A Second Helping of Catfish Noodles
Mark Honeychurch - 18 September 2023
In the first part of this story from a couple of weeks ago, I described how I had accidentally made friends with a Chinese scammer on WeChat, the Chinese all-in-one social media app, before I was invited to move our conversation to Telegram, a secure encrypted chat app. In Telegram I was courted by a young Chinese “woman” (the quote marks are because I have a strong suspicion I was being catfished and was actually talking to a man most of the time) who proceeded to tell me about how rich she was, and how she could also make me rich by helping me to invest my money in crypto and precious metals. Her aunt had the inside scoop on when to buy and sell, and so long as we followed her instructions, we were guaranteed to make money. Under the guidance of my new friend, I made a practice transaction of “0.01” with fake money, just before the app crashed and we said good night.
The next day I shared another picture of my amazing noodles with my friend, to which she replied “It looks delicious and you have a great touch, the presentation is more like a work of art, I think you should open a restaurant so people can taste your cooking, looking forward to the day when I can try it too haha”. Oh, flattery will get her a long way - and another mention of us meeting up one day, how titillating.
We had some small chat, with a little confusion along the way, and I was told that there would be a deal coming up - a tip from the analysts, via her auntie, that would make us money; real money for her, and a practice run with fake money for me:
S💕, [16/08/2023 9:56 pm]
Thank you. Good evening. Have you had dinner? How was your day?
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 10:42 pm]
My day was good, thank you. I’ve had dinner, and I’m more relaxing and watching some TV.
S💕, [16/08/2023 10:46 pm]
Was the TV good? What TV show is it. I’ve got a deal going down tonight. Maybe you can follow along and learn and practice.
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 10:52 pm]
That might be good to see. I’m currently watching Oz, it’s a prison drama from the ’90s.
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 10:52 pm]
How do I follow along with your deal?
S💕, [16/08/2023 10:57 pm]
The Wizard of Oz. I remember it as a cartoon.
S💕, [16/08/2023 10:57 pm]
You keep an eye on me and I’ll let you know when there’s a deal to be made with me.
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:00 pm]
No, just Oz. As I said, it’s a prison drama.
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:01 pm]
Okay, so I’ll look out for messages from you.
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:03 pm]
Is this an American movie?
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:03 pm]
You need to get ahead of the game.
Ooh, I need to get “ahead of the game”. Sounds serious. Half an hour later she messaged me that we were good to go:
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:30 pm]
Are you ready to trade?
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:32 pm]
Every message is important and valuable, it’s important to me, and I hope you will also value and cherish every market opportunity!
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:38 pm]
Yep, but this is a demo trade, right?
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:38 pm]
I’ll just log into the system…
…
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:39 pm]
I’m already waiting, demo trading is the same as real trading
I asked how much I should be trading, and was told that 20% of my (fake) money would be a good amount:
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:41 pm]
Do I change my amount to 500?
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:43 pm]
Nope. Your account is funded with 10k usd. read 2. I usually trade with 20% of my total funds, which also reduces and protects against risk and maximizes profits
After a little to and fro discussing the amount I should be typing into the app, I was once again reminded that I should just trust what I’m told to do (Presumably this is one of the aims of the script that’s being followed, to train me to trust when I’m told to do something, because it means I will profit from it):
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:47 pm]
Use 2 if the market is stable and 1 if the market is volatile and risky.
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:47 pm]
So surely I should do 1, or 0.95.
Mark Honeychurch, [16/08/2023 11:48 pm]
Ah, okay. So how do I know the market’s stable?
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:48 pm]
Can you understand that?
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:48 pm]
We just follow the instructions from the analytics team, okay?
Once I had made a purchase, I was asked to send her a screenshot of my transaction:
Okay, so I was now invested - both my original test purchase of 0.01 a couple of nights before, and now this purchase of 2.00 tonight, at the time when the analysts told us to buy (because apparently the price of gold was at a low). We both sat there watching the numbers:
S💕, [16/08/2023 11:59 pm]
What happened to your deal?
