Catfish: The TV Show (2012–…): Season 8, Episode 29 - Jason & Mar - full transcript
California preacher Jason thought Mar was the one when they matched on Jack'd, but Mar would never meet up. After Nev and Kamie find out that Mar could be a girl scamming him for money, Jason has to confront some hard truths.
- Jason's been talking
with Mar,
someone he met
on a hookup app.
- He makes me feel
like I'm wanted.
- But you've sending money
to this person.
- Do you see these red flags?
[line disconnects]
- [gasps]
It was a girl!
- This is crazy.
- Deep breath, Jason.
Deep breath.
- I'm so nervous.
[computer chimes]
- Get the [BLEEP]
out of here.
[dramatic musical sting]
[upbeat rock music]
- ♪ Keep crushing it up
♪ Gimme, gimme the bust
[computer chimes]
- What's up, girl?
- Oh, this is your "Dancing
with the Stars" stretch?
- No, this is
my standard back stretch.
[moans]
- Hold, hold, and breathe.
Deep stretch.
- Kamie, you have a nice voice.
You could do, like,
guided meditation.
- Should I?
Push back
into downward-facing dog.
- Yeah.
That's nice.
- Think about all
the good things in your life.
[laughter]
- All right.
Let's see what we got cooking
up in the old email here.
This is from Marcella.
- ♪ Lay it on me,
I'm listening ♪
- "Hey Nev and Kamie,
I'm writing in hopes that you
can help my brother, Jason."
- ♪ Say what you want
- "He's 32 years old and lives
in [bleep], California.
"And he's being catfished.
"For the last two months,
"he's been talking to someone
he met on a hookup app.
"At first, it seemed
like harmless fun,
"but now I'm worried.
"They've never talked
on the phone,
"never video chatted,
and Jason has been
stood up twice."
- Mm.
- ♪ Some folks really
don't listen much ♪
- "But here's the kicker.
"I found out that Jason
has been sending money
"to this person.
"Jason is putting up
with all of this
"because he recently went
through a bad breakup.
"I think he's putting
all of his hopes
"into this new relationship.
But I'm afraid Jason
is going to get hurt again."
Forget hurt.
He's getting scammed.
- ♪ Sell it to me,
sell it to me ♪
- "Jason is a pastor
"and always wants to see
the best in people.
"But I know
it's gonna land him
"with another broken heart.
Please help, Marcella."
- Bless his heart.
- So we got
a real problem here
because we got a pastor
rebounding
from a bad breakup,
and obviously
some major red flags here.
So let's text Marcella
and see if she can jump in.
Oh, okay.
She got my text.
She hearted it.
"Come in our Zoom."
[computer chimes]
Oh.
- Oh, my God.
both: Hey.
- What's up?
- Hi, Nev.
- Marcella.
- Hi, Kamie.
- Hi.
- This just seems so unreal.
- Do you also live
in California?
- No, I live
in Dayton, Ohio.
- Oh, okay.
So did you guys grow upin Ohio?
- Yeah, we both grew up
in Ohio.
Jason--I call him my brother,
but he's actually
my best friend.
We met in college.
- Oh, okay.
- We talk every day, all day.
- Did you guys ever hook up?
- [laughing]
No, no.
Strictly platonic.
He's my best friend.
And he likes guys, so...
- Wow.
So he's a progressive pastor.
I love this.
- I just foolishly assumed
it was a girl.
- He's gay.
He just loves light-skinned,
pretty boys.
- Oh, God.
- [laughs]
- Hell, has he been openly gay
as long as you've known him?
- Yeah.
- Okay, so Jason met this guy
on an app.
Do you know which app it was?
- Jack'd.
- Oh, my God.
I know about Jack'd.
- What's this guy's name?
Do you know?
- Yeah.
His name is Mar.
He lives in Vegas.
- Got it.
- And why do you think
he's fake?
- He only texts Jason.
When he asks to Facetime him,
he won't Facetime him.
He always have an excuse.
When he went to Vegas,
you know,
he didn't meet up with him.
So now it just
has me thinking, like,
he's probably catfishing him.
- But you said
that Jason has been
sending him a lot of money.
What's that about?
- He has.
He has sent him
probably over $500.
- Wow.
- For what?
- Exactly.
What are you
sending him money for?
Jason is very gullible.
- You mentioned in the email
that Jason recently had
a bad breakup.
- Yeah, he just got
out of a bad marriage.
- Oh, wow.
How long was he married?
- Two, three years.
- Oh, wow.
- So you do think Jason
would be accepting
of our help?
- I mentioned you guys
to him before.
I said, you know,
"This sounds pretty shady.
I'm gonna email 'Catfish'
about this."
- [laughs]
- What's the best way for us
to get in touch with Jason?
- I could text him.
- Yeah, and invite him
to join our Zoom.
- Yep, I just texted him.
- Okay.
Great.
- Well.
- Hope he isn't gonna be
upset with me.
[laughter]
- I hope not.
[computer chimes]
- Oh.
- Hello, Jason.
- Kamie and Nev,
how you guys doing?
- We're doing well.
You know, I got the call
from Jesus,
and he told me
that you need help.
[laughing]
- Oh, Lord.
[laughter]
- So you're a pastor, right?
- Yeah.
I am a pastor.
- I'm assuming that your church
is open-minded and accepting
of homosexuality?
- Um, yes and no.
Um, you know,
we have older members
who are confound on, you know,
homosexuality is a sin
and you'll go to hell.
But, I mean...
- Mm.
- I'm not concerned
because we have
younger members
that are, like,
it really doesn't matter
what your walk of life is
as long as you, you know,
come to Christ.
- I'm a Christian too.
And love is not a sin.
So it doesn't matter
who it is that you love.
That's--there's nothing
wrong with that.
- You know, you right.
[chuckles]
- So this guy you're
talking to, Mar...
- Yes.
- I think we need to kind of
just get into the specifics.
Marcella, you already know
all this,
but we wanna hear it
from him.
Thank you for getting
our attention.
- Absolutely.
Good luck, Jason!
- [laughing]
- I hope you get all, you know,
the answers you're looking for.
- All right, sister.
- Bye, Marcella.
Aww.
She loves you.
- She does.
She does.
- So you're 32 now, right?
- Right.
- When did you get married?
- I got married
three years ago.
But after a while,
there was no love there.
I felt more like
a sugar daddy.
We're separated.
We're going
through the divorce process.
- Aww.
Jason, I'm sorry.
- I'm genuine.
I'm looking for real love,
and it just wasn't there.
- How long before you met Mar?
- A week after.
- Wow.
- Wow.
Okay.
- So tell us about Mar
and kind of how you got
to where you are with him.
- I know that he lives
in Las Vegas.
He's a security guard
on the Strip.
He's 21 years old.
- 21?
- [laughs]
Yeah.
I...
I like younger guys.
I think that's my downfall,
like, light-skin and young.
I'm just like, oh, my God.
- No, no, no!
- [laughs]
- Oh, man.
- But Jack'd is, like,
a location-based app, right?
How did you guys match
in the first place?
- I was in Las Vegas
on vacation.
My last day there,
I was bored,
so I'm like,
"Let's see who's around."
Bam, his profile showed
that he was two miles
away from me.
So I hit him up.
I'm like, "Well, you know,
I'm here in Vegas.
Do you wanna, you know,
hang out?"
He was like,
"I can't hang out tonight
'cause I have to go to work."
Which--that's understandable,
you know?
You hit someone up
last minute.
- That makes sense,
but then you went back
to California,
and you guys started talking.
What happened?
- The conversation is there.
Just to wake up in the morning
and have someone text you
"Good morning"
makes you feel good.
He makes me feel
like I'm wanted.
He texts me
"I'm going to work."
If his day is slow,
we'll have
a little conversation.
But sometimes,
I am kind of afraid
to text back when he's at work
because he always wants me
to get him an Uber.
- What?
- [laughs]
- You mean, like, to go
to or home from work?
- Yeah.
- What?
- Wait, you actually call
the Uber in your app?
- No, so I send him money.
[hip-hop music]
- Mm.
- Jason.
- Me personally, I don't think
he's doing anything
malicious with it
because he always says
he's gonna pay me back.
- Has he?
- No.
He hasn't paid me back.
I sent over, like, $500.
- How are you sending him
the money?
- So I'm sending him the money
through his friend's Cash App.
- His friend's Cash App?
♪
Jason!
- Well, he told me that
his Cash App got blocked.
- Who's his friend?
- Her name is Amber.
♪
I tried to look her up,
but I couldn't find
anything on her.
- And hold on.
And you haven't talked
on the phone to Mar
in all of these months?
- No, I haven't.
No.
Not at all.
Just text messages.
- Have you tried to get
on a phone call with him?
- I tried calling his phone.
You know, it rang,
and rang, and rang.
And then it went
to voice mail.
So I'm thinking
maybe he's at work
or maybe he's busy.
[tense music]
- And what about social media?
Does Mar have an Instagram
or a Snapchat?
