Gadgil. Kedar Gadgil.

I have always received honey trap friend requests ever since I have had some modicum of popularity on social media.

As easily as they were sent, I ignored them. Mostly because, one, I had no bandwidth to play along, and two, they were so transparently obvious that it was downright offensive to my intellect that they presumed there were any odds of me falling for this shoddy a job.

Over the years, the names changed, photos became better, and the volume of bombardment varied over seasons. But the quality of the profiles remained, more or less, quite, to put it mildly, juvenile. That was, I am sure, on purpose. As is known (I even wrote an entire post on it six years ago), scamsters and frauds purposely use bad design, incorrect language, and clearly avoidable errors as a filter to weed outsmart people, leaving them the most gullible and least sceptical groups of people offering them a target-rich environment with the maximum chance of success.

And then, last night, I received these: Anita and Eliza.

What surprised me about these two is the attention to detail. They have chosen images that are not easy to find online (not impossible, simply not easy), and they have remained consistent with the flavour of their language (even though it is sparse), colours, filters, and subjects. They have even clear stands on ideological issues that have no dissonance. Additionally, they have believable ‘About’ sections and no vanity URLs that give away their real names or reveal their actual gender (most likely male). I must confess that I am impressed.

So, what pricked up my ears? What made my Spidey sense tingle? Well, they messed up on one thing: Friends. Almost all the friends and followers are men. All comments and likes are from men. And there seems to be absolutely no engagement from anyone who seems from the same or adjacent socio-economic strata as the person in the profile or even uses language in a manner that a real-life friend of such a person might use. Then, there are the actual comments. Total giveaways.

And now, to my question: Why?

How do they benefit from adding me as a friend? What pecuniary or other advantages do they gain from me by being in my friend circle when most of my posts are available publicly on my blog? Or are they interested in who my friends are and what they are saying, posting, and talking about? Are these petty conmen looking for an easy buck through some sort of sexting followed by the inevitable blackmail? Or are they more serious government agents surveilling potential troublemakers?

Which brings me to the next question: Why me?

Maybe because of what I write about. Maybe because of my recent foray into electoral politics. Maybe my name popped up on some keyword-matching software. I don’t know.

Whatever it is, far from bothering me, it makes me feel important. Like I am some sort of secret agent. An international man of mystery! I mean, if my enemies are sending out femme fatales to seduce me for whatever secrets they think I may be in possession of, I would be well within my rights to feel a little tickled, yeah?

Or maybe they’re just two-bit blackmailers hoping to see my dick.

I prefer to believe the former. And dare anyone break that illusion!

Later edit: I finally figured out what the game here is; why so much effort to bait people like me when so many low-hanging fruit (yes, I thought of that pun too…so calm your racing heart) are readily available. And it is this: These scamsters have everything to pass off as a genuine profile, as already described. What they lack is respectability, or at least acceptability, that is necessary to attract the big fish. And how do they get it? By having people like you and me on their friend list. So, I am not the final intended target. Others, who I may or even may not be connected with online but who see me (and people like me) as friends with the potential perp and thereby lower their defences, are. So, it could be you, my dear friend. You, who’d see me as a mutual friend and mindlessly accept their friendship, and whose friends, seeing your connection, will mindlessly accept their friendship, and so on, until one of them is gullible (and stupid) enough to slide into their DMs. It’s a long con, folks. What an effing genius!