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:00 am]
Just watching my amount now. It’s blue, and seems to have gone up somewhat I think.
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:01 am]
Wait for my notice.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:02 am]
Will do.
After a few minutes I was told to sell:
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:03 am]
I’ve made a profit, here’s my profit, now close the order. Now
We had a little confusion over how to actually sell, as the app had a two part process of clicking on the transaction and then clicking an orange button labelled “Market Closed # 1830668 Buy 2 Profit 240.00”, but when it was all done and dusted my app showed I’d made a profit of a few hundred dollars:
My generous friend’s profit, on the other hand, was a whopping $146,000:
So the conceit here is that, with the help and advice of analysts who understand the market, we were able to buy and sell gold at the right time to make a profit. I was told that “Market nodes don’t always occur, so we need to prepare in advance, sometimes even without a single trade for a month. Every node where a market can be traded is the hard work of analysts”. When I asked what a node was, I was told “Nodes = fluctuations in the market”. Forgive me for being skeptical here, but at the same time that I was seeing this fluctuation of the price of gold in this trading app I was being trained to use, I was also monitoring the actual price of gold in a browser tab. It won’t surprise you to hear that no such fluctuation occurred in the market.
After this trade we chatted for a while and I think I asked a few too many questions, which seemed to put my friend on edge, so I tried to slowly back off:
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:16 am]
I’m sorry if I’ve given you the idea that I don’t want to learn. Although I figure all my questions are probably enough to let you know that I’m really keen.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:16 am]
I always like learning new things.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:16 am]
New experiences are so much fun - and I’ve just made my first (virtual) money!!!!
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:17 am]
I can feel your attitude to learn, but I haven’t felt it inside you to actually go and learn. But you’re doing well enough.
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:18 am]
How does it feel to make your first virtual money?
…
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:18 am]
It feels pretty awesome, to be honest!
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:18 am]
I mean, it was pretty easy.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:19 am]
I just had to do what you said. And it was a little worrying for a second when I hadn’t closed the trade properly, and my profit was dropping.
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:19 am]
I usually don’t trade easily myself because I can’t predict the risk and have to leave it to a team of professional analysts
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:19 am]
But it’s a little adrenalin high, that’s for sure.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:19 am]
Thank you!
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:20 am]
It’s that simple. Setting the quantity, choosing the direction, and then closing the order is easy for you too!
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:20 am]
I just have to remember that closing the trade is a two part process.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:21 am]
So, are all your trades very quick? You don’t hold onto assets for very long?
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:21 am]
I mean, that one was over in a couple of minutes.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:21 am]
At least it felt like a couple of minutes.
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:21 am]
You know what? The best thing about every trade is that the more I make, the more I can go out and help more poor kids in need.
Later on in our conversation, she expanded on this, telling me about her philanthropic efforts in Yunnan province in China:
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:09 am]
My assets are all legitimate income and I give 30% of my total profits every year to charity to help the poor children in the mountains of China by building roads and schools for them to study in.
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:23 am]
It’s a place in the mountains, it’s called Fortune Village, but they’re poor
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:26 am]
And there are only a few houses here, surrounded by big mountains
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:27 am]
Helping more children to learn and have a chance to get out of the mountains in the future is what I’ve been doing.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:27 am]
That’s amazing.
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:28 am]
There’s no such thing as impossible in this world, only making the possible possible.
I was sent some pictures of her time in Yunnan helping out the poor villagers:
We talked about travel, and I was regaled with stories of her life: “I’ve been to a lot of places over there in the US. Because I lived in the US for 2 years before. At that time I was studying and furthering my education, and often went to Wall Street to attend financial investment forums, because I knew that only in finance could I realize my wealth freedom quickly”. Presumably as a way to appeal to my greed, the conversation moved onto talking about how I would one day be able to afford to buy my own private jet:
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:32 am]
This way we will also have common hobbies that will give us more common ground between us
…
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:33 am]
Do you have any more hobbies I can learn from you? You seem to have the most awesome life!
