued you before, that's ancient history. He's been getting along with Evelyn for quite some time now. You should move on."

"Leah, stop talking nonsense! Lyra isn't that petty," Evelyn said hypocritically. "Lyra, just come. Don't spoil everyone's fun."

The two of them were so insistent that not going would make me seem like the bad guy, so I had no choice but to nod and agree.

Evelyn and Leah exchanged a satisfied glance and then started chatting away as if no one else was there.

They talked about the admirers who showered Evelyn with gifts and how her relationship with Oliver developed...

Leah gushed about Evelyn, her tone full of envy.

Evelyn, while modest with her words, couldn't hide her pride as she glanced at me.

Fortunately, it was almost lights-out, so they didn't boast for too long. Soon, they went to wash up and got into bed.

The dormitory fell silent.

I couldn't sleep.

I was worried about the scammer using my photos to con people and the "awkward dinner" this weekend.

Just then, my phone lit up.

It was a message from the handsome fool. He was ecstatic: "She added me! The female scammer added me!"