The wildest interaction I’ve ever had with a follower (SOLO Episode) | The Real Stuff 

Ok so I watched to this podcast while I was getting ready for work this morning (always my favourite mornings when a new episode comes out) and I can’t stop thinking about it so I am writing this comment on my lunch break haha. Anyways, this was such an interesting experience and made me realize how insanely naive I can be! Watching this episode I started out a little confused because the title makes it seem like something odd or more negative occurred, but then listening to the beginning, Lucie you told it in such a caring and relatively neutral way that just based on the details of the story I was like, “oh maybe ‘wildest interaction’ refers to just an impactful experience” and Kiara had me convinced that she was actually sick and I was believing everything from the story right along side you. Even when you started describing the zoom call and you were describing her nose tube and how her voice sound I thought, “oh interesting details, a little odd but she must be telling it because its relevant later” but I was still FULLY believing the story about her being sick and everything! It wasn’t until the voice memo that I was starting to actually feel like something was off with her whole story and then I started thinking back on the details of some of how you said certain things and I realized I also missed all the clues along the way. So long story short, I totally get how it made you take a step back and close off a bit more because its so hard when you go into most situations expecting the best out of everyone and everything for that to be proven wrong. I’ve had a few personal experiences like that recently as well but its sad that people are so manipulative and often unaware of what their actions do to others. But I guess upon reflecting on it I would still rather start out assuming the best to be proven wrong rather than closing myself off to so many other opportunities where assuming the best DOES actually end up working out. Anyways if anyone does actually read this far, thank you for reading my ted talk and I hope you enjoyed my little rant.

Thats wild. Whats even wilder is she is prob watching this now.

The voice note freaked me tf out! 😩😂🫣

So interesting! Thank you for sharing. It seemed a smidge off from the beginning, but when the dad started emailing you, that’s when my spidey senses went up. I can absolutely understand getting caught up in the emotion and missing the cues along the way, though. That just means you are a sweet, trusting person who assumes the best in others ☺️

This story was fascinating to me. I didn’t think I was going to enjoy this episode like the others but this is my new favorite episode. I’ve been following since you were at Refinery 29. I love waking up on Tuesday mornings and listing to your podcast when I’m getting ready for school. You have done such a great job with this podcast. I’m going to be sad when season one ends but I hope you will continue with season two. I’m praying that you have a safe rest of your pregnancy and a quick and easy labor! Love you so much Lucie! ❤

Danielle Fishel from Boy Meets World and Pod Meets World had the same thing happen when she was a child actor. You should have her on to tell her story!!!

Ok, Lucie, I watch all of your podcasts and this is the first one where I am saying out loud...WTF?! I am a stage 3 cancer survivor. My mom survived cancer three times and now my uncle is currently in treatment for metastatic cancer. A dear friend of mine passed away from cancer a few years ago. Unfortunately, my family and I know cancer all too well. I had such an intense visceral reaction to this episode---I am so utterly disgusted, devastated, offended, and so F-ing angry that this despicable person faked this horrific, deeply painful disease. I could cry. I could scream! Oh my god. WOW. This really depresses me and makes me feel so sick to my stomach. I'm so glad you shared this story, though, Lucie. What a massive scam artist and a mega manipulator! How dare this girl craft this sick story. So sorry you had to endure that crazy interaction! I want to come on the pod just to sound off because I'm SO mad! And by the way, that voice note was freaking weird and creepy and questionable. I'm sorry, but when I was battling cancer I had zero energy to leave a damn voice note. I really hope this stupid teenager learns the error of her ways.

I had a (formerly) close friend in college fake cancer and chemo treatments for an entire year. I was so devasted from the violation of trust, especially having now lost loved ones to cancer in my later years, but could look back and see so many red flags. She had fooled our entire friend circle because you never think, "oh, this person is lying about this." I am so sorry you experienced this!

My gosh… really had me going there! Like you I struggle to fathom lies like that, especially about illness. It wouldn’t have occurred to me at the offset that this could have been a lie. I can only imagine the sinking moment and really complicated feelings you must have had when this started to unravel as it did. You dealt with this situation with so much grace and tact. I think this episode should be watched/listened to by pretty much anyone with a public platform of any kind. Thank you for sharing this!

