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I figured now was as good a time as any. I had over a thousand followers on my influencer platform, that should be enough to do the deed, right?

Help! I've been kidnapped!

I sent it out to everyone, anyone, and had some friends dress up as kidnappers to make it all seem legit. They would swipe my phone periodically to take selfies, post videos of me crying while they laughed, take pics of each other holding a gun to my head. They set up an account for the ransom.

We watched the money roll in.

We split it fairly, and my followers skyrocketed after I was "released."

High five figures in the bank was nothing to gripe about!

We thought about trying it again, but didn't want to push our luck. The feds were already sniffing about, and we didn't want to give them anything to trace back to us. We didn't even talk afterwards, and of course no texting. Didn't even do that before our scam. In person meetings only; we're not stupid.

Sometimes I'd ask for money for therapy, but that's as far as I'd go. No more.

Imagine my surprise when I was kidnapped for real...