Online scams seem to be everywhere - you can hardly spend a day online without almost falling foul of one scam or another.
Sometimes they're pretending to be your child, some days it's 'HMRC' texting you from a mobile number, and others they're just claiming you're set to inherit £1 million from a wealthy long lost relative you didn't even realise you had.
But it's a rare day that you and your attempted scammer become friends - but that's exactly what happened to 26-year-old Yasmine Hill when she replied to a scammer.
The Glaswegian said that she was just 'having a laugh' when she posted the screenshots of her conversation with a scammer on Twitter, but she's now got over two million people chuckling along with her after the thread went viral.
Yasmine believed her scammer's name was Francis, but acknowledges it might not be real, telling the Mirror: "Obviously I don't know for real, but that's what he said to me. He could have given me a fake name."
The 26-year-old reached the end of her tether after receiving four different scam messages on WhatsApp - and decided to tackle the issue head-on.
She then sent a message to 'Francis', letting him know she was fed up, that read: "You better f*** off and delete my number you piece of s***."
After the brutal message, the last thing she expected was a response - but that's exactly what she got - and it was more than she bargained for as Francis began opening up to her.
When Francis replied admitting he was a scammer, Yasmine was flabbergasted - and she was left saddened when he claimed he was trying to scam people as his child is in hospital and he needed money.
He replied: "Yes, I admit it, I actually am trying to scam you.
"But you can't blame me, the economy is not good.
"So please help a brother." He finished his text with two crying emojis and prayer hands.
Yasmine explained: "I blocked four of the accounts already, and then I got three texts in one day, so that's why I was told them to stop texting me. It was constant, they'd been trying to get in contact with me for weeks."
Yasmine went viral after sharing the exchange she'd had on social media, writing: "Not me becoming besties with the scammer who's been messaging me off fake accounts for weeks now.".
She said that he'd been pretending to be a bank employee, and had claimed that $1.8 million had been left to her in a will - but she wasn't falling for it.
Luckily, the 26-year-old was savvy enough to challenge his claims, but but she wasn't expecting the scammer to admit that's what he was up to.
In one way, she felt grateful that the scammer was potentially being honest with her, as she joked that she 'didn't have much more money than him'.
The pair bonded over political failings, as they discussed lack of help from the government, with Francis telling Yasmine that he was from Nigeria, where their government 'doesn't care' either.
He even told her that she 'seemed like a nice person', despite her initial texts, claimed to genuinely want her friendship.
"It's kind of funny", Yasmine told the Mirror, reflecting on the circumstances.
"I can see the humour in it because I didn't fall for it.I think it would be a different situation if I had fallen for it but because I didn't, it's funny.
"When Francis was texting me though, it was obviously fake because it was on WhatsApp and because he was spelling my name wrong too - obviously if it was real they'd get my name right."
In the text exchange, Yasmine joked: "I do hope you scam some rich people though. But sadly I am not one of them."
She did face some backlash for this comment, however, despite the fact her texts were laced with sarcasm, and she clarified: "As if I would ever encourage somebody to scam. Most people that do get scammed are the elderly which is shameful - you shouldn't be doing that at all.
"That's why I was like 'get lost' to him, but, I was trying to just make a joke about it because he broke his character and I found that funny so I just wanted to carry on texting him to see how it'd go. It was just for a laugh at the end of the day.
"Some people took it way too literally but I was like no, I'm not being 100% serious."
Yasmine says she is cautious of staying in touch with many people warning her that the scammer could be playing the 'long game' - and official guidance suggests you should never respond to scam messages.
One person tweeted her to say: "They're playing the long game. Love the hustle. You lot gonna get closer slowly, one day you're gonna drop your mum's maiden name, where you were born, and lastly that birthday WhatsApp story. I can see the play."
Yasmine said: "He could have an ulterior motive in the long run and if something slips up, security question stuff, I'd regret it. It was funny and was a good laugh whilst it lasted.
"I just went to bed and woke up with all these notifications and I was thinking 'what is going on?!' He has messaged me since to say hello though."
Have you ever responded to a scammer before? Let us know by emailing danielle.wroe@reachplc.com
