Would you say anything?

Posted by CodAdministrative765@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 45 comments

Would you say anything? Having lunch in some well-received Friday sunshine, a group of students nearby. A huge point of excitement and conversation is that one of the girls has been messaging with someone who was on the most recent series of a well-known BBC reality show/contest. Amazed exclamations amongst them that this guy messaged them totally out of the blue, how brilliant it is that he is so nice and wants to go on a date and shock that he has only got 100-something Insta followers. I am easily twice these people's age, so immediately torn as to whether to point out the absolute blatant scam that is unfolding. Would you interject as a stranger? How would you feel if a (much older opposite sex) stranger did?

Reply to Post

45 Comments

[-]

tmstms@reddit

They are young. If it is a scam, then it's a life lesson they can learn collectively. But celebrity/normal interactions are not unusual. And celebrities exploting their fame to pull is also common. A friend's mum lost her virginity to Adam Ant. A redditor I know well was chatted up by Matthew Upson. Someone I taught married Diana, Princess of Wales' brother, etc. I'm sure if I search my memory I could come up with loads of examples. I would keep stumm.

[-]

Medium_Lab_200@reddit

Lying about being famous is pretty common too. Did she lose her virginity to Adam Ant or a bloke who looked a bit like Adam Ant after half a dozen Babychams?

[-]

tmstms@reddit

She did go out with him for a bit, so that bit is real. But I agree, that kind of deception is common too.

[-]

PowerApp101@reddit

Jesus christ no.

[-]

Nyx_Necrodragon101@reddit

You should warn them. That said typically they don't start to listen until they wreck their life.

[-]

IndelibleIguana@reddit

Nah. Leave it. There are some lessons in life that have to be lived.

[-]

Nearby-Percentage867@reddit

“Hello, hope you don’t mind, but I - an adult twice your age - was earwigging a conversation about your romantic lives between you and your friends and couldn’t help noticing that…..” No. Absolutely not.

[-]

IDFGMC@reddit

"Excuse me, I couldn't help overhearing - you need to be extremely careful this isn't some sort of catfish situation." How about that?

[-]

MattBFC72@reddit

It's this kind of thing that is part of the problem with the world. People are embarrassed to look out for each other because it's deemed inappropriate to comment on an overheard conversation in a public area. I'd be thankful for someone opening my eyes to the possibility of bullshit.

[-]

Stretch_Defcon@reddit

But in OP's defence, what do you say here without seeming like a creep

[-]

hamjamham@reddit

"sorry love, that sounds like a scam. Google romance scam."

[-]

Stretch_Defcon@reddit

Straight out of Peep Show 2024

[-]

pajamakitten@reddit

OP is not being creepy. If that is how their actions are perceived then that is a reflection on the person they are trying to help.

[-]

Stretch_Defcon@reddit

Very true. Unfortunately I think that is society now, but let's not get into that!

[-]

NinetysRoyalty@reddit

Problem is a lot of people don’t take it well when they’re wrong about something due to embarrassment. So for most people being told by a stranger that they’re being mislead will cause a negative reaction. On top of that young people are a lot more prone to feeling shame for their actions, and as she’s likely feeling an ego boost in front of her friends I don’t see it ending well at all.

[-]

T33FMEISTER@reddit

You got me in the first half!

[-]

oily76@reddit

Quick search for the character's actual Instagram profile might have done the job.

[-]

Realistic-River-1941@reddit

What's her account? I'm a Nigerian Prince with a great investment opportunity.

[-]

Medium_Lab_200@reddit

They won’t thank you for giving them advice, even if you can see what is going wrong from a mile away. I tried to gently point out to a couple of American students who had clearly never used a self-service till before that they would be a lot quicker if they put their purchases straight into a bag rather than laying the bag down and piling everything on top of it then trying to fill the bag afterwards. Their reply? *“Uh, we’re kind of in a hurry”*. Well, yes, that was the point, I can save you time. They didn’t want to know. Let them make their own mistakes and maybe they’ll learn and maybe they won’t.

[-]

Fureniku@reddit

Was it in a restaurant or similar? Flag it to staff, they could address it much more naturally. Early 20s waitress dropping off more drinks could easily have "overheard" the comments and give them a warning from someone closer to their age than a 30s-40s guy

[-]

New_Expectations5808@reddit

No. I can't imagine any interjection would be received positively.

