💊 Episode 6: Hooked on a Feeling: The Drug and the Digital Fairytale 💊

What if the love of your life was never real — just a mirror of your deepest longing, designed to hook you like a drug?

In this episode of Romance Scam Rebellion, we dive into the emotional heart of digital deception — how scammers use your own dreams, values, and vulnerabilities to build a fantasy that feels tailor-made. You’ll hear how loneliness, algorithmic manipulation, and expertly crafted scripts combine to create a love story so convincing, it becomes nearly impossible to question… until it’s too late.

We explore:

• How scammers hijack your hope and turn it into a weapon
• Why social media is both lifeline and loaded gun
• The telltale signs you're being emotionally groomed
• Tools and boundaries to keep you safe — including one AI test you need to know
• And why the fairytale they’re selling is laced with financial and emotional poison

This isn’t about being naïve. It’s about being human.

The scammers know that. The tech platforms do too.
 And the more you understand their playbook, the stronger your defense.

Transcript

0:04

Episode six, hooked on a Feeling the drug and the digital fairytale. Imagine somebody using your face, your voice, even your memories to build a lie. Now, imagine falling in love with that lie. We've reached a point where photos, voices, and videos of real people are hijacked and injected into fake identities. It is becoming nearly impossible, even for experts to tell the difference between the real and the simulated. Social media is a double-edged sword. It's not inherently evil, but like any powerful tool, it can protect you or it can be turned against you. Learning how it works, its incentives, algorithms, its vulnerabilities is part of fighting back. What I'm doing here is a bit conflicting to me. On one hand, if I didn't have this digital expressway where I can pretend to be the new age Paul Reve warning system, I wouldn't be able to get my message to nearly as many people as this platform allows me to do. On the other hand, if we didn't have social media, the scammers wouldn't have become so sophisticated, prolific, and effective. A couple of years ago, I was much more ignorant about the dangers of social media. I was aware there were a few scams going around, but had no idea that LinkedIn had been infiltrated. No idea there were sharks in those waters. I chose not to be on Facebook any longer because honestly, there didn't appear to be much in the way of actual communication going on. It felt less like connection and more like show and tell a highlight reel that made my own life seem dim and boring. By comparison, my main source of entertainment was getting together with my girlfriends going out to dinner and an occasional movie, but in recent years, they started moving away. One by one, their lives were changing moving forward, and I felt stagnant. I craved for a change in my own life. The loneliness became more evident when Pedro came calling. I thought maybe this was the change I'd been waiting for. While I was happy for my friends, I really did crave something different for myself. Maybe it was just a case of keeping up with the Joneses or just the humdrum of my daily routine. Whatever my thought process was at the time, Pedro represented change and excitement. Someone new to think about someone who wanted to travel with me and could financially allow me to retire. Like I said earlier, these scammers study you. They only replicate your wants and desires. They present those things to you on what looks like to be a silver platter. You only find out later, it's all smoke and mirrors. I realize now I was actually hooked on a feeling that rush of being seen, wanted chosen. But feelings can lie, especially when they're being fed to you by someone with a script. And once you're hooked, it's not just your money at risk, it's your sense of self. When that sense of self starts to slip, that's when they have you. But knowledge is power. The more you understand, the harder it is for them to take advantage. So let's talk a bit about what I wish I had known, the warning signs, the tactics, and the ways to protect yourself. Learn the battlefield. Understand how manipulation works online, especially how scammers exploit emotion, urgency, and trust. Living online is like living by the ocean. It's beautiful and deadly. If you don't understand the tides, its beauty. Doesn't erase the danger. The same water that calms you can pull you under without warning. Knowing the terrain doesn't ruin the experience. It's what keeps you safe in it. This is what it means to know the battlefield. If you're going to be here online exposed and reaching for connection, you have to understand what's lurking beneath the surface. Verify everything. Use video calls early. One thing I just learned about is when speaking on video calls, ask the person you're speaking with to stand up, turn around and sit back down. AI currently cannot do this, so this will clue you in do some deep dives into online research about this person. Trust your gut and your tools. If you're not familiar with how to do something online, ask a friend or a family member if they have a profile. How long has it been online? I've noticed lately that what looks to me like scammers have had their accounts loaded only recently, as in days or months. They have two pictures in their profiles and tens of friends set clear boundaries before you ever engage with someone new. One thing that hasn't changed and never will, after all, it's the whole reason they exist, is that at some point, a scammer will create a situation, a reason that pulls at your heartstrings, a need for you to send them money. Oh, make no mistake. They guarantee they will pay you back and even pay you more than they borrowed because you've done them such a favor. It's crucial that you make this decision ahead of time. Never discuss money with anyone you've met online. Only make this pledge to yourself now, so when it comes up, you can clearly say something like, I'm sorry, I can't help you with this. I've made it a personal boundary of mine to never send money to someone I've never met in person, ever. Let's think about this logically. You've known that person for a very short period of time, right? A few months. They're supposedly successful people with plenty of money. Successful business people don't need to ask new friends for help. They have family, friends and backup plans. If someone you've never met is asking you for money, it's not love. It's a lie period. Do not back down on this, or you'll risk losing everything you've worked for. Ask yourself, are you really willing to take that chance for words that sound loving, but might be a cold calculating script? Cryptocurrency. I know we haven't covered this yet, but for now, just know this is a huge tell. If the person you're talking to offers to help you make money or asks you to send them money via crypto, this person is definitely a scammer. We'll be talking more about this in a future episode, but if someone brings up crypto Run. Don't walk to the NXT exit. That's not opportunity knocking. That's bait. Talk to a friend or a family member. Isolation is a scammer's best friend. Stay connected to people who will give you honest feedback. Your friends and family have your best interest at heart. Let them know what's going on. Speak out. Your awareness could be the thing that saves you or someone else if you are loving, caring, giving. Looking for another chance at love, you are their perfect target. When they profess their love, don't fall for it. It's a lie. They want to sell us a cure for loneliness, but what they're offering is a drug one designed to hook us on a fantasy. What is that drug you ask? It's the drug that promises a fairytale dream, an end to our lonely days, a cure for the aching void in our lives. It's the answer to the question. We dare not say out loud will I ever truly be loved. They hope to addict us, hook us on that fantasy, keeping us desperate for the next dose. They feed us exactly what we long to hear, that we are loved, chosen, destined for a life Together they speak of wanting to meet our families. Finally coming home for good, building a future side by side, marriage travel. A shared dream. Whatever version of the fairytale you've carried in your heart, they reflect it back like it's already real. And remember, it's not just scammers wearing masks anymore. If the social platforms themselves, the algorithm knows what you crave, and sometimes those cravings get weaponized. The more you know about their playbook, the less likely you are to succumb. If this resonated with you, please share it with someone you love. You might be the warning voice they never knew they needed. Next time on romance scam Rebellion, we'll crack open a darker side of the playbook, the scammer's ability to make you question your own instincts and the dangerous power of rationalization. Until then, please remember, self-compassion isn't weakness. It's resistance.