Say you’re having a quiet evening at dwelling, you’re scrolling by way of your app(s) of alternative, and also you come throughout the man pictured above—an actual silver fox with a sort smile and a bangin’ physique, giving whole daddy power.
Would you swipe proper? Would you sniff him out on Sniffies, or ship him a fast “u up?” message on Grindr?
In case your reply is sure, you’re not alone. Actually, many, many ladies have carried out it—yup, ladies. And it acquired them scammed out of tons and plenty of cash.
How about we take this to the following stage?
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So, who is that this thriller man, actually? And the way did he turn into concerned in a plot to swindle hundreds of thousands from unsuspecting single lady all around the nation? The surprising story is informed on ABC Information’ three-part documentary, Hey Stunning: Anatomy Of A Romance Rip-off, now streaming on Hulu.
Everyone knows the fundamentals of catfishing: Somebody makes use of false info and/or inaccurate photographs to lure others into dialog with them, pretending to be somebody they’re not.
Within the case of Hey Stunning, an unknown con artist had used photos of the aforementioned silver fox to construct a convincing courting profiles throughout numerous websites and apps, romancing ladies on the web who believed this was an actual one who was genuinely all for them.
However as soon as he had earned their belief, he’d depend on one of the vital fundamental methods within the e-book: pretending he was in want of cash—for medical payments, or no matter cause—and asking his marks for any type of monetary help they’d be keen to offer, pushing them to fork over increasingly more.
Whereas the docu-series focuses on three ladies specifically, it’s believed this particular person efficiently scammed dozens, possibly tons of of individuals with these photographs, stealing wherever from a pair thousand {dollars} to just about 3 million from individuals who fell for this dashing daddy.
Harm and indignant, a lot of these ladies took issues into their very own palms and did what they might to trace him down, uncovering that their flirty scammer glided by many aliases, from Michael Silver to Scott Donald Corridor to James Richards.
However his actual identify? It’s Mind Haugen—and he had no thought any of this was taking place!
Not solely that, however Haugen is a homosexual man who runs a cosmetics firm in Los Angeles referred to as By Brian, and in a method he’s been simply as victimized by the catfish who was utilizing his likeness for his or her scheme.
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His story is equally necessary to Hey Stunning, particularly as soon as these ladies managed to seek out him because of his magnificence model’s Instagram web page and confronted him—clearly, everybody‘s acquired a variety of explaining to do. Think about lastly come face-to-face with the one that conned you out of 1000’s, solely to seek out out he’s another person fully!
In actuality, Haugen had fairly a journey himself. Raised Mormon within the Midwest, he ultimately moved to Salt Lake Metropolis and first started appearing and modeling for commercials there. As soon as he left the church, he relocated to Los Angeles, discovering himself—and his group—by way of the homosexual leather-based scene.
As soon as ladies began coming ahead and blaming him for the scams, it not solely practically derailed his By Brian magnificence enterprise, but additionally had a significant impression on his psychological well being. He knew he’d need to take issues into his personal palms and discover out who was actually behind the con.
We received’t spoil the remainder of Hey Stunning: Anatomy Of A Romance Rip-off so you may watch it for your self, however now Haugen is shifting on and utilizing his platform for good, advocating for digital privateness and security whereas working alongside the Middle For Restorative Justice & Dignity to assist others who’ve been victimized by scams.
Our solely query stays: Is the actual Brian Haugen single?
All three episodes of the Hey Stunning: Anatomy Of A Romance Rip-off docu-series at the moment are streaming completely on Hulu.
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