- I tried to add him
on those social media sites,
but I couldn't
find him personally.
- And did you guys ever
make plans to meet up?
- We had planned something
for him to come out here.
I bought him
a Greyhound ticket.
I sat out there
for almost two hours
waiting on his bus.
And he never came.
So I called the phone,
and a female picked up.
And I'm like,
"Who is this?"
And she was like,
"Who is this?"
And then the phone hung up.
[dramatic music]
[laughter]
- Jason!
Jason!
- Oh, my God, yes.
- Do you see these red flags?
- Yeah, I'm not gullible.
I know.
- There's no way.
- Jason, you're a smart guy.
What is it about this guy, Mar,
that's so meaningful to you?
- It's just like, you know,
I have so much trust in him.
- But where does
that trust come from?
How did he earn
so much trust from you?
- Okay, so I've always
held this secret
for 11 years.
Um, I am HIV positive.
So...
- Wow.
- When I told him
I'm HIV positive,
you know, you can
either accept it or not.
He texted back, like,
"Oh, yeah.
That's fine."
And he said that
he would take PREP.
[soft music]
Which--that really
meant something to me
'cause with someone living
with HIV for 11 years,
there's still
a stereotype there.
So when you have someone
who is willing to take PREP,
that really just
did something to me.
Mar was the first person
I ever told
that I was HIV positive
in three years.
- Wow.
- So I just accepted
everything that was going on
in hopes of "We're gonna
build a future together."
I just hope that something good
comes out of this.
I'm praying it will.
- [sighs]
Well, do you have
pictures of Mar?
- I only have two photos.
[laughs]
- Can we see the photos?
- Yeah.
Sure.
[tense music]
- Uh-huh...
- This is a picture
he sent you?
- No, actually, I took that
picture off of his profile.
- So this was on Jack'd?
- Yes.
- So he never texted you
actual photos?
- There was one.
Let me see.
♪
- Okay.
- So he has sent you
this one photo?
- Yeah.
- The fact that
he can't even send you
other pictures of him
is weird.
- Yeah.
- I'm just trying to think
is there any chance
that it could be your
ex-husband messing with you?
- I don't know.
I don't think it's him.
- What if we find out Jason
isn't the guy in the pictures?
- It's gonna just destroy me.
I can't have my heart
broken again.
I just need to know.
- So why don't you let us
do some research?
Send us the info
you have for Mar.
- Okay.
- We'll talk to you real soon.
All right, Jason?
- All righty.
Thank you so much.
- All right.
- Okay, Jason.
- Later.
- Hang in there.
- Oh, hell no.
You could not write
a more absurdly obvious
catfish scenario.
- [sighs]
I know.
But Jason is a really nice guy,
and he deserves love.
- No one deserves
to be treated like this.
This is crazy.
- Whether it's his ex-husband
messing with him
or anybody else
taking advantage of him,
it's not gonna be good.
[upbeat music]
[computer chimes]
- Buenas tardes.
- All right.
We definitely have
our hands full
with this one, okay?
Jason's boyfriend, "Mar"--
they've been talking now
a couple months.
They obviously
haven't video chatted.
They haven't talked
on the phone.
Most importantly,
Mar asks for money
all the time
but uses a Cash App
for his friend, who's a woman
named Amber.
- Mm-hmm.
- And when Jason called,
a woman answered the phone.
And of course, Mar said
he was gonna come visit,
and Jason paid
for a bus ticket.
That didn't happen.
So, I mean, this whole thing
is just a mess.
- A mess.
- All right.
So, hey, hey.
Here's an email from Jason.
"Hey, Nev and Kamie.
Thanks for your help.
His name is Mar."
Doesn't even know
his last name.
We've got a phone number.
And then,
"The Cash App I've been
"sending money to is...
$amberbunny[bleep]."
And then images.
All right, well,
let's do an image search.
Let's search this one.
- The one from his profile.
- Right.
So let's actually start
with that one.
♪
Doesn't look like there's
any hit with this.
No hit there.
Let's do the one
in the mirror.
♪
No.
- No.
- Hold on.
The only other thing
I think we should do quickly
is search
this Cash App username.
- Hm.
- Let's take out
the money sign.
What about just
"amber bunny [bleep]?"
♪
No results.
- [whispers]
Weird.
- Do you have Cash App?
- Mm-hmm.
- Can you look her up on your
app and see what happens?
- A picture comes up.
- Oh, wait.
Hold on.
There we go.
Huh.
- Uh-huh!
What if I send you a screenshot
of that Cash App picture
and we run it?
- Sure.
Okay.
Got it.
[tense music]
[grunts]
♪
No.
All right.
Phone search.
♪
- Ah.
- Oh, here we go.
Las Vegas.
Potential owner...
Eric D. [bleep] Jr.
Well, that's promising.
- Yeah.
- And it looks like
it's an actual cell phone,
and not just some
weird text app number.
- But look at the age.
[dramatic musical sting]
- Ooh.
50.
Well, that could be
his dad.
That would make sense
if he's supposed to be 21.
Relatives.
Mary--oh!
- Mary.
- Mar.
[dramatic musical sting]
- Mary has Mar in it.
- I'm not ready to obviously
make too much out of these yet
aside from the fact that...
- Mm-hmm.
- There's clearly
some connection
with the phone number
that Jason has for Mar
and this Eric [bleep] Jr.
Why don't we go on Facebook
and search Eric [bleep] Jr?
Let's do city.
Las Vegas.
[tense music building]
Oh.
Eric D. [bleep] Jr!
- That's him.
- Whoa.
- Oh, boy.
- Look--it says right here.
"Support local cops
and security guards."
Mar said that he worked
security on the strip.
Could this just be the guy?
- Look.
He's married.
Has a family.
Could be a middle-aged guy
with a secret online life.
If I had to stop investigating
right now,
I would say there's a lot
of reason to believe
it could be this guy.
- The chance of Mar
actually just being
an older guy who wants
to experiment
with his sexuality
on a gay dating app--
it doesn't explain the Ubers
and all that other [bleep].
Like, why is Mar
asking Jason for money?
- It's definitely weird.
- That's super weird.
- Here are the possibilities,
right?
There's always the possibility
that it is in fact, Mar,
the guy in the pictures.
I can't completely
rule that out,
but I could say with a lot of
confidence that's not the case.
Then obviously,
it could be this guy,
Eric [bleep] Jr.
whose name is associated
directly to the phone number.
Eric also has a relative
named Mary,
which might be
the connection to Mar.
So there's a chance
it could be Mary.
[dramatic musical sting]
- And obviously,
this Amber person.
We don't even know
who that is,
if that is a person.
- The only other thing is
Jason's ex-husband...
- [gasps]
- Messing with him.
Maybe he's broke and knows
that Jason is generous
and giving and can be easily
taken advantage of.
- We should've gotten
more information about this ex.
- Still just so many questions
that we don't have answers for,
and it still
doesn't make any sense.
All those little lies
suggest to me
that everything is a lie.
[dramatic music]
- So look.
Let's bring Jason back
into the Zoom.
[funky music]
Let's see.
♪
[computer chimes]
- Hello.
- There he is.
Any changes, feelings, updates?
- Just waiting to see
what comes to all of this.
- Yeah.
So we'll show you
what we did.
But it just sort
of raises more questions,
but we'll go through it.
- Okay.
- When we ran
the phone number,
it came back as an actual
cell phone in Las Vegas
with an owner
named Eric [bleep] Jr.
- Hm.
- Interestingly, though,
in the relatives down here,
there is someone named Mary.
Now it might just be a stretch
to say that Mary and Mar...
you know, obviously share
three of four letters.
Because you haven't talked
to Mar on the phone,
there is a chance
that it could be a woman.
- Right.
- Those names don't mean
anything to you, do they?
- No.
Not at all.
- Here's what's
really interesting.
When we searched for Eric
[bleep] Jr. on Facebook,
we got a hit
for a guy,
Eric [bleep] Jr.
And he looks
about the same age
as the guy
in the phone search results.
- Oh, wow.
- So this has to be
the guy who's connected
to the phone number.
- Wow.
- It's unusual that
when we run a phone number,
we get a consistent match
to a name
and we find the Facebook page
for that person in that city.
If we were going
by the technical evidence
that we've been able to get,
I would say this
is your guy.
- God, I hope not.
- I'm assuming this guy
is not your type.
- Yeah, no, definitely not.
- And look.
He's a big cop supporter.
"Support local cops
and security guards."
You said Mar is
a security guard.
- Ugh.
- This guy is married
and has a family.
- Maybe he's on the DL.
He doesn't wanna compromise
his family life,
so he made this fake profile
on Jack'd
and has been talking
to younger guys.
It's a possibility.
- I--oh, my God.
I'm just...
Ugh.
This is stressful.
- Some other things we tried.
We searched
for amberbunny[bleep]
different ways,
with the money sign,
with spaces.
- Mm-hmm.
- And we couldn't find
anything that felt like a hit.
And we did a search
for the photo
to see if maybe that was
someone that we could find.
