My Friend Is Being Catfished . . . and Now He’s Homeless 

"It's easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled" - Mark Twain (I think?)

I love this guy's heart. When he said "we need help too" I knew this is a special person, a rare one. He'll dig deep into himself unprompted.

My friend's brother is doing the same thing. He is schizophrenic. His daughter finally stepped in and took control of his finances. Frightening.

All the guy has left is his pride and if he admits to himself that it’s all been a massive scam, he loses that.

My husband has an elderly friend who he tried to help see behind the curtain of deception draped before his eyes. He has given all he has, and now homeless. He refuses to believe he's been scammed. The damage to this man's heart and bank account is irreversible and very heartbreaking.

This happened to my wife's aunt. They basically spent a year telling her everything she wanted to hear and she gave them every penny she had...

Everyone in the WORLD needs a friend like this! Unwaivering and determined love is what we all need in friendship.

I wish I had a friend like this caller. What a freakin good dude he seems like. I hope this situation improves over time!

So sad we long for connecting so much we fall for such scams 😢

Oh boy, I had a friend who experienced the exact same scam. The girl told him she had an inheritance waiting for her after her parents passed in the UK. She told him she loves him and will come to live with him after everything settles. All the while he’s sending her money. He believed her no matter what I told him. She cleaned him OUT.

What an awesome friend. I can hear the pain in his voice. Keep being a good man to your family, friends and community. This world needs more men like you. God bless.

There is a man in UK who went through this too. He admitted it was greed on his part. Lost his family and house and everything. No mental problems. Don’t underestimate how these people can manipulate people.

As soon as they ask you for money, shut it down.

He may be mentally unwell, and friends/family are usually in denial because they lack education and familiarity. This call definitely sounds like that.

"One of the hardest things someone can experience is to watch someone they love refuse to take their help and slowly dismantle their life with choices." That sentence put me to tears on a Sunday afternoon while I'm meal prepping for the week. This is what brought my marriage of 10 years to an end. Husband started with what I can describe as a mixture of paranoia, depression and emotional outbursts. He would scream so much at me, our dog started get scared. He was unemployed for over a year (an engineer with experience in the pharmaceutical industry), because he would only accept a management position. I begged so many times for him to get help or for us to look for counseling. Nothing helped. It all ended when he expelled my parents from our home on Christmas night over a discussion with my dad about driving. My parents always took him as a son. I left home with my dog and finally have peace. Divorce is not our yet and he asks me to come back, but I don't want to. My therapist have been giving me tools to handle the grief and moving forward.

This is a genuinely good dude. I can feel his love and care through the phone.

Wow, This caller is one very special man. And Dr. Delony is one of a kind. When he choked up, I started bawling. Im proud to have these types of friends in my life and I would hope they would do this for me as I would do for them.

This happened to my elderly aunt. We’re not sure how much she gave away but probably at least $150,000. My brother got guardianship over her money and she ended up hating me, and my sister and brother for doing that. It’s all sad.

My ex husband had a secret life I could not fathom. People around me saw things in him that I could not see myself. Then one day, I woke up to his journal where he wrote all the secrets down about his dirty life. And I say that with true sadness...because to have secrets like that...wooh! He did a very good job hiding it from me. So, yeah, you DON'T KNOW PEOPLE...

Back when I was a teller at a bank we got a 30 page docket from the FBI with this exact scenario. Women/men choose wealthy to working class people who are single and desperate for love and exploit them into poverty. There's a truly special place in hell for those kind of ppl.

I don’t think it’s schizophrenia. There’s an entire channel on RU-vid dedicated to romance scams. Some people are so genuinely lonely and insecure and their only fuel for going on is their own self hatred. But I will say he needs to come to the conclusion on his own because we can never force anybody to change. Unfortunately, this also might cause him to spiral given the amount of money that he’s invested. It’s sad to see.

It's so hard to find a tribe/ sisterhood/brotherhood - i hope this group can heal and love from afar.

My mother fell for several scams, to the tune of about $100k before we stepped in and were able to shut her down and get her under control. We sold her house and car and moved her into to a private home with care nearby. Unfortunately age and a weak personality can ruin someone. That’s why having kids and living with your kids and in a community is so important. I don’t know why Americans have so willingly destroyed families and communities.

