I have a friend who has a internet SO who seems to be potentially a scam. He periodically gives her/him gifts, she/he was afraid to talk to any of his/her freinds for years, she/he dissapears randomly, her/his voice seems to be modulated and we belive my friend gives more gifts than she is leading on as her/his paycheques dissapear. When the SO says longer sentences it becomes glitchy and feed backy. I know it could be the SO has bad interner or a poop Mic but is there anyway to look for undertones of modulation so we have some proof or anything? Before potentially breaking his heart, as I dont want to but worry for him/her?..
I think you’re approaching the wrong aspect. While that could be a scam where a man is impersonating a woman, there are plenty where it’s actually a woman running the scam. There are plenty of red flags here, and those don’t change.
The problem is that I’m sure your friend is aware of those red flags. He’s also choosing to ignore them. I suspect he doesn’t do well with women IRL, and this at least gives him hope.
Assuming that’s all true, this is way above the pay grade of random people on the Internet.
We’ve approached him about it but we’re just trying to pick any avenue to interject…
You know you can just say they/them for gender neutral pronouns instead of constantly putting both gendered options?
Like. That’s been a thing for as long as English has been a thing…
But it could still 100% be a scam regardless of if it’s a woman or not he’s talking to.
Depending on how old your friend is, just let them learn their lesson the hard way. Most likely way for success is get him to make up a financial hardship (or be honest about how he can’t spend this much) and see if she ghosts him. If that happens have him contact her about a surprise windfall, if she jumps back in 10x harder than before, that should be enough to open your friends eyes.
Yeah don’t fucking do this if you care about your friend. These scams can end up putting people in life-threatening amounts of debt, and the shame of being scammed by someone they thought they loved has driven people to suicide.
OP, if you and your friends all really care about this guy, you should talk to him about it and try to prevent him from sending any more money. Maybe bring some research on “pig-butchering” schemes, which is probably what your friend is falling for unfortunately, and show them the similarities. If you still can’t convince him, try and remain sympathetic so you can pick him up when the scam is finished.