Very Bizarre Situation

First off, this isn't a cuddle story.

I do a lot of hiking in the Vegas area where I'm from and quite often, I meet people that go more into the passersby hi.

I met this guy named David and we hit it off immediately, talking about Spiritual Things. He said he was a freelance craftsman, making an art installation for Burning Man. I told I'm an author outside of my day job finishing up my book called Unnatural Creatures. He became interested and wanted to exchange emails so I can send him the first 3 chapters.

He asks then takes a couple pics of posing at the top of the mtn. I ask we get a selfie together.

We exchanged numbers. He wanted me to hand him the phone to put his info in. A bit weird, but not too out of the ordinary. I've handed people my phone to put contact info in before just in case I write their # in wrong. And only now I think it's wierd because of what follows next.

He texted me saying it's David from the hiking trail where we met. Here's where it gets more bizarre.

When I looked at his text later, he sent an image that said, R*pe Netanyahu in a quote by John Lennon. Obv a meme, and mods, you can block this if it violates TOS. Not my intention to be political, just giving context.

And we didn't talk anything political at all in our convo, so I just thought, well he may just have opinions he needs to share so w/e.

I message him last night. Here is the exchange:

Me: David! Hope all is well. Still appreciate the talk and sharing our art on lone mtn. If I can get your email, I'll send you 3 chapters of my book.

Him: I think you have the wrong number. Who do you think you’re talking to? I have no idea what lone mtn is.

Me: This is [me]. You put this contact in my phone by hand.

Him: I’m sorry man I think whoever gave you this number gave you the wrong number cuz that’s not me

Me: This is the first text that was sent by this number:
"Met at top of Lone Mountain"
This is the text that I recieved by this number.

Him: Dude I don’t know what to tell you but I’ve never heard of lone mountain,I haven’t met anyone named Jack since freshman year of college, and I’m sure as hell not an artist.

Me: This is wild.

Then I sent our selfie saying:

This is the guy.
You may want to investigate this.
He might have stole your identity.

He doesn't respond anymore.

Since a lot of you have sus detectors from being a part of this community. What do you think? Should I be worried that this might turn into something?

If it's some guy who really doesn't care about connecting, I'm good with that. No hard feelings. Just hope he isn't going to do something malicious.

Comments

  • It could be DID. If he's not aware he has DID, it wouldn't occur to him that an alter spoke to you. It could also be a prank or a stolen phone. Or someone just lying. Whatever it is, it's not your problem.

    The most significant thing I see is that he cut off contact before you sent the three chapters. To me, that makes it less likely to be malice.

  • Hypothetical situation: If I was a scummy guy, and I met someone and exchanged info, and then they reached out but I didn’t want to be in active contact with them, perhaps because I have a spouse or partner that I don’t want asking questions about who I met and exchanged info with, I might scummily try to gaslight the person, and it might look exactly like what you’ve experienced here.

  • I'm not very tech-savvy, but is it possible that he may have downloaded an app or such to your phone so that it's accessible to third parties without your knowledge? I know such things happen with desktops, but not sure about mobile devices.

  • edited April 3

    @IronicMaiden Thank you! What you said relieved me into thinking that this person might not be Phishing for info. I appreciate adding some sense to my head.

    @Comet85 You're right. He might have a personal situation and his own reasons for responding, even if scummy lol. I do feel gas-lighted. I'm also quite sure that it is the same guy from the pic that I met that also responded to me in a "don't believe your lying eyes" fashion.

    @Jubal Doing a scan right now... just in case!

  • I don't know. Maybe a scammer or schizophrenia is involved. Id just be glad to still alive

  • edited April 3

    @Huggycatbear His boyfriend saw or was replying to your texts .. …

  • @jubal - That is a possibility on a phone. All depends on how long the person had the phone in their possession.

    Personally, I would NEVER hand my unlocked phone to a stranger. I even turn off FaceID before crossing international borders.

  • edited April 4

    @JohnR1972 moving forward from this I will not hand my phone over for someone to put contact info in.

    Even if he did nothing, my mind went wild.

    But then again, what got me was our in-depth conversation.

  • edited April 4

    That’s how they try to reel you in 🎣.. those in depth conversations.., … hope you meet someone kind…

  • @SweetCuddler33 I used to be so naive. I guess there are levels to it lol. Kind of like when you were once shy, that shyness finds little pockets to still be there.

    I don't blame myself though. Instead, I appreciate all of your points of view. It helped me to be less afraid and at the same time take precautions I didn't think about for the future.

  • edited April 4

    Ok great! 👍 😊

  • Just to clarify, he typed his name and number into your phone...and then texted you from that exact same number...then when you responded to the exact same number, it appeared to be someone else?

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🫂 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Junkie 📷 Shutter Bug

  • @SunsetSnuggles Yes! The only thing that threw me off (before the someone else part) was he sent a political image since we didn't discuss anything about politics.

  • @Huggycatbear makes me wonder if he's messed up, trolling, or a pathological liar. Knew a guy in college who seemed great and once he got my phone number, he started doing really messed up prank calls pretending to be other people pretty convincingly too, until I could hear other people (who I knew were his friends) in the background. Unfortunately I think some people see a genuine, honest, and nice person and feel some sick desire to mess with them :( can't say if that's for sure the case you ran into or not.

    Met a different guy at a bar who seemed really friendly, claimed he 'couldn't lie', and then proceeded to make elaborate lies (different name/age/occupation/backstory) to everyone else who came by, and told me he was just 'joking' with them. Every time they fell for his lies or got confused, he smirked at me. That's disturbing to say the least.

    Some really weird and messed up people out there. Hope you're doing okay after that! I'd be glad to chat with you on spirituality and your book minus the gaslighting part.

  • pro tip: never EVER under any circumstances hand some stranger your phone unlocked, no matter how 'nice' someone seems to be.

  • @wilderdude the classic pro tip that comes after it happened 😄😄😄 so that its only impact is that it leaves me stirred up post-encounter.

    Haha, I appreciate the advice. Cheers! Moving forward, that's what I'm going to follow.

    To be honest this is a one off. I've been hiking a long time. This is only time where the encounter went bizarre.

    Most hikers I come across are in such a healthy mindset. Shoulda paid attention that he mentioned he never really hiked before.

    @trnguy I defintely felt trolled. Thank you for checking in with me. I would absolutely love talking about spirituality and books.

    We can DM.

  • @Huggycatbear
    I hate to think this, but given the super messed up "meme" he sent... Do you have an accent? Could it be possible he thought you were Israeli?

    I honestly can't think of how this could have been a mistake. If the number was the same in all instances, it just makes no sense.

    I almost lean toward @SweetCuddler33's idea that someone else (a jealous boyfriend) had his phone? But his responses to you seem genuine, about not knowing someone by that name since college, etc.

    Very bizarre indeed, and I can't make sense of it. I'm sorry a person you thought could be a friend and professional contact didn't turn out that way, for whatever strange reason. 🫂

    ~ Sunset Snuggles

    🫂 Enthusiast 🏞 Travel Junkie 📷 Shutter Bug

  • Glad you’re safe. I’m open to talking
    About spirituality with you as well. Read my profile and hit me up if interested.

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