The Rental Car Robbery

Summary

The Dating Detectives — "The Rental Car Robbery" (July 27, 2026)

Overview

In this gripping episode of The Dating Detectives, hosts Mackenzie Fultz (Private Investigator) and Hanna Anderson (Comedian) sit down with listener Rachel, who recounts her harrowing experience dating “Logan”—a charming man who, beneath a polished exterior, orchestrated a calculated financial and emotional scam involving a rental car, digital payment apps, and multiple women. Through Rachel’s story, the hosts shed light on red flags, manipulation tactics, and the shame and aftermath often faced by victims. The conversation also delves into the controversial role of online women’s safety groups like "Are We Dating the Same Guy?"

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Rachel’s Story: Love Bombing & False Generosity

[03:48–15:35]

• Rachel meets Logan in Las Vegas, introduced via her friend’s casual acquaintance. Logan is generous, paying for hotel rooms, meals, toiletries, and even offers to buy a replacement flight for Rachel’s friend.
  • “He ends up booking us two really nice rooms for us all to share. Just spoiling us to the nines. Food, anything we wanted, ordering it right away.” — Rachel (07:00)
• Logan appears attentive and romantic, setting up spa-like experiences and insisting on taking care of every expense, building trust and comfort with Rachel quickly.

2. Escalation: The Rental Car Hook

[11:26–22:33]

• As their connection grows, Logan suggests renting a car for the weekend under Rachel’s name—claiming his license is suspended due to minor speeding tickets.
  • “He says that his license is suspended and so he's wondering if it can go under my name.” — Rachel (12:36)
• Logan convinces Rachel to repeatedly extend the car rental, promising to prepay her each time.
• Red flags start to appear: his communication becomes poor, he spends lots of time on gambling apps, and enthusiasm wanes after he has the car.
• Despite lingering doubts, Rachel continues to extend the rental—“I wanted to be helpful for him… I wanted to see where the relationship would go.” (22:16)

3. Manipulation, Ghosting, and Mounting Anxiety

[22:33–34:21]

• Logan’s communication grows increasingly sporadic. Each request is spun as a necessity for his kids or family. Rachel is left responsible for mounting fees as deadlines pass.
  • "You were on your phone when we were together, so I just. I don't understand why you can't respond.” — Rachel (23:05)
• Rachel feels isolated and ashamed, telling only her two friends. She deals with feelings of stupidity and self-blame, fearing judgment from loved ones.
• Logan eventually stops responding almost entirely, and the rental car company threatens repossession and bans her from renting in the future. She is charged over $5,000 (with hundreds in toll fees racked up by Logan).
  • “I get a huge charge, also banned from Hertz as well. They let me know that I'm banned.” (34:24)

4. Connecting the Dots: The Web of Deception

[37:30–43:33]

• Rachel posts Logan’s story in the Facebook group “Are We Dating the Same Guy?”. Other women come forward sharing eerily similar stories with Logan involving Klarna/Afterpay scams, unpaid bills, and ghosting. Evidence mounts that Logan pays one woman with money scammed from another—a romantic Ponzi scheme.
  • "He was just running a Ponzi scheme with other women. Like, he would just take your money to pay for her Vegas trip." — Mackenzie (80:59)
• The cycle of excuses, manipulation, and triangulating women repeats across multiple victims.

5. Aftermath: Accountability, Going Public, and Community Response

[51:12–70:41]

• Despite empty promises, Logan only repays Rachel a single $300 installment. She issues an ultimatum and goes public with her story on TikTok, which quickly goes viral.
• The police deem it a "civil matter"; attempting to pursue small claims appears costly and unlikely to succeed, given Logan’s unstable finances.
• Rachel is harassed online by Logan’s associates and even his family; “His mom blocked me… She benefits off of it. His scamming is paying your bills.” (64:46)
• Other women report similar banishments or unsuccessful attempts to use group spaces for warning others about Logan.
• Rachel ultimately blocks Logan, determined to continue warning other women even if she never recoups her losses.

6. Reflections & Red Flags: Takeaways for Listeners

[71:25–End]

• The hosts, Rachel, and listeners identify critical warning signs:
  • Excessive "Love Bombing": Paying for every little thing, immediately intimate nicknames and flattery.
  • Dodgy Logistics: Suspended license, refusal to return the rental car.
  • Poor Communication: “Bad at texting” used as an excuse—especially incongruent when you know they’re on their phone constantly.
  • Inconsistent Stories: Changing explanations, triangulating with children/family excuses.
• Rachel and the hosts reinforce that feeling shame is common, but manipulation is deliberate; victims are not to blame.
  • “It's not her fault. So, yes, great cautionary tale in terms of being extra protective of your money...But he paid for everything. He was such a gentleman. … We don’t know how charming that man was." — Mackenzie (76:06)
• The role of safety groups like “Are We Dating the Same Guy” is debated. While helpful, these spaces can also be fraught with drama or ineffective moderation.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “If it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Like someone paying for every little thing—like that, it can seem love bombing.” — Rachel (71:44)
• “Everything you paid for for me was on the dime of another woman.” — Rachel (36:37)
• “He called me a suicide bomber who would rather blow up everybody else’s than just be patient and deal with it on my own.” — Rachel (58:04)
• “I kept telling him...If you think I’m doing this for attention, that speaks to who you are…I just need to make sure you can’t do this to other women.” — Rachel (58:17)
• “Going through this, I see how draining it is…and even just, like, I don't care that people know this now because it's out there for the world. But it was very anxiety inducing when it first started to go viral. … But the outcome of protecting other women is so much more worth it." — Rachel (69:13)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• [03:48] — Rachel begins her story; the Vegas trip and meeting Logan
• [11:26] — The rental car “favor”: origin of the scam
• [22:31] — The first cracks: communication issues and requests for extensions
• [26:27] — Rachel starts to panic as the car is overdue; emotional toll
• [34:24] — Rachel receives a massive bill and a rental company ban
• [37:30] — Rachel posts in “Are We Dating the Same Guy” and uncovers Logan’s pattern
• [51:12] — Rachel goes public on TikTok, outlining her motivations and obstacles to legal action
• [71:25] — Rachel and hosts break down the red flags in hindsight

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Tone & Language

The episode is raw, conversational, and emotionally honest. Rachel is candid about her naivete, her hope, her heartbreak, and her mounting anger. The hosts approach the story with empathy, validation, and humor, while providing practical commentary for listeners. There is a strong sense of community and a drive to empower women against manipulative partners.

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Takeaways

• Trust your instincts. If a new partner is too generous, flirts in grandiose ways, or moves quickly, be cautious.
• Be wary with your finances—even with someone who seems trustworthy or pays for things upfront.
• Shame and self-blame only help the scammer. Victims do not deserve what happened, no matter their choices.
• Crowd-sourced safety platforms are critical, but far from perfect.
• Sharing stories can break the cycle and stop financial/emotional abusers.

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Closing Message

Rachel’s story is a cautionary tale about modern dating scams enabled by new technology and old-fashioned deceit. The episode highlights the importance—and challenge—of protecting yourself (and each other) in the “wild west” of dating apps and short-term romances.

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"As always, trust your femtuition."

Transcript

[A]

The following program contains names, places and events that have been anonymized or fictionalized for the purposes of protection and safety. The following program is provided for entertainment purposes only, and any commentary from the hosts are strictly conjecture and should not be held as making any definitive statements about the truth or identity of any particular individuals or circumstances. If you or a loved one are involved in an abusive relationship, please call the National Domestic violence hotline at 1-800-799-777, 233 for support.

[B]

Good morning. Happy Dating Detectives Monday.

[A]

I love how many people comment and say that saying Happy Dating Detectives Monday, like, makes their week because it's a holiday.

[B]

Every week. Everybody gets so excited. They're like, oh my God, what kind of shit show do you have for us today?

[A]

Oh, no. Well, we do have a shit show today. Rachel is our guest today and she is a good example of someone who went through an experience and is like, oh, hold my beer. Like, give me the microphone. I need to spread the word. You'll hear obviously from her. But I'm really glad that she chose to increase the reach of her story here because she's posted online. It's one of those stories where the relationship itself really doesn't get out of the dating stage. Like, it's pretty quick and yet the damage is long lasting.

[B]

Yeah, it's one of those things that you just can't get away from. And it sucks because it feels like a scarlet letter. Almost one of those types, you know what I mean?

[A]

It's very frustrating. You're going to be frustrated. It's got some financial scam situation. So let's let her tell the rest of the story. But first order of business, we have shows, more shows and Tampa to Orlando.

[B]

I'm so excited for you guys to come here. Are you excited to come to Florida?

[A]

I am beyond excited. Especially, I know we talked about it a little last week, but I just can't stop saying how great Chicago was. Everyone we met was, oh my God, isn't it amazing?

[B]

My new favorite city. New favorite city. And I love literally everybody who came to the show. It was so awesome.

[A]

I know everybody says the Midwest is nice, but truly the den theater, the staff was so sweet. Everyone we met was just so sweet. And you guys were so fun and involved. Like, we gave everybody red flags. So obviously when you feel like there's red flag, you can wave your red flag.

[B]

It was so interactive and it was funny.

[C]

Like we would.

[B]

And somebody would be telling a story and you'd see all these red flags. Shoot up like, so this guy started talking, and then all the red flags. It was funny.

[A]

So Orlando and Tampa is coming up, and if you want to tell your story, well, obviously, if you want to come, there's tickets in the show notes, so get your tickets. But if you want to come and come on stage and share a story, it does not have to be a super long dogfish story. It can be a crazy dating story. We just want to talk to y' all and hear your stories, but we need you to submit them ahead of time. So you know the drill. If you have a story, email, investigate the dating Detectives podcast dot com. If you're in Orlando or you're in Tampa and you want to chat with us, we want to hear from you. So look at the dates and the info in the show notes. We cannot wait to meet you in Florida. And as always, I know you guys are good about this, but tell us where else we should go, because the shows are going pretty well. I think we should do more.

[B]

A lot of people, like, come to this state, come to this state, come to Texas, all these different places. So I think that's really neato. So thank you so, so, so much. And I think let's get into it. Let's let Rachel tell her story. You guys are gonna cringe.

[A]

Hi, Rachel.

[B]

Hi, Rachel. Thank you for being here.

[D]

Hi.

[B]

We're so glad that you're here. We would like to give you the floor. Will you please take us on your journey?

