On Fri, Dec 10, 12:22 AM Paulie wrote:
My Dear Alise,
Thanks for your kind attention and your time to write to me, you are always so sweet and I can’t explain the sweet feelings resonating all through my body when i get to read from you ..I called my Mum yesterday, told her I’ve found someone that makes me happy and have been able to bring back smiles on my face and she wishes to see you as soon as possible. Considering your wish, I would have made this video straight ahead or even made video calls with you , if not for the situation I’ve found myself in over here .. In my contract agreement here states that there will be no videos or photographs of any kind until i leave the country. This is because the owner wants the project to be a top secret one .. It’s an underground military styled ( bomb proof bunker), i’m staying in his peoperty (private guest house) .. Don’t worry darling, I will make a proper arrangement to visit you very soon in your Country, as soon as I’m done with this project. The pictures I sent you are recent , but certainly not from here ..
You are always in my thoughts, I can’t stay without thinking of you.It is very important for me to express to you how much you really mean to me. I wish I could do this in person, But since we are physically separated by miles of emptiness, this expression must come in the form of letters such as this. Dear, I know it is difficult for you, as it is for me, to be separated for so long. Life seems to be full of trials of this type which test our inner strength, and more importantly, our devotion and love for one another.
After all, it is said that “True Love” is boundless and immeasurable and overcomes all forms of adversity. In truth, if it is genuine, it will grow stronger with each assault upon its existence. The longer I am away from you, the greater is my yearning to be with you. I cherish any thought of you, Price any memory of you that rises from the depths of my mind, and live for the day when our physical separation will no longer be.Until that moment arrives… I love the faces you have matched for our kids … mmmh they are all cute , I can’t wait for us to create lives together … Please send me some pictures of you okay .. Are you on whatsapp.. ? Would love to watch this boxing challenge lol and would love to participate as well , sounds like fun to me ….muah .. Have a great day my dear , I’m still working .. hope to read from you soon ..
With Love.
Analysis
So many more searchable phrases in this one, this time leading me to this BOOK written in 2009 about someone who fell for a scammer using the same lines. It’s 508 pages long and I just fell deep down a rabbit hole.
Obviously the face in the photos that Paulie sent me are not the face of the scammer. Obviously. The scammer clearly stole some poor guy’s photos from a social media or dating profile and is pretending to be him. Lucky for me, that blows this case open even further as I now have a whole new question to answer: I don’t only want to find out the identity of the scammer, but I want to find the person who he’s pretending to be. This requires some new nomenclature which I’ll get to at the end.
I’m lucky to have many friends and onlookers contributing to uncovering the truth about my boyfriend(s). I think this group of detectives needs a name, and I think they should be called the Paulie Investigation Suspicion Squad for the Truth, Accountability & Knowledge Extraction Regime. It’s a bit of a mouthful so we can just be the PISS-TAKERs for short.
Firstly, the complexion of this man does not line up with “traditional British guy living in Scotland and working in an office”, nor does his clothing. Allowing for some wild generalisations, but my understanding is that his skin is way too olive and tanned to match that profile. Also, lol at the guy in these photos eating poached egg, bacon, fried tomatoes, fried mushrooms, fried bread or buttered toast, and sausages, Black pudding, baked beans, and bubble and squeak every morning. Your golf, tennis and museum wondering won’t save you from those calories, bud.
A keen investigator on the PISS-TAKERs spotted some clues in the provided photos. The background of one photo has some palm trees, but not tropical palm trees; they are decorative and don’t bear coconuts. The waves in the background of the same photo are small, indicating they are not facing the ocean. This might place the man in the photos somewhere “in the Mediterranean, probably Spain”. I dunno, it sounded convincing.
I did some extra sleuthing on the photos and noticed a fire extinguisher in the background of his hotel lobby shot. The mirrored text reads “Extintor” which is Spanish for “Extinguisher”. According to Wikipedia, there are 20 countries where Spanish is the official language, and there are 26 Mediterranean countries. There is one overlap between these two sets: Spain.
That means our man in the photos it likely Spanish—or has visited Spain, like 84 million other people every year. Let’s go with the first one. We’re closer! (Barely.)
Before we get too confused moving forward, we need to sort out who’s who. I think it’s only reasonable that we call the real life man in the photos “Pablo” (my Spanish Paulie). The people or person behind the computer need some sort of evil villain name. I put some prompts into an supervillain name generator and holy moley there were some treats. To be honest I’m overwhelmed by the excellent suggestions, but I think I’ll stick with the simple “Scammy McScamface”. And then of course, my boyfriend, the man in the narrative who is head over heels in love with me, he will stay as my Paulie Pie (until death do us part).