And we didn't get
any hits there either.
So all we've really got
is this connection
to Eric [bleep] Jr.
[dramatic musical sting]
But we usually consider
that it's possible
an ex could be involved.
♪
So this was soon after you
and your husband separated,
right?
- A week after.
- Whoa.
Did he know you
were going to Vegas?
- Yeah, he knew
I was going to Las Vegas.
- You know, maybe he feels
like there's still more life
in your relationship.
Could he have potentially
been doing this
to kind of get you back?
- What was the final straw
for the relationship?
- When I had bought
my second car,
um, I let him use it,
and he just never returned.
[dramatic music]
- He bounced?
- Yeah.
- What?
- He stole your car.
- Yeah.
And unfortunately, they said
because it's my husband,
it's not considered theft.
- What?
- And he tried to call me
a week and a half ago,
but I didn't pick up.
- I mean, we know
he's messed with you.
Maybe he's doing this
to get more money from you.
I don't know.
- He never had a job
when we were together.
I mean, like I said, he called
a week and a half ago.
And the only time he calls
is for money.
- I wouldn't put it past him
to potentially be doing this.
- If he were to have made
this profile,
he would've known how
to cater the interests
to something
that you might like.
- I mean, my--I--ugh.
I'm kind of tongue-tied
right now.
- Now between Eric
and your ex-husband,
I'd have to lean
towards your ex-husband
if I had to make a decision
right now
based on what you've told us.
But, like,
that's where we're at.
- What are the chances
that maybe this is just
a girl that makes
these fake profiles
on random dating apps?
And it doesn't
who it's targeting
but scams through Jack'd
and other apps.
For you, she's using
the name Amber on Cash App.
I mean, could that be Mary?
Or Amber?
- Who knows?
- This is crazy.
[sighs]
- ♪ I gotta stop pretending
♪ People wouldn't
let me down ♪
[EST's "Fresh Out of Love"]
- What human being gets up
in the morning and says,
"Oh, let me mess with
somebody's heart and emotions?"
And it's not sitting right
with my stomach.
I mean...
[sighs]
- ♪ I wasn't really looking
when I saw the warning signs ♪
- I thought that, you know,
we would get, you know,
to a point to where, you know,
at least something
was pointing towards, you know,
this is actually Mar.
But it seems like
it's pointing somewhere else.
- ♪ Because I'm...
- Someone's trying
to hide something.
- ♪ Fresh out of love
♪ I'm all used up
♪ Don't have enough
♪ I'm fresh out of love
- This is crazy.
[sighs]
- I mean, look.
Jason.
When we talked to you earlier,
you were very hopeful
that this guy, Mar,
was who he said he was.
How do you feel
about Mar now?
- I'm still hopeful.
I mean, I'm getting
a little worried
'cause it seems like things
aren't pointing
to this actual person.
But I still love him.
You know,
regardless of the facts.
- I think it's time
to hit up Mar.
[tense music]
But are you ready
for that, Jason?
- Yeah.
Definitely.
- We should call...
- [gasps]
- From a number
they don't have.
- Okay.
- Let's give it a shot,
see what happens.
- Okay.
- What are you gonna say?
- What do I--I don't know.
What do I say?
"I'm looking for Mar?"
- No.
Say somebody else.
- Yeah, but then
if they're just like,
"Sorry, wrong number,"
then what do I do?
- Be like, "Hey, I just got
a call from this number.
Who is this?"
- Well, here goes nothing.
[line trilling]
[whispers]
Can you guys hear it?
[ominous music]
[rustling over phone]
♪
- Hey.
I just got a call
from this number.
I'm just calling you back.
[line disconnects]
Oh.
- [gasps]
It was a girl!
- Wow.
- Was that
the same female voice
that answered the first time?
- That's the same voice.
- Interesting.
Should I try back
and see what happens?
- [sighs]
- And just explain it?
- Yeah.
- I won't be shady this time.
[line trilling]
[tense music]
- Hey, sorry about that.
I think I was confused.
Um, I was looking for Mar,
but maybe I have
the wrong number.
- My name is Nev.
I'm a friend of Jason.
I'm actually the host
of the show "Catfish."
♪
[line disconnects]
Oh.
- Oh, my God.
[dramatic music]
- I should just text her.
- Yeah.
- All right.
- Say, "The jig is up, shorty."
- This is just crazy.
- "So like I was saying,
my name is Nev,
"and I'm the host
of the show 'Catfish.'
"I'm trying to help
a guy named Jason
"get in touch
with his friend, Mar.
"It seems that you are the
person Jason has been texting
and are obviously not
who he thinks you are."
All right.
So I'm gonna send this.
- Okay.
- And let's just see
what happens.
- This is crazy.
- So that message was read
just now.
- Okay.
- I mean, it's hard
to understand
why the phone number
you've been texting
would be in the hands
of a woman,
not just the one time
you called,
but now another time.
- Right.
- Although the phone
is registered to Eric,
a woman named Mary
is listed as a relative.
It could be a family plan.
Mary, Mar.
- It's just not adding up.
- And for her to answer
with such confidence,
I think obviously the phone
belongs to a woman.
- But why go through
all this trouble?
That's what I don't
understand, like--
[sighs]
- I feel like we're past
the point of being optimistic.
And now it's time
to turn our sights
into being stern.
- Yeah.
- I think today has
obviously been a lot,
and we should pick back up
on it tomorrow
with fresh eyes
and, like, a fresh mind.
But I want for you
to really think about
what it is that
you're planning
on saying
to this person, because...
- Okay.
- The likelihood
of this ending up
the way that you want it to--
it's not feeling good.
- Yeah.
- Let's give whoever this is
a chance to think about it too
and check back in
in the morning.
- Okay.
Awesome.
- All right.
Good night, Jason.
- All righty.
Good night, guys.
- Good night.
Poor thing.
He's been through enough.
- Yeah.
Hopefully, we can get
some answers for him soon.
I'll let you know
if I hear anything
from Mystery "Mar."
- "Mystery Mary."
- Yeah.
- All right.
- Okay, bye.
- Byeee.
[line disconnects]
[insects chirping]
- I still love him.
I will always love him.
You know...
But I just wanna--
I just need answers, you know?
I really hope it's him.
I'd be heartbroken,
like I said,
if it doesn't go
the way I want it to go.
All right.
Thank you.
[tense music]
[computer chimes]
[computer chimes]
- Hey.
I got big news.
- What's the tea?
- Check this out.
I just got a text from Mar.
[dramatic music]
"I may have [bleep] up,
but so did he."
♪
- It's the ex.
- It's the ex!
- It's the ex.
- "Whoa.
"Wasn't expecting that.
Can you be
a bit more specific?"
- But this is the same number
of the woman
who answered the phone,
so it can't be the ex.
What girl has he
[bleep] up with?
- Well, that's why now
at this point,
I'm always so tempted
to just assume
everyone's lying.
Even though Jason's story
seemed so sad
and he's like
this poor little puppy dog
who just wants to be loved,
is he?
Is Jason
completely innocent here?
- I'ma let you handle this.
- Let me text him.
- I'ma mind my business.
[dramatic music]
- "Morning."
- "We need to talk."
- "We gotta talk."
[keys clacking]
- [sighs]
He better not be lying
to us either.
[computer chimes]
Oh.
- Hi.
- Good morning.
How'd you sleep?
- [sighs]
I tossed and turned all night.
Just having this conflict
on my mind,
I mean, I'm just stressed.
♪
- Oh, well listen.
We got a text back
from "Mar" this morning.
- Okay.
- And the text said,
"If you want to know
who the catfish is...
"Ask Jason.
"I may have [bleep] up,
but so did he."
[dramatic music]
♪
- Um...
I mean...
[sighs]
I don't know.
I mean, I just don't know,
to be honest.
- Okay.
It just feels like we're not
getting the whole story.
I'm not sure what else
we can do to help
if you don't unlock whatever
missing piece
of this puzzle we need.
[dramatic music]
- We got a text back
from "Mar."
"I may have [bleep] up,
but so did he."
Jason, is there something
you're not telling us?
It just feels like we're not
getting the whole story.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Um...
I mean...
♪
[sighs]
I don't know.
Did I harm someone
and not even realize it?
And--and--and, you know,
I don't know.
- Mar seems to be a woman
with whom you've had
some sort of history.
- Have you dated girls
in the past?
♪
- Um, one.
[suspenseful music]
- When was that?
- Um...
♪
Like, a year ago.
- Wait, but hold on a second.
You were married.
You had an affair?
- Oh.
- With a woman?
- [stuttering]
No.
I don't know.
I wouldn't call it an affair.
♪
I mean, there was
no sexual intimacy.
I mean, yeah, we kissed.
But, I mean, I don't look
at that as sexual.
- What?
- I mean...
it never went that far.
- But Jason,
did this woman think
she was in a romantic
relationship with you?
- I don't--I don't know.
- Did he know that
you were married to a man?
- No.