[C]

Yes. My name is Rachel. I live in San Diego. So basically, me and my two best friends, Olivia and Brooke, we decided to go on a trip to Zion national park in Utah. And while we were there, we thought we may as well. We have this rental car, go for a day trip to Vegas. It's not too far of a drive, and we're always down for something spontaneous. So we did. On our last full day, we packed up the car and we drove down to Vegas. We've just planned on going to a day party. And then one of my friends is sober, so she was gonna drive us home that night just in time for our other friend to get on her flight the next morning back home while we were there, it was so much fun. We had a great time at the pool party, went down to the casino after, had a couple more drinks, just having a great time. And then as we were on our way out of the casino, my friend Brooks ran into this guy that she knew from previously. While she was talking to him, I noticed that the friend he was with was sitting at the slot machine. He kind of looked cute. I decided I was gonna go over and introduce myself. I did that. His name was Logan. I introduced myself. I'm sitting with him. He offers me a drink or two. We're having a great time. We hit it off right away. And then he's asking how long I'm gonna be there for. How long does he get to spend with me? And I was like, approximately 10 minutes before we let it go. And then he started offering, you know, well, you should stay. And I was like, I can't. My friend's got her flight tomorrow. And then he's offering to pay for her a new flight. And then I was like, well, we don't have a hotel. And then he's offering to pay for a hotel. And then, oh, my. Usually that's something that I would accept that kind of offer, but I don't know. Brooke knew the guy he was with. I thought it was chill. We all kind of looked at each other like, fuck it, let's do it.

[A]

Should we? Yeah. Wow. Can I ask, like, how old are y' all at this point? You're obviously, I assume, single.

[C]

Yes, all of us were single at this time. I was 27, Brooke was 28, and Olivia is 26 at this point.

[A]

And these guys. How does she know this guy?

[C]

Just, she met him back home at an event. I guess he had come to our town and I guess they had a little fling that was casual, but nothing crazy came from it.

[A]

So it wasn't like a random person friend. It was like a. A past hookup. That makes sense.

[C]

Yeah, but nothing like too serious or long term or anything. Like, it was like, oh, I. I know you. I remember you from that one night at the club type of situation. So. Yeah. And then after he offered to pay for those things, we felt like, you know, why not? She doesn't have work for a few more days. She doesn't have to get back to the city right away, so let's just stay. And so we do.

[A]

This is like so Vegas just to be like.

[C]

You know what I was thinking in the moment too? I was like, what's the worst that could happen? Like, this is Vegas coded. We'll have so much fun. We're all very smart girls. We're not going to let anything take the hotel room. Yeah, exactly. So we do spend the night together, the whole group of us. He ends up booking us two really nice rooms for us all to share. Just spoiling us to the nines. Food, anything we wanted, ordering it right away. For us. The moment I said I wanted something, he was, like, on his phone ordering it. And then I was like, oh, shit, we need toothbrushes, toothpaste. We don't have any of this stuff because we weren't prepared to stay the night. So we all go to cvs, and again, he offers to pay for everything. He's like, go down whatever aisles. If you want some alcohol for tonight, if you want some snack, something for your drive home tomorrow, like, whatever you want, get it, it's on me. And, I mean, who wouldn't want to hear that and go for a little shop when.

[B]

Yeah, thank you, fella.

[C]

I appreciate this. Right?

[A]

And there was no feeling of like, I'm gonna pay for this stuff, but you better spend the night with me. Like, he was nice and gentlemanly.

[C]

No, nothing at all. He was flirting with me, but I didn't feel any type of pressure. Like, if I got all of that. And then I was like, you know what? I don't really feel great. Like, I'm gonna actually head home tonight. We're gonna hit the road. I didn't feel like he would have any issue with that. He was so nonchalant, but still flirty. Made sure that his interest was showing, but without, like, feeling pressured at all. Because I get the ick so fast if someone makes me feel, like, pressured into anything. And I did not feel that way at all with him. So, yeah, we spend the night. We don't go out out, but we, like, hit a couple bars, we walk around Fremont. We're drinking the whole time, and me and him spent the night together in one of the hotel rooms. And it was honestly so nice. Like, I get the ick when I think about it now because of what I'll share. But in that moment, it was so romantic. He got us a room with, like, a big Jacuzzi, and he got all these bath supplies from the CVS and like, just set up this whole really nice evening for the two of us. And it was great. I had a great time. And I was really excited because during that, we discovered that we didn't live too far from each other. Me living in San Diego and him living in la, not far at all. So, like, usually that doesn't happen when you meet someone on vacation. I feel like usually you meet somebody, it's that one night or one vacation fling, and then you never hear from them again. But we were so close. I was excited. I was like, I get to keep getting to know you and keep getting spoiled.

[B]

Yes, you're so right.

[C]

It was going to be great.

[A]

What did he do for a living?

[C]

So he sold electronics and appliances, buying them from like auctions and stuff and then fixing them up and reselling them for more than he paid is what he was doing for his job. He. So he was entrepreneurial, didn't really work for anybody. Kind of worked for himself. The next day we left, or like they were leaving, we were leaving. He like offered to fill up our rental car with gas too. Just everything you could think of that he could have possibly paid for, he was offering to pay for.

[B]

Get it guy.

[C]

Yeah, I know. It was so nice at the time. And then we go back to Zion national park, enjoy the rest of our stay, head home. Once I get home, me and him, we're still talking. He's not big on FaceTime calls or phone calls, so it was mostly just texting, which I didn't love. I do prefer a good FaceTime or phone call, but Me too. You know, we start dating. Ish. We're not like official or anything, but the intention from what he was saying was definitely we're getting to know each other with the intention of dating. And I was very honest from the jump that my last relationship wasn't so great. And I'm definitely not looking for anything casual or wishy washy where I feel insecure in the relationships. Like, I want to put that on the table right now that I'm looking for something serious. And he agreed that he was looking for the same thing.

[A]

How long had it been since your last relationship ended?

[C]

My last relationship formally ended in like 2022, the summer of 2022. But then we kind of stayed connected for another year until 2023. So I would say that it was about like two and a half, three years that I had been single for before meeting him.

[A]

That's a while.

[C]

Yeah, it had been a while. Yeah. And it was not a good breakup, the last one. So I felt like I had to come into that, so honest with him. And it was so nice to finally hear from a guy that they are looking for that. Because I feel like usually when you tell a guy that they're just like, okay, I'm out of here. I'm not looking for the same thing. Or they lie to you. Yes, actually. So we start talking about coming to see him, me coming to visit him, and, you know, we're getting to know each other. He tells me about his family. He has two kids. Surprisingly for me, that's not something I care about. I didn't, didn't bother me but he told me about them. He was very honest, which I appreciated that he let me know that right away. He told me that they were two separate moms, one of them being a one night stand. And the baby was very young, I should say he was like two years old, I think. So he was like, that was a one night stand. I'm not like involved with the mom or whatever. Told me he hadn't been in a serious relationship since high school. And he like kind of just telling me exactly what I was telling him, but in a different font. Like, same thing. I haven't been in a relationship for so long and like, I'm also looking for something serious and meaningful with you.

[A]

Wait, can I hear more about. I gotta hear more about his kid. So do all the kids live in the same city as him? Was he like cute dad energy when he talked about them?

[C]

One of them, he said, lived in the area with his. With the mom primarily, and then he just had the kid on weekends. The other one lived a little bit further away. And he definitely was giving, like, cutesy dad. Gotta go to his football games, his basketball games. Whenever we would go out shopping, he would be in the kids section looking for stuff for his sons as well, which I thought was really admirable. And he seemed to be a very present, great father, which I found very attractive. So I end up going to visit him two weeks after I got back from my vacation. He books me a train ticket because it's just the easiest, quickest way to get to him. I don't have a car myself, so he books me a train ticket. I head down. When I get there, he suggests that we rent a car for our weekend so we can go around. He said his car was like, I don't know whether it was like a tire was popped. He had issues with his car. Something was wrong with this car and he couldn't drive it. And so he says, suggest that we rent a car. No problem to me. Until he says that his license is suspended and so he's wondering if it can go under my name. Oh, in the moment, I didn't think it was a big deal because I was like, you know, everything so far had been so good and like our.

[B]

And he's been paying for things and he's been spending.

[C]

So yeah, I was like, yeah, for sure. Like, what's the big deal? Putting it on my name. And we like went on to the website. He said it was something to do with speeding. He made it seem very casual and like, I don't know. About. But in San Diego, you can get your license suspended for pretty much anything if the cop's having a bad day. So in my mind, I like, just made it seem like less than it was. And he made it seem like less than it was. I'm like, oh, you know, sure. You go off one too many speeding tickets. His license got suspended. It's not a big deal. No problem. Like, I'll rent the car. So we go onto the Hertz website and everything, checking the price so he can give me the money in advance. And like, this was his suggestion to do so. I felt very comfortable doing it. So we go, we rent the car, I put it under my name and I obviously put it on my credit card too. And we use the car. We have a great weekend. His apartment was full of all those appliances that he was selling. So he suggested that we go stay at a nice hotel instead. Have a nice romantic over water stay. And I'm a Pisces, I love being by the water. So that was just music to my ears. I was like, lovely, let's do that. So he booked us this really nice hotel over the water with again, another Jacuzzi. And he was like, we will never have a hotel room without a Jacuzzi with me. Okay, so, yeah, just treats. The whole weekend again, just how it was that first weekend, you know, food orders. Whenever I wanted something to eat. I once mentioned I wanted some food, fruit. And the next thing I know, fruit was showing up at our hotel. I was like, what the heck? We went shopping, we went to eat, we went to the casino again and just had a really great time. And then Sunday rolled around where I had to head back home so I could go back to work on Monday. And I was getting ready to pack up my stuff and, you know, suggest we go drop off the car before we hit the train station or just drop it off. And he's like, oh, you're coming back next week to visit me again. Do you think that I could just use the car for these errands? I have to like move this tv, whatever.

[A]

Wait, but is he even allowed to drive it? Not technically.