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:34 am]
I’m just sharing my experience with you.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:34 am]
Do you know how to fly a plane? ;)
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:37 am]
I don’t know how to fly a plane. I guess I’ll have to learn sometime.
…
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:37 am]
That would make you even more awesome.
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:38 am]
Do you know how to fly an airplane?
…
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:38 am]
No, I don’t know how to fly a plane. It’s tempting to learn though - I don’t think it’s too expensive to learn over here in NZ.
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:40 am]
Maybe you can buy a private jet in NZ and we can fly it together when we go there, it should be a good challenge and adventure and experience 😁
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:43 am]
What do you think of what we just said about buying an airplane?
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:43 am]
I’ve always had this idea, but I can’t fly a plane.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:43 am]
I assumed you were joking - aeroplanes are very expensive, to both buy and run.
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:44 am]
I’m not kidding. I’ve always had this plan. Airplanes and yachts.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 12:44 am]
Wow, you dream big!
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 12:48 am]
I’ve been planning this for a long time, and with the way things are going, I’m sure I’ll be able to do it very soon
We also celebrated our successful trade, and she sent me a picture of her pouring out a glass of wine to commemorate our win:
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:14 am]
Come on, let’s have a toast 🍷🥂
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:14 am]
Celebrating our friendship and the feeling of victory
…
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:15 am]
It’s a bit late for me to be drinking for real!
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:16 am]
Haha I think you should choose to go and rest because it’s late in New Zealand. Time passes without you realizing it.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:16 am]
Yeah, I probably should - it’s after 1am here.
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:16 am]
It’s 23:16 at night here. just perfect for some wine and some beauty sleep!
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:16 am]
But, as you say, it’s easy to lose track of time when talking like this.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:17 am]
It’s so easy to talk with you - we get on so well together.
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:17 am]
Haha Maybe we’re all in a state of euphoria, don’t you think?
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:17 am]
I think so - probably you more than me, as I assume you made some real money with tonight’s trade.
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:17 am]
Yes, talking to you relaxes me too, it seems like it’s the same feeling we have
…
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:18 am]
Yeah, it feels like we’ve been friends for ages.
…
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:19 am]
Actually, we’re more like friends who haven’t seen each other for a long time.
Mark Honeychurch, [17/08/2023 1:19 am]
That’s a great way of describing it.
S💕, [17/08/2023 1:19 am]
And I’ll only share with those I’m willing to share, share what I think is good
The next night, while we were chatting, I managed to push for us to have a video call - she had previously offered to video chat, I was interested to see how they would accomplish this. When we connected, there was something odd about the video I was seeing. It seemed to be in realtime, so I was actually connected to someone, but the person’s face seemed odd - like there was some kind of video filter being used. She was also sat in front of the camera in a way that made it look like she was seated at an office desk in a windowless room, rather than relaxing in her auntie’s expensive house in sunny Sydney.
It turns out that her microphone didn’t work as well, which was suspicious, so I hung up. She suggested that we could have a voice only call instead, so I voice-called her number on Telegram. It was answered by the female voice of someone with good English speaking skills. We talked for a few awkward minutes about China and how she planned to return there for a holiday soon for the moon festival, and she invited me to join her in China - which I obviously declined. Then she made her excuses, saying she needed to talk to her parents to arrange her visit, and finished the call.
After the call I admitted I didn’t even know her name:
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:32 am]
I’ve just realised I never asked you what your name is! I’m obviously Mark.
S💕, [18/08/2023 12:36 am]
haha i remember telling my name is lucy. positive lucy.
S💕, [18/08/2023 12:36 am]
That’s good, Mark.
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:36 am]
Silly me, I must have forgotten.
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:36 am]
What’s your real name? Your Chinese name?
S💕, [18/08/2023 12:37 am]
I guess you’re too busy to remember the name Lucy.
S💕, [18/08/2023 12:37 am]
My Chinese is Chen Yue.
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:37 am]
That’s a pretty name.
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:38 am]
I checked our chat history for your name, but I think you must have told me back in WeChat.
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:38 am]
Should have looked there.
S💕, [18/08/2023 12:38 am]
The meaning of the English name Lucy is Intelligent, independent, positive, leadership.