- Jason, when we asked you,
"Could this be someone that
you know or from the past?"
like, you didn't mention
that you had
some sort
of a romantic engagement
with this woman
while you were married,
which would not
only potentially give
your ex-husband a reason
to be upset with you,
but also this woman.
- I don't know.
- Hopefully, her name
was not Mary.
- Uh, no,
Her name was [bleep].
- Are you in touch
with her anymore?
- No.
- Did she ask for money
for anything?
- I mean, yeah.
She asked for money,
you know, for, you know, uh,
personal things and, you know,
I gave it to her.
- When you called Mar
and a woman picked up,
could that be the same person?
- I mean, you could be right.
It might be her.
I don't think
it's my ex-husband.
- It could be both of them.
Who knows who it is, but like,
clearly, this person,
whatever they have to say,
it might not be good.
- [sighs]
I just don't know what I did
to hurt whoever it is
to even go to this point,
to even be sitting here
talking to you guys.
You know?
I need to know
who this person is.
- Even if it means airing out
some of your own dirty laundry?
[tense music]
- Yeah.
- Oh.
I'm ready to find out
if you are.
- Our text message
from this morning
has gone unread.
- I think we should call.
- Yeah.
- All right.
I'm gonna try it.
[line trilling]
- You have reached
the voicemail box of 7--
- All right.
I'll follow up with a text.
I'm being nice
because I wanna obviously
encourage them to respond.
- Butter 'em up.
Butter 'em up.
- Okay.
Oh, check it out.
"Okay, how do we do this?"
♪
I said, "Can you join a Zoom
with me and Kamie?"
- [sighs]
This is crazy.
- Oh, they're writing.
Oh, God.
Oh.
- "Is Jason there?
It's time for him
to know the truth."
[yelps]
- Wow, okay.
- Wow.
- Okay, well,
they've decided, Jason.
- Here we go.
- Deep breath, Jason.
Deep breath.
[dramatic music]
- I'm so nervous.
I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
It's just the wait, like,
come on.
Pop in so I can see
who you are.
- If it is Mar, I'm gonna fall
out of my chair.
There is no way.
- Oh, my God.
♪
[computer chimes]
[suspenseful music]
- Deep breath, Jason.
Deep breath.
- I'm so nervous.
I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
[computer chimes]
[dramatic music]
- What?
What's tea?
- Oh!
- God.
- What?
- Oh, my God.
That's crazy.
- Get the [bleep] out of here.
- [laughing]
Ugh!
- I mean...
Do I have to, like,
clean my computer screen?
Am I seeing this right?
- I can't.
- Hello.
Uh, I'm not sure what to say.
We're all
a little dumbfounded here.
- Are you serious?
- Mar, is that your name?
- No.
My name is actually Omar.
Omar.
- Oh, that makes sense.
Okay.
I see that now.
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I'm 21.
I live in Vegas.
- And has it been you
the whole time?
- Yeah, it's been me
this whole time.
[tense music]
- Who was the woman
that answered the phone?
- It was my roommate.
- Is there a reason that you
had her answer or just...
- When it's numbers
that I don't know,
I just have
other people answer.
- I mean, that's
a little shady.
Are you hiding from someone?
Why have you been so mysterious
this whole time?
- I just didn't want him
to know who I am,
like, my name and everything.
[tense music]
That's the reason why
I was having him
Cash App my friend
instead of me.
- But what would be so bad
about him knowing your name?
I don't get it.
- I didn't want him to, like,
think that I was really, like,
wanting to really,
really be with him,
and I didn't wanna be with him.
- What?
- But why would you text me
and tell me that you love me
and you wanna get married?
Like, I mean,
why would you do that?
- Because you kept
sending money,
so why not?
And you had never expected
me to Facetime you
or none of that, so, you know?
It was easy money.
He's pretty much, you know,
my sugar daddy.
- Sugar daddy?
I wish I could come
through the screen right now.
Sugar daddy.
That's funny.
- I can own up to it.
I used him for his money.
And, you know, it's a pandemic.
You know,
he was a good target.
And I feel like he's stupid.
Like, come on now.
What other way I could say it?
Like, he's really stupid.
[keys clacking aggressively]
And that's no tea, no shade.
Like, there's no tea.
- But you led--
but you led me on.
You led me on, I mean.
- Do you have a job?
- I work on the Strip.
- So what did you do with all
this money that I sent you?
- Um, you know, bought me
expensive stuff, shoes.
Honestly, I told you
I needed an Uber,
but I didn't need an Uber.
I got a whole car.
[tense music]
- I live paycheck for paycheck.
Half the money I was giving you
was from bills
because I thought that you
were in trouble,
you needed help.
I mean, you led me on.
The texts in the morning.
And, you know,
me telling you, you know,
my deep, darkest secrets,
and I thought we had something.
[dramatic music]
This is just ridiculous.
♪
- You said
in your text message to me
that "I [bleep] up,
but so did he."
What exactly did you mean,
"so did he?"
- Honestly, you're the catfish.
[dramatic musical sting]
- What do you mean?
- This is not who he is
in the pictures on Jack'd.
That's not him.
It was the younger version
of him.
- You're saying
that Jason used
pictures of him
when he was younger...
- Yes, yes.
- On his profile.
- Yes.
- That picture wasn't
even that old.
I took that picture,
like, two years ago.
- Well, that don't look--
that don't--
that don't look like you, boo.
- Show us the picture.
- This is the picture.
- And, like, he kept--
and by that--by that--
by that time,
he was already, you know--
- [bleep] this excuse, Omar.
It doesn't look
that different.
- For you to try and say that
because you feel like
the picture he used
was a misrepresentation of him
which somehow
gives you permission
to take advantage of him,
that's just bull[bleep].
- Look how he look.
Like, do you...
- He's a handsome man,
and he's a kind person.
- No, he's not!
No, he's not.
He's not.
- What's really not cute is
the way that you are behaving.
- Not only that,
he told me that he had HIV.
♪
- Are you criticizing him for
being open about his status?
- Like, come on now.
Like, that's--
- What benefits you
out of degrading Jason
as a gay man who's a part
of that community?
And you know what
the stigma is like.
That's so disappointing.
I have sisters
that are 13 years old,
and they have
more dignity and class than
what you are demonstrating
right here, right now.
- Jason has taken
a huge chance
in opening up about that,
not just with you,
but on the show
with lots of people.
That's something that he's
gotta live with
and struggle with,
and we should be nothing
but supportive of.
- I feel like
I could trust you, Mar.
I don't open up.
Not at all.
But I felt like
I could open up to you.
You don't have no morals
or no standards.
You're a scam artist.
- You can't put it all on me
because at the end of the day,
you kept sending money
even after you felt
like something was strange.
- But that's such bull[bleep].
He acted out of generosity
and love and hopefulness,
and you acted out of greed
and selfishness.
And so there is shame on you,
but not on Jason.
- Do I feel sorry?
Um, no.
- I bet you don't.
- I don't.
- It figures.
- You can get your money back.
I'll send you your money back.
- Can you do it now?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Let's see it.
- I'ma send it to him
after the show.
♪
- Yeah.
Okay.
- Is this all, like--
did you come on here
to put on this act
or 'cause I just--
- No, this is really--
- I don't feel--
- No, this is really me
in real life.
- You're genuinely
a [bleep] human being?
Is that just who you are?
- Calm it down with me, okay?
What--any other questions?
- [laughing]
- Thank you.
You're dismissed.
- [laughing]
- You're dismissed.
- You can't dismiss me.
You don't have
the qualifications.
You do not have
the jurisdiction.
- You can't just
"dismiss" someone
because you don't like
what they have to say.
♪
- Keep being you,
and allow everyone, the world,
to see exactly who you are.
And let them hopefully stay
far away from you.
- Okay, you done?
- That's all I have to say.
- [exhales]
I don't even wanna see his face
anymore, to be honest.
- And I don't wanna
see yours either.
- I think we've had enough.
Bye.
- Bye.
[chimes]
- Jason, I would like
to apologize
for the way that he was trying
to degrade you.
You are a good person.
And there's nothing wrong--
- You're a good looking guy.
- Yeah!
- Thanks.
- What the [bleep]
he's talking about.
- [laughs]
- And somebody will accept you
for who you are,
exactly how you are, and there
is nothing to be ashamed of.
- Stop dating guys
on the Internet
that won't date you
in real life.
- Okay.
- Okay?
- [laughs]
- Period.
- You're absolutely right.
We'll see how life goes.
- All right, Jason.
- God bless you all.
Thank you.
- God bless.
[laughs]
[chimes]
What a sweetheart.
- All right, Kamie.
Good work.
But, uh, you are now
officially dismissed.
- [bleep] off.
[laughter]
- ♪ We fight the good fight
♪ There's no need
to waste it anymore ♪
♪ Ignore, ignore
♪ The things you don't adore
♪ We fight the good fight
[lively bass music]
- I've already applied
for my passport.
I'm ready to roll, man.
- That was sketchy.
- That was weird, right?
- It could be a hustle.