[C]

Technically, no, but again, I was just. Yeah, but you're like, just like the exciting weekend I had wanting to come. I wanted to come back the next weekend to have that same week, you know, I wanted to do it again. So I was like, sure, yeah, no problem, we can do that. Let's see how much it's going to charge for the extension. And then if you can send me the money, blah, blah, Blah. And he did. We checked how much it would be to extend it till that next weekend. He sent me the money right away for it, and then I left. He dropped me off at the train station, and I left the car with him. I get back, we're talking. It's good. His texting's not the best, but it's like, manageable or bearable, I should say, for me. But I like to be communicating all the time. So already not FaceTime.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

Calling. His texting being slow. I was just like, this sucks. But even made me want to go back more so that I could skip the phone communication and just be with him to talk and get to know him more. And I was still so excited about the. The weekend in Vegas and then the weekend at his house that I was just so hyper focused on having that experience again.

[A]

That's always so tricky when they're texting. Communication is way worse than their in person communication because you're like, I don't know. It's such a. It's such a little game that it plays with your brain.

[C]

Oh, yeah, yeah.

[A]

It's the push and pull of, like, wait. It's making me more attracted to them.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Because of it. And yet you're still mad about it. No, it's, like, so common.

[C]

I feel like that's nice to hear because I felt so, like, oh, my gosh, why did it, like, after the fact? Like, no, why was I so blinded?

[A]

So, I mean, how often do we hear, like, oh, I'm just a bad texter. Like, oh, I just. I'm like, not on my phone. And it just. It almost makes you want them more because then you're like, maybe I can make them a bad doctor. Exactly.

[C]

I could fix it. You're gonna like me so much that you're gonna want to text me. Or at least that's what it should be. But yeah. So I extend the car for him, go home. His texting's like. But it still is not terrible. It's just like, I would have appreciated a little bit more, especially after having those two weekends together. Time goes on. We're planning the next visit. He's not, like, again, being as responsive. I end up not coming back that next weekend. I couldn't come. It wasn't his doing. He did have all of it set up for me to come, so I can't really fault him for that weekend. Me not coming. I couldn't get off of work. I couldn't go. But then I have to return the car by that day because that's when I extended it to. So I'm letting him know, can you please just drop off the car? He's telling me he can't return it unless I'm there, because then I'll get in. Like, they'll find me for having someone else drive the car, which they would know because he would be the one dropping it off and manipulated it to seem like, I can't. You have to keep it, rent it, or extend it until you come back so that you can return it. And so extend it again. We plan another visit. So then I end up going back to visit him a few weeks later. This trip, it was definitely different. He didn't care so much now that his apartment was full of things and kind of a mess. It was all good if we stayed there this time. There wasn't a hotel booked. And, like, I don't need that. I want to preface, like, I Totally fine if people, like, my apartment's not always spotless clean. That is not an issue to me. But obviously the expectation had been set. He told me that anytime there would always be, you know, a Jacuzzi stay. And I was like, okay, so it's fine. But weird to switch up like that. So we stay at his apartment. We don't even go out as often this time, like, we're really just inside watching movies, not doing too much. I started noticing that he goes to the bathroom for long periods of time when we're at his house.

[B]

He's got ibs.

[C]

Oh, yeah, Definitely IBS or something.

[A]

I hope it's IBS and not, like, drugs or something.

[C]

Well, I was. That's what I started to think after the fact. I was like, oh, dear. Like, what the heck have I gotten myself into? But even when he would come out, we'd be laying in the bed watching a movie, and he's always playing these freaking casino games on his phone. Which I never noticed, probably because we were actually actively out doing things. So he couldn't. But the moment that we were just casually at his house. Yeah, a lot of trips to the bathroom that lasted quite some time. Playing these casino games on his phone. But then when I would talk to him, he was, like, responsive. He was actively listening to what I was saying. So it's not like he was not listening or not conversing with me and was checked out on his phone. He would just be, like, on it, but, like, talking to me. And I was like, I don't love that. But I was just, like, mental noting

[A]

things at this point because it's still early. You're still just making those mental notes. Are these casino games, gambling games, or are they just silly little games or as much?

[C]

No, I think they were actually gambling games. I don't play any of those, so I don't know for sure, but from the looks of it, they looked like those. Like, I get ads for them all the time of those slot machines where it's like. Like, you're guaranteed to win this much money if you put $20 in all of those.

[A]

Oh.

[C]

Kinds of apps. But I didn't look closely or ask specifically what they were, but I do think they were probably real gambling. He doesn't strike me as the type who I met in Vegas to be like, fake gambling, if that makes sense.

[A]

Okay, sure. So he. His attitude kind of changed a little this trip. He's a little more comfortable, a little more familiar.

[C]

Yeah, definitely comfortable. Still cute. Still, like, his. The way he spoke was still very flirty, endearing. Like, he was saying all the right things. Like, he called. Oh, gosh. He would call me pretty lady. And I hate that. I just hate those two words now. But he would call me pretty lady with every sentence he said. And for some reason that, like, I was like, oh, you were just in the bathroom for so long, and I was so annoyed. But then you came out and you said this nice little thing and you called me pretty lady at the end. No one has ever called me pretty lady. I don't know. Maybe it was the lady, and it felt like. I don't know. It sounds so.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That I'm saying it out loud, but it's pretty lady.

[A]

It's good to hear the little things that made you, like, flutter, because it's easy looking back at these to be like, oh, he was gross. But it's like, no, you were. You were falling for him.

[B]

And there's.

[A]

He was obviously doing many things aside from paying for stuff, like just his personality sounds like it was charming.

[C]

Just really easy to talk to. And I think I'm typically. I can be quite reserved with guys and anxious to share my full personality a lot of the time because I am very out there and outgoing when my full personality is showing. And I think it can intimidate guys a lot of the time. So I'm very used to holding back. And with him, immediately, I felt like I could just be myself. I wasn't, like, thinking before I spoke. I was just letting myself be. So I feel like that was a new and refreshing feeling that I was really attracted to with him. So those things like calling Me, pretty lady. And like, being engaging in the conversation was new for me, unfortunately.

[A]

But yeah, a lot of people, unfortunately.

[B]

It's real.

[C]

Yeah, it is unfortunate. It's really sad actually. But yeah, his energy was definitely different. But still his words were really good. And he wasn't not showing up in all those ways. Like, he's like, making sure, like, if there's something I wanted to eat or if I was hungry, he's checking in on those things, like, making sure I was like, as comfortable as possible without really caring about the environment we were in. And then again, same thing happened. Sunday rolled around, it was time for me to leave, and he had the same excuse. And this time I was a lot more hesitant. I didn't really want to leave the car with him, especially because I was noticing those few things in his apartment, like the long trips to the bathroom, the casino. I was just like. Like, I don't know if I should be doing this, but I was like in this really awkward situation in my head, like kind of that, like, people pleasing mindset of, I don't want to upset you because I am still interested and intrigued with, like, continuing to get to know you, even though there's been these, like, few things that I'm unsure about. And I don't know if me saying no or putting my foot down will, like, intervene with that. And unfortunately, I didn't follow my gut and I let him keep the car again.

[A]

How did he specifically ask you if he could keep the car?

[C]

It was the exact same way. He was like, do you think I could keep the car for this extra week? I have this, this, and this. My son has his football game on this day that I'm gonna take him to, and I could really use the car for that. And he would always say, if not, it's okay, I can ask my mom or my sister to help me out. But then, I don't know, I wanted again, like, to be helpful for him. I wanted to see where the relationship would go. And so I said yes because I felt like, yeah, it was the best decision in terms of the relationship. Probably not the best decision for me myself, personally, but. Yeah.

[A]

And he's still paying you back for it?

[C]

Yeah. So. Well, this extension he paid. Yes, this. The second extension. He. He paid for the first booking, the first extension, and then this is the second extension, which he did pay for. He sent me the money right away before I had left. I think if he hadn't, maybe I wouldn't have left the car. I would have ensured that I had the money or it was returned, but he gave me the money and then I left. This time around when I left, communication is a lot worse. Like days without responding to me, days without responding and I'm like, and he

[B]

has the car and, you know, he's

[A]

on his phone all the time and

[C]

yeah, he's on his phone all the time because I saw him on his phone and I said that to him too. I remember in our text conversations, I was just like, is everything okay? Because you were on your phone when we were together, so I just. I don't understand why you can't respond. And he'd be like, I'm so sorry. I was doing this with my. Like, it always was tied to his family members. In hindsight, I'm like thinking how he always tied when he wasn't responsive to being with his sons or like at a football game or at a basketball game. And so how can I argue that or continue being upset when he's like, well, I'm so sorry I was with my son. I can't be like, too bad.

[A]

Like, you should still.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

His full attention in that regard totally makes you the bad guy.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

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[C]

So energy's way off, Texting way off. I'm getting panicked less about the relationship at this point and more about the car because I'm like, oh, this thing needs to be returned. He's not responding enough to even feel like I can make plans to go back for another visit to go return the car even. So I'm getting nervous and I'm telling him, like, it's okay. Like I'm even saying like, if you're not interested in me anymore, that's okay. But we need to return the car. Like we have to. We have to figure out the rental. And he's like, no. Oh my gosh, I can't believe you would think that. Of course I still like you. I'm so sorry. I've just been busy. Like all these things are going on. I 100 still want to see you. Let me know what days work for you. And then I would tell him. And then again he would go two or three days without responding. And then the time came with that the car needed to be returned and I was not hearing from him. So this car company starts reaching out to me. They're like, your car is overdue. You either need to extend your rental or return the vehicle. And so I'm telling him that, but then I'm not getting a straightforward response. He's telling me he'll take care of it or he'll book me a trip to come see him when we can return it. But I'm just like, I don't want anything to go wrong with this rental. So I quietly extend the rental online myself. And I don't tell him. I tell him that it's still overdue and that we need to return the car. But so that I don't get dinged with the car crazy fee, I'm just going to quickly extend it and make sure he pays me that when. When he pays me in general for whatever remaining balance there is. He again keeps just giving me the run around that he's going to return it or he's handled it, or he's working on it. He's handling it. And then I'm like, okay, well, what about the fee for the extra days that it's not been returned for? He's like, I'll send it to you. Don't worry. Not a dollar will touch your account of your own money, I promise you. I just kept thinking, like, why would you leave that car with him? Like, why did you think that that was okay? Why? Like, what if he's been in an accident with it? What if the car has been damaged? Like, I have no clue what's even happened with this car. Like, all the bad possibilities started rushing through my head of, like, when I'm not hearing from him and the car companies reaching out to me saying that they need the car back, I'm like, oh, my gosh, did he get pulled over and they saw that his license was suspended and he's in jail? Or did he, you know, wreck the car and, like, ditch it somewhere? Did he give it to somebody else to drive and that's why he can't return it? And he's giving me the right, like, every possible outcome or other situation that it could have been, like, ran through my head. And I was just honestly pretty down on myself. Like, my two friends who I was with, they heard the thoughts that I had where I was just like, I'm such an idiot for that. Like, I can't believe. And I don't feel this way now. But, like, in that moment, I was like, oh, maybe I do somewhat feel this way now, but I really heavily felt like I was really, really, really stupid, honestly, for just getting myself into that situation to begin with. And I felt A lot of shame. I didn't tell anybody besides the two friends that were had met him for the longest time. Didn't tell my mom, didn't tell my family. I didn't tell anybody because I was afraid of what they would say or like the tough love that they would give me. I just felt like super ashamed and disappointed in myself because I, I am smarter than that and I know that I'm smarter than that. And I know that leaving a rental car with. Just leaving a rental car, even with somebody with a license that's on your credit card isn't the wisest choice. But then adding on the layer of the fact that I knew his license was suspended definitely wasn't my sharpest moment. And I think I was feeling a lot of that at the time. And so times going by the time that I extended it to surpasses and then I'm getting more text messages from the car company saying that I need to return it. And then eventually I get a letter from them in the email saying, this is very overdue, you have to return the car, otherwise it will be repossessed and you'll get charged a repossession fee. In addition, you may be banned from renting further with us. And so I send him that thinking if he sees this, surely he's gonna get it together and return this car and work with me here. And he tells me that he's, he's returned it. And so I'm like, okay, maybe like they like, you know, maybe their system like auto sent it. I don't know. Again, I'm like making it make more sense in my house.

