We’ve all heard the fables of how an older man comes into a young woman’s life, falls helplessly in love with her and sweeps her off her feet, while loving her and lavishing her with luxurious gifts and money from a distance.
We’ve all heard know of that one woman, who is a friend of a friend, who met a handsome man – also perhaps a bit older – who left his wife to support and give her all that her heart and wardrobe desires.
One of the oldest tricks
So, when you find a message in your inbox saying: “Daddy looking for a sugar babe who is loyal I’m willing to spoil you with a weekly allowance of $800. If interested, Text me for better communication and pictures!”, you might think that all your financial troubles will disappear in thin air.
Well, not really. It will be the start of them.
The sugar daddy scam is one of the oldest tricks in the books but also one of the most common that people – especially those who are not internet savvy – fall for.
How does the scam work?
The so-called sugar daddy wants the victim to believe that they will receive a large sum of money. However, for this money to be received by the fake sugar baby, or the victim, the sugar daddy requests an upfront payment. Once this payment is made, the scammer disappears into the internet, never to be seen again and the money becomes almost impossible to retrieve again.
So, for example, scammers will keep an eye out for people who are young or who claim they are looking for a sugar daddy to help with their bills and expenses. They promise to help and support them but only if they receive a certain amount of money as proof of the victim’s loyalty or to cover inexistent payment fees or charges. As soon as they money is transferred, then the sugar daddy vanishes.
Scammer sugar daddies also use another method. They make a payment into the victim’s account and, once that is done, ask them for an amount of money as a gift or a token of their appreciation, or to help them with an urgent bill that just cropped up.
How do they make money using this method?
Because the money that would be deposited in the victim’s bank account would be paid with a stolen credit card or cheque. This money would be eventually retrieved by the banks, leaving the victim without the payment AND the money that they sent to the fake sugar daddy.
And while the image of a sugar daddy evokes a handsome, older man with cash to burn in his pocket, the actual identity of a scammer can be a woman or man, young or old, with the sole aim of taking money from the victim and then deleting their fake identity.
So how does one spot a fake sugar daddy?
The reality is that there are people who are ready to spend their money on someone but these are few and far between. If you do receive a payment from one who is claiming to be a sugar daddy, then let the funds sit in your account for a while. Do not make any payments in return. If you get a request to make a payment, then this should alert you that something is not right.
Report scammers immediately
Feetpics.com has received a number of reports from sellers that they received messages from people claiming to be a sugar daddy and promising them money. However, all these messages have one thing in common: the so-called sugar daddy is asking the foot pic seller to contact them on private messaging platforms such as a WhatsApp or Kik.
This is a typical move by scammers, who would have registered as a buyer on the site, in an attempt to move the conversation and transaction with the seller to another chat platform. Feetpics.com recommends that any messages are reported to support, which in turn will block these fake users.
