
“App Developer” bamboozles Redditors as a millionaire using verified profiles - supercanuck
https://np.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/7xcoun/ulpt_you_can_win_any_argument_against_digitally/du7xhii/
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jchw
Honestly, it's even more complicated; it's hard to tell if this person is
lying or not. It seems like most likely, he's trolling and making people think
his life was a lie. Pretty hilarious either way.
[https://www.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/7xcou...](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnethicalLifeProTips/comments/7xcoun/ulpt_you_can_win_any_argument_against_digitally/du8hdna/)

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lev99
I trust him even less because I cannot tell when he is telling the truth. This
is great.

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jchw
If anything, it bums me out how mad some people are getting over it. It's
pretty harmless and hilarious in my opinion. I admit, it's hard to trust him
after this stunt, but logically it's kind of clear he's rich and has nothing
to lose by having a go.

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lev99
Why are you bummed that people are mad about being lied to? It seems like a
reasonable human reaction.

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jchw
Basically, because I do feel like it is a mostly-harmless lie that is quite
funny. I get that it is eroding people's sense of trust, but I'm guessing his
intent was not to mess with his own following but to mess with the general
reddit community. The fact that this went viral seems to have pulled in some
of his fans, but I doubt it was intentional.

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ctrl-j
> mostly-harmless lie that is quite funny.

People feel shitty when they are lied to and laughed at.

It's a shitty thing to do. If you enjoy it, that's fine. It's still a dick
move.

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mlinsenbardt
Wow, I remember reading the App Developer AMA and assuming it was fact without
checking any references myself. Beyond filter bubbles and fake news, this
really shows how susceptible we are to our own bias.

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kemitche
Online, I could be completely cynical about everything, not believe anyone
without 10 layers of solid citations, and so on. And to do that I'd have to
spend 48 hours per day online checking facts and sources, or never venture
onto the internet.

On the other end, I could just believe everyone at face value, and get
bamboozled and misled frequently.

Instead, each person has to strike a balance. Have a balance of trust, and
recognize when you're putting forth faith in someone. Be ready to transition
from trust to cynicism. For things that don't matter (like "believing someone
is a millionaire"), don't worry about it - unless and until that "millionaire"
tries to offer you personally something too good to be true.

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deong
Exactly. I have nothing invested in the story some random guy on Reddit is
telling. Why not take it at face value? If I'm going to go tell a bunch of
friends about it or take some action myself based on it, then sure, I'm going
to want to apply a little skepticism to save myself from making a mistake or
looking foolish.

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petercooper
What he says about escalating fame and using less reliable sources as social
proof to get covered by more reliable sources does seem to play out in the
world.

There are all sorts of "awards" ceremonies for things like best employer, best
company in IT, etc. but frequently to get into such awards you have to pay
money (surprise surprise) and the entrants get to nominate themselves