Could be anything.
[computer chimes]
- Oh!
- Uh, hello?
- God.
♪
1217
00:41:45.
with Mar,
someone he met
on a hookup app.
- He makes me feel
like I'm wanted.
- But you've sending money
to this person.
- Do you see these red flags?
[line disconnects]
- [gasps]
It was a girl!
- This is crazy.
- Deep breath, Jason.
Deep breath.
- I'm so nervous.
[computer chimes]
- Get the [BLEEP]
out of here.
[dramatic musical sting]
[upbeat rock music]
- ♪ Keep crushing it up
♪ Gimme, gimme the bust
[computer chimes]
- What's up, girl?
- Oh, this is your "Dancing
with the Stars" stretch?
- No, this is
my standard back stretch.
[moans]
- Hold, hold, and breathe.
Deep stretch.
- Kamie, you have a nice voice.
You could do, like,
guided meditation.
- Should I?
Push back
into downward-facing dog.
- Yeah.
That's nice.
- Think about all
the good things in your life.
[laughter]
- All right.
Let's see what we got cooking
up in the old email here.
This is from Marcella.
- ♪ Lay it on me,
I'm listening ♪
- "Hey Nev and Kamie,
I'm writing in hopes that you
can help my brother, Jason."
- ♪ Say what you want
- "He's 32 years old and lives
in [bleep], California.
"And he's being catfished.
"For the last two months,
"he's been talking to someone
he met on a hookup app.
"At first, it seemed
like harmless fun,
"but now I'm worried.
"They've never talked
on the phone,
"never video chatted,
and Jason has been
stood up twice."
- Mm.
- ♪ Some folks really
don't listen much ♪
- "But here's the kicker.
"I found out that Jason
has been sending money
"to this person.
"Jason is putting up
with all of this
"because he recently went
through a bad breakup.
"I think he's putting
all of his hopes
"into this new relationship.
But I'm afraid Jason
is going to get hurt again."
Forget hurt.
He's getting scammed.
- ♪ Sell it to me,
sell it to me ♪
- "Jason is a pastor
"and always wants to see
the best in people.
"But I know
it's gonna land him
"with another broken heart.
Please help, Marcella."
- Bless his heart.
- So we got
a real problem here
because we got a pastor
rebounding
from a bad breakup,
and obviously
some major red flags here.
So let's text Marcella
and see if she can jump in.
Oh, okay.
She got my text.
She hearted it.
"Come in our Zoom."
[computer chimes]
Oh.
- Oh, my God.
both: Hey.
- What's up?
- Hi, Nev.
- Marcella.
- Hi, Kamie.
- Hi.
- This just seems so unreal.
- Do you also live
in California?
- No, I live
in Dayton, Ohio.
- Oh, okay.
So did you guys grow upin Ohio?
- Yeah, we both grew up
in Ohio.
Jason--I call him my brother,
but he's actually
my best friend.
We met in college.
- Oh, okay.
- We talk every day, all day.
- Did you guys ever hook up?
- [laughing]
No, no.
Strictly platonic.
He's my best friend.
And he likes guys, so...
- Wow.
So he's a progressive pastor.
I love this.
- I just foolishly assumed
it was a girl.
- He's gay.
He just loves light-skinned,
pretty boys.
- Oh, God.
- [laughs]
- Hell, has he been openly gay
as long as you've known him?
- Yeah.
- Okay, so Jason met this guy
on an app.
Do you know which app it was?
- Jack'd.
- Oh, my God.
I know about Jack'd.
- What's this guy's name?
Do you know?
- Yeah.
His name is Mar.
He lives in Vegas.
- Got it.
- And why do you think
he's fake?
- He only texts Jason.
When he asks to Facetime him,
he won't Facetime him.
He always have an excuse.
When he went to Vegas,
you know,
he didn't meet up with him.
So now it just
has me thinking, like,
he's probably catfishing him.
- But you said
that Jason has been
sending him a lot of money.
What's that about?
- He has.
He has sent him
probably over $500.
- Wow.
- For what?
- Exactly.
What are you
sending him money for?
Jason is very gullible.
- You mentioned in the email
that Jason recently had
a bad breakup.
- Yeah, he just got
out of a bad marriage.
- Oh, wow.
How long was he married?
- Two, three years.
- Oh, wow.
- So you do think Jason
would be accepting
of our help?
- I mentioned you guys
to him before.
I said, you know,
"This sounds pretty shady.
I'm gonna email 'Catfish'
about this."
- [laughs]
- What's the best way for us
to get in touch with Jason?
- I could text him.
- Yeah, and invite him
to join our Zoom.
- Yep, I just texted him.
- Okay.
Great.
- Well.
- Hope he isn't gonna be
upset with me.
[laughter]
- I hope not.
[computer chimes]
- Oh.
- Hello, Jason.
- Kamie and Nev,
how you guys doing?
- We're doing well.
You know, I got the call
from Jesus,
and he told me
that you need help.
[laughing]
- Oh, Lord.
[laughter]
- So you're a pastor, right?
- Yeah.
I am a pastor.
- I'm assuming that your church
is open-minded and accepting
of homosexuality?
- Um, yes and no.
Um, you know,
we have older members
who are confound on, you know,
homosexuality is a sin
and you'll go to hell.
But, I mean...
- Mm.
- I'm not concerned
because we have
younger members
that are, like,
it really doesn't matter
what your walk of life is
as long as you, you know,
come to Christ.
- I'm a Christian too.
And love is not a sin.
So it doesn't matter
who it is that you love.
That's--there's nothing
wrong with that.
- You know, you right.
[chuckles]
- So this guy you're
talking to, Mar...
- Yes.
- I think we need to kind of
just get into the specifics.
Marcella, you already know
all this,
but we wanna hear it
from him.
Thank you for getting
our attention.
- Absolutely.
Good luck, Jason!
- [laughing]
- I hope you get all, you know,
the answers you're looking for.
- All right, sister.
- Bye, Marcella.
Aww.
She loves you.
- She does.
She does.
- So you're 32 now, right?
- Right.
- When did you get married?
- I got married
three years ago.
But after a while,
there was no love there.
I felt more like
a sugar daddy.
We're separated.
We're going
through the divorce process.
- Aww.
Jason, I'm sorry.
- I'm genuine.
I'm looking for real love,
and it just wasn't there.
- How long before you met Mar?
- A week after.
- Wow.
- Wow.
Okay.
- So tell us about Mar
and kind of how you got
to where you are with him.
- I know that he lives
in Las Vegas.
He's a security guard
on the Strip.
He's 21 years old.
- 21?
- [laughs]
Yeah.
I...
I like younger guys.
I think that's my downfall,
like, light-skin and young.
I'm just like, oh, my God.
- No, no, no!
- [laughs]
- Oh, man.
- But Jack'd is, like,
a location-based app, right?
How did you guys match
in the first place?
- I was in Las Vegas
on vacation.
My last day there,
I was bored,
so I'm like,
"Let's see who's around."
Bam, his profile showed
that he was two miles
away from me.
So I hit him up.
I'm like, "Well, you know,
I'm here in Vegas.
Do you wanna, you know,
hang out?"
He was like,
"I can't hang out tonight
'cause I have to go to work."
Which--that's understandable,
you know?
You hit someone up
last minute.
- That makes sense,
but then you went back
to California,
and you guys started talking.
What happened?
- The conversation is there.
Just to wake up in the morning
and have someone text you
"Good morning"
makes you feel good.
He makes me feel
like I'm wanted.
He texts me
"I'm going to work."
If his day is slow,
we'll have
a little conversation.
But sometimes,
I am kind of afraid
to text back when he's at work
because he always wants me
to get him an Uber.
- What?
- [laughs]
- You mean, like, to go
to or home from work?
- Yeah.
- What?
- Wait, you actually call
the Uber in your app?
- No, so I send him money.
[hip-hop music]
- Mm.
- Jason.
- Me personally, I don't think
he's doing anything
malicious with it
because he always says
he's gonna pay me back.
- Has he?
- No.
He hasn't paid me back.
I sent over, like, $500.
- How are you sending him
the money?
- So I'm sending him the money
through his friend's Cash App.
- His friend's Cash App?
♪
Jason!
- Well, he told me that
his Cash App got blocked.
- Who's his friend?
- Her name is Amber.
♪
I tried to look her up,
but I couldn't find
anything on her.
- And hold on.
And you haven't talked
on the phone to Mar
in all of these months?
- No, I haven't.
No.
Not at all.
Just text messages.
- Have you tried to get
on a phone call with him?
- I tried calling his phone.
You know, it rang,
and rang, and rang.
And then it went
to voice mail.
So I'm thinking
maybe he's at work
or maybe he's busy.
[tense music]
- And what about social media?
Does Mar have an Instagram
or a Snapchat?
- I tried to add him
on those social media sites,
but I couldn't
find him personally.
- And did you guys ever
make plans to meet up?
- We had planned something
for him to come out here.
I bought him
a Greyhound ticket.