Mark Honeychurch, [18/08/2023 12:38 am]
Ha, sounds like it really suits you.
She then gave me a really boring Chinese name - 马克 (ma ke), basically a transliteration of my English name (I’ve since talked to my Chinese work colleague about this, and thankfully she gave me a proper Chinese name that’s a little more interesting).
Over the next day or two we shared some light conversation and pictures of us being social.
We also chatted more about her investments and talked about the next time I could invest:
Mark Honeychurch, [20/08/2023 11:50 pm]
Hey, how are you? Relaxing day today?
S💕, [20/08/2023 11:51 pm]
Yeah, I’m excited today.
Mark Honeychurch, [20/08/2023 11:51 pm]
Oh, why’s that?
S💕, [20/08/2023 11:52 pm]
Because through the analytical team after many days of hard work, research and analysis, finally got the market some trading information
Mark Honeychurch, [20/08/2023 11:52 pm]
Oh, cool. So you’ll be making another trade soon?
S💕, [20/08/2023 11:53 pm]
Yes, this trade was a good profit for me. This trade was able to make me a good profit and the most rewarding part of every trade for me is that I get to help use the profit to help more poor children 🥰
Mark Honeychurch, [20/08/2023 11:54 pm]
Oh, so you’ve already made the trade?
S💕, [20/08/2023 11:56 pm]
No. Tomorrow or the day after, exact time to be announced, so I need to get ahead of myself
Mark Honeychurch, [20/08/2023 11:59 pm]
Lots of planning needed for this one?
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:01 am]
Planning will have a professional analysis team to do, professional things to professional people to do on the line, it does not need to worry about us!
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:04 am]
I’m not sure what that sentence means, but okay.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:05 am]
Anyway I don’t need to worry about all this planning stuff
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:06 am]
All I have to do is follow the analyst team’s instructions and do what they tell me to do.
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:06 am]
Nice, that makes it easy for you.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:06 am]
Yes
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:07 am]
How much money are you hoping to make this time round?
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:09 am]
Plan according to the number of purchases, if the market is good, you can buy more quantities and also get more profit, the first thing to do is to reduce the risks
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:10 am]
Right, makes sense. So how do you reduce risks? Insurance? Hedging? Arbitrage?
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:10 am]
Allocation of funds and control of purchases
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:11 am]
Okay, so how much you spend each time is the extent of your risk mitigation strategy?
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:11 am]
Seems a little thin on the ground, but I guess you’re the expert!
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:13 am]
20%. There are better markets that will use 30%. That’s the extent of each trade.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:14 am]
I can make 100% money. If I’m not 100% sure, then I don’t trade!
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:18 am]
Right. So, if you don’t mind me asking, how much money will you be betting on this trade?
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:20 am]
I have over 20 million in my account and I think I will trade with 4 million usd. Don’t you usually do some investing yourself?
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:27 am]
No, I’ve never invested before - but I’m keen to try!
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:27 am]
20 million? Wow, that’s a lot!
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:30 am]
You’ve already tried, haven’t you?
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:30 am]
Yes, I put most of my free funds there and use them to make money
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:31 am]
Yeah, we played around with a practice account a few days ago.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:33 am]
I’ll let you know when there’s news, and you’ll try trading again and consider whether it’s right for you, because every opportunity is precious, so we all need to cherish every hard-earned opportunity!
At this point I thought I’d have a bit of fun - I suggested that, as she had $20 million, rather than me risking my own money, I could borrow some of hers and use that instead:
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:40 am]
As you have $20 million, I’d be happy for you to transfer maybe $1 million into my account, temporarily. I can use that to trade, and then pay you back, with interest, once I’ve made a profit.
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:41 am]
Then I can use the rest of my profits to keep trading, until hopefully I manage to reach the heady heights of your current balance.
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:42 am]
I’ll transfer the entire $20 million to you. What do you think of that?
…
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:42 am]
Haha, don’t be silly! I don’t need $20 million.
