Every few weeks or so, I receive an Instagram message request from what appears to be an old white dude with suspiciously few followers. At first, I wondered if old men with some extra pocket change were just getting bolder with their tactics. But after the second or third time receiving a message like this, I knew something fishy was going on. So I did some digging, analyzed some similar cases and found out what was behind all this nonsense.
Surprise, surprise, it's a classic sugar daddy scam! Like any other online set-up, the scammers lure you in through the promise of cold, hard cash. In this particular scenario, the tricksters approach young women on social media who might need help paying their bills because they're in school or unemployed. The scammer then promises the victim hundreds of dollars a week in return for their companionship.
These offers seem legitimate at first glance because there actually are plenty of rich men out there looking for a "sugar baby" to spoil. But if your newfound sugar daddy is texting you in broken English and seems a little too desperate for your attention right off the bat, you might be dealing with the romance version of the wealthy Nigerian prince schtick.
So let's say you never found this article, and just happened to receive a message like the one above in your Insta DMs. Because you're running a bit low on cash and have always had a sex-positive mindset, you say to yourself, "why not?
You decide to pursue a relationship with your mysterious Instagram man. How exactly does Raj from India swindle over your hard-earned cash under the guise of Mike Smith from Nantucket? The scripts and tactics can vary a bit, but they are usually variations of the fake check scam. Where is the catch, you say? Banks are required by law to make the funds of a check available within a few days, but it can take weeks for the banking system to actually identify a forged check and stop the payment on it: when the check finally bounces, the victim has already sent real money back to the scammer.