[A]

It wasn't the whole thing that if he returns it without you, you're gonna get another penalty. So he's.

[C]

I know. Well, then he said that there's like after hours drop off where you can leave it in the parking lot with the keys inside and lock the vehicle. And I'm just like. And like, why didn't you tell me that? Did we do that in the first place? Obviously now I'm like, oh, because you wanted to keep using the car. So he tells me he's returned it. He told me that he handled it with his sister. Also, he's not responsive, as in the relationship aspect. At this point I feel like it's important to highlight like we were obviously just communicating about the car because he was barely even communicating about that.

[B]

He was kind of ghosting a little bit with the exception of the car

[C]

ghosting me even about the car. But then I don't Know, I guess felt some moral battle to get back to me about the car. I don't even know why he chose to. I don't know. I'm very confused.

[A]

But he's not less pretty lady conversation.

[C]

Well, no, he's still like in all his messages calling me pretty lady, being flirty, being like, I've handled it, don't worry and being flirty, but I'm not, I'm just like, okay, we need to deal with this. All of my communication became more straightforward just about the car. And I was less. I didn't, I didn't want to see him anymore at that point. There was a point when I was like waiting for the money or asking him for the money for that last extension that I was being kinder just to kind of see if I could get some give from him. But no, he was like definitely trying to ghost me, I think. Until I was like, they're gonna repossess the car. And then he said he handled it. And so, yeah, he says he returns it. Few days, goes on. I'm not hearing from them either, which is very important to know. He said he returned it. I didn't get any more phone calls from them, no email follow ups, nothing. So I was like, okay, like he probably returned it. And I was checking my credit card statement for the final charge. Nothing came through yet. Which I was like, I feel like they would have charged me if you returned it, but I don't know. I also hadn't really rented cars before this. I'm not familiar with the whole process or how the billing goes at the end, but all signs seem to say that he did return the car. And so I'm relaxing a little bit and I remember vividly I was sitting right here actually in this exact spot, getting ready to go to my friend's house for our friend's mess. And then I get a phone call from a LA number and I thought maybe this is him, maybe he got a new phone. Maybe that's why he's not being so responsive. Maybe he changed his number, I don't know. So I pick up the phone call thinking it's going to be him. And it's someone saying, oh, hi, this is so and so from this towing company. I've been sent from her to repossess the card. If you can't, it's okay. Like we can get in without the key, but then you will get charged for like a key replacement fee. And I'm like lying. There's no way. There is no way. And so I Have to tell the guy the truth. I'm like, sir, I'm so sorry. Unfortunately, I'm not there. I did let somebody else drive the car. Let me try to call him and see if he can come down and give you the key. Can you please send me a photo of where you're at with the car as well? Because I was like, I need evidence for where this was found. Because he told me he returned it. And so I text him, and I was like, what are you doing? You didn't return the car, you liar. They're downstairs right now repossessing the car. And he doesn't respond at first. I'm blowing up his phone. He's not answering. And then finally he text me, and he's like, it's done. I handled it. And I was like, you're lying. Like, they. They're repossessing it right now. This is not handling it. Having it get to a point of repossess, possession, of not handling it. You lied to me. You told me that you returned it. You didn't return it. And so I was like, you need to call me back. I need an explanation for this. And I also need to know how you plan on repaying the rest of this, because that was like a full week at least since he told me he returned it. So there was all that overage that was being charged to my card. And he was like, yeah, I'll call you back. I'm at my son's basketball game. Of course he didn't call me back. And then I finally get the final charge. Hitting my statement. They charged me 5,003 for this car because not only did he not return it when he said he did, so I paid for the extra extension. That was one bill that he didn't pay for yet, because I did that without him even knowing so that I would thought I would be protected. Then the final charge for all those extra days added on all of the toll charges he incurred that I was not even aware about. During tolls, he was taking the fast lane, I think, everywhere he could, because there was $500 just in toll fees.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[C]

So I get a huge charge also banned from hers as well. They let me know that I'm banned. And what I didn't know is tolls you also pay separately. So there's the charge. And then you have to manually, like, pay that toll fee yourself. Otherwise they charge interest. I couldn't let that happen. So I paid it for him so that I wasn't getting charged interest. And then Added that to the balance that he owed me. I start texting him for the payment. He is telling me he's gonna send it. He's just sorting out the account to send it from. And so I give him like two or three days, and then I follow up and he says that his Venmo account is locked because of a transaction that he did that got flagged, but that he's, like, talking to their, like, resolution team and they're going to be unlocking it. It's no problem. And then he says that they tell him it's not going to be unlocked for X amount of weeks. And I was like, that. That doesn't work for me. My credit card bill is due in 20 days max. Like, that's.

[A]

We got. We got cash app, we got wires,

[C]

we got all you need to figure this out. But he says that that's his only way he can send it and that it's locked. And so I'm like, okay, I don't know. I didn't know what I could do in that situation besides just, like, hope for the best, that he's gonna send it to me and keep following up on it. So I keep following up on it, and he's giving me the run around, just telling me, like, you know, he's still waiting for it to get unlocked. Then the day comes that, like, it's supposed to be unlocked, and he's telling me that he is waiting for a deposit Then, and the story's changing, and this is all text messages. So I'm seeing him get caught up in these lies of, like, what's actually happening with the payment. And so I'm telling him, but you. First you said it was your account was locked, and now you're saying you're waiting for this deposit. I just really want to make sure that I get this money. Like, my credit card bill is due at this time. I really don't want to have to pay the interest. Giving me a lot of anxiety. They're making me really anxious. And also, he's still trying to call me pretty lady and flirt through all of this. And I'm telling him, like, I'm not like, you need bro, please. And then finally there comes a day where I get a little bit less kind, and I'm just like, listen, like, I need you to send me this money. If you don't send me this money, I'm going to post you in the local are we dating the same guy? Group and warn people about you. And he gets really defensive. He's like, I told you you would never not be paying a penny for this. I'm going to send you the money. I just need you to be patient. I'm being honest with you. I'm just trying to figure out, like, this, this and this. And I'm like, it just doesn't feel that way. You need to put yourself in my shoes and understand that I just got charged this large sum of money. You're not responsive, and it's really hard to believe in. He's like, I know, I can totally understand why you feel that way, but I'm telling you, I am going to pay for it. I'm just figuring this out. I can't control that this thing got locked or this, this and this. And I was just like, okay, you keep saying that, but yet I did get charged for it. So even though you still say that I'm not going to be paying for it, I feel like I'm paying for it right now. And he just keeps telling me to be patient. And then I was like, okay, I need you to promise me consistent communication. I want daily check ins on the status of all of this because, like, the only way I'm gonna feel like somewhat okay. And he agrees to it, but then goes four days without responding. So on the fourth day I said it. I'm posting in the RV dating the same guy group. And at this point I'm like, okay, if I post him, I'm probably not. He's not repaying me, likely after I post this, but at least I can let people know what he did to me and warn girls in his area in la.

[A]

Wow.

[C]

So I write up my post, I follow all the group guidelines. I posted anonymously because they have the feature where you can post anonymously for your protection in these groups. And so I posted anonymously. I kept it as detailed, but also as vague as possible, if that makes sense. Like all the details about what he did. Wrong, but vague.

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

Who I am. And at first no comments came through for hours. And I was really anxious after I posted it too, because I was just like, like, it's always scary posting in one of those groups and finding out what this man could possibly be. And then I see that I got a notification and oh my gosh, the first one was actually the craziest one too. The first comment was an anonymous comment and it was someone saying I was dealing with him during this time period. He ended up scamming me as well by running up charges on my afterpay account and then leaving me with the bill and not paying me for it. And then they.

[D]

Oh, my God.

[C]

What's interesting is in their comment, they were like, yeah, I had a suspicious charge for the airline that my friend flew home with from Vegas. Or, sorry, she flew from Utah, but the airline that she flew back from, there was a charge for the new flight he booked her. And I immediately was like, oh, my gosh. My heart sunk to my stomach at that point. I. I was like, oh, gosh, all of this was a lie. Like, none of this was what I thought it was. Immediately. All of those red flags that I didn't see before were just coming right front and center. And I was seeing all of it. I was like, oh, my gosh. If that flight was charged on her card, who paid for the toiletries? Who paid for the hotel? Like, wait, wait. Or was it someone else?

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

So you're saying that this person who commented on the Facebook post says, I got a charge from another airline, and you recognize that airline as the one he said he bought for your friend, so he used this person's credit card. Oh, my gosh.

