Thank you, My Darling Flower

Summary

Podcast Summary: Armstrong & Getty On Demand

Episode: Thank you, My Darling Flower
Date: September 17, 2025
Hosts: Jack Armstrong & Joe Getty

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Overview

This episode of Armstrong & Getty On Demand centers around a humorous and insightful exploration of online romance scams—specifically, the notorious “Ukrainian girlfriend” email scam. Joe Getty shares his correspondence with a persistent scammer, walking listeners through the progression of messages and the typical tactics used. The hosts break down the psychology behind such scams, what motivates scammers, and why people fall for these schemes.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

Joe’s Correspondence with a Scammer

• Initiation of Contact:
  Joe recounts receiving an unsolicited email from "Teddy," an alleged Ukrainian woman claiming to seek true love.
  • “I keep wanting to say Ukraine girl, but it's not. She's not from Ukraine. It's probably no she involved. It's probably a computer bot. If there is a human being involved, it's, I don't know, some criminal, criminal gang enterprise that's hacked my email, right. And trying to dupe me into one of these catfish things or whatever you.” — Joe Getty (01:04)
• Joe’s Curiosity:
  Instead of deleting the email, Joe engages out of curiosity to see how far the scam would go, responding with brief, noncommittal answers.
• Escalation of Affection:
  The scammer quickly escalates messages, transitioning from casual greetings to overt declarations of love, complete with lipstick emojis and poetic professions.
  • “My feelings for you have grown into a giant rose of love. True beauty, sweet smells, positive thoughts, feelings, and bright lights at the end of the tunnel.” — Quoted from scam email, read by Joe Getty (05:49)
• Use of Attachments & Changing Photos:
  The emails begin to include attachments—photos of different women, kittens, flowers, and even one purportedly holding a driver's license—all obviously stolen images.
  • “It's a different girl every time though, which is kind of funny. That's not very... you didn't put much effort in here.” — Joe Getty (04:50)
• Scammer Tactics:
  The scam employs "love bombing," frequent, effusive messages, and frequent requests to move the conversation to different platforms or click attachments.

Anatomy of the Romance Scam

• Breakdown of Steps (Jack reads from an article):
  1. Initial Contact: Unsolicited, affectionate email from an alleged foreign woman.
  2. Building Persona: Development of an emotional connection through increasingly intimate language and shared "personal" stories—as well as sending non-verifiable photos.
  3. Moving Platforms: Efforts to push the conversation to less monitored apps (WhatsApp, Telegram) to avoid detection.
  4. Creating a Crisis: Fabricated emergencies requiring the victim’s help—often financial.
  5. The Ask: Eventually requesting money for travel, medical emergencies, or other urgent needs.
• Analysis of Victims:
  The hosts ponder who falls for these scams and why, noting that emotional vulnerability, loneliness, and even depression may be factors.
  • “You would have to be so damn near mentally ill to fall for that. But anyway, go on.” — Joe Getty (07:18)

Host Banter & Audience Engagement

• Jack Coaches Joe:
  Jack suggests Joe continue replying, feigning interest, in order to see what the next “crisis” will be and when the scammer will ask for money.
  • “I would use ChatGPT or just maybe inquire more about the painting and say that sounds nice or something. Make it sound like you're kind of falling for it.” — Jack Armstrong (09:24)
• Joe’s Intentions:
  Joe is eager to see what crisis story the scammer will concoct and jokes about egging them on.
  • “I want to get that part. So how should I respond?” — Joe Getty (08:49)
• Musical Interlude & Recap:
  Hansen, their producer, compiles a humorous song using lines from the scammer’s emails, adding levity to the episode.

