Lurkers

In 2018, Kirat Assi finally finds herself standing face-to-face with Bobby Jandu, the man she believes she's been in love with for years.But Bobby looks at her like she's a complete stranger. He says he's never spoken to her.Then Kirat's phone rings... the name on the screen?Bobby.This is Part Two of Sweet Bobby, one of the most extraordinary long-form catfishing cases ever uncovered.For years, Kirat believed she was building a future with Bobby. There were thousands of messages. Late-night Skype calls. Plans for marriage. And an entire network of family members and friends who seemed to confirm that everything was real.But there was one thing Kirat could never get. Bobby, in person.As the relationship begins taking over her life, Kirat starts demanding answers. Plans to meet keep falling apart. A hotel can't find Bobby's reservation. An address leads nowhere. And eventually, a private investigator gives her something she can finally verify... a real address in Brighton.What happens when Kirat reaches that front door changes everything she thought she knew about Bobby, their relationship, and the people she trusted. But discovering the truth is only the beginning.In this concluding episode, we follow the unraveling of the Sweet Bobby deception, the extraordinary web of online identities, and the search for accountability after years of emotional manipulation. Because when an entire world seems to confirm that someone is real, how do you recognize that something is wrong? And what happens when the truth finally catches up?If you're new to the story, start with Part One: The Man Everyone Seemed to Know.Content warning: Long-form catfishing, identity misuse, emotional manipulation, coercive control, harassment-related allegations, and psychological distress. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

In 2011, Kirat Assi is on a dance floor in Brighton when she sees a man she recognizes immediately.His name is Bobby Jandu. She's seen his face on Facebook for months. They've been messaging. They have a connection. They come from overlapping circles. So Kirat walks toward him, says his name, and introduces herself. But Bobby looks confused.“Who?”It feels strange. But not strange enough to become a warning.This is Part One of Sweet Bobby, a true-crime story about long-form catfishing and how an online relationship can feel real when an entire world seems to confirm it. Bobby didn't appear as a random stranger in Kirat's life. He came with mutual connections, community ties, family names, medical updates, Facebook profiles, relatives, and friends. And whenever something about his story seemed impossible, there was usually someone else who could explain it.Over time, their friendship became something more. There were late-night calls. Plans for marriage. A future Kirat believed they were building together. But there was one thing missing...Bobby himself.For years, every time reality left a gap, Bobby's world seemed to find a way to fill it. And eventually, Kirat received something she could actually hold in her hands. Something that made the relationship feel more real than ever.But how long can you believe in someone you've never truly been able to reach?Content warning: Long-form catfishing, emotional manipulation, coercive control, medical deception, and psychological distress. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

Police enter a house in Newry, Northern Ireland, early in the morning. Upstairs, a twenty-one-year-old man is asleep. Beside him is a smartphone.The Snapchat camera is still open.Investigators can see the last victim interaction happened only about two and a half hours earlier. Another girl. Another conversation. Another screen McCartney had not let go of.This episode follows the case of Alexander McCartney, a man who created fake profiles posing as teenage girls and used those identities to target young victims across countries. What looked, from the other side, like another girl around the same age became a trap: a friendly message, a photo, a threat, and then control.The investigation begins with reports from Scotland and New Zealand, moves through NCMEC and U.S. investigators, and eventually reveals a scale that is almost impossible to process: victims across the world, hundreds of thousands of images, and a case that forced prosecutors to ask a difficult legal question.Can someone behind a screen be held criminally responsible for a death, even if he and the victim never met?This is not only a story about sextortion. It is about speed. How fast harm can move through a phone, how slowly systems can respond, and why bringing someone else into the conversation can be the first moment control starts to break.Content warning: sextortion involving minors, child sexual exploitation, online coercion, self-harm, suicide, and death. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.—Follow LURKERS:Instagram: @thelurkers_podcastTikTok: @thelurkerspodcastYouTube: @TheLurkersPodcastWebsite: powertaleproductions.com

It starts with a message from Ester’s phone.Her mother, Pepa, sees her daughter’s name on the screen. The messages say Ester is alive, out on the street, and leaving Spain for Buenos Aires. But something feels wrong. Ester doesn’t call. She doesn’t send a voice note. She doesn’t turn on the camera. She only keeps typing.Then Ester’s sister notices the spelling mistakes, the strange phrases, the way the words don’t sound like her.“Mamá… esta no es mi hermana.”Mom… this isn’t my sister.This episode follows the case of María Ester Estepa Pérez, a 42-year-old woman from Seville whose disappearance became tied to a public TikTok traveler known online as Dinamita Montilla. He filmed roads, shelters, towns, hotels, and the places where he slept. His life appeared visible enough to feel safe.But visibility is not verification.As Ester’s family searched for answers, the same online trail that once made him seem familiar began to reveal contradictions. Videos became locations. Posts became movement. A public persona became part of a digital map.This is not a story about an anonymous profile hiding in the dark. It is about someone who showed his face, used his name, and built trust through the camera.Note: Ester’s case remains open in Spain. José Jurado Montilla has not been convicted in connection with her death. This episode discusses the public record, family statements, reporting, and allegations that remain for a court to decide.Content warning: domestic abuse, disappearance, death, alleged sexual violence, and homicide allegations. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

