I mentioned this over in the scams thread here and was advised to add a review:
https://www.ukpunting.com/index.php?topic=420.new#newI tried to arrange a meet with Catarina the other night.
Profile:
External Link/Members OnlyTLDR: the meet didn't happen because I walked after being made to wait for 20 minutes outside the address. There were numerous red flags and I just had a really bad feeling about the entire thing so I decided to trust my gut for a change. I wasn't sure if that deserved a negative review but, on the scam thread, I was told otherwise.
So let's run through how this all happened:
- I saw the pictures on the profile. Honestly, she seemed a bit good to be true based on the photos but I enjoy a gamble like this from time to time so figured I'd give her a go.
- I tried phoning the number on the profile. No answer so I sent a text asking if she was available. I received a swift response "love send me a message on WhatsApp at [number] ok please". I've sent literally hundreds of texts asking WGs if they're available in my time and this is the only time I can ever remember them specifically insisting we switch to WhatsApp. First red flag.
- Her WhatsApp is set to automatically delete all messages after 24 hours. This makes sense but it's literally the first time I've ever seen anyone use this feature so, again, something of a red flag.
- I WhatsApped her asking if she was available and, instead of responding, she sent a load of canned messages containing her prices, address, photos of her and even a photo of the door to use at the address with an arrow drawn pointing to it. It was an excessive amount of admin honestly - arguably a good thing, but unusual. I've never had a WG send me a photo of the door before.
- Her address was in Salford - an M3 postcode rather than the M1 location listed on Vivastreet. This is really common practice for WGs but it still annoys me every single time. Put your actual bloody postcode down! If I'm searching for "M1", it's because I don't want to trek out to M8 or similar.
- All of the messages were forwarded rather than being copied and pasted or just typed out. Again, a bit odd.
- I arranged to meet with her. She instructed me to send her a photo of the door when I arrived. Bizarre request and another red flag for me.
- She apparently was working until 3 am which was another red flag. I don't think I've ever encountered a WG who works that late outside of parlours before.
- Something about the location when I arrived just gave me a really bad feeling. I took a photo of the door as requested and stood awkwardly waiting. The location is next to a shisha bar with lots of men inside looking out. I was very aware that any of those men could have been running some sort of a scam with me taking the photo being their way of figuring out who outside was a punter and who wasn't. While I was stood waiting, another guy turned up and was awkwardly on the phone. He was either a fellow punter or picking up drugs from someone who lived at the address. Couldn't quite tell which.
- After a bit of waiting, a woman came to the flat building opposite and said hi. At first I assumed it was the WG (not quite the one in the pictures but a similar look and very attractive). She was seemingly filming me on her phone. She could have been a local neighbour annoyed at punters outside her building but my brain went into overdrive in case this was some sort of weird blackmail scam. Thankfully, I'm not really in a position where I would care if someone tried to blackmail me like that but if I was married or something, it could have been a problem!
- After over 10 mins of waiting, she asked how long I wanted and said "one moment". I gave it another 10 minutes after those messages before giving up and deciding to leave. 20 minutes in total seemed more than fair.
- I was maybe 100 metres away on my way home when I got the messages "Where are you !??" and "Come on now let's go" - weirdly aggressive for someone who could have been stood round the corner for all she knew. I was still close enough to see the door so I turned around to have a look - there was no one obviously there.
- I figured I'd head back over and see if she was anywhere visible. After I replied, a large man came out of the doors and started walking directly towards me. Likely a total coincidence and he was just some guy who lived there, but the whole thing had set off so many red flags that I turned, crossed the road and walked home. The man was following behind until I got to quite a busy main road, at which point I lost sight of him.
I'm not a paranoid person especially so it's rare that something gets me on edge like this whole experience did. I just got a really bad feeling about the whole thing. It reminded me of the paranoia I've felt before when smoking weed, but given that I was fully sober I decided to just trust my intuition this time.
The thing that hopefully confirms I was right to be paranoid is that I came home and saw the same photos being used on a different site on the suspected scam thread here (linked above). Someone also posted the same number being used for a different profile on AW (which I suspect is the actual girl and that it's just a classic bait and switch with bad comms rather than anything more sinsister).
