Woman loses thousands of dollars to romance scammer posing as astronaut in distress, police in Japan say
www.cbsnews.com
The scammer told the woman he was "in space on a spaceship right now" but was "under attack and in need of oxygen," an official said.
  • Avicenna@lemmy.worldEnglish
    45·
    10 months ago

    “If a person you met on social media ever demanded cash from you, please be suspicious of the possibility of scam”

    I think this highly downplays the situation

  • DarkCloud@lemmy.worldEnglish
    251·
    10 months ago

    Weren’t there astronauts trapped in space a little while back. I get it. They weren’t being paid much either, so it’s believable on some levels.

    • Skullgrid@lemmy.worldEnglish
      11·
      10 months ago

      yes, and thankfully their modest payment was enough for them to be able to afford to go out the spaceship, round the corner to the oxygen store and pick up just what they needed to breathe that week.

    • quick_snail@feddit.nlEnglish
      3·
      10 months ago

      The US astronaut begging the communist countries “help we’re not unionized. We have to drink our pee and our air is reaching unsafe levels of co2. Please can you wire us funds?”

    • Bronzebeard@lemmy.zipEnglish
      2·
      10 months ago

      … What was money going to do for them while they were still in space, though?

      Also astronauts are salary. They were getting paid while stuck in space, they also get hazard pay. I would imagine being stuck in space counts as a hazard. Most of them are making 6 figures.

  • Komodo Rodeo@lemmy.worldEnglish
    21·
    10 months ago

    “Grandma, please, it’s Michael. I’m in low-Earth orbit, and if I don’t give the Tijuana Police $10,000 USD they’re going to cut off my air.” /s

  • quick_snail@feddit.nlEnglish
    13·
    10 months ago

    “I am a Nigerian prince lost in orbit. Please tell me your bank info so I can send you THREE MILLION DOLLARS”

  • TubularTittyFrog@lemmy.worldEnglish
    32·
    10 months ago

    I gave up on dating/relationships because I realized 95% of it is just the fantasy someone has in their head of the other person. It has very little to do with reality of day to day life. Hence why so many people fall for these romance scams. It’s fan fiction of themselves. No doubt this lady was really congratulating herself on scoring an ‘astronaut’. Probably works in an office with plenty of viable real people, but they are too ‘boring’ for her to ever consider… no she ‘deserves’ an astronaut.

  • FlashMobOfOne@lemmy.worldEnglish
    1732·
    10 months ago

    So we’re making fun of the victims of con artists now?

    That doesn’t feel particularly cool.

    • slothrop @lemmy.caEnglish
      66·
      10 months ago

      Indeed, “I’m an astronaut in space and I’m running out of oxygen, and the Klingons are attacking me.
      Please send money”, should be taken seriously.

      Certainly not humourous.

    • Nougat@fedia.io
      572·
      10 months ago

      No, we’re making fun of stupid people.

      After some exchanges, the scammer one day told her he was “in space on a spaceship right now” but was “under attack and in need of oxygen,” the official said.

      The scammer then urged her to pay him online to help him buy oxygen, and successfully hoodwinked around 1 million yen ($6,700) out of her.

    • magnetosphere@fedia.io
      17·
      10 months ago

      It’s possible to feel empathy for the victim while still laughing at the absurdity of the overall situation. To her, I’m sure it felt very real, in a way most of us will never understand. Reading about it, though, it defies common sense.