…
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:42 am]
And, anyway, you’d be stupid to trust me with all of it.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:43 am]
This is the first time I’ve heard this, let me transfer 1 million usd to your account, why don’t I trade it myself?
…
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:44 am]
Well, that’s a good point! Maybe you’re happy to help me, given how philanthropic you are?
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:44 am]
Or maybe I’ve read you wrong.
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:44 am]
Yeah, you’re looking at it wrong.
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:44 am]
Ah, okay. Sorry - I often get things wrong!
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:44 am]
Silly me.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:44 am]
Because you’ve got the brains and the limbs.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:45 am]
You’re not stupid. You’re the one who thinks I’m stupid.
…
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:47 am]
No, I definitely don’t think you’re stupid. You’re pretty, and clever, and rich!
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:47 am]
You’re the whole package.
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:48 am]
Do you have any other questions?
Mark Honeychurch, [21/08/2023 12:49 am]
Nope, I don’t think so.
Well, that went down like a lead balloon. After I tried this on, things were never quite the same again. She quickly accused me of drinking “fake booze”, and this was a running theme for the rest of our time together:
S💕, [21/08/2023 12:53 am]
Are you drinking fake booze?
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 2:42 pm]
I bet you’ve been drinking too much fake booze.
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 2:46 pm]
Yes, when you feel that way, and I feel that way about you, maybe we’ve all had too much fake booze to drink our brains out?
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 3:00 pm]
Don’t you make it sound like you’ve been drinking fake wine when you say that?
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 3:01 pm]
It’s your own doing that makes me think you’re drinking too much fake booze, not me saying you’re drinking too much fake booze.
I won’t bore you all with the weirdness of the conversation that ensued - I had a hard time following it myself at times, and it was obvious I’d pushed a few buttons. Still, she alternated between being angry with me and trying to prepare me for my first real trade - she was still holding out for the possibility that she would somehow be able to convince me to transfer my money into this trading app, where I’m pretty sure I’d never see it again:
S💕, [21/08/2023 3:21 pm]
I’m gonna get some rest, and then in the afternoon I’m gonna get the money ready to capitalize on this deal.
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 11:57 pm]
I am waiting for the next trade notification. Life and living needs some expectations to be more colorful, I think so
…
S💕, [21/08/2023 11:58 pm]
The premise of seizing the opportunity is to be prepared
S💕, [21/08/2023 11:59 pm]
Opportunities come to those who are prepared.
…
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:03 am]
Didn’t you say you want to trade with me?Is your real money account ready?
At this point I figured I’d take it as far as I could without compromising myself in any way. So we talked about how much money I’d add to the app:
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:04 am]
You can contact online customer service.How much money do you have to prepare to start?
…
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:04 am]
What’s a good starting amount?
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:04 am]
And how do I contact customer service?
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:04 am]
Do you need my advice?
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:05 am]
Of course - I have no idea how this works!
…
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:06 am]
If it’s my suggestion. I suggest you start with 5000-10000usd so that you can not only minimize the risk and then maximize the profit!
…
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:07 am]
Customer service can be contacted from the official website of the page, with a red paper airplane icon
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:07 am]
Okay, US$5,000 still seems like a fairly major risk for an unknown platform, but let’s do it.
She then walked me through how to contact customer service through Telegram, which I did (and not that I needed it by this point, but a company having their customer service on Telegram is another huge red flag). Customer service showed me how to perform KYC verification in my account:
The process started off with some simple questions about my Education and income, which I lied about, but then I hit a roadblock when it asked me to upload images of my ID:
Nope, that is not happening! I figured this was probably my way out, so I told the customer service rep “We have no national ID, my passport is expired and discarded, and I don’t have a driver’s license.” They asked “do you have anything else that can prove your identity?”, and I said “Nope, sadly not”. The rep said “Sorry, then i can’t help you” and that was it. No KYC registration (which I’d been calling KFC for fun), no transferring of funds and no private aeroplane for me.
I messaged Lucy, my scammer, and told her the bad news:
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:54 am]
We’ve just hit a dead end, sadly.