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Memorable Quotes

• On the ridiculousness of the scam:
  “We really barely know each other. And I mean really barely.” — Joe Getty (05:12)

• On scammer persistence:
  “To my precious diamond, to my love and my destiny. To you, honey. Jack, my sweetheart. I'm a bit sad today because I came to the Internet cafe and. And I haven't found your beautiful letter.” — Scam email, read by Joe Getty (05:15)

• On moving platforms:
  “Oh, WhatsApp. Why do they want you on something like WhatsApp?” — Joe Getty (07:54)
  “It's less monitored, I guess.” — Jack Armstrong (07:59)

• On the eventual “ask”:
  “At this point, the scammer will begin asking for money off and you know, like a wire transfer and whatnot. And then once they get the money, they vanish.” — Jack Armstrong (10:19)

• On the scammer’s poetic language:
  “My feelings for you have grown into a giant rose of love. True beauty, sweet smells, positive thoughts...” — Scam email, read by Joe Getty (06:05)

• Post-song banter:
  “My precious diamond Armstrong.” — Email line in song montage (11:20)
  “That beat is sleazy, isn't it?” — Jack Armstrong (11:23)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [01:04] – Joe introduces the scam story and shares the initial email.
• [01:40] – Details of Joe’s ongoing correspondence & scammer’s responses.
• [03:26] – Lipstick emoji and further bot responses.
• [04:25] – Scammer tries to send audio attachment (potential malware).
• [05:49] – Reading the poetic, love-bombing email.
• [07:18] – Jack analyzes the scam using an article, step by step.
• [09:24] – Jack and Joe strategize about continuing the correspondence.
• [10:17] – Discussion of the impending "crisis" and "ask" for money.
• [11:00] – Hansen’s montage song from the scam email lines.

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Conclusion

This episode offers both comedy and a cautionary tale, breaking down the anatomy of online romance scams through Joe’s real-life example. The hosts’ banter, skepticism, and strategic engagement with the scammer provide both entertainment and practical awareness for listeners—reminding everyone to be wary of suspicious, overly affectionate messages from strangers online.

Transcript

[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.

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[Joe Getty]

Thank you my darling flower. It's One More Thing Armstrong and Getty. One More Thing. So I talked about this on the radio show a fair amount. I can go into more detail here on the One More Thing podcast. This I keep wanting to say Ukraine girl, but it's not. She's not from Ukraine. It's probably no she involved. It's probably a computer bot. If there is a human being involved, it's, I don't know, some criminal, criminal gang enterprise that's hacked my email, right. And trying to dupe me into one of these catfish things or whatever you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Call these or like a financial scam.

[Joe Getty]

Who knows what it is. So it's been going on longer than I remember this. It's way back. So I got an email from. It said hi Jack with a whole bunch of parentheses behind it like to emphasize how exciting it is. My name is Teddy, exclamation point. I live in Ukraine in K R Y V Y V Y R I H. I don't know if that's an actual town. I haven't even looked that up. Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. I live in Ukraine. I'm searching for love and a serious relationship and you. So I got that email a long time ago, a couple months ago and, and you know, we all. You get these emails. Everybody gets these emails. Or I guess I assume everybody gets easy mouse. And I didn't think, well what's the harm? This is obviously a scam. I just want to see which kind of scam it is. So I responded, I just said, hey, how are you? It responded, she responded, hi, Jack, I would like to ask you something else. If I showed up your door at 5am and ask you to go watch the sunrise, what would you do? Would you slam the door in my face? Or would you say that sweet but no, or throw caution to the wind and go. And I responded to that email several months ago with as long as I'm back in time to leave for work, sure.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay.

[Joe Getty]

She said. She said, so we go to meet sunrise together. You live in usa. What's the weather like in your city? How long have you been living there? And I didn't respond to that. Then I got to a different email. The weather's very nice today, baby. We're enjoying warm autumn weather here. It would be a nice time to fall in love. A beautiful time for love.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yes.