[-]

Banana_Milk7248@reddit

Maybe not but it will be a lesson learned either way. If she says "F you grandpa" and gets scammed, hopefully she'll remember the advice and maybe it'll affect her decision making in future. Alternatively, she listens and learns about it and can go on to help others. Other than some minor embarrassment on OPs part if it's received badly, it's a win win for society.

[-]

pajamakitten@reddit

No harm in a friendly warning. They will almost certainly ignore you but they can just learn the hard way instead.

[-]

wonderingdragonfly@reddit

I find people rarely respond well to the most well intentioned warnings. Back in the 70s, my neighbor’s four-year-old lost his toes in an escalator in a shopping mall when he was standing still, just tapping the side of the escalator with his toes. Needless to say it was traumatic for all concerned. The next time I saw a child doing something similar, I tried to warn the child and his dad that this was dangerous. The dad looked at me like I was trying to disembowel his son.

[-]

ElvishMystical@reddit

Thing is you're trying to teach someone something, someone who is a complete stranger to you, and people generally respond badly to being taught. Intervening will probably end up with you experiencing a somewhat brutal and harsh learning experience. Just don't go there.

[-]

Miss_Andry101@reddit

I'd direct them to the many places online with info on 'celebrity scams', then let them make up their own mind from there, probably.

[-]

superkinks@reddit

If it’s a BBC show and they’re school students, perhaps it is them

[-]

Dave80@reddit

I'm more interested in who it allegedly is. My guess is Harry from series 2 of Traitors.

[-]

peachcake8@reddit

School students or university students?

[-]

ForeignA1D@reddit

Keep quiet, bro There are some lessons in life we have to learn the hard way. They won't appreciate your input as it's going to be an embarrassing truth..

[-]

SlightProgrammer@reddit

Sometimes you have to learn a lesson the hard way

[-]

jusfukoff@reddit

Just enjoy laughing at the eedyits. One of life’s simple pleasures.

[-]

PsychedelicKM@reddit

Not my circus, not my monkeys.

[-]

NarwhalsAreSick@reddit

Your intentions are 100% good, but I can see why you have doubts, all the other replies seem to agree with that part. Honestly, it seems pretty sad that someone should feel worried another stopping a stranger from making a big mistake, at the very least letting them know will hopefully put a bit of doubt in their mind and give them cause to think when things start looking like a scam. If you wanted to, a white lie saying someone you're close to had a similar experience and they got scammed out of money wouldn't be a bad thing. Gives you a reason to care. If they receive it badly, well then that's on them.

[-]

Askduds@reddit

Sounds like a valuable life lesson about to be learned to me.

[-]

Accurate_Prompt_8800@reddit

I wouldn’t just in case they thought you were a weirdo / creep. I’m closer to their age and a girl so I may be inclined to say something without anyone thinking I’m weird but even then I’d just keep to myself most likely - they are grown adults and I’m sure they can look after themselves. Also, how are you 100% sure it’s not a real account? Lots of celebrities (and non celebs) are known to have more private accounts that are only for a close circle. They call it a ‘finsta’ aka ‘fake Instagram’ account. I even have one!

[-]

JustLetItAllBurn@reddit

>Also, how are you 100% sure it’s not a real account? You can't be 100% sure of anything, but it's fair to say this is 1000x more likely to be a romance scam.

[-]

jj198hands@reddit

So you, a lone strange man probably twice their age tell them, to their faces, that online people are scamming them and are most likely just a lonely strange man probably twice their age? If you genuinely want to help you could ask a nearby woman who is closer to your age if she would be willing to talk to them otherwise its very much for the best to stay away.

[-]

eidolon_eidolon@reddit

No. It's none of your business and sometimes people need to make their own mistakes.

[-]

gigglesmcsdinosaur@reddit

"I hear you got my messages. Don't believe everything you read online."

[-]

GatewaytoGhenna@reddit

I'm a woman, I wouldn't interject. Opinion from a random stranger is really well received, more likely they'd be annoyed, loud and dramatic that I'd listened to their conversation .

[-]

Acceptable_Willow276@reddit

No, it would be creepy. Instead you should note down her Instagram name, make a profile of a well-known heart throb and chat her up.

[-]

knight-under-stars@reddit

In scenarios like this, no good deed goes unpunished. If they are that daft that they think someone who starred in a reality show has only 100 social media followers then the chances of your advice resulting in anything but a gobful coming your way is nil.

[-]

fredwester@reddit

Naw, leave it be man. Ever watched these Catfish shows? The lengths the hosts have to go to convince folk that they're being scammed is insane. People just don't want to believe it. Have to learn for themselves the hard way.

[-]

AutoModerator@reddit

**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*