I’m so sorry Lucie, this must have been heartbreaking to experience and im sure a long lasting stain on the way of interacting with fans :(

This was such a wild story! I was skeptical right away. It makes me a bit sad that this is the world we live in today. I live in nyc and feel like I’m always on edge thinking something is a scam/fraud etc. I miss the more trusting days but I think there’s still hope that there are authentic people. Sorry this happened to you. Thanks for sharing this wild story.

You’re an excellent storyteller, Lucie. Thanks for sharing and sorry you experienced this!! I think you did the right thing by telling Chiara’s dad the truth - I hope it was a wake up call for her. It sounds to me like she was battling with feelings of guilt towards the end (include my name, don’t include it, don’t post it, post it) but was hooked on the attention she got from you.

I immediately wondered if you were scammed but then you told the story from your perspective and I thought oh what a sweet story! Then I was yanked back to reality that it was indeed a scam. Wow… so disappointing that people abuse social media connectivity. You handled this situation with such grace, of course. Because that’s who you are and why I love listening to you ❤l

I'm a huge cynic I think but if I was famous and I got a message from someone saying they're dying, I'd immediately be suspicious that they're just attention seeking. So many weirdos online!

I was skeptical of the email BUT since you jumped on a video call with her I was like ‘oh ok, I’m being too suspicious’ and I started assuming that the dad then somehow was going to take advantage of you. Parasocial relationships are so fascinating but this is such a wild side to it that I had no idea took place. Now that you’ve told this story though I bet lots of creators have had similar interactions.

Thank you for sharing! I recently was scammed by a fake police officer over the phone. I know this is a very different story but being hoodwinked by someone is always hurtful and emotional. It definitely makes us put our guard up, which is sad that we can't trust people in this world.

Thanks for sharing! I did think something was off because I feel like when tragedy strikes people connect with their supporters not reach out but I’m also very jaded. My Dad has been more or less catfished in an offline situation so I don’t take anything at face value. Glad you reached out to her dad because she is so young.

I immediately thought something was off when you posted the screenshot of the first email on your Insta, based on the language that she used. It's easy to see things in hindsight and for us hearing the story and knowing something happened

Wow! I don’t know if I’m being overly naïve, but I would never have seen that outcome coming. The "father" email part started sounding sketchy, but I don't think I would have gone full CSI. That poor girl must have been so lonely or searching for attention, but the whole plot is way too dramatic to even imagine...crazy

When you got the message from her dad saying she passed, especially so quickly after you started talking, that was a little fishy, but him being a “diplomat” was a big red flag. It’s just kind of common scam language along with the cancer, death, urgency, and need for anonymity. Who knows what this girl was up to. Maybe she was planning to ask for money and got scared.

Oh my god this story is one of the craziest that i've heard ! I think anyone would have been fooled Lucie because your first thought when someone shares a story like this is never " omg maybe she is faking cancer !", its only in hindsight that you really start to see the whole picture. Its really disgusting to do that especially when you know this disease affects so many people and I am sending so much love to them. I hope this girl learned from her mistakes and that she was just young and seeking attention. Maybe she sent that first comment saying she is sick because she thought this way she'll get more chance to get a reply from a youtuber she was a fan of and then she just kept lying and it got out of hands. Anyway it was a really good episode thank you for sharing this story, it really proves that we have to be very carefull and always do a background check on people we don't know on social media.

Woah - I’m so sorry this happened to you Lucie, what a crazy thing to go through! I was definitely skeptical from the first email you read from “Chiara”. It especially hit home when “Giovanni” emailed you immediately after her death, like bro, didn’t you just lose your daughter? And as you eloquently explained that you look back and realize you and your family were totally blindsided and even missed red flags, it made me think that sometimes believing the best of people is a beautiful thing. It’s just so unfortunate people take advantage of a good heart. I feel so bad for that girl however, what trauma must she have been going through to seek attention in this way.

Lucie, you are such a good storyteller. This is such an interesting/weird/sad/intriguing story. I planned to see just a snippet of the beginning and continue sometime later, then I find myself 45 minutes later, finishing the whole video after being completely immersed and with you in all the feelings involved in this story. Love you Lucie you’re amazing❤️

Your storytelling had me on the edge of my seat. I completely believed the daughter’s facade until you shared the twist. At that moment, I felt myself wanting to go into detective mode on your behalf 😂 and I can only imagine what your Google search history looked like lol 🫶🏻 Very eye-opening experience, and I’m so glad you are safe!