[Joe Getty]

And then I responded, so what part of Ukraine do you live in? Is it safe where you are? Thought that'd be interesting. How does the bot respond to that? Then she sent me the. The lipstick emoji, Jack. Lipstick emoji. Like she's kissing. Little kissy.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

I live in mentions a town. It's safe here. If you want, I will write you and share more of my life and photos with you. I said, sure. So that's when it jumped to. And I'd forgotten that there actually was an attempt to hook me that I didn't fall for. Honey, I have left my voice recording which I made when I was visiting English courses last autumn. I made it as an exam in addition to the project, which was called why I love you and how I love you. I'm reading a wonderful poem to you. It's beautiful. It's about how I'm in falling in love with you right now. Listen to it and see what you think. So there was an attachment. Oh, and that I didn't click on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Good.

[Joe Getty]

So that's what the scam was. And then when I didn't fall for that, I guess that's when he. She. It doubled down and started going with this is funny. I clicked on this and it's a picture of a different girl than the one from the last email. I mean a completely different human being.

[Jack Armstrong]

Are the pictures attachments?

[Joe Getty]

The pictures are attachments. The email. But I don't click on them or anything like it.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, they're just there.

[Joe Getty]

They're just part of the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Okay, okay.

[Joe Getty]

It's a different girl every time though, which is kind of funny. That's not very. That's not. You didn't put much effort in here.

[Jack Armstrong]

She's a very versatile look, Jack.

[Joe Getty]

Hi there. Hi there. My dearest Jack, Do I have your email address correctly? I hope so. And once I receive an answer, I will write a bigger letter. I love you so much and can't wait to hear from you. Okay, fantastic. You love me so much. We really barely know each other. And I mean really barely.

[Jack Armstrong]

This is escalating quickly.

[Joe Getty]

It is, right? Well, that's where this one comes from. And then here's another picture of a different young, attractive woman. Hello, my beloved baby Jack. I am back to you, sweetie, happy as always, because weekends are over and I can write a letter. To my precious diamond, to my love and my destiny. To you, honey. Jack, my sweetheart. I'm a bit sad today because I came to the Internet cafe and. And I haven't found your beautiful letter. For me, it's always such a pleasure to see and read your beautiful letters, honey. Your warm words and thoughtful feelings.

[Jack Armstrong]

Have been on full display throughout this communication.

[Joe Getty]

It makes me feel like we are meant to be together, that fate or destiny has given us a chance. My feelings for you have grown into a giant rose of love. True beauty, sweet smells, positive thoughts, feelings, and bright lights at the end of the tunnel. And it goes on like this for many, many more paragraphs.

[Jack Armstrong]

You got a meter?

[Joe Getty]

Which one of these. There's like 30 different women here.

[Jack Armstrong]

Which is one. There you go.

[Joe Getty]

They're all a little young. And then a random picture of a kitten, a random picture of some flowers, a different chick holding your driver's license. Oh, okay.

[Jack Armstrong]

Odd. I don't know if you're. If you're continuing, I just want to let you know, after this, I. The Ukrainian girl love email scandal or scam is a thing.

[Joe Getty]

Pretty popular.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah.

[Joe Getty]

So what do you suppose the hook is there people? If you're a really kind of half crazy, desperate, sad person, you would think, well, Ukraine's under a lot of pressure. It's possible she just.

[Jack Armstrong]

Reached out.

[Joe Getty]

Her boyfriend's off fighting in the army. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, what. What is it about Ukraine that would make it appealing?

[Jack Armstrong]

I'm seeing everywhere that people get emails from Ukrainian girls and it's part of this scam. And it said, the. What I'm. The article I'm reading says, here's how the scam works. They create initial contact through unsolicited emails. The communication builds trust by showering the target with attention and affection, Also known as love bombing.

[Joe Getty]

Okay, you're in. I mean, you would have to be so damn near mentally ill to fall for that. But anyway, go on.

[Jack Armstrong]

Then it builds a Persona. The scammer creates a compelling but fake backstory that's hard to verify using stolen photos of attractive people, often models, and also photos of other things that might.

[Joe Getty]

Be considered beautiful, like a kitten or a rose.

[Jack Armstrong]

Then the third step is moving the conversation. After you engage for a while, they will push to have the conversation move from its original platform to a less monitored one like WhatsApp or Telegram.

