by MrsCBarnard
Wed Mar 13, 2013 8:13 am
My husband and I have watched every episode of MTV's "Catfish", and if someone is getting Catfished, my mother is. My parents have recently divorced after 30 years and this is her first attempt of dating. (To say that she is naive, is an understatement!) She joined ChristianMingle.com She is in contact with someone named "Derek Hoffman", living in Cincinnati, OH. My mother and I have a pretty open realtionship, and she has shared the 6 or 7 emails with me that they have exchanged. I will list the following "Red Flags" that I have noted, and the investigating I have done. If anyone can help me by thinking of something to investigate farther, I would appreciate it. Or if you have a similar story, I would love to hear from you.
What he caims:
Derek Hoffman
49 years of age
Originally from London
Lives in Cincinnati
Divorced 4 years
1 Daughter, Nicole M. Hoffman
Engineer
What I have noticed from his emails:
Changes wording to repeat himself, alot.
Uses lower case "i", unless computer capitalizes it at the the beginning of a sentence.
Many run-on sentences. Uses comma's in place of periods.
Over the top. Writes like a poet about love. Claims he is "in love" by email 6 or 7.b (They have never met or even talked on the phone. Only communication through emails or text)
Reg Flags:
His email is [email protected]. Usually, not always, a year in an email indicated birth year. This would make him 54 or 55 depending on when is birthday falls in 2013.
Looked him up on Facebook. His profile was created October 12, 2012 and states he lives in Queens, NY. He gives no information other than Engineer in the "About" section. 1 picture posted. He has 0 friends, and following 2 people: 1 from California, and 1 from Ohio. 1 person "likes" his picture and she is originally from Jamaica, and currently lives in Queens.
I also looked his daughter, Nicole Marie Hoffman, up on Facebook. I could not find a matching profile.
He gave my mother his phone number: 414-616-7733. This area code is from Wisconsin. I looked up reverse information on this number and there was no other account information given other than location and that it is a landline.
I searched all 3 pictures I have of him in Google Image. 2 came up empty. 1 picture came up with a hit from a "Birmingham Forum" with a post, from July 2012, from a lady named Marie-Luisa from Houston, TX claiming she has been talking with "Derek Hoffman" (all the same info given) and wanted to make sure he is who he really says he is. (Obviously I'm not the only one doubting this man.) But no one ever responded to her.I tried looking Marie-Luisa up on Facebook and Internet and came up with no real answers. Here is her post on the Forum:
"Hello Birmingham Writing Community:[/size]My name is Marie-Luisa and I am corresponding from Houston, Texas USAAfter reading some of your interesting posts, I get the feeling that you all are a small community, close knit and caring.Maybe you all can help me in my problem.I am looking for a Pamela Hoffman, her address is23 Brumswick, Handsworth, Birmingham, London, England, UKI am corresponding with her son, Derek Hoffman (by internet only)He says he is divorced (4yrs) and he has a daughter namedNicole Marie Hoffman who recently went on a visit to China.He is a handsome man around 54yrs old, blond curly hair, blue eyes.
His writings to me are the essence of a beautiful soul. I hope he is.Does anybody know the Hoffman family?I would like to verify that what he is saying to me is true,for I do notwant him to be a figment of my imagination, nor him be married.I would really appreciate any information you can find out for me.Warm RegardsMarie-LuisaP.s. I am sending an attachment with his picture ."
He asked my mother if is daughter could email her. My mother said yes, and recieved an email the same day. The email has to be from him. The means of writing are the same, same over the top, talks only about himself, and still uses lower case "i" unless the beginning of a sentence.
I looked up the IP address from his emails and from his daughter, Nicole's, email. Both IP addresses are from California, San Jose area.
Most recently, he deleted his profile from ChristianMingle.com. I think he is erasing his tracks; my Mom thinks that he deleted it because he is not interested in getting to know anyone else but her. He also told her that he got called out to an Dublin, Ireland for work on a Oil Rig, and may not be as available as normal.
Conclusions:
This guy is ALL over the map!! London, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, communicating with another woman in Texas, and is now in Ireland!! (Oh, and his daughter was in China!)
His writings are over the top and very poetic. But on the otherhand, has misspelled words and grammer issues. (You would think an Engineer would know better.) He is gaining her trust by using words repeatedly like: Honestly, God willing, I have never felt..., etc.)
He claims to be an engineer, but does not work for a compnay. He is a contractor, and plans to start his own business soon.
Not sure what his "scam" is going to be. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he has her even more convienced that all of this is true and has fully gained her trust. My fear is that he is either going to be asking for money soon or that he might actually meet her and either physically or sexually attack her. She thinks that he has moved around so much due to his job, but is about to settle down with the start of his own business. She also believes that the email from Nicole, is actually from his daughter. I have talked about all of the above with her and she thinks that I am acting this way because I don't want her to date. I have encouraged her to look up other profiles and see who else is out there. It's so frustrating!