Dr John's Texas accent always come through when talking to fellow Texans ❤

People are so lonely and fall for this scam. Just be there for your friend. It’s so sad. Help him and love him the best way you can. Sending love to you and your friend

As a 63 year old widow, I won’t date, go on dating apps or accept friend requests from strange men on FB (I get a couple of those every month from people who present as wealthy, handsome widowers. It’s idiotic.). I accept that I’m probably going to be alone the rest of my life.

My best friends brother did this. We tried to tell him he was being scammed. He refused to believe us. He has been in a homeless center for the last 3 yrs. He finally did get his own place about a month ago. Hope he has enough sense to keep it and keep his money for himself. So sad. My friend had to kick him out of her home because of them scamming him. She let him move in rent free to get himself back on track (almost 1 year he was there). She also let him use ger second car because he lost his due to loans to send more money to Africa! My friend found a receipt in her second car for almost 1,000 dollars he had just sent to Africa. She told him he needed to STOP sending his money to this "woman"! He straight out told her he wasn't going to stop! She told him he had 1 month to move out. He did and moved into homeless shelter! Here we are 3 yrs later. How sad and stupid can you be??!!

He's probably not schizophrenic. Those symptoms happen much earlier in life. Friend is older and loney.

Loneliness also drives people to be snagged by these catfishers

That's is a friend. I teared up for him. Great bunch of fellas.

I love the idea of having money set aside for when the person is ready. We need to accept that Sometimes in life, the best and all we can do is wait.

I'm with Dr. J, he sounds schizoaffective. This is so scary because it can hit you at any age.

I worked in Psychology for 25 years so I took an interest into how Catfishing works. Once they real in a LONELY person with needs then the person is ashamed after losing 10,000 to 300,000. or more. They person becomes panicked and ashamed and gets fixated on the love relationship promised to them.Denial is not just a river in egypt. LASTLY : someone I knew for 64 years just revealed that they have a sexual addiction.

Wasn't ready for this one

It’s so wonderful that he and his buddies care so much for their friend. It’s so unusual nowadays.

Hey caller, you called the wrong guy called the social catfish. They are the right people to help your friend

We have locked my moms credit. She doesn't need to buy anything. We have done everything we can to educate her before senility leaves. Thankfully she understands that at her age cognitive decline is a actuality. I also volunteer at my moms senior center she has lunch at and the oasis club and teach about scam and online dating.

I worked as a counselor in a social service program for homeless for 25 years. It’s very hard.

This man is a great friend.

Guns up!🤠 🌵 my son's shares this gentleman's name and I hope we raise him to be as strong and caring. It is the hardest thing ever to accept when someone doesn't want help. My bff from HS told me she didn't need me anymore because she found Crystal as in Crystal Meth. I was devastated. We haven't spoken in any real way in 20 yrs nearly and it still breaks my heart. She's alive somewhere. Idk if she cleaned up or not. I feel alone from a close female friend standpoint still to this day. We have family that have fallen to the same beast and can't be helped either. They don't want to get better. Probably don't feel they deserve to be better. Best wishes to Mr Hunter and his friends. 🇸🇴🇵🇱 💜

I have a group of 3 childhood friends and I that keep in touch weekly, almost daily. One of our friends went missing and when we searched for him, we found him using really hard drugs and threatening to unalive himself. Along with his family, we implore him to seek help. He came out successfully shortly after and apologized for putting us through that. We told him we loved him and we're happy to be here for him. I pray that your friend gets the awakening he needs to get better and rejoin life as he should. This sounds pretty lame, but true loving friendship has immense power.

Dealing with the same thing right now with a sibling. Not homeless yet but will be shortly.

He is so lucky having friends like you. I had a family member who did not accept help and kept going back to what tore us apart- my brother and I had learn how to grieve someone while they were still alive. The silver lining is that my brother and I appreciate each other more than we might have otherwise and do not start fights over small issues in the wake of what we went through. Take care of each other you and your friends.

Ugh. This broke my heart and was so touching and sad at the same time. I think the $50 a month or a week or whenever from each of the men into an account that's waiting and collecting interest for this man if he ever comes out of this delusion is a great idea. He'll have some resources to fall back on and perhaps start a new life. Very tragic and absolutely despicable how con artists can take advantage of others the way they do with no regard for what it's doing to their marks. This man who's being catfished is so lucky to have a group of friends who love him as they do. It's rare to have lifelong friendships that deep.