[Joe Getty]

Oh, WhatsApp. Why do they want you on something like WhatsApp?

[Jack Armstrong]

It's. It's less monitored, I guess.

[Joe Getty]

And then, and then they. But that's. That there's encryption with WhatsApp. Right? So we get into, well, WhatsApp, you.

[Jack Armstrong]

Can create like a phone number, right? So you can create a completely other form of communication through WhatsApp. So the next thing, the next move is they create a crisis.

[Joe Getty]

Sorry, my diamond. Love you. You reached out to someone who doesn't. Who's know how to do WhatsApp, so yeah, you're out of luck.

[Jack Armstrong]

They do say that they sometimes they do stick to email, though, here on this, like a little subhead. Then they create a crisis. Once they have gained your trust, a fabricated crisis will occur. Common scenarios include a family member fall seriously ill, they've been mugged, or they've been in an accident, or they need travel expenses, visas or customs fees to come visit you.

[Joe Getty]

I want to get that part. So how should I respond? Quickly. I'll do a short response to the last email I got. The last one I got was to my tender, cuddly and such fluffy teddy bear, Jack. I got that one this morning.

[Jack Armstrong]

What's the. What follows that?

[Joe Getty]

Just about how I've been thinking about you. That's the one I mentioned earlier on the show. But I was. I was at an art gallery today and I saw a painting of two people holding hands and it reminded me of you and I and how we can hold hands forever in the future and blah, blah, blah, blah.

[Jack Armstrong]

I would or ask Chat GPT to.

[Joe Getty]

Do it, but my tender, cuddly and such fluffy teddy bear Jack.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, I would use Chat GPT or just maybe inquire more about the painting and say that sounds nice or something. Make it sound like you're kind of falling for it.

[Joe Getty]

I think. I think I want to go full in on this.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, yeah, please do.

[Joe Getty]

Full in on replying.

[Jack Armstrong]

My tender, cuddly Jack. That's.

[Joe Getty]

I have been thinking about you since I got up this morning. I Can't stop thinking about you.

[Jack Armstrong]

You should respond with funny. I was thinking about you as well.

[Joe Getty]

You're a girl. You're good at this stuff.

[Jack Armstrong]

Funny, I was thinking about you too. That painting sounds nice.

[Joe Getty]

That painting sounds nice. That's enough. That'll. That'll get the bot or the person or the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Yeah, there you go.

[Joe Getty]

Whatever. Going. I just, I want to get to the next step of the.

[Jack Armstrong]

Creating the crisis.

[Joe Getty]

I want to hear the crisis. It's got to be hilarious.

[Jack Armstrong]

Oh, there's. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Somebody. Somebody's going to fall ill or there's going to be some horrific accident that they're going to need your help with. And then, so it says, following this, asking for money. At this point, the scammer will begin asking for money off and you know, like a wire transfer and whatnot. And then once they get the money, they vanish.

[Joe Getty]

There you go. But I want to just get to the ask, just to see how it works.

[Jack Armstrong]

Get to the crisis. Yeah, cut to the chase, chick.

[Joe Getty]

Maybe I can bring that in the future. Anyway, so we are reading from this email and Hansen put together this song about my love affair. Armstrong and Getty. Hello, my beloved baby.

[Jack Armstrong]

Jack.

[Joe Getty]

I am back to you, sweetie. Ow. My love and my destiny. That's you, honey. Jack Armstrong. My precious diamond Armstrong.

[Jack Armstrong]

Brilliant.

[Joe Getty]

Best one he's ever done. Simon Cuddly Bear.

[Jack Armstrong]

Boy, that that beat is sleazy, isn't it?

[Joe Getty]

Oh, it is. I kind of started moving my hips while I was hard not to. You know, this may be one of.

[Jack Armstrong]

Joe Getty's best pranks.

[Joe Getty]

Jack. He's just been doing this for years. Well, I guess that's it.

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[Jack Armstrong]

This is an iHeart podcast.