[C]

Exactly that. So I commented back to her, and I was just like. Like, girl, if I comment my phone number, will you please text me? Because I know exactly what that airline charges from. And so she does. I comment my phone number very fast. She texts me. I delete my phone number off of the thread, and I start talking to this girl, and she's telling me her story, and she's saying how they were dating. He dipped off in communication around September, which is exactly when I met him in Vegas. And she tells me that they were dating. She was really enjoying getting to know him. They're both parents, and she's a single mom, so they really bonded over that. That mutual connection of having young children. And I guess when she was explaining it to me, she said that they were hanging out one day, and he was trying to buy something, and something went wrong with his account, and he was asking her, hey, do you think you could put this on your car and I'll send you the payments right away? But my account's just not letting me do it. And I guess she was feeling the same way as me of, like, you know, things were so good. I don't know I speak for her, but the way she said it was like, things were good, she felt comfortable doing. So he gave her the money for that first charge.

[A]

Klarna is the thing, just in case somebody doesn't know. Klarna finance program. Yeah. So, like, if I can't Afford the sweater. I'll pay it in quarters.

[B]

200? Yeah, you could do like 50 every

[A]

two weeks or whatever. Okay, keep going.

[C]

So she lets him make that purchase, and then as the relationship continues progressing, he ends up getting access to the afterpay account and making further purchases. And from what she told me in the beginning, similar to my situation, he was sending her the money right away, so she felt comfortable until it got to the point where he wasn't sending the money right away. And so as we're discussing, she's telling me more about the charges, and it is more of the charges that I knew were from us, like the hotels and the toiletries and the food on her car. But then more comments started to come in on the Facebook post while I'm talking to her. Unlike raveling all of that, more comments come in about other women who. He did the exact same thing with Klarna and after pay account. And I'm responding to them the same way. Just like, like, please, will you reach out to me? And unfortunately, a lot of the girls were saying how they've left that chapter behind them. It was too draining and too exhausting to try to deal with with him. And that definitely made my heart sink even further because I was like, yeah, these girls went through this, and it got to a point where they just couldn't even do it anymore. Then, oh, gosh, like, what am I getting into now? I was really upset, obviously, reading all that, and I respected them. I let them know, like, that's totally fine. If you change your mind, I would really love to hear from you more because I'm trying to connect all these dots now and figure this all out. But despite that, even just hearing from this one girl, I was like, this is enough to know. And seeing those comments is enough to know that you are a serial scammer. Like, you're doing this to people.

[A]

He's the after pay.

[C]

He's the after pay. That's a good way to put it.

[A]

My name for him.

[C]

It was really devastating, honestly, because I am a lover girl. And so I really did like him a lot. And at first, I couldn't even process those feelings because I was so worried about the financial aspect of it and about, like, just getting the car sorted and the car bill. But then when, you know, these other girls started to comment in, the timelines are kind of overlapping. I was like, oh, damn. Not only did you scam me and not return this car, but you also lied to me about all these other things. And so I don't Even know how much of this was real. And honestly just felt like, yeah, devastating. Like, my heart just felt broken. Honestly, I wasn't. I did not love the guy. I wasn't at that point, but I was really, really interested in him and I really liked him. And I opened up to him a lot about my childhood and my life, and I told him why I wasn't in a relationship for so long. Like, I opened up about all those things, and so it just sucked because I wouldn't have liked to share those details with him. It also sucks because, like, I finally thought I found someone who I could see consistently and also for being single for so long and then. And that wasn't like I was casually dating in between either. Like, I was damn near celibate. Not fully, but I was basically celibate the whole time. And so finally meeting somebody that I felt comfortable sharing my body with and my emotions with and my history, my story, my childhood with, and then losing all that and finding out that it wasn't even really real to begin with and that I also don't have that person that I can go see anymore, just really sucked. Like, it just. The money aside, I was like, damn, I was really excited to have a little boo to go see and have sleepovers with and keep getting to know. And then it went back to like, okay, great, Now I was just feeling ready enough to date again. Found you. And now I'm straight back to like, thanks a lot.

[B]

Yeah, thanks a lot for ruining my life again.

[C]

Literally ruined my life, ruined my progress. But then he finds out about the post, so.

[A]

Oh, no.

[C]

Who told him?

[B]

Oh, my God, someone's not a girl's girl.

[C]

No, those groups, I could. I could. I could have a whole podcast on just how I feel about those groups, honestly, after the fact, they're not gray as people think that they are. They're not what I thought that they were.

[A]

Well, I. But we've definitely heard stories from people that say, like, yeah, obviously they helped in some ways and then hurt in other ways. If you want. I know you have. We don't have a separate episode, but what do you mean? Like, what was bad about them for you?

[C]

I, in the end, got banned for sharing my story about him on there. Basically removed my access to protect women in. In his actual area. Like, I've posted it on my Tick Tock and like, you know, I'm talking about it with you guys and I'm doing what I can to spread awareness about him, but being in that local group that he lives in would be the best way to spread awareness about him, to make sure that women can see his face and know what he's done. But, yeah, they banned me. And the reason is because I mentioned the group's existence in my TikTok. When I talked about this, I didn't say anything bad. I just said, oh, I posted about him. Just like I'm telling you guys, I posted about.

[A]

Wait, that's crazy. So you mentioned that you posted it on Tick Tock and they were like, you can't do that. Geez, you wouldn't be allowed in these groups, would we? We talk about it all the time.

[C]

Yeah, no, they were like, you can only talk about the group's existence outside of the group if you're defending it.

[B]

You don't talk about Fight Club. There's one rule about fight Club. You don't talk about fight Club.

[C]

You don't talk about it. Pretty much. Which, like, I get it, they want to keep the group safe, but let's be real, everybody knows about those groups. So talking about their existence in the way that I was, just by saying I posted in it, I didn't think was that big of a deal. And I felt like, you know, you care more about your group's reputation than actually protecting the woman in this area from this harmful man who I have proven is very harmful. Okay, then this group is maybe not what I thought it was.

[A]

If anyone listening has been banned from. Are we dating the same guy? Will you share your story and tell us why?

[C]

Seriously? I know I can't be the only one.

[A]

Okay, so anyway, you're talking to these girls who have all been scared, and

[C]

then he finds out about the group. He texts me very vulgar words about how awful I am for posting him and how I should have just been patient. And he doesn't need to pay me back now because I posted him. And I was like, no, no, no, no. You still owe me this money. Let's not forget that the money's to do with the car, not to do with your reputation or this Facebook group. He's going off on me saying that all I needed to do was be patient, trying to shift all the blame onto me and basically say that I don't need this money. If I'm going to be posting him, then all I need, like, I'm getting the attention I want. And I was like, this isn't about attention. I'm seeing that you've done horrible things to other woman. Everything you paid for for me was on the dime of another woman. Yeah, I Need you to just pay me back. But then also, even as I was saying that to him, I was like, this feels wrong now because are you going to pay me back with one of these women's money? I don't even know how I go about this anymore because I don't know if I can trust where the money is coming from. But I also feel like I don't want to be out thousands of dollars. It was just a really shitty situation. He ends up saying, you know, if you delete the post, I'll send you the money right away. I don't really believe him, but in my head I'm like, you know what, let me follow this. Let me have it in writing. Him saying he's gonna pay me. As soon as I delete the post, I'll delete the post. Hopefully he just does it. And this can just be like, well, I was going to repost him regardless, but at the time I'm gonna tell him, you know, we can leave this in the past and go forward. And so I delete the post. Of course he doesn't send me the money. I wait a few days. I'm way too patient, I think than I should be. But I wait a few days, I give him a few days, give him the benefit of the doubt. He doesn't send me the money. So I post him again. When I post him again, my post just disappears. It gets reported or the admins deleted it, I don't know. But usually when your posts get flagged in those groups, they give you a reason, a feedback reason for what group rule you broke and there was nothing there. So I was like weird, like I don't know why my post is gone. So I post them again and it gets, gets removed again and I'm like, we're like just so odd. I think that like people, he knows, people in those groups for sure who

[A]

had to have been like catfished his way into it.

[C]

Honestly, I would not be surprised. Maybe all that time in the bathroom was who knows what plus getting in on the ring, the same guy groups. But yeah, my post just keep getting removed. He's not sending the money. He is saying he's working on it. I, I don't have the post up so he has no reason to say he's not paying me, we're on good terms. I put in air quotes because how good of terms could it really be in this situation? But he's saying he's still gonna pay me. We're, we're still in communication so far despite that Initial conversation of him being very angry that I made that initial post. Things have kind of simmered down and he's again back to saying he's gonna pay me back.

[A]

And there's no conversation of him being like, I want to see you again. Like, I miss you. Like, there's no.

[C]

He did say at one point during that initial Facebook post and, like, that huge, like, conversation, we got into it off very vulgar, and then simmered down as we agreed to delete it. And him paying me. He did say, he's like, it really sucks because, like, that you, like, you think this of me. Like, those that. Those comments in that group aren't even true. It's just people trying to bring me down, people from my past. You don't even know the full story. Like, none of that is true. Lying to me about all of it and saying it just really sucks because I really did like you and I really did like getting to know you, and I still like you. And I just wish that, like, you could, like, blah, blah, blah, be patient and know that I wasn't trying to do anything like this to you. This isn't what it seems. I didn't know my account was going to get lost. Nothing like this has ever happened to me. He starts again flaunting his money, saying, like, I've never not had money. Like, I've had millions before, and, oh, God, I just couldn't have seen this coming. And I'm like, I really hope you know that, like, I'm going to pay you back. And I'm just like, yeah, you keep saying that, but yet no payments have come my way. And so do you think he was

[A]

going to pay you back at this point, or were you kind of like, I just want to see what happens.

[C]

I would say it was like 90% sure he wasn't going to pay me back, but 10% of like, I still want to hold on to hope because it's a lot of money and I wanted it. So I feel like, like part of me was just trying to hang on to any glimmer of hope that he would pay me back. But majority of my mind knew that he. He wasn't going to pay me back. And even that 10 of the hope that he would was still conflicted with where was that fund coming from? And so then I lose my job, of course, like, right after I paid this large bill and he's like giving me the run around to pay me back. I lose my job, unfortunately. And so my income stopped, obviously, and I let him Know that honestly, blessing in disguise. But at the time, it was very, very stressful because of that large charge and just everything going on. But I let him know, thinking maybe this will make him feel bad and he'll put a little bit more work into paying me back. No, not the case. He doesn't even acknowledge that message. Actually, it's one of the messages that he ignored. And then when he did eventually come back and say, sorry, I wouldn't wrestle when I was going through this, like, I'm working on getting the funds for you. I would say, like, you know, I literally told you I lost my job, and you have no urgency to make this right. Like. Like, I'm. I'm struggling here, and everything just stays the same. Honestly, from, like, losing my job till around March, his communication stays just as horrible. Anytime he does communicate, he's the same exact excuse of he's working on it, he's doing this, he's getting it together, he's gonna send it to me soon. He's never been this low in his life, and he's just trying to get out of this. Like, he said he was stuck between a rock and a hard place. That was his exact verbiage every single time. That he's never been stuck between a rock and a hard place like this before. And he's just doing what he can to get out of it. I'm on the top of his list just to make things right and pay it back. And I'm just like, okay, like, when I need this money. But again, still conflicting internally of like, where is it coming from? And I really don't believe you're actually gonna do it. But then to my surprise, come March, it's my birthday, and on my birthday, he sends me 300 out of what he owes me.