Ask the Catfish tv program to investigate?! Awful & so sad....

That poor man. You can hear the sadness, and disappointment in his voice, realizing that him and his buddies have to step away. I know what that feels like. It feels like you're abandoning,:and turning your back on them. In reality though, you're just realizing that you can't do anymore, and you're nit going to watch them self destruct. That's a hard pill to swallow 😕

As a last resort I would refer him to Catfished, a RU-vid program that exposes these scams to the victims. They are very respectful and approach the victims case with sympathy and sensitivity as they know ANYONE can be scammed. Most of the victims do end up acknowledging the truth as hard as it is. I wouldn’t let his friend try to extricate himself as these scammers can bleed them dry for decades.

wow! I am constantly stunned by the genuine compassion you show John. You feel so authentic, Every Single Time, that I find myself doubting it (you) can be real. "You let him tip his hat and walk away" Fucking beautiful!!!!! Your show found me only A WEEK AGO! (new sub here) I Cannot stop listening and I am blown away that anyone, especially a "You Tuber", could make such an impact on me (and consequently my family) I wish I'd found you four years ago! I wish I could narrow down all the things I NEED to discuss with you into one letter or phone call LOL I wish I had the courage to send a letter. NEVER STOP what you are doing! We see you seeing us! Thank you!

Dr.D he is not a drug user, he fell for a scam.

It's sad to think the Doc believes someone must suffer from a psychiatric or substance disorder. They fact is, many more people are catfished and scammed out of money every day. Sometimes it the result of internet dating relationship or get rich scheme. But labeling people aren't helpful as must have a psychiatric or substance disorder is wrong.

Schizophrenia??? Loads of folks get catfished!! Where the heck does John come up with schizophrenia. This guy is very lonely and his ego and pride are involved

One problem with privilege is you may forget are privileged and start thinking life is easy or you are special . Like thinking you can get a billion no effort on your part. Many rich kids suffer from privilege syndrome . You actually have to recognize you have been privileged there is nothing special about you. Some people worked hard or stole or did something to put you in that situation. You can lose it if you don’t do something to keep it be it gratitude, prudence, hardwork, stewardship. The reason/justification African scammers give for scamming is westerners stole from us so we must steal from them. If privileged and delulu about life you may be the perfect target. They will use your greed against you, your i am special feelings against you.

I would call adult services at this point. Then after that, walk away and support from a far. Because there could be something underlying here that isn't obvious. I think the idea of giving him the card and then being there for him apart from the situation is great advice.

Scammers are the worst. My Mom didn't have a lot of money to give "him." However she helped "him" with a huge money laundering scam. My family is traumatized by it, and I have a horrible relationship with her now. My eldest has gone almost no contact. It has been awful.

Not everyone who scams is from Africa. For the record. Africa has 54 countries... that is quite the generalisation and stereotype

Please please please send this to Social Catfish. They find scammers and show victims that its all a lie . They are very smart in finding these scammers.

God bless this man that called in for his childhood friend ❤

I had a friend who I would have sworn wouldn’t steal from their employer and take drugs. Was I wrong. Everyone who was close had no idea. So sad.

You can get addicted to abuse... After a while it feels good. And you don't appreciate actual good people like friends and family. You keep going back to the abuser because it feels playful and makes you vulnerable, like you can "trust" the abuser, your special person. Especially if you've invested so much into them. And you can't tell anyone else about it because they won't understand and probably will judge you. You're looking for a "way out" that doesn't exist.

Caller should have called Catfish instead.

One of my elderly friends sold her home and gave all of it to a well known church in Redding, CA. She ended up living in her car and she is in her mid 80's. Sad as she refuses to accept help from her kids.

I’d contact scamfish. They’ll prove its a scam

Our country has approximately 30% of the population operating under a similar delusion. It’s common in older people who feel that their lives have not been what they expected. They give their power to political operatives who are conning them out of their democracy.

...and when he gets the money, don't be expecting free trips or invites to his mansions!

They would know if this guy was schizophrenic, symptoms would have shown up years ago. Sounds like this guy is caught up with this woman and believes her... we've watched people on the catfish show. They get wrapped up psychologically and, in this case, financially, too.

Feel horrible for the man. Should have called Social Catfish

The harm that catfishes cause is outrageous.

This scenario was on the RU-vid show Catfish. They should get them to tell him with their investigation

It’s helpful to know that you did everything you could but anything more is enabling.

