Woman On a Date Catfished by Restaurant To Dine There; What Is This New Scam?
In the era of dating apps and finding love online, there are many instances where the matches are even scammed or ghosted. But something different happened with Taylor where she was not only ghosted but also catfished by the restaurant. Taylor (@paretay) shared a harrowing experience on TikTok where she not only got ghosted by a Tinder match but also discovered that the supposed restaurant date was a scam.
After getting ready and excited for the date, she found herself stood up as the guy unmatched her without showing up. To her dismay, she learned that certain restaurants use a deceptive scheme to attract customers. Creating fake Tinder profiles, they arrange a date, make customers feel ghosted, and end up dining alone. Taylor, feeling hurt and shocked, exposed the scam on TikTok, providing proof through screenshots of her interactions with the ghosting match and shedding light on this deceitful practice.
Taylor shared a picture on Facebook exposing the fake Tinder profile that scammed her. The picture she attached showed a picture of a man named Antoine wearing a hat like Indiana Jones. The main motive behind the snapshot was not just to reveal the fraudster's face but also to warn other women so they don't have to go through the humiliation that Taylor felt. When Taylor was being ghosted by her date, she asked him about his whereabouts and he sent her a fake picture of being involved in a car acccident. She decided to give him a second chance but he soon stopped responding and she then understood that she has been ghosted and scammed. Taylor's experience was even featured on the "The Shane Dawson Podcast".
While a lot of social media users emphathized with Taylor and a few found the incident weirdly funny. "I would blast the restaurants honestly cuz really?" said @starfish20242020. "Don't be shy, tell us what restaurant. I'd like to know what marketing a$shat okay'd that idea," said @potlandcalling. @giovanni29920 commented, "Join meetup groups..meet potential dates in real life...getting together with like-minded people in the wild." "Please name the restaurant," said @Jenn Cipri.
Taylor further expressed her shock with people who were commenting sarcastically on her situation. She also backlashed the restaurant's marketing technique, pointing out how they are playing with someone's self-esteem and humiliating them in the open for a few bucks.
Romance scams are on the rise, and recently, Norm Jones, an telecommunications and cybersecurity employee in the Silicon Valley area fell for a scam that left him feeling so helpless that he attempted suicide. A retired chef, Bob Nelson grappled with the aftermath of a romance scam that wiped out his funds, leaving him unsure of how to continue supporting not just himself but also his daughter and four grandchildren.