[A]

Yeah, Happy birthday.

[C]

I guess it was. You know, it gave me more hope. It definitely made me feel like, okay, maybe he really was just going through something really bad. Like, maybe he did never intend to do this. Sounds awful, but I was like, you know, maybe my situation was different because I did feel like the intentions in the beginning were good. The car was for a weekend. We did have that great weekend together. Maybe this did just end up in a sticky situation unintentionally. And he didn't ever ask me to open a Klarna account. He never asked me to do anything like that. So I was telling myself, maybe I. Maybe I was different than these other girls. Ew, I hate that. But I was like, okay, maybe because he just sent this 300 maybe he really, truly was trying to get it together. And he said that he'll send weekly payments of at least 300 until it's all paid off. And I'm like, okay, sure. One week goes by, no further payment, tells me that he is working on it again, just the exact same run around. And so I'm like, okay, you're again, probably not going to pay me. I'm really not buying it. But I keep pushing forward. I really can't, like, dwell all day, every day consistently, like, begging him for this money. So I'm kind of trying to move on and not let go of it because I'm pretty stubborn, and I don't want to let go of it, but try my best to keep moving forward without it letting. Just, like, letting it take over everything.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

And then time keeps going on. I'm sending maybe a check in, like, once a week or maybe even two weeks. Like, I'm being really, really patient and lenient with it, but still not fully letting it go and letting him know that, hey, I'm still here, and I'm still expecting this money. And then June 1st rolls around, still no further payments. By this point, there's not much that goes along. Oh, my.

[A]

How long ago was that? That trip where you first rented the car?

[B]

Yeah.

[C]

That was in September, 2025.

[A]

I'm doing math.

[B]

Oh, my God.

[A]

Wait, 2025. So June. June. Like a month ago June?

[C]

Yeah, like. Like last last month, June 1st. I've received that one extra 300 payment besides the initial payments that he did give. And I sent him a message, and I was like, listen, I need the money by June 15th. If I don't receive the rest of this payment by June 15th, I'm gonna go all over the media with your name, your face, and exactly what you've done to me and these other women. I'm gonna post it on every social media app that I have. I'm gonna plaster your face everywhere to make sure that everybody knows what kind of person you are. And I know that you're not gonna pay me back after I do that. That's fine. But I'm gonna make sure that you can't do this to anybody else. Else. You have until June 15th. So I gave him just over two weeks to figure it out. He doesn't respond to that message. June 15th rolls around. He still hasn't responded. So I'm like, okay. And I didn't get any payments, obviously. I'm like, all right, I'm gonna put it everywhere. And I took a Few days to process that internally. Like, what that meant I was going to be sharing and putting myself out there like that. And then I sat down and I recorded it for my TikTok and I told everybody what had happened. The Tick Tock did numbers, which I didn't expect. My account.

[B]

I don't.

[C]

I'm not. I am not a con. Like, I do not have a lot of followers. I am not someone who has viral videos by any means. I had like one other video in my life that like, went somewhere, but this one went somewhere fast. People are starting to reach out to me.

[A]

What were people saying?

[C]

You know, it was a mixed review. A lot of people were like, why are you telling us? Why aren't you telling the police? And I'm like, I did, but I'm not gonna, you know. You know, I don't need to tell that to the Tick Tock.

[B]

That's.

[C]

That's. Yeah.

[A]

You did tell the police, though.

[C]

I want to hear. I did.

[A]

Can you tell us that?

[C]

I did call them before the TikTok post, but it was pretty minor. I just called them, told them that he did this and that. I knew he was doing things to other women as well with their funds, but the police basically just said, this is a civil matter, we can't really do anything to help you, so good luck and sorry that happened. Which is like, annoying, but it's true. I mean, for my situation, unfortunately, I did willingly rent the car, so it wasn't a criminal matter. He didn't force me to a car rental place, force me to sign a lease and like, take the car. You know, you do any of that. But yeah, the TikTok response was mostly a lot of people saying, why didn't you call the police? A lot of people telling to sue him. And then there was some people who knew him. There was a few people who were like, oh, I have him on Snapchat. He was Snapchatting me. Or I saw your post in the are we dating the same guy group. I was trying to look for it. There was one girl who told me that she was in communication with him and would casually hook up with him. But as soon as she saw my post on are we dating the same guy? Completely stopped responding to him. And I was like, thank goodness that in doing this I've at least stopped. If it's just one girl that I stopped from getting harmed from him, then I've done at least. It's worth it here.

[B]

Yep.

[A]

Oh, I bet that felt really good. I mean, not good, but.

[C]

But yeah, it was one of those ledge sword where you're like, I wish

[A]

I didn't have to.

[C]

Yeah. But I'm glad because I just, you know, if someone had posted about him prior to me being involved, maybe I wouldn't have had to go through this. So I'm really glad that I could share my experience and prevent that. I could try to pursue civilization law as well and try to go to small claims court, but I don't know. I don't want to go through that process. Who wants to go through that process? They don't have to. I thought maybe he would send it by posting. And also I knew that going through civil law and going through small claims court from my understanding is they garnish wages from somebody. And he wasn't working a job that you can garnish wages from. He was selling appliances on his own. So I was like, what's the point in dragging myself through all of that for like basically the same outcome in my mind. And it's still something that I am thinking about and I have talked to attorneys and I'm still, it's still on my mind as a possible option. But I don't know. Honestly, the Tick tock was cost more than it's worth. It might and I don't want to spend any more money on him or the situation. Rather so bi post that Tick tock. It gains lots of traction. The first day that I posted it, he responded. So it was June 18th and he texts me, which is such a coincidence. He does text me, but he texts me as if he hasn't seen it or like he doesn't know that I posted it as if nothing happened. He was just like, hey, I know it's been a while. I'm not going to give you excuses or give you the run around, but I almost have it together and I'm going to send you some money soon. And in my mind I don't even respond to his text message because I'm like, don't believe you. I think you're just trying to save face because you saw my Tick Tock video and you're trying to be a lot less, less aggressive with your response so that it seems like you're the nice guy and you're trying to make this right and you were never trying to do all of that. But when he responded to the Facebook post, it was a lot less kind. And so I was like, I wonder. So he responds nice at first and then all of a sudden he hits me with, you've got to be Kidding me? You posted, I hope you got the attention you wanted. He said, I can't believe I ever messed with a bitch with no home training like you.

[A]

What?

[C]

Because I posted him this guy.

[A]

Wait, with no wait. That's so this freaking guy. Rude.

[C]

He called me a suicide bomber who would rather blow up everybody else's than just be patient and deal with it on my own.

[B]

Oh, my God. You mean you don't want me to raise awareness for the. You're doing. That's what you don't.

[C]

You don't want other women to know because then who are you gonna scam next?

[A]

You're right. It does blow up his whole plan.

[C]

So that was the goal. That was like, if you're not gonna pay me, I just need to make sure you can't do this to other women. And I kept telling him that, too. I was like, I. If you think I'm doing this for attention, then that speaks to who you are. And we're going back and forth. It's him constantly, just in different words, telling me that I should have been more patient. All I needed to do was be patient. I'm like, six months is patient. I don't know how much more patience you expect from me. I lost my job. I paid the bill. I paid the tolls. Like, I have been patient. I've gone weeks without even following up with you and giving you time and space. Like, I've been patient. You need to just figure this out. Get a real job. And he says, I would. I will, if it's something I think I need to do. I'm like, when you owe this many people money, it should be the first thing you feel like you need to do. And then time passes, the tiktoks up. It's going around. He tells me that it's only fair for him to pay me back if I delete the TikTok. I said, nope, I fell for that before. You told me that when I had the first Facebook post in January, and you still haven't paid me back since then. So why would I believe that you're going to pay me back if I delete this TikTok? I'm not deleting the TikTok. If. When you pay me back, then we can discuss the potential removal of my videos. Thank you, but yes, only if and when I receive my money. Up until then, that video is staying up and I'll post more as well. So then I get a comment on it that says, omg, not my baby daddy. Oh, not my baby daddy. What Baby mama unlocked. So I, like, messaged the baby mama, and I was like, hey, I don't know what your relationship with him is like. I don't know if you guys are on good terms, but I could really use your help with some things. And she's like, I don't like to get involved with his girlfriend drama, and I don't know how much I could help you. To be frank. Like, he owes me a lot of child support, so that's my main concern over what he may owe other women. And I was like, that's so interesting. I'm so sorry to hear that, because he made it seem like he was such a present, great, great father, and I would assume he'd pay his child support. She's like, he said he was a present father? No, no, no, Not. Not at all. And I was like, that's crazy. She's like, what did he tell you? And I was like, oh, he always told me he was at his son's football games, at his basketball games, doing all these things for his son, buying him gifts. She was like, buying him gifts? He's bought him one pair of shoes in the past year, and that's about it. And I'm like, oh, I saw him buying jackets and clothes and, like, all these types of things. Like, did he just return all those things after? And he was just trying to flex possibly? She's like, no, he got one pair of shoes, max, and he's not received anything else from his father this whole time. She even told me that the other child swims, but doesn't do other sports, but that he has never gone to his other son's swimming practices or anything to do with his other son. So she was like, I don't know how much I could help you, honestly. I was like, oh, I'm not, like, expecting you to ask him to give me the money, but if you could help me get his new address, that's all I really need, so that if I do decide to serve him, to take him to court, I need that address. And she said she doesn't know it because he was recently evicted, but that if she gets access to his new address, she'll give it to me. So that was the last conversation I had with her. I. I don't really want to bug her about it, but one day she comes to me with the address, and maybe I can take him to small claims court with that. But coincidentally, the day that she messaged me, he also came back at me, like, really, really rude, asking me again to tell Me delete these posts, calling me all the names in the book again. At that point, I'm just like, I don't want to deal with you. You have to pay me back this money regardless. Like, I don't know how to get that through your head. And so I ended up sending him a formal demand letter through text because I don't have his address stating, this is what you owe me. This is why you've acknowledged that you owe me it. This is a formal demand letter for payment before I do take whatever legal action I can. And I sent that to him with the total at the bottom my PayPal link. And then I blocked him because I was just like, I don't. I don't want to go back and forth just to say the same thing over and over and over again. It's draining. It's very draining. And I know that that's what you're trying to do. Like, now that I'm, like, processing it all and I've gotten all this information, I know that you're trying to frustrate me and entire me and exhaust me of the situation to the point where I just let it go. But he met his motherfucking match, and that's not gonna happen because I'm not letting this go.

[B]

Amen.

[C]

Spread awareness about this because it's so just. It's disgusting. Like, you have children whose mothers are struggling at your hands. Hands. You've made another mother, single mother, who maybe not your baby mother, but she's a single mom, and you make. You're making her struggle at your hands. I might. I have my fur babies and I'm struggling at your hands. It's just disgusting. So I block him, and obviously he can't reach out to me anymore. And then I post him on my Instagram. And this is the one I did last because it was honestly the one I was most scared of. Just because Instagram is more personal, I feel like it's more people that I actually know in real life. Tick tock. Like, the algorithm can just take it away and do what it pleases. It's not really so many people from my personal life, but Instagram, yeah, was kind of like my last one that was going to be a little bit more personal. So I did post on my Instagram and the friend. His friend, who my friend knew, the one that we met originally in Vegas, we follow each other on Instagram, so I knew that he was going to see that, and he did. And he directly himself did not reach out to me, but he had A bunch of his friends and his brother all harassed me, calling me all these kinds of names, saying that I shouldn't be using men to begin with.

[A]

And.

[C]

And, oh, I'm attention seeking and just like, all these things. So I'm just like, blocking them because I'm not. I'm not going to deal with it. But mostly a positive response. He's locked, so I have no idea what he's saying or trying to say or wants to say, but posted it there and then did reach out to his mother as well, because, again, like, anything I can do at this point, I want to do, so I reach out to his mom.

[A]

How did you reach out to her? On what platform? What did you say? I need it all.

[C]

I Facebook messaged her.

[B]

Facebook message? That's the way to go.

[C]

Yeah, I Facebook messaged her. And I was honestly so polite, too, and respectful, even though I wanted to be like, your ass son is so. And like, you need to figure this out. I'm just like, hey, like, I want to talk, you know. Yeah, about what? Your son. You know, the situation with your son here. Like, he owes me this much money for this reason. I also know that there's a few other women that he has some wrongdoings to correct with. It's not your responsibility, but I'm really hoping you can encourage him to make this right, because I really don't want to have to take this further than it is. So I would really appreciate if you could talk to him, try to talk some sense into him. She blocked me. No response.

[A]

I'm sure he's lying, lying up his butt to, oh, 100, saying, yeah, who knows what?

[C]

She's lying. This never happened. I have all the proof. I have all the receipts. It's all. But either way, she blocks me. And I think it's mostly because she. She's benefiting off of it. Another reason that I found him attractive in the beginning is because he was uplifting the woman in his life and speaking so highly about his mom and his sisters and how their father wasn't present. So he was really the man of the family. And since a young age, he was taking care of them. Like, he got his sister a car for her birthday, and he pays his mom's phone bill every month. So in my mind, after she blocked me, I was like, oh, you benefit off of it. His scamming is paying your bills. So of course you're not going to tell him to stop. You're going to keep enabling it because you want to keep benefiting off of it. So, yeah, she blocked me. I blocked all these friends who are harassing me. And that's where it's at now is like, he's blocked. My post is up and honestly, going through another resurgence these past couple days, so even more people are seeing it and finding out about him.

[A]

And I'm sure you'll get more and more stories about him. Unfortunately.

[C]

Unfortunately, I think I will. I think I'm just scratching the surface because I feel like if you've been able to successfully do this with the women that I do know about there, it has to be so much more than what I can see. There's no way that it's just that. And it's just a fluke that you were able to successfully scam these four and me and there's no one else. Like, there has to be more. But yeah, that was my experience with him still out about $3,000.

[A]

I'm so sorry. What a. It's so shitty.

[B]

I wanted to say, like, there's. So when someone asks you to borrow money and you loan it to them and they use it for something different than what they said they were going to use it for, that's a crime, right? That's an arrestable offense. Okay. I don't know how much it'll hold up, but whatever, it's still a crime. I wonder if the rental car thing is along the same lines. Like. But I mean, I guess I see your point to like, if you rented the car and then let him drive it. I guess. I don't know. Ah, it just sucks. Like, that's a. Yeah.

[A]

He didn't technically steal money from you.

[C]

So from my understanding, because I did call a few attorneys in his area, I Many free consultations as I could take and just see what my options were. And most of them were like, you could try to go for him because you haven't been writing him acknowledging that he owes you that money. So it's less of like the car rental and the contract with the hurt. Like none of that, but more so you have a contract with him in writing through text that he was responsible for paying you for that. And so you could try to take him to small claims for it with that. Not so much like he stole the car or he didn't pay for the car to the rental company because I was responsible for the rental car company being paid and I paid it. So my responsibility was. Was done. I did what I needed to do. His responsibility was to uphold the agreement he gave me of paying me back for that car. Rental. And so that is where I might have legal grounds. But then letting someone drive a car with a suspended license is also an offense. So. Man, I did make mistakes in all of this. And I didn't make the best choices through all of this. But all because of being love bombed and manipulated and fed these lies that I think most people who, you know, I'm a lover girl at my core. So I like to believe people when it comes to those types of things. I want to give people the benefit of the doubt. I want to assume goodwill and all these people that I meet because why would I come out in a negative mindset? But unfortunately that led me to maybe not making the wisest choices. But I still think like you never

[A]

deserve this you can make.

[C]

I don't think I did at all day long.

[A]

It doesn't mean you deserve to be scammed. Like.

[C]

No.

[A]

That's why we're constantly. You know. Of course we get comments and I'm sure you've gotten comments on your tick tock that are like, well you shouldn't have done xyz. And it's like, yeah, we all shouldn't. I should have made my bed this morning. But like, it's okay. You make mistakes. You learn from them. But you're not malicious. And this guy is. And that's where, yeah, it. The line is so clear to me.

[C]

100 and yeah, a lot of people did comment stuff like that. They're like, you put yourself in this situation. What do you want us to do? And I'm like, like I don't want anybody to do anything for me besides maybe hit the repost button if you feel like this would help people that follow you. That's all I'm really asking for when I post it. I'm not asking for someone to pay me. I'm not asking for any of that. I'm just looking to spread awareness about him because like, yeah, and I even said it in my video. I know I made mistakes. I know I didn't make the smartest choices. I know that there's things that in hindsight I would never do now. But yeah, we all make those mistakes. And I. I'm not looking for anyone to fix this for me at all. I'm not gonna figure it out on my own. But I'm gonna just try to help

[A]

the next girl about it.

[C]

Exactly. Exactly. Because I do wish that one of those other girls had posted about it because I was frequently searching that group. But I can't blame them either because now that I'm Going through this, I see how draining it is, and I understand how daunting it is. And even just, like, I don't care that people know this now because it's out there for the world. But it was very anxiety inducing when it first started to go viral. I'm not used to that. And the thought of how many people saw what he did then, that's great. But also saw how silly my choices were. Like, that does feel embarrassing. And there is shame that goes with that. But I'm just trying to remind myself that the outcome of protecting other women is so much more worth it than, like, the amount of shame that I might feel from the choices that I made.

[B]

But we should never feel shame around feeling like we're doing something for someone else. You know what I mean? But. And that's the problem is that we all feel like. Like in the moment, you're like, oh, good. You kind of feel like you're helping someone and you're taking care of them or doing something for them, but in the end, only when we realize they're taking advantage of us do we feel bad for it. And so the shame should never be around what you did, and we should never feel dumb for it, but we do. We really do. And that sucks.

[D]

I know.

[C]

And it's so.

[B]

It's.

[C]

You're so right. Like, it. We shouldn't. And I don't know how to, like, not feel that feeling. I mean, as time passes, I feel less and less ashamed because I get more and more angry at the whole situation. And I'm like, no, I didn't even. I was just. Just doing what anyone would do. And believing someone who's feeding you so much sparkle, that's not even really there.

[A]

Right? And it's not like he wasn't paying for stuff. He wasn't initially like, hey, can you pay for dinner? I'll pay you back. He was paying for.

[C]

No, exactly. And it is. Everything was paid for up front. Anytime I came to see him, he paid for me to get there. Every. Everything was paid for. Every little thing you want grapes. Grapes are on the way. On doordash. Like, everything. So. So I think a lot of people fail to put themselves into the shoes or at least try to before they speak. And they think they wouldn't ever do that. But I also said the same thing. I have definitely watched people's story times online before and been like, I would never do that, but I would and I did. And everybody would and might fall for something stupid that they think they never would.

[A]

Well, we always say the minute you start thinking that you couldn't fall for it is when you're the most vulnerable.

[B]

Is when you're the most vulnerable.

[D]

Yep.

[A]

And it's true. Looking back on that. So hindsight's 20 20, as you've said, and you've already kind of mentioned this, but do you want to go through maybe some of the moments that in the moment felt so good and now hindsight you're able to be like, oh, that was this red flag. That was this red flag. Do you know what I mean?

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Just to help you help the next girl is what I'm trying to get to.

[C]

I think if it seems too good to be true, it probably is like someone paying for, for every little thing

[B]

like that, it can seem love bombing. Right.

[C]

And it can be really easy, as I experienced, to get caught up in it and accept all of it. But I think if it seems too good to be true and it seems like something that's so out of the ordinary, like that where they're paying for every single, like paying for your friend's flight, I don't know, that was a bit much. In hindsight, I wouldn't typically let someone do that. That's not the type of people we usually like. I like, we like to put pay for ourselves, do things for ourselves. I would have seen that as a more of a red flag that, like, why are you, why are you so willing to spend all this money on somebody you just met? I think also this, not his apartment wasn't bad, but it wasn't the nicest. And it was like, again, pretty messy. And I think anyone who had that much money would probably live somewhere a little bit nicer. If their revenue or stream of income was from a reliable source, they probably wouldn't have such a dodgy, I don't know because it wasn't really that bad. But for the amount of money and spoiling he was doing, you would think he'd live somewhere a little bit nicer. So that was kind of maybe a red flag. Obviously the broken car and suspended license was a huge one that I should have looked at and taken more seriously. Also, the texting being not great is something I should have not tolerated because I don't tolerate that with a lot of people. Like my friends. If my friends don't text me back, I'm so quick to be like, what are you doing?

[B]

No, absolutely.

[A]

But I do think that there's, there's two sides to this. Like, I think we as women, not just women, but a lot of women are loud about how being a bad texter quote is BS now. But for a while, I really do think that we were made to feel either indirectly or like we were too needy, we were insecure, we were asking for too much, and that if we're the cool girl, then we're chill. And we're not expecting them to text us back all the time, and we're not texting back all the time.

[C]

Exactly where my mind was at during it, too.

[A]

Especially if he has a child or has multiple kids. I would. I know. Me personally, I would be like, oh, he's an adult. I need to act like an adult so he knows that I'm mature.

[C]

It's like, you were there. You're, like, taking it, right? I feel like I had that exact sentence said to my friends. I'm like, you know what? It's fine. I have to remember that he's got two kids. He's busy. Like, I can't expect him to be like, so I have more time. So of course I want more communication. But he's busy. He's a dad. He's doing this. That.

[B]

Like, all the excuses.

[A]

Well, I only know that you were feeling that way because it makes sense. It's not. You were not an idiot. You were a human.

[C]

Thank you. I appreciate that.

[A]

I just want to reshare your TikTok to everybody. And also, I like, what is he up to now? Like, who is he scamming right now? Who's he buying a flight for right now?

[C]

Exactly what I'm wondering. I'm like, you're not texting me back, and I know it's not because you're at sports games. I know that now. So. So it's probably because you're actively. And then even when he attacked me. Like, I'm working on it. I'm working on it. I'm like, I hate hearing that, because to me, I hear. I'm trying to get access to this girl's afterpay. Like, hold on. And I'm like, no, get a job and pay me back that way, please. But, no, at this point, I think I. I'm just gonna let go of getting the money from him because I really, truly don't want that to come from another woman. Like, I would rather not get paid back. Then get it from it. Potentially being from another woman's wallet. Like, I. I will be fine. I've made it this far without it. I'm gonna be okay. It sucks because it would be really, really nice to have that money back right about now. But, yeah, it is what it is. And at this point, I think, like, yeah, all I can really do is continue to spread awareness. And he might think that, like, oh, I posted my TikTok. I blocked him, and it's gonna fizzle out. No, I will do as much as I can to keep talking about this.

[A]

God damn, Logan.

[C]

Oh, Logan.

[B]

Did you. But I didn't think about. You know, I know many people come on and say, I feel so stupid, but I didn't even think about the rental car thing. It's like, if I'm renting a car, like, yeah, if you need to use it, like, whatever she had at that point, no real reason to be like, no, you cannot.

[C]

What?

[B]

You know what I mean? Like, she's trying to be. To be nice and do the right thing.

[C]

And it.

[B]

It makes me sad that that got

[A]

taken advantage of for anybody. Like, it's not that she knows that that was a mistake. You know, she was obviously very open about feeling like, oh, I would never do that again. But it's important to remember that we're allowed to make mistakes. That does not mean we deserve to be abused and scammed and stolen from. It's just not her fault. So, yes, great cautionary tale in terms of being extra protective of your money and sharing things, but he paid for everything. He was such a gentleman. And it was early on and she felt bad, and he had sons, and he played the game really well. Like, we were not in that conversation. We don't know how charming that man was. And I imagine a lot.

[B]

And also, once he did the thing of paying for all the things in the beginning, that sets the tone that he's not exactly broke. Like, he wouldn't. He's not someone who would take advantage. Like, he already paid for it. So if he wants me to put something on, like his driver's license situation, then why not? You know? So for me, that wouldn't give me pause.

[A]

I was thinking about it as we were listening, because I was, like, obviously hearing it in this context. I know that something bad is going to happen. And he was kind of giving me the ick how much he wanted to pay for everything.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

But then I realized, of course, there's a bare minimum of expecting if you're in. I. I always think of it of, like, who's pursuing who. So if you're in a gay relationship, there can still be somebody that's, like, pursuing if you're into that and whatever it is. Like, there's usually somebody that you kind of are like, oh, they're pursuing me. They're paying for stuff. And at what point does it become an ick when they're insisting on paying for everything? At some point, I kind of want to be like, no, I got it. Like, I can pay.

[B]

Yeah. Like, what's your goal here? Like, what's your motive? If somebody's too nice, I'm like, what's your motive?

[A]

Yeah, I guess I'm kind of curious what people think. Like, if you went out with somebody that was just like, I never want you to pay for anything ever again, would you instantly be like, princess crown on. Princess mode activated. I love it. Or would your guard go up? Because I think my guard would go up, and I hate that because I want to be spoiled. Damn this show.

[B]

I know, right? I know.

[A]

The fact that he used to his sons as an excuse all the time is always disgusting.

[B]

I don't like that. I don't like that at all.

[A]

Who's surprised that she found out he was not paying child support and barely involved?

[B]

No one.

[A]

Not me. So, yeah, the rental car thing was smart. I mean, he was like, oh, I'm gonna put it back. Well, I mean, it's hard to know what an end game is for these people, but I think she hit the nail on the head. He just wanted to keep dragging it out. Out, Keep wearing her down and exhausting her until she gave up.

[B]

Yeah, no, that's exact. That's what. That's exactly what I was thinking while she was telling that story. I'm like, he knows that there's no real recourse unless you go through the ringer. And he knows that. He's not stupid. And can we also talk about the klarna and the after pay? These. The financial, like, so the klarna and after pay. I'm sure you guys know what it is, but it's basically a way to buy something. And you can. You can buy something, put it, pay it back, you put it on finance, and it's just like, you know, however many dollars a week for every two weeks or whatever, and it's an. It. It's helpful if you really need it. But just like any credit, it can be a slippery slope.

[A]

Yeah. I think the thing that people forget is the late fees stack up quick. It's. There are sneaky service fees.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

And it's like phantom debt. Like, you're not always on top of it. It's just like a really. I. I'm so wary of it, but, I mean, you learn by doing. It's definitely Seems like a great idea until it's not. So I guess he just. Yeah, he just got people Roku.

[B]

He knew what he was doing.

[A]

He knew it paying for something.

[B]

Well, because it didn't come out of their pocket right away. He knew that they wouldn't feel immediately impacted so he could get more bang for his buck because it wasn't affecting them right away. And by the time they did see it, he's moved on to someone else who could. Who he. He could steal from.

[A]

Yep. And they. Yeah. Are trying to get in contact with him. And obviously we know he was really good at avoiding that. And then they're left with it. It's so frustrating. It's so frustrating.

[B]

My anxiety is too much. Like, if I know that I did somebody wrong and they're texting me, like, my heart starts racing as soon as soon as their name pops up and I'm like, oh, God. Like, I get too. I get too many. I don't know how they do that. That's so much anxiety.

[A]

At least the benefit with afterpay stealing is that it doesn't. Does it affect your credit? I don't know if it does.

[B]

It only negatively, but I don't think it positively.

[A]

Like, no, it doesn't do anything to help you. Like, if you're gonna buy something you don't have the money for, do it at least on a credit card that is gonna help, like, build your credit.

[B]

But I don't think those. I don't think those finance programs actually help or I. I don't think they. I do think that they affect your credit if you don't pay them back.

[A]

Also, he was just running a Ponzi scheme with other women. Like, he would just take your money to pay for her Vegas trip. And that was so frustrating. And I said it in the episode, but I want to hear people's experience with. Are we dating the same guy? Because it's wonderful until it kicks people out.

[B]

Well, they're really strict because, of course, there's a lot of liability. Right. And there's a lot of chatter around it. And so are we dating the same guy? The creators of those groups can get in a lot of trouble if they're not careful. And so. Because they can get sued for libel, slander. And so it's really important. Like, they have super strict rules about posting and things that get, like, taken down and all this stuff. So it is kind of tricky. But if it's. I mean, they've been. We've seen them be useful to other people. Remember that conference call with, like, 20 other girls. And. Yeah, in one episode. And it was crazy.

[A]

But even though she got kicked off, it was useful. Like, it's still kind of.

[B]

Exactly.

[A]

Sometimes I guess it's nice to have,

[B]

but sometimes it can.

[A]

The benefits outweigh the downsides, I think.

[B]

I think so. I really do. And I think that although they have to be careful, like, it did not. Not help. You know what I mean?

[A]

Totally. Totally. But, yeah, let us know what your experience has been with those and if you have any Dating Dogfish Diaries about. I'm trying to think of a D alliteration word that has to do with money. Dollars. A dollar. A dollar. Stealing dogfish. I don't know, but I want to hear because these guys, this. He was so snake. Like, he's so sneaky just being, oh, oh, I'll pay for this. I'll pay for that.

[C]

La, la la, la, la, la.

[B]

And no one actually could. But that's the thing is, I think over time, he started learning that it would take more effort on their part to come after him then. You know what I mean? And so I think he just. I think he totally took advantage of that.

[A]

I'm proud of Rachel for sharing her story, even though she felt shame around some of the mistakes she felt like she made. I hope we, as an audience, I'm sure, will be supportive. And, you know, who among us has been perfect in the dating scene, Especially if someone's gorgeous, paying for everything, you know, sexy. And I sound. I don't know what I'm saying. You know what I'm saying?

[C]

Just.

[B]

Can I just say that our audience is so cool. Like, you guys are so supportive of our guests, and you've just created such a cool community and a great, safe place for these people. So I really applaud our audience. We have the best audience. Like, you guys are so great. Thank you so much.

[A]

Thank you so much. And that becomes more and more clear the more I talk to people on Patreon and the more you meet them at live shows. So I really want to meet people at the Orlando and Tampa show because Chicago was just perfect. So.

[B]

Oh, my God, it was. And. And if you've never visited Chicago, 10 out of 10 recommend. It was so. It was probably. It's probably my new favorite city. There was so much to do. It was so cool. So thank you to everybody who came to our show. Again, we are so grateful. And please come see us in Tampa and Orlando.

[A]

We love y'. All. Send us your stories. Send us your comments and thoughts.

[C]

And support.

[A]

And as always, trust your femtuition.

[C]

Sam.