Dressed to Deceive: The Porsche & Penthouse Scam

The Dating Detectives

Dear Media

True Crime, 448526, Comedy, Relationships, Society & Culture

4.8 • 2.4K Ratings

🗓️ 21 April 2025

⏱️ 80 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this week’s Dating Detectives Monday, we welcome back matrimonial attorney Leslie Barbara, and her client Allison, who share one of the most jaw‑dropping “Dogfish” scams we’ve ever seen. Allison thought she’d met a charming Scottish real‑estate developer on Hinge, only to be drawn into a web of hotel double‑charges, “escrowed” millions, vanished luggage (and credit cards), even a suspicious bout of illness, all while he convinced everyone from gym staff to Porsche dealers that he was the real deal. Together, Leslie and Allison dissect the red flags, legal pitfalls (power of attorney, anyone?), and the surprising AI sleuthing that finally unmasked him. Tune in for hard‑won lessons on spotting, stopping, and surviving romance scams—and why locking your credit (and trusting your fem‑tuition) could make all the difference.

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***The following Program contains names, places and events that have been anonymized or fictionalized for the purposes of protection and safety. The following Program is provided for entertainment purposes only and any commentary from the hosts are strictly conjecture and should not be held as making any definitive statements about the truth or identity of any particular individuals or circumstances.

If you or a loved one are involved in an abusive relationship, please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 for support.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	The following program contains names, places, and events that have been anonymized or fictionalized for the purposes of protection and safety.
0:08.8	The following program is provided for entertainment purposes only, and any commentary from the hosts are strictly conjecture and should not be held as making any definitive statements about the truth or identity of any particular individuals or circumstances.
0:21.2	If you or a loved one are involved in an abusive relationship,
0:24.2	please call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-723 for support.
0:40.5	Hi, happy dating detectives Monday.
0:41.5	Hello.
0:46.1	Everybody, so many people are like, I can't wait for Mondays because I need more dirt.
0:49.0	We've re-branded Mondays for you.
0:52.0	It's dating detectives Monday.
0:54.8	But this one's cool because you guys are going to actually recognize or you're going to remember one of the guests that we're going to hear from.
0:59.1	This is a special one. So if you did not listen to this episode in the past, we will tell you
1:05.7	what it is. You got to go back. Leslie Barbara is here today. She's a matrimonial attorney from New York. and she's been on the show before. Her episode was called Dogfish Expert, Prenups, and Protecting Yourself with lawyer Leslie Barbara.
1:20.0	And she had her own dogfish story to share. Yeah. Which was crazy because it even happens to big name people.
1:28.2	Oh, yeah.
1:28.8	Go listen to the episode.
1:29.9	It was really good.
1:30.6	Yeah.
1:31.5	So she, we love her.
1:33.4	And you guys sent us questions for her.
1:35.3	It's a really interesting, obviously her story.
1:37.3	Oh my God.
1:37.6	I remember like the spaghetti.
	...

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