Love Scam – Ridiculous Captain Scam

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Yes, you read that right – “Captain Love Scam”.

I couldn’t make something like this up even if I wanted to – and it all started with Facebook.

I’ve been trying out different dating apps — partly for my own relationship journey, but also for anything insightful or interesting that I can share with you all. That’s when I saw “Sebastian.”

Normal introduction

He was good looking, with a great smile and sparkling blue eyes. I’m the adventurous type so I was happy to start a chat. It started out normal – exchanging basic information and what we were looking for etc. On the surface, he seemed charming, responsible, and willing to commit.

Then we switched to WhatsApp.

notes: This is normal because the chat tool on Facebook dating app is kind of terrible.

That’s when he said his name was…

Mackenzie Lewis – 36-year-old captain whose boat was once owned by his father.

First red flag alert!

The age listed on the app was 55, but I was curious, so I asked a few more questions—something I’m usually willing to give a little credit for in the first few exchanges. (He claimed someone had created the profile for him.)

His “story” begins here.

Also, remember that I just said “he/him” but it could actually be “she/her” or even “they.”

He’s an only child, his parents are orphaned, and his backstory is full of pain and betrayal. He “deleted” all social media after his girlfriend cheated on him with his best friend. The only thing I could find was a rudimentary Facebook page.

The flags keep piling up

Did you know that if something sounds too good to be true, it usually isn’t?

Well, after just a few hours of chatting on and off, I noticed that something smelled really bad.

Normally, I would block this kind of thing out and move on.

But I was damned curious, and feeling a bit cheeky and naughty, so I kept reading. The word “scam” was already swirling in my mind, and I thought back to those YouTubers who spend a few minutes a day trolling the people on the other end of the phone so they don’t have as much time to target people who don’t have a clue.

I am that person.

I really want to have sex with this person.

I swapped in some of my own “backstory” which was also full of drama and pain (a lot of it was fake, but some of it was real and tried to match his level of heartache. Keep in mind, I dragged this story out for about 4 days, so I left a lot of it out).

So what other issues stood out from our conversations?

• For someone so cosmopolitan and accomplished, his English was admittedly poor.
• He tried to appear “subtly” wealthy.
• He had little new information to offer other than the “story” he was eager to share with me.
• He made it clear that he wanted to settle down and take care of someone.
• It bombards me with photos at first, and then suddenly there are no images.
• The only video (which actually has the man’s profile) doesn’t have any dialogue.
• His communication is very much on a set schedule.

But it’s the next few points that really expose the scam.

• He fell in love with me very quickly.
• He had no problem with the obvious differences between us that would normally give most people pause — like religion and views on LGBT.
• One of his audio messages clearly states that his accent is not Italian, but rather from somewhere in Asia.
• All of a sudden he had annoying “network” problems and “engine” problems that he had to deal with and find himself (instead of having a licensed/professional mechanic do it, as you know).
• Some of the messages and responses were extremely repetitive – not robotic, but certainly not normal human speech. The only text messages that flowed naturally were those sent in the morning, filled with words of love and devotion.

I sent my “love” back – making it seem like I was hesitant but “really wanted to start a relationship”. I filled it with stuff – like finally wanting kids, he was always on my mind, blah blah blah.

Put some of my pictures on it and baked it at 350 degrees.

Honestly, there were moments when I felt bad for the person on the other end of the line because they had no idea they were dealing with a creative writer and someone who had really been through terrible things.

I knew the money bomb was coming soon, and oh my god this was hilarious.

Mr. Mackenzie Lewis of “I’m Amazing”, aka Luther Marcelino/Alan Baker, suddenly disappears for a day and when he comes back, there’s a “huge problem” with his boat and they’re stranded in the middle of the ocean with a malfunctioning engine part.

The time has come and I am excited.

• Him: Our engine is broken.
• [In my head: Yeah where’s the mechanic in all this? Where are your spare parts and whatnot?]
• Me: Oh no. Is everyone okay?

• Him: Honey, something is interfering with our network signal.
• [In my head: And yet you’re able to contact me right now – not to mention on a very predictable schedule the entire time.]
• Me: I’m sure you’ll figure this out.

• Him: I need you to contact this company so we can find a replacement. We are in trouble and I don’t know what to do. There are pirates in the area. It’s very dangerous.
• [In my head: Pirates?! AHAHAHAHHHAHAHAH. Oh, and yet you can message me. And yet you’ve been sailing for years. But you mysteriously can’t get through to your company and lil’ old me is the one to save all of you. Mmmok.]
• Me: Oh my god, baby. That’s horrible!

• Him: Can you send this message to this email address?
• [In my head: Here it comes!]
• Me: Of course. Any help would be appreciated. But why can’t you send it?

• He: They didn’t answer me. Honey, please, hurry up!
• [Oh man, I sent that email so fast. I was salivating to see what price tag was attached to the answer. And yeah, a multimillion dollar company would just let a boat sit there with valuable merchandise over something as simple as a hunk of steel. Yeah, and where was the radio SoS and satellite communications that should have been part of the fancy-dancy set up I had seen in the background of the photos.]
• Me: Sent.

The end result did not disappoint.

The new engine part could be delivered within the hour, but only if the $3500 payment was in place, and surprisingly, Mr. Rich Dream Boat was unable to get the part to arrive.

That’s it.

I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

I know some people could have continued on, but I was ready for the end.

The answer is simple…

“You can’t pay me because you’re a scammer. I’ve already wasted days of your time so you can’t keep treating people like this. Loser”

I uploaded the reverse search results I got from the moment he sent the photos and I felt something was wrong. One of the photos had the word “scam” written all over it. It was horrible.

Now, if I was the person on the other end of the line, I would just drop the conversation and move on to the next person. But wow…they were really pissed! I mean really pissed.

“You’re so stupid. I wasted your time.”

[In my head: Awww pudding. *pat pat pat]

Blocking time.

personal idea

Well, I had some sad thoughts while all this was going on.

Even though I was well aware that someone was trying to take advantage of me, and I had a great few days, I couldn’t help but feel a little frustrated about the whole thing.

It’s a numbers game and no matter who’s playing it, a lot of people are going to feel the same emotions that people feel when they’re in a relationship. I totally get that, but there may be someone (or a few) who is so emotionally fragile or lost that the idea of ​​a handsome Prince Charming will cloud their reason… and they’ll hand over their money immediately.

While the language issue is obvious, the emotional provocation is deliberate and designed to target a certain group and drain their savings.

The second sad (ok, more annoying) thing is that Facebook did nothing. We had moved the conversation off their platform and anything fishy was someone else’s problem. So, his profile was still there.

Doesn’t this help them?

Well, I guess calling out their flaws might get them to try to improve their process. But even the slightest deviation from the script is enough to poke huge holes in their story. Either way, there are red flags…

• Repeat certain phrases
• Longing to fall in love with indulgence
• Give a short answer to a comment that should have a long answer
• Promise to show people gifts and adventures
• Commitment that not all men/women are the same (to offset any bad experiences the target has had in the past)
• Excessive praise

Side note: The other person got really aggressive out of anger so I blocked them before I could take a screenshot of the conversation.

Summarize

There are a lot of scams out there, but they all create a similar feeling of unease. My advice? If something doesn’t feel right, just give up. There are millions of people out there.

But I have one last message for Cap Mack-Daddy Lewis…

Don’t you love me anymore? Hahaha

Is there anything else you’d like to add? Please share it in the comments!