I sat out there
for almost two hours
waiting on his bus.
And he never came.
So I called the phone,
and a female picked up.
And I'm like,
"Who is this?"
And she was like,
"Who is this?"
And then the phone hung up.
[dramatic music]
[laughter]
- Jason!
Jason!
- Oh, my God, yes.
- Do you see these red flags?
- Yeah, I'm not gullible.
I know.
- There's no way.
- Jason, you're a smart guy.
What is it about this guy, Mar,
that's so meaningful to you?
- It's just like, you know,
I have so much trust in him.
- But where does
that trust come from?
How did he earn
so much trust from you?
- Okay, so I've always
held this secret
for 11 years.
Um, I am HIV positive.
So...
- Wow.
- When I told him
I'm HIV positive,
you know, you can
either accept it or not.
He texted back, like,
"Oh, yeah.
That's fine."
And he said that
he would take PREP.
[soft music]
Which--that really
meant something to me
'cause with someone living
with HIV for 11 years,
there's still
a stereotype there.
So when you have someone
who is willing to take PREP,
that really just
did something to me.
Mar was the first person
I ever told
that I was HIV positive
in three years.
- Wow.
- So I just accepted
everything that was going on
in hopes of "We're gonna
build a future together."
I just hope that something good
comes out of this.
I'm praying it will.
- [sighs]
Well, do you have
pictures of Mar?
- I only have two photos.
[laughs]
- Can we see the photos?
- Yeah.
Sure.
[tense music]
- Uh-huh...
- This is a picture
he sent you?
- No, actually, I took that
picture off of his profile.
- So this was on Jack'd?
- Yes.
- So he never texted you
actual photos?
- There was one.
Let me see.
♪
- Okay.
- So he has sent you
this one photo?
- Yeah.
- The fact that
he can't even send you
other pictures of him
is weird.
- Yeah.
- I'm just trying to think
is there any chance
that it could be your
ex-husband messing with you?
- I don't know.
I don't think it's him.
- What if we find out Jason
isn't the guy in the pictures?
- It's gonna just destroy me.
I can't have my heart
broken again.
I just need to know.
- So why don't you let us
do some research?
Send us the info
you have for Mar.
- Okay.
- We'll talk to you real soon.
All right, Jason?
- All righty.
Thank you so much.
- All right.
- Okay, Jason.
- Later.
- Hang in there.
- Oh, hell no.
You could not write
a more absurdly obvious
catfish scenario.
- [sighs]
I know.
But Jason is a really nice guy,
and he deserves love.
- No one deserves
to be treated like this.
This is crazy.
- Whether it's his ex-husband
messing with him
or anybody else
taking advantage of him,
it's not gonna be good.
[upbeat music]
[computer chimes]
- Buenas tardes.
- All right.
We definitely have
our hands full
with this one, okay?
Jason's boyfriend, "Mar"--
they've been talking now
a couple months.
They obviously
haven't video chatted.
They haven't talked
on the phone.
Most importantly,
Mar asks for money
all the time
but uses a Cash App
for his friend, who's a woman
named Amber.
- Mm-hmm.
- And when Jason called,
a woman answered the phone.
And of course, Mar said
he was gonna come visit,
and Jason paid
for a bus ticket.
That didn't happen.
So, I mean, this whole thing
is just a mess.
- A mess.
- All right.
So, hey, hey.
Here's an email from Jason.
"Hey, Nev and Kamie.
Thanks for your help.
His name is Mar."
Doesn't even know
his last name.
We've got a phone number.
And then,
"The Cash App I've been
"sending money to is...
$amberbunny[bleep]."
And then images.
All right, well,
let's do an image search.
Let's search this one.
- The one from his profile.
- Right.
So let's actually start
with that one.
♪
Doesn't look like there's
any hit with this.
No hit there.
Let's do the one
in the mirror.
♪
No.
- No.
- Hold on.
The only other thing
I think we should do quickly
is search
this Cash App username.
- Hm.
- Let's take out
the money sign.
What about just
"amber bunny [bleep]?"
♪
No results.
- [whispers]
Weird.
- Do you have Cash App?
- Mm-hmm.
- Can you look her up on your
app and see what happens?
- A picture comes up.
- Oh, wait.
Hold on.
There we go.
Huh.
- Uh-huh!
What if I send you a screenshot
of that Cash App picture
and we run it?
- Sure.
Okay.
Got it.
[tense music]
[grunts]
♪
No.
All right.
Phone search.
♪
- Ah.
- Oh, here we go.
Las Vegas.
Potential owner...
Eric D. [bleep] Jr.
Well, that's promising.
- Yeah.
- And it looks like
it's an actual cell phone,
and not just some
weird text app number.
- But look at the age.
[dramatic musical sting]
- Ooh.
50.
Well, that could be
his dad.
That would make sense
if he's supposed to be 21.
Relatives.
Mary--oh!
- Mary.
- Mar.
[dramatic musical sting]
- Mary has Mar in it.
- I'm not ready to obviously
make too much out of these yet
aside from the fact that...
- Mm-hmm.
- There's clearly
some connection
with the phone number
that Jason has for Mar
and this Eric [bleep] Jr.
Why don't we go on Facebook
and search Eric [bleep] Jr?
Let's do city.
Las Vegas.
[tense music building]
Oh.
Eric D. [bleep] Jr!
- That's him.
- Whoa.
- Oh, boy.
- Look--it says right here.
"Support local cops
and security guards."
Mar said that he worked
security on the strip.
Could this just be the guy?
- Look.
He's married.
Has a family.
Could be a middle-aged guy
with a secret online life.
If I had to stop investigating
right now,
I would say there's a lot
of reason to believe
it could be this guy.
- The chance of Mar
actually just being
an older guy who wants
to experiment
with his sexuality
on a gay dating app--
it doesn't explain the Ubers
and all that other [bleep].
Like, why is Mar
asking Jason for money?
- It's definitely weird.
- That's super weird.
- Here are the possibilities,
right?
There's always the possibility
that it is in fact, Mar,
the guy in the pictures.
I can't completely
rule that out,
but I could say with a lot of
confidence that's not the case.
Then obviously,
it could be this guy,
Eric [bleep] Jr.
whose name is associated
directly to the phone number.
Eric also has a relative
named Mary,
which might be
the connection to Mar.
So there's a chance
it could be Mary.
[dramatic musical sting]
- And obviously,
this Amber person.
We don't even know
who that is,
if that is a person.
- The only other thing is
Jason's ex-husband...
- [gasps]
- Messing with him.
Maybe he's broke and knows
that Jason is generous
and giving and can be easily
taken advantage of.
- We should've gotten
more information about this ex.
- Still just so many questions
that we don't have answers for,
and it still
doesn't make any sense.
All those little lies
suggest to me
that everything is a lie.
[dramatic music]
- So look.
Let's bring Jason back
into the Zoom.
[funky music]
Let's see.
♪
[computer chimes]
- Hello.
- There he is.
Any changes, feelings, updates?
- Just waiting to see
what comes to all of this.
- Yeah.
So we'll show you
what we did.
But it just sort
of raises more questions,
but we'll go through it.
- Okay.
- When we ran
the phone number,
it came back as an actual
cell phone in Las Vegas
with an owner
named Eric [bleep] Jr.
- Hm.
- Interestingly, though,
in the relatives down here,
there is someone named Mary.
Now it might just be a stretch
to say that Mary and Mar...
you know, obviously share
three of four letters.
Because you haven't talked
to Mar on the phone,
there is a chance
that it could be a woman.
- Right.
- Those names don't mean
anything to you, do they?
- No.
Not at all.
- Here's what's
really interesting.
When we searched for Eric
[bleep] Jr. on Facebook,
we got a hit
for a guy,
Eric [bleep] Jr.
And he looks
about the same age
as the guy
in the phone search results.
- Oh, wow.
- So this has to be
the guy who's connected
to the phone number.
- Wow.
- It's unusual that
when we run a phone number,
we get a consistent match
to a name
and we find the Facebook page
for that person in that city.
If we were going
by the technical evidence
that we've been able to get,
I would say this
is your guy.
- God, I hope not.
- I'm assuming this guy
is not your type.
- Yeah, no, definitely not.
- And look.
He's a big cop supporter.
"Support local cops
and security guards."
You said Mar is
a security guard.
- Ugh.
- This guy is married
and has a family.
- Maybe he's on the DL.
He doesn't wanna compromise
his family life,
so he made this fake profile
on Jack'd
and has been talking
to younger guys.
It's a possibility.
- I--oh, my God.
I'm just...
Ugh.
This is stressful.
- Some other things we tried.
We searched
for amberbunny[bleep]
different ways,
with the money sign,
with spaces.
- Mm-hmm.
- And we couldn't find
anything that felt like a hit.
And we did a search
for the photo
to see if maybe that was
someone that we could find.
And we didn't get
any hits there either.
So all we've really got
is this connection
to Eric [bleep] Jr.
[dramatic musical sting]
But we usually consider
that it's possible
an ex could be involved.