Released one day before World Suicide Prevention Day, this LURKERS bonus episode revisits one of the most important stories we’ve covered: The BM Boys.This is not just a re-release. It’s a reminder.The BM Boys episode follows the sextortion cases of Jordan DeMay, James Timothy Woods, and Murray Dowey... three teenagers caught in the same kind of trap: a fake profile, a private image, a sudden threat, and a countdown designed to make panic feel louder than help.Sextortion works by isolating the victim. It turns shame into silence. It convinces a young person that one mistake, one screenshot, or one threat is the end of their world.It isn’t.If there is one message at the center of this episode, it is this: put the phone down. Find someone you trust. Say it out loud. And hand them the phone if you can’t find the words.The shame belongs to the criminal, not to the person being threatened.Content warning: sextortion, online coercion, teen harm, suicide, and emotional distress. Listener discretion advised.This episode is shared for awareness and prevention. If you or someone you know is in immediate danger, contact emergency services or a crisis support line where you live.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

A false emergency call sends police to a stranger’s door. A plane is diverted. Gaming networks go dark on Christmas morning. And years later, in Finland, the same pattern of online power turns much quieter... and far more personal.This episode follows the case of the Vastaamo psychotherapy breach, one of Europe’s most disturbing cybercrime cases. Thousands of patients trusted a private therapy provider with the most intimate parts of their lives: trauma, grief, depression, family pain, addiction, and the things people say only because they believe the room is safe.But behind that room was a database.When Vastaamo’s patient records were accessed, the breach did not stay behind corporate walls. A hacker first tried to extort the company. Then the pressure shifted directly to the patients themselves... ransom demands, threats, Bitcoin, and the fear that private therapy notes could be published for strangers, employers, families, and the entire world to see.We trace the path from online aliases and swatting to the Vastaamo hack, the rise of “Ransom Man,” the national crisis in Finland, and the prosecution of Aleksanteri Kivimäki - a case that forces a deeper question: what happens when the most private parts of your life become someone else’s weapon?Content warning: cybercrime, hacked therapy records, blackmail, swatting, threats, emotional distress, and suicide-linked fallout. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

In Beal City, Michigan, a teenage couple starts receiving messages from an unknown number.At first, it looks like drama around a Halloween party. Then the texts come back. Crueler. More personal. More relentless. They know nicknames. They mention school conversations. They target Lauryn Licari, Owen McKenny, their relationship, their friends, and the fragile trust inside a small-town high school.Soon, every message becomes a clue. Every classmate becomes a possible suspect. Phones are checked. Friendships fracture. Parents step in. Police try to trace the number. And as the harassment keeps escalating, the case moves from school rumors to a digital investigation that will eventually reach the FBI.This episode follows the case known as Unknown Number: The High School Catfish, a story about anonymous texting, spoofed numbers, cyberstalking, teenage relationships, and the way one hidden identity can turn an entire community against itself.Content warning: cyberstalking, harassment, explicit messages involving minors, emotional abuse, and threats. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.

In São Paulo, Brazil, a man arrives for a date and sends three ordinary words: “Já estou aqui.” — I’m already here. But in this city’s wave of dating-app ambushes, those words can mean the trap has already closed.This episode follows the rise of São Paulo app ambushes, known locally as golpe do amor, and sometimes called golpe do Tinder, where a fake profile becomes a meeting point, and the meeting point becomes a trap.We begin with Felipe Afonso Araújo, then widen the lens: a survivor identified by UOL as “Jorge”, a pseudonym for privacy, and Eduardo Alexandre Deccó, who believed he was meeting a profile called “Jonnas.”Then we pull back to the system: how conversations move to WhatsApp, how victims are profiled, why the address changes at the last second, how the phone becomes the key: PIX transfers, bank apps, passwords, and how laranjas, or money mules, help create distance between the crime and the people directing it.And we end with what changed: how São Paulo authorities began targeting the structure around these crimes - leaders, account handlers, and money mules - while banks, prosecutors, and platforms faced pressure to move faster.Content warning: abduction themes, threats, violence, and death. Listener discretion advised.Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production.Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe.