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Roos's Web of Lies

59:33 recording · EN · 8 speakers

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Brief overview

Fake help-seekers like Roos drain Dutch helplines, and experts call it Munchausen by internet.

  1. Fake stories cost helplines real care timeStichting Syrins estimates it spent about 20 hours on Marlou, time it could not give to people who did need help.
  2. Doubtful chats arrive weekly, not rarelySyrins has stronger suspicions once or twice a week, and Psychozenet estimates 4 to 6 percent of its 1,500 monthly chats.
  3. Munchausen by internet fits the Marlotte patternMark Feldman, who has seen hundreds of cases in 30 years, says the drive is attention, sympathy and a regained sense of control.
Executive Summary AI
  • Social workers Ebbe and Natasja of Stichting Syrins heard Roos in the earlier podcast, recognised her voice and contacted the makers.2:52
  • Last April someone calling herself Marlou asked their anonymous chat whether a late abortion was still possible, said her GP father had made her pregnant, kept adding details that did not add up, and after Syrins reported to Veilig Thuis it emerged she was not who she said she was; the team reckons it spent some 20 hours on her.4:32
  • At Proud To Be Me, community manager Danielle de Jong describes a girl who held the eating-disorder community for months, around whom an aunt and later a neighbour appeared, and who was written up as dying after a fall down the stairs before Danielle deleted the account.15:12
  • Jim van Os of Psychozenet puts doubtful conversations at 4 to 6 percent of their 1,500 chats a month and trains chatters in pattern recognition, while software company Nuity compares IP follow-up numbers across 23 aid organizations.25:26
  • Psychiatrist Mark Feldman calls the Marlotte story classic Munchausen by internet, and Nathalie, a young woman who faked abuse at school and on her internship, explains how she built email addresses as proof and how therapy ended the need.34:18
Key Quote
“That voice, that voice, I recognize that voice.”
— Ebbe3:11
Key Quote
“And they still find it quite heartless that I deleted her account.”
— Danielle de Jong21:08
Key Quote
“It's unbelievable at times, and yet people believe it.”
— Mark Feldman36:01