♪
So this was soon after you
and your husband separated,
right?
- A week after.
- Whoa.
Did he know you
were going to Vegas?
- Yeah, he knew
I was going to Las Vegas.
- You know, maybe he feels
like there's still more life
in your relationship.
Could he have potentially
been doing this
to kind of get you back?
- What was the final straw
for the relationship?
- When I had bought
my second car,
um, I let him use it,
and he just never returned.
[dramatic music]
- He bounced?
- Yeah.
- What?
- He stole your car.
- Yeah.
And unfortunately, they said
because it's my husband,
it's not considered theft.
- What?
- And he tried to call me
a week and a half ago,
but I didn't pick up.
- I mean, we know
he's messed with you.
Maybe he's doing this
to get more money from you.
I don't know.
- He never had a job
when we were together.
I mean, like I said, he called
a week and a half ago.
And the only time he calls
is for money.
- I wouldn't put it past him
to potentially be doing this.
- If he were to have made
this profile,
he would've known how
to cater the interests
to something
that you might like.
- I mean, my--I--ugh.
I'm kind of tongue-tied
right now.
- Now between Eric
and your ex-husband,
I'd have to lean
towards your ex-husband
if I had to make a decision
right now
based on what you've told us.
But, like,
that's where we're at.
- What are the chances
that maybe this is just
a girl that makes
these fake profiles
on random dating apps?
And it doesn't
who it's targeting
but scams through Jack'd
and other apps.
For you, she's using
the name Amber on Cash App.
I mean, could that be Mary?
Or Amber?
- Who knows?
- This is crazy.
[sighs]
- ♪ I gotta stop pretending
♪ People wouldn't
let me down ♪
[EST's "Fresh Out of Love"]
- What human being gets up
in the morning and says,
"Oh, let me mess with
somebody's heart and emotions?"
And it's not sitting right
with my stomach.
I mean...
[sighs]
- ♪ I wasn't really looking
when I saw the warning signs ♪
- I thought that, you know,
we would get, you know,
to a point to where, you know,
at least something
was pointing towards, you know,
this is actually Mar.
But it seems like
it's pointing somewhere else.
- ♪ Because I'm...
- Someone's trying
to hide something.
- ♪ Fresh out of love
♪ I'm all used up
♪ Don't have enough
♪ I'm fresh out of love
- This is crazy.
[sighs]
- I mean, look.
Jason.
When we talked to you earlier,
you were very hopeful
that this guy, Mar,
was who he said he was.
How do you feel
about Mar now?
- I'm still hopeful.
I mean, I'm getting
a little worried
'cause it seems like things
aren't pointing
to this actual person.
But I still love him.
You know,
regardless of the facts.
- I think it's time
to hit up Mar.
[tense music]
But are you ready
for that, Jason?
- Yeah.
Definitely.
- We should call...
- [gasps]
- From a number
they don't have.
- Okay.
- Let's give it a shot,
see what happens.
- Okay.
- What are you gonna say?
- What do I--I don't know.
What do I say?
"I'm looking for Mar?"
- No.
Say somebody else.
- Yeah, but then
if they're just like,
"Sorry, wrong number,"
then what do I do?
- Be like, "Hey, I just got
a call from this number.
Who is this?"
- Well, here goes nothing.
[line trilling]
[whispers]
Can you guys hear it?
[ominous music]
[rustling over phone]
♪
- Hey.
I just got a call
from this number.
I'm just calling you back.
[line disconnects]
Oh.
- [gasps]
It was a girl!
- Wow.
- Was that
the same female voice
that answered the first time?
- That's the same voice.
- Interesting.
Should I try back
and see what happens?
- [sighs]
- And just explain it?
- Yeah.
- I won't be shady this time.
[line trilling]
[tense music]
- Hey, sorry about that.
I think I was confused.
Um, I was looking for Mar,
but maybe I have
the wrong number.
- My name is Nev.
I'm a friend of Jason.
I'm actually the host
of the show "Catfish."
♪
[line disconnects]
Oh.
- Oh, my God.
[dramatic music]
- I should just text her.
- Yeah.
- All right.
- Say, "The jig is up, shorty."
- This is just crazy.
- "So like I was saying,
my name is Nev,
"and I'm the host
of the show 'Catfish.'
"I'm trying to help
a guy named Jason
"get in touch
with his friend, Mar.
"It seems that you are the
person Jason has been texting
and are obviously not
who he thinks you are."
All right.
So I'm gonna send this.
- Okay.
- And let's just see
what happens.
- This is crazy.
- So that message was read
just now.
- Okay.
- I mean, it's hard
to understand
why the phone number
you've been texting
would be in the hands
of a woman,
not just the one time
you called,
but now another time.
- Right.
- Although the phone
is registered to Eric,
a woman named Mary
is listed as a relative.
It could be a family plan.
Mary, Mar.
- It's just not adding up.
- And for her to answer
with such confidence,
I think obviously the phone
belongs to a woman.
- But why go through
all this trouble?
That's what I don't
understand, like--
[sighs]
- I feel like we're past
the point of being optimistic.
And now it's time
to turn our sights
into being stern.
- Yeah.
- I think today has
obviously been a lot,
and we should pick back up
on it tomorrow
with fresh eyes
and, like, a fresh mind.
But I want for you
to really think about
what it is that
you're planning
on saying
to this person, because...
- Okay.
- The likelihood
of this ending up
the way that you want it to--
it's not feeling good.
- Yeah.
- Let's give whoever this is
a chance to think about it too
and check back in
in the morning.
- Okay.
Awesome.
- All right.
Good night, Jason.
- All righty.
Good night, guys.
- Good night.
Poor thing.
He's been through enough.
- Yeah.
Hopefully, we can get
some answers for him soon.
I'll let you know
if I hear anything
from Mystery "Mar."
- "Mystery Mary."
- Yeah.
- All right.
- Okay, bye.
- Byeee.
[line disconnects]
[insects chirping]
- I still love him.
I will always love him.
You know...
But I just wanna--
I just need answers, you know?
I really hope it's him.
I'd be heartbroken,
like I said,
if it doesn't go
the way I want it to go.
All right.
Thank you.
[tense music]
[computer chimes]
[computer chimes]
- Hey.
I got big news.
- What's the tea?
- Check this out.
I just got a text from Mar.
[dramatic music]
"I may have [bleep] up,
but so did he."
♪
- It's the ex.
- It's the ex!
- It's the ex.
- "Whoa.
"Wasn't expecting that.
Can you be
a bit more specific?"
- But this is the same number
of the woman
who answered the phone,
so it can't be the ex.
What girl has he
[bleep] up with?
- Well, that's why now
at this point,
I'm always so tempted
to just assume
everyone's lying.
Even though Jason's story
seemed so sad
and he's like
this poor little puppy dog
who just wants to be loved,
is he?
Is Jason
completely innocent here?
- I'ma let you handle this.
- Let me text him.
- I'ma mind my business.
[dramatic music]
- "Morning."
- "We need to talk."
- "We gotta talk."
[keys clacking]
- [sighs]
He better not be lying
to us either.
[computer chimes]
Oh.
- Hi.
- Good morning.
How'd you sleep?
- [sighs]
I tossed and turned all night.
Just having this conflict
on my mind,
I mean, I'm just stressed.
♪
- Oh, well listen.
We got a text back
from "Mar" this morning.
- Okay.
- And the text said,
"If you want to know
who the catfish is...
"Ask Jason.
"I may have [bleep] up,
but so did he."
[dramatic music]
♪
- Um...
I mean...
[sighs]
I don't know.
I mean, I just don't know,
to be honest.
- Okay.
It just feels like we're not
getting the whole story.
I'm not sure what else
we can do to help
if you don't unlock whatever
missing piece
of this puzzle we need.
[dramatic music]
- We got a text back
from "Mar."
"I may have [bleep] up,
but so did he."
Jason, is there something
you're not telling us?
It just feels like we're not
getting the whole story.
[dramatic music]
♪
- Um...
I mean...
♪
[sighs]
I don't know.
Did I harm someone
and not even realize it?
And--and--and, you know,
I don't know.
- Mar seems to be a woman
with whom you've had
some sort of history.
- Have you dated girls
in the past?
♪
- Um, one.
[suspenseful music]
- When was that?
- Um...
♪
Like, a year ago.
- Wait, but hold on a second.
You were married.
You had an affair?
- Oh.
- With a woman?
- [stuttering]
No.
I don't know.
I wouldn't call it an affair.
♪
I mean, there was
no sexual intimacy.
I mean, yeah, we kissed.
But, I mean, I don't look
at that as sexual.
- What?
- I mean...
it never went that far.
- But Jason,
did this woman think
she was in a romantic
relationship with you?
- I don't--I don't know.
- Did he know that
you were married to a man?
- No.
- Jason, when we asked you,
"Could this be someone that
you know or from the past?"
like, you didn't mention
that you had
some sort
of a romantic engagement
with this woman
while you were married,
which would not
only potentially give
your ex-husband a reason
to be upset with you,
but also this woman.