I have chills. That was wild to listen to. I was in tears hearing about her passing and didn’t doubt her story for a moment. I can only imagine how you must have been feeling going through all of that. Sorry you had to experience this Lucie ❤

Blindsided. Just like you were. That’s awful. So sorry you went through that! I was in tears when you talked about her passing away!

Man, I wish “Chiara” would write in to be on the podcast 😂

This truly is with WILDEST story! I can’t believe someone did that. YOU are definitely not the crazy one in this situation. The only time I thought hmmm was when “the dad” emailed saying what he did for a living….odd considering he needs to keep things private. Then, the voice note. Very good English for someone from a small Italian town. But I still wouldn’t have thought the worst. Thank you for sharing this with us! And, sending you a flower emoji so that you may bloom outwards again ❤ 🌸

Yes, immediately skeptical because she was diagnosed from one visit with a doctor. It takes more than 1 ER visit to get a cancer diagnosis and a stage diagnosis. Maybe I misheard the actual length of time it took to get a diagnosis, but in her email it seemed like a few hours and that’s when it seemed fake. I am not in the medical profession, just from what I’ve heard about diagnosis illnesses.

I never saw it coming! I easily could have been fooled too!! Wow! The saddest part is that there maybe one story like this could be true and now we’re all going to be so predisposed and skeptical. It kind of ruins it for the rest of us honest people. It’s a shame that we are living in a kind of crazy world

Thanks for sharing Lucie. I get skeptical about literally anything so I knew where this was going, (this episode will make me doubt people even more 😅). Listening to her voice mail I could tell she wasn’t sick and, even if it was true, she wouldn’t have been able to talk as clear and as quick as she did. My dad unfortunately passed from cancer and the 2-3 weeks leading to his final day he was in utter pain, heavily sedated with pain killers and could barely speak a word. Listening to this makes me upset that someone would even think of joking about cancer. You did the right thing telling her “dad”, even without a reply. Hope she learned a lesson and has chosen a better life path for herself, and consequently after watching this, I want to say we all learned something from this story.

The giveaway for me was that Giovanni said her other organs would be donated. That would never happen with someone that passed from cancer.

Never would I have expected that 😅 I guess I’m an emotional person too because that gave me some tears in the beginning, before you explained what really happened. Such an invasion of privacy for you though. WILD indeed

Wow. I was so with you. I would have had my spidey senses tingling if she were overtly asking for fame, a feature, or money. But she just messaged you as if you may never read it. That to me is where I’d be able to notice it were fake. But…it still was fake. 😳

Love this type of story, a real mystery thriller lol

Oh wow, what an episode! Why do you think she started using the fake names in the emails? That part really creeped me out.

If you do record such wild experiences with the audience, it will be amazing, however, will definitely make me more alert with with strangers on the internet🙈😅

Yeah no I’m with you, I was just as blindsided. I look in the good in people also. That’s so crazy I wonder if her dad ever did anything about it. 🤔

😱 that was truly wild!

Great story! I wasn't expecting it all to be fake, and still don't understand how she interacted with you with a cannula on and with a really shaky and raspy voice?! That's a lot of acting and preparation to go through! I would expect someone faking illness to get cold feet before having a face to face video chat.

Yes there were red flags but you're a good person and wouldn't assume that someone is faking cancer, because that's sick!

Ugh this just makes me sad. That someone would go to those lengths to connect and get attention. I'm so sorry you had to go through that pain/betrayal and I really hope that the person who did this is doing better for others and for theirself!

Wow that’s so messed up. I’m wondering if she was craving attention at boarding school and that’s just a horrible way to seek a friendship and attention. I’m sorry that someone did that.

Hy Lucie, I would say that I got skeptical when the "dad" email came in, the fact that he wrote so quickly was my red flag! But I completly understant that being emotionaly involved changes the perseption of the situation. The internet is a wild place, thanks for sharing! I hope this girl have been helped, because she must have had mental health issues. I love what you learned form this!

