Recently I saw a post about someone on Hive who was using the medical condition of her mother to scam others. So apparently another person uncovered this scam.
I looked and it seemed like this account may be a catfish and an experienced scammer at that.
I think the reason why is that most people are empathetic when it comes to medical conditions. I've had one all throughout my life, and even when I have not asked for financial support, I have asked for support in other ways, like helping me with going to the hospital, advocating for me in front of the doctor, or helping me to buy medications and all that.
I've had empathetic people help me with all these things, including people who I do not really know. So when people provide proof or show proof that they are going through something medically, empathy is always the first emotion.
So I guess this person took advantage of this empathy, including the fact that they have built some sort of friendship and reputation with some other accounts here, who then went on to vouch for them when they were seeking these "scam supports."
I see a lot of people blaming themselves for giving them money. However, it is mostly emotionally intelligent people that are empathetic. People who are emotionally sound or emotionally intelligent often fall for scams, especially if they've experienced the rough side of life.
When I saw this post and the way the account replied in comparison with how they previously related with others, the first thing that came to my mind was that somebody's actually still in their stuff and using this stuff to catfish people.
I might be wrong, and they're just hardened criminals who understand how to take advantage of the emotional intelligence of people.
Back in the day I used to be very close to someone on Hive, and we talked a lot on Telegram. Then something happened, and I couldn't even chat back to people anymore. So many years later, I saw the same person trying to ask me to buy a token or a coin.
Immediately I saw this, I knew it wasn't the person who owned the account that was talking with me. The reason why is because the person who I previously talked with had never ever suggested that, and all we did was to talk about business on Hive and business in real life, and there was no way they suddenly became a scam artist. I understand that people can change in life.
Life can make you go through morbid character development; someone who was once innocent might become a hardened criminal because of life, and this unpredictability is why we cannot completely understand others.
There is no excuse for what this person has done. In fact, it is one of the biggest scams I have ever seen: well doctored and arranged from 2024 and making over $6k allegedly. Perhaps they wanted that money for something big and then chose a heist to do it. Absolutely ridiculous! It undermines the suffering that people who are truly sick go through and the fact that some sick people truly need a lot of support.