Matching with someone on Hinge always carries a level of risk, but Florida woman Emma Cappuccilli (@embethlove) has experienced this on another level. In a three-part TikTok series, which has cumulatively amassed over 165,000 views, she told her story.
Cappuccilli began by explaining that she matched with this man on Hinge. As a first date, they had dinner on the beach, and he offered to pay for parking. However, when he opened the app, he said he couldn’t pay for it because his wallet was stolen. At this point, the TikToker said she noticed he had multiple phones, but she didn’t think much of it.
The first date went well, and for the second date, he suggested they go to St Pete’s. It’s here that the cracks began to emerge. After picking her up, he tries to book a motel room, but says his card isn’t linked. He then stops by his house, and claims to own 7 to 10 properties, and when Cappuccilli asks to use the bathroom, he says no.
Then, they get to the motel, and the man says he will pull around the back and park. Five minutes later, he’s still not there—he calls and says he needs to fix his car. Thirty minutes pass, and he calls and says he is booking the motel room on his phone. After a further 10 minutes had gone by, he figured it out, and they finally checked in. However, Cappuccilli notes that throughout their time in the hotel bar that evening, he kept leaving to call his ‘lawyer.’
What happened with her Hinge match?
The next day, they wake up and he announces that he’s going to take her to Tampa International Mall.
After she joked about whether there’s a budget, he says there isn’t one as he picks out dozens of handbags and wallets for her at Coach. Every time he tried to pay for something, Cappuccilli says the following would happen: his card would decline, he’d walk away to make a phone call, and then the transaction would be approved. The same then happened at a gas station. She also noticed he covered card names with his thumb, but didn’t think much of it.
A few days after this, he calls her to say he’s at Coach and offers to buy her more items. She agrees and meets him, but notes that he keeps stalling at the checkouts. He then exhibits another strange behavior: he asks to pay in $500 increments across 6-7 cards. They all decline, so he says that he needs to get his Amex from the car. Once again, he got on the phone, and once again, the transaction was approved.
Suspicions grow
At this point, Cappuccilli is firmly suspicious, so she starts looking up the man. She finds multiple posts about him on an ‘Are We Dating The Same Guy’ Facebook group, with multiple women sharing how he had scammed and stolen from them.
This compels her to ask her boss and colleagues to look him up on a background check app. They find that he has zero properties and has been arrested for fraud, grand theft, and something to do with a stolen vehicle. She also discovered a post another lady had made claiming that he had stolen $100,000 of jewellery from her.
@embethlove This story just gets more and more insane. Follow along to hear the rest ? #datingseries #fyp #hingehorrorstory #datingstorytime #swfl ♬ original sound – Emma Cappuccilli♈️
Moving on from her Hinge match
After discovering this, Cappuccilli figures out that the “sob story” he told her about his life is a lie—so she decides to ghost him.
She also recounted how he used to ask her to download certain apps to transfer her money, which she suspects was an attempt to hack her. She also recalled an occasion where he asked her to Venmo a friend $100 on his behalf: something that she declined.
The man, who was unable to accept the ghosting, called her, where she told him that she had found out everything about him. In response, Cappuccilli says he had a well-rehearsed story for “every single thing.” For apparent propriety, he also FaceTimed her to show her all his credit cards had his name on them, bar four, which had his ‘lawyer’s’ name on them. He claimed he got a settlement through his lawyer for an accident at work, which is why the lawyer is sending him money.
“I have never spoken to him since,” she said, although she noted he tried to contact her a few times. “I think I’m in the clear.”
In the comments, users weren’t really on her side
Many said that Cappuccilli ignored a lot of red flags the Hinge match was exhibiting. One said, “The second time his card wouldn’t work, I would be like girl bye! I don’t care what the reason is! you obviously have issues that you need to work out before going out on dates.”
“I am sorry I am laughing,” another shared. “You can’t make this stuff up. We all have to experience a guy like this to learn.”
While a third opined, “Honestly, I feel like there were a lot of red flags here, but because he presented himself as very wealthy, they were ignored.”
In a subsequent video, the TikToker shared screenshots from the ‘Are We Dating The Same Guy’ Facebook post.
Cappuccilli didn’t immediately respond to The Mary Sue’s request for comment via TikTok comment.
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