If anyone has any information or suggestions, please contact me! My email address is <removed - dotti>
Thanks,
Crystal
Removed email address: Posting on a public forum will get it picked up by scammers and spammers.
What he caims:
Derek Hoffman
49 years of age
Originally from London
Lives in Cincinnati
Divorced 4 years
1 Daughter, Nicole M. Hoffman
Engineer
What I have noticed from his emails:
Changes wording to repeat himself, alot.
Uses lower case "i", unless computer capitalizes it at the the beginning of a sentence.
Many run-on sentences. Uses comma's in place of periods.
Over the top. Writes like a poet about love. Claims he is "in love" by email 6 or 7.b (They have never met or even talked on the phone. Only communication through emails or text)
Reg Flags:
His email is [email protected]. Usually, not always, a year in an email indicated birth year. This would make him 54 or 55 depending on when is birthday falls in 2013.
Looked him up on Facebook. His profile was created October 12, 2012 and states he lives in Queens, NY. He gives no information other than Engineer in the "About" section. 1 picture posted. He has 0 friends, and following 2 people: 1 from California, and 1 from Ohio. 1 person "likes" his picture and she is originally from Jamaica, and currently lives in Queens.
I also looked his daughter, Nicole Marie Hoffman, up on Facebook. I could not find a matching profile.
He gave my mother his phone number: 414-616-7733. This area code is from Wisconsin. I looked up reverse information on this number and there was no other account information given other than location and that it is a landline.
I searched all 3 pictures I have of him in Google Image. 2 came up empty. 1 picture came up with a hit from a "Birmingham Forum" with a post, from July 2012, from a lady named Marie-Luisa from Houston, TX claiming she has been talking with "Derek Hoffman" (all the same info given) and wanted to make sure he is who he really says he is. (Obviously I'm not the only one doubting this man.) But no one ever responded to her.I tried looking Marie-Luisa up on Facebook and Internet and came up with no real answers. Here is her post on the Forum:
"Hello Birmingham Writing Community:[/size]My name is Marie-Luisa and I am corresponding from Houston, Texas USAAfter reading some of your interesting posts, I get the feeling that you all are a small community, close knit and caring.Maybe you all can help me in my problem.I am looking for a Pamela Hoffman, her address is23 Brumswick, Handsworth, Birmingham, London, England, UKI am corresponding with her son, Derek Hoffman (by internet only)He says he is divorced (4yrs) and he has a daughter namedNicole Marie Hoffman who recently went on a visit to China.He is a handsome man around 54yrs old, blond curly hair, blue eyes.
His writings to me are the essence of a beautiful soul. I hope he is.Does anybody know the Hoffman family?I would like to verify that what he is saying to me is true,for I do notwant him to be a figment of my imagination, nor him be married.I would really appreciate any information you can find out for me.Warm RegardsMarie-LuisaP.s. I am sending an attachment with his picture ."
He asked my mother if is daughter could email her. My mother said yes, and recieved an email the same day. The email has to be from him. The means of writing are the same, same over the top, talks only about himself, and still uses lower case "i" unless the beginning of a sentence.
I looked up the IP address from his emails and from his daughter, Nicole's, email. Both IP addresses are from California, San Jose area.
Most recently, he deleted his profile from ChristianMingle.com. I think he is erasing his tracks; my Mom thinks that he deleted it because he is not interested in getting to know anyone else but her. He also told her that he got called out to an Dublin, Ireland for work on a Oil Rig, and may not be as available as normal.
Conclusions:
This guy is ALL over the map!! London, New York, Wisconsin, Ohio, California, communicating with another woman in Texas, and is now in Ireland!! (Oh, and his daughter was in China!)
His writings are over the top and very poetic. But on the otherhand, has misspelled words and grammer issues. (You would think an Engineer would know better.) He is gaining her trust by using words repeatedly like: Honestly, God willing, I have never felt..., etc.)
He claims to be an engineer, but does not work for a compnay. He is a contractor, and plans to start his own business soon.
Not sure what his "scam" is going to be. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before he has her even more convienced that all of this is true and has fully gained her trust. My fear is that he is either going to be asking for money soon or that he might actually meet her and either physically or sexually attack her. She thinks that he has moved around so much due to his job, but is about to settle down with the start of his own business. She also believes that the email from Nicole, is actually from his daughter. I have talked about all of the above with her and she thinks that I am acting this way because I don't want her to date. I have encouraged her to look up other profiles and see who else is out there. It's so frustrating!
If anyone has any information or suggestions, please contact me! My email address is <removed - dotti>
Thanks,
Crystal
Removed email address: Posting on a public forum will get it picked up by scammers and spammers.