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:54 am]
I don’t have any forms of valid ID that the KYC verification process will accept.
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:54 am]
so what should I do now?
…
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:55 am]
I guess I could learn to drive? And then get a license.
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:55 am]
You don’t have any valid ID so what can you do, are you kidding me or are you kidding me internationally
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:55 am]
Or, actually, getting a new passport would be quicker!
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:55 am]
Should only take a month or so.
At this point, my scammer was confident that there was no blood she would be wringing from this particular stone. She started to voice her discontent, but I decided to ignore her negativity and focus on the positives:
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:56 am]
don’t embarrass yourself
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:56 am]
It’s okay, I’m not embarrassed.
S💕, [22/08/2023 12:56 am]
OK
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:59 am]
Anyway, that’s all good - we can reconvene on this in a month.
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 12:59 am]
In the meantime, we have a whole month to see our relationship blossom!
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 1:00 am]
I really enjoy talking with you, and I’m starting to get the idea that the feeling’s mutual ;)
The next day I tried to revive our conversation:
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 11:50 am]
Good morning, sunshine of my life!
S💕, [22/08/2023 11:50 am]
I don’t have as much free time as you do, discussing things that don’t make sense
This was saddening to me. She was suddenly giving me the cold shoulder. I’d just told her about how we had a month to get to know each other, while waiting for my ID to arrive, and now she sounded like she didn’t want to talk to me.
I’d previously asked her about Chinese politics, and had been quickly shut down: “I don’t want to talk to you about anything political, including other people. That’s my rule.” I figured I could double down on this and see if I could get a response. So as a parting hurrah I sent her some photos of Falun Gong leaflets I’d been given, asking if they were true:
She responded with a meme, which apparently translated to something like “No, absolutely not”:
And that was the last I heard from Lucy, my scammer/girlfriend. I tried messaging her a few times over the next couple of days, but she never responded:
Mark Honeychurch, [22/08/2023 11:15 pm]
My darling, where are you? Still working?
Mark Honeychurch, [23/08/2023 12:28 am]
Wow, it must have been a late night for you!
Mark Honeychurch, [23/08/2023 11:24 am]
Good morning, again, my love.
Mark Honeychurch, [23/08/2023 2:21 pm]
I miiiiiisssssssss youuuuuuuu.
Mark Honeychurch, [23/08/2023 2:44 pm]
Loooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooots
This whole adventure was over in less than 2 weeks. I think that over this time I probably wasted about 20 hours of a scammer’s time - time that wasn’t spent scamming someone who may have actually transferred $10,000 to a random bank account or crypto wallet - as the customer service representative said to me, when transferring money “you can choose between a cryptocurrency transfer method and an international transfer to complete your top-up”. In the time since this scam, the customer service Telegram account has been deleted, but Lucy’s account is still going - she’s just not responded to any of my messages.
I suppose the perpetrators of this scam would only be willing to dedicate hours of a person’s time if the numbers were in their favour. Presumably the ratio of failures to successes, and the amount they make from each success, work out at a profit - and I guess this is aided by a relatively low average salary in China (although it seems hard to find an accurate figure for this).
I generally disagree with the sentiment that people who are scammed get what they deserve - I think we need to protect people through both effective regulation and education. There will always be vulnerable people out there, and being vulnerable doesn’t mean they deserve to be conned out of their hard-earned cash.
However, when it comes to scams that prey on people’s greed, where they’re offered a get-rich-quick scheme, it can be hard to be sympathetic. And when a scammer pretends to be romantically interested, it feels like another red flag that people really should be more aware of. I guess maybe a little humility is needed in these situations: No, this good-looking young woman/man (presumably the scam works both ways) is not attracted to a dowdy middle-aged white person living in suburbia. And no, nobody on the internet is out there looking for someone they can help to become a millionaire. Real life just doesn’t work like that.
In my next newsletter, I’ll write about a second scam I ended up involved in at the same time as this one - one that appeared to be another Chinese scam, but this time centred around a work opportunity that would allow me to earn thousands of dollars a month for just a few hours’ work rating mobile apps by pressing a button.