What an interesting story - crazy though the lengths people will go to. Glad nothing more serious happened

Yeah I'm surprised she didn't use a fake name for her and her father because obviously you can check

I actually thought it was going to turn out that she's American, because of the language they used ("central time" etc, didn't sound like their second language), and she totally sounds American in the voice recording! Usually Italians have a stronger accent. Weird

We need a psychologist’s perspective on this. I’m sure there are crazy people who fake cancer for benefit but to go as far as faking a death and sending emails from another person and voice messages and such? Psycho.

There truly are insane people in this world 😂 now to be honest, I did think it was fishy. You do look like a nice person, but I thought that it was weird that she was THAT BIG of a fan. But I think I too would fall for it at first. It is so weird to think that someone would fake such a situation 😂

You don’t seem to be freaking out that they knew your fake names. That is absolutely terrifying.

Of course it is unbelievable, especially to the extent of someone saying they are dying and have died. With that said, I saw this coming. I’ve learned you can’t believe people online or over the phone. People can say literally anything and make others believe them. I don’t trust half of the things I hear online.

Wow, Lucie, that story was definitely wild! 😮 I certainly did not expect that turn of events and didn't see it coming either from the letters or from all of the details you shared. Have you ever come up with the conclusion about her motives ? For me, the only logical reason to do this was to get your attention and have a private chat with her favourite RU-vidr but I still don't get why she had suddenly changed her mind about posting a video so it led to the fact you realised it was fake🤔. Not only your family, but all of us, listeners, were involved in her story and felt sad for her "illness", so I hope it was just a stupid prank she did, being just a kid, and she would never condiser doing it again

This podcast just took me through a rollercoaster of emotions but it did seem fishy when her dad sent an email on the day of her death. It did seem inspiring in the beginning but by the end, it just confused me that what was going through a 16 year mind to fake such a big thing.

Nowhere near as profound, I’m an artist (with no time to do art at the moment due to having a baby and toddler), but I made a 13 year old boy a custom piece based on his favorite drawing in like 2019 I believe… and just earlier this year his good friend messaged me that he had passed away… his family had my art piece of his drawing on display at his funeral. It had meant a lot to him. He had ‘unalived’ himself at 16. The art piece was a little dark, but clearly he was a troubled boy. He honestly seemed really intelligent for his age based on his limited interaction with me, and his dad had messaged me at the time about the art piece as well (he contributed to the payment of it). But to be clear, of course I was shook. His friend was really sad he was gone, and I cried too, as a boy I had an interaction with had unalived himself. I remade his art piece that meant a lot to him. I thought about this interaction for a while after, and will never forget it.

It’s sus that she got diagnosed w something so bad so quickly. No second opinions? Does Italy’s healthcare system really work that fast? So was she emailing you from her “dad”’s account? What did she want out of you - or was it a dare from a friend or something?? I guess I am super cynical and often when stories sound too good to be true…they usually are. But, I was part of 2 communities that got scammed by people who weren’t who they said they were (in bad ways), so this shit happens. :( This stuff, and worse, is why I’m sooo reluctant to share things online…

100% from the start because 1. Dramatic story, 2. She had a "second person" message you. Definitely, suggest the podcast Something was wrong season 20 and sweet bobby.

I’m wondering how she faked being sick. Like was she actually sick but with something more mild like pneumonia? Or how did she have access to the nose oxygen equipment?

I definitely fell for it 😅

I was shocked. However scammers happen. I think you and your family are kind people so you weren’t thinking someone would lie about an illness. I thought you might try to check the obituaries.

So confused and curious why she decided to start using the fake names in the email from her “father”?!

Just finishing the video and getting to your question. From your narrative I had a feeling this was a catfis story. I'm somewhat surprised it has not happened a lot because it is one of the awful trends young People turn to when alienated and on the dangerous side of the Internet. Be safe.

woow! no in the beginning i didn‘t question it at all, i even had tears in my eyes… it‘s crazy. also i don‘t really get what she got out of it?

🤯

I wonder what her ultimate goal was, or did she just want some attention from you

Entertaining? I SOPPED 😢😮…

But can you see if she's kept posting on Instagram via someone else's phone?

😮

So, wait. Was the motivation simply creative writing?