- I don't know.
- Hopefully, her name
was not Mary.
- Uh, no,
Her name was [bleep].
- Are you in touch
with her anymore?
- No.
- Did she ask for money
for anything?
- I mean, yeah.
She asked for money,
you know, for, you know, uh,
personal things and, you know,
I gave it to her.
- When you called Mar
and a woman picked up,
could that be the same person?
- I mean, you could be right.
It might be her.
I don't think
it's my ex-husband.
- It could be both of them.
Who knows who it is, but like,
clearly, this person,
whatever they have to say,
it might not be good.
- [sighs]
I just don't know what I did
to hurt whoever it is
to even go to this point,
to even be sitting here
talking to you guys.
You know?
I need to know
who this person is.
- Even if it means airing out
some of your own dirty laundry?
[tense music]
- Yeah.
- Oh.
I'm ready to find out
if you are.
- Our text message
from this morning
has gone unread.
- I think we should call.
- Yeah.
- All right.
I'm gonna try it.
[line trilling]
- You have reached
the voicemail box of 7--
- All right.
I'll follow up with a text.
I'm being nice
because I wanna obviously
encourage them to respond.
- Butter 'em up.
Butter 'em up.
- Okay.
Oh, check it out.
"Okay, how do we do this?"
♪
I said, "Can you join a Zoom
with me and Kamie?"
- [sighs]
This is crazy.
- Oh, they're writing.
Oh, God.
Oh.
- "Is Jason there?
It's time for him
to know the truth."
[yelps]
- Wow, okay.
- Wow.
- Okay, well,
they've decided, Jason.
- Here we go.
- Deep breath, Jason.
Deep breath.
[dramatic music]
- I'm so nervous.
I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
It's just the wait, like,
come on.
Pop in so I can see
who you are.
- If it is Mar, I'm gonna fall
out of my chair.
There is no way.
- Oh, my God.
♪
[computer chimes]
[suspenseful music]
- Deep breath, Jason.
Deep breath.
- I'm so nervous.
I feel like I'm gonna throw up.
[computer chimes]
[dramatic music]
- What?
What's tea?
- Oh!
- God.
- What?
- Oh, my God.
That's crazy.
- Get the [bleep] out of here.
- [laughing]
Ugh!
- I mean...
Do I have to, like,
clean my computer screen?
Am I seeing this right?
- I can't.
- Hello.
Uh, I'm not sure what to say.
We're all
a little dumbfounded here.
- Are you serious?
- Mar, is that your name?
- No.
My name is actually Omar.
Omar.
- Oh, that makes sense.
Okay.
I see that now.
- Mm-hmm.
Yeah, I'm 21.
I live in Vegas.
- And has it been you
the whole time?
- Yeah, it's been me
this whole time.
[tense music]
- Who was the woman
that answered the phone?
- It was my roommate.
- Is there a reason that you
had her answer or just...
- When it's numbers
that I don't know,
I just have
other people answer.
- I mean, that's
a little shady.
Are you hiding from someone?
Why have you been so mysterious
this whole time?
- I just didn't want him
to know who I am,
like, my name and everything.
[tense music]
That's the reason why
I was having him
Cash App my friend
instead of me.
- But what would be so bad
about him knowing your name?
I don't get it.
- I didn't want him to, like,
think that I was really, like,
wanting to really,
really be with him,
and I didn't wanna be with him.
- What?
- But why would you text me
and tell me that you love me
and you wanna get married?
Like, I mean,
why would you do that?
- Because you kept
sending money,
so why not?
And you had never expected
me to Facetime you
or none of that, so, you know?
It was easy money.
He's pretty much, you know,
my sugar daddy.
- Sugar daddy?
I wish I could come
through the screen right now.
Sugar daddy.
That's funny.
- I can own up to it.
I used him for his money.
And, you know, it's a pandemic.
You know,
he was a good target.
And I feel like he's stupid.
Like, come on now.
What other way I could say it?
Like, he's really stupid.
[keys clacking aggressively]
And that's no tea, no shade.
Like, there's no tea.
- But you led--
but you led me on.
You led me on, I mean.
- Do you have a job?
- I work on the Strip.
- So what did you do with all
this money that I sent you?
- Um, you know, bought me
expensive stuff, shoes.
Honestly, I told you
I needed an Uber,
but I didn't need an Uber.
I got a whole car.
[tense music]
- I live paycheck for paycheck.
Half the money I was giving you
was from bills
because I thought that you
were in trouble,
you needed help.
I mean, you led me on.
The texts in the morning.
And, you know,
me telling you, you know,
my deep, darkest secrets,
and I thought we had something.
[dramatic music]
This is just ridiculous.
♪
- You said
in your text message to me
that "I [bleep] up,
but so did he."
What exactly did you mean,
"so did he?"
- Honestly, you're the catfish.
[dramatic musical sting]
- What do you mean?
- This is not who he is
in the pictures on Jack'd.
That's not him.
It was the younger version
of him.
- You're saying
that Jason used
pictures of him
when he was younger...
- Yes, yes.
- On his profile.
- Yes.
- That picture wasn't
even that old.
I took that picture,
like, two years ago.
- Well, that don't look--
that don't--
that don't look like you, boo.
- Show us the picture.
- This is the picture.
- And, like, he kept--
and by that--by that--
by that time,
he was already, you know--
- [bleep] this excuse, Omar.
It doesn't look
that different.
- For you to try and say that
because you feel like
the picture he used
was a misrepresentation of him
which somehow
gives you permission
to take advantage of him,
that's just bull[bleep].
- Look how he look.
Like, do you...
- He's a handsome man,
and he's a kind person.
- No, he's not!
No, he's not.
He's not.
- What's really not cute is
the way that you are behaving.
- Not only that,
he told me that he had HIV.
♪
- Are you criticizing him for
being open about his status?
- Like, come on now.
Like, that's--
- What benefits you
out of degrading Jason
as a gay man who's a part
of that community?
And you know what
the stigma is like.
That's so disappointing.
I have sisters
that are 13 years old,
and they have
more dignity and class than
what you are demonstrating
right here, right now.
- Jason has taken
a huge chance
in opening up about that,
not just with you,
but on the show
with lots of people.
That's something that he's
gotta live with
and struggle with,
and we should be nothing
but supportive of.
- I feel like
I could trust you, Mar.
I don't open up.
Not at all.
But I felt like
I could open up to you.
You don't have no morals
or no standards.
You're a scam artist.
- You can't put it all on me
because at the end of the day,
you kept sending money
even after you felt
like something was strange.
- But that's such bull[bleep].
He acted out of generosity
and love and hopefulness,
and you acted out of greed
and selfishness.
And so there is shame on you,
but not on Jason.
- Do I feel sorry?
Um, no.
- I bet you don't.
- I don't.
- It figures.
- You can get your money back.
I'll send you your money back.
- Can you do it now?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
Let's see it.
- I'ma send it to him
after the show.
♪
- Yeah.
Okay.
- Is this all, like--
did you come on here
to put on this act
or 'cause I just--
- No, this is really--
- I don't feel--
- No, this is really me
in real life.
- You're genuinely
a [bleep] human being?
Is that just who you are?
- Calm it down with me, okay?
What--any other questions?
- [laughing]
- Thank you.
You're dismissed.
- [laughing]
- You're dismissed.
- You can't dismiss me.
You don't have
the qualifications.
You do not have
the jurisdiction.
- You can't just
"dismiss" someone
because you don't like
what they have to say.
♪
- Keep being you,
and allow everyone, the world,
to see exactly who you are.
And let them hopefully stay
far away from you.
- Okay, you done?
- That's all I have to say.
- [exhales]
I don't even wanna see his face
anymore, to be honest.
- And I don't wanna
see yours either.
- I think we've had enough.
Bye.
- Bye.
[chimes]
- Jason, I would like
to apologize
for the way that he was trying
to degrade you.
You are a good person.
And there's nothing wrong--
- You're a good looking guy.
- Yeah!
- Thanks.
- What the [bleep]
he's talking about.
- [laughs]
- And somebody will accept you
for who you are,
exactly how you are, and there
is nothing to be ashamed of.
- Stop dating guys
on the Internet
that won't date you
in real life.
- Okay.
- Okay?
- [laughs]
- Period.
- You're absolutely right.
We'll see how life goes.
- All right, Jason.
- God bless you all.
Thank you.
- God bless.
[laughs]
[chimes]
What a sweetheart.
- All right, Kamie.
Good work.
But, uh, you are now
officially dismissed.
- [bleep] off.
[laughter]
- ♪ We fight the good fight
♪ There's no need
to waste it anymore ♪
♪ Ignore, ignore
♪ The things you don't adore
♪ We fight the good fight
[lively bass music]
- I've already applied
for my passport.
I'm ready to roll, man.
- That was sketchy.
- That was weird, right?
- It could be a hustle.
Could be anything.
[computer chimes]
- Oh!
- Uh, hello?
- God.
♪
1217
00:41:45.