I don’t think there is anything wrong with him. People really just fall into scams. He might have codependent issues big enough to be able to give money to a girl they think is love with them.

When he said 4 Texan guys, I immediately thought of King of the Hill 😂 This was great advice. No matter how much we want someone to change, we can't change them. Next best thing to do is to walk away for your sanity and be there when they call for help.

This situation describes my brother to a “T” except my brother isn’t from Texas. In my brother’s case, I believe it is related to drugs.

This is happening to my wife’s aunt right now! The guy is 20yrs younger than her, looks like Chris Evans, General in the Army and always needs 300-1000 dollars. Nothing anyone says to her can convince her that it’s a Scam. She 100% has drug and mental issues though. She signed away her SS checks to this random person she has never met. It blows my mind.

Keep trying to help your friend...and keep praying...keep praying keep praying...nothing is impossible to God...keep praying keep helping, just be wise...ask God to help you.

If they really do care they gotta go to the courts and get power of attorney and get him into a medical facility and help him

Wow, this is had me in tears!

omg. im at the beginning, but this sounds EXACTLY like my step dad's mom. her husband died like 8 years ago. he owned several apartments and def died a millionaire, leaving her everything. she gave it all away to scammers pretending to be famous old country singers or well-off men who would talk to her on the phone (never video lol) and theyd end up saying they wanted to get married and then something else comes up and the wedding gets delayed orrrr one time the guy ended up "dying in the hospital". my mom and i tried to tell my step dad and his sister and aunt and they wouldnt believe it for a while until one of their former FBI PI friends did them a favor and he was like "yeah its obvious this is a fake person" she has never admitted any wrong doing or that she got scammed. she ended up losing their house, all of her money and now in her 70s shes in an apartment and working full time when she had MILLIONS same thing with her where there were no drugs, no alcohol, no schizophrenia, it's simply narcissism (undiagnosed but people close have speculated) which i think sounds exactly like this guy. shes totally mentally sound other than the pride and narcissistic traits. my parents have distanced themselves from her in that they will invite her to holidays and go visit her but if she ruins everything, they will never let her move in because they know she would find a way to somehow steal their money behind their back

It’s not mental health , come on John , your pride need to come down too , watch the scamfish videos and you will know .

Sad. My sis best friend started drugs drinking lost her kids let her bb dad touch his daughter won’t do a thing

To clarify...they catfish in India, Asia and others places, so it's likely someone from those groups...it is not only Africa. ⚠️Please be careful because many times spellwork is involved. Intercede for your person(s) with prayer in Jesus name⚠️

This happened to a friend of mine years ago. So sad

Damn. That sounds rough. 💛

He needs deliverance.

Diagnosing someone with mental illness or drug use without ever meeting him is irresponsible.

Well I’m not crying…

What a good guy ❤

And now I have a favorite call in

Pray for him. God will move.

MAKE A TEACHING OPPORTUNITY DR .....LOTS OF LONELY PEOPLE LISTEN TO YOU 😮😮😮😮😮😮😮

"Dont weep for the stupid, you'll be crying all day"

The truth is perfectly normal people free of drugs and mental illness are being catfished

My cousin is doing this.

Why would he have to be schizophrenic wutt..?? Dr. Phil has countless episodes on exactly that catfishing delusion and it's sadly a real thing. Gullible lonely people being scammed and losing money in the hundreds of thousands. The scheme is always the same too, they tell them there's an emergency or lots of money waiting for them after some initial investments. This is very common in African scams. His friends should contact Dr. Phil to help.

Im not crying youre crying

If it’s sounds too good to be true then it probably is

That blessed man under the bridge got lost….

They got a family member of mine for like 100k before we got her money out of her hands

Wait. I just listened to this call and didn't get more relevant info about the scammed guy (not his name, of course): did he have some tragedy befall him before this happened? What can the caller tell us about the nature of this scam that has entrapped the victim? What types of promises are being made to the victim if he comes through with more money. What has this scammed guy lost (house, job, etc.)? Etc. Etc. I watch these Delony videos for the same reason I watch Netflix documentaries: for entertainment -- not to listen in on some random dude's therapy session. Not interesting.

He's not living under a bridge cuz of being catfished I promise you

Being cat fished is like being brain washed until the victim hit rock bottom and l mean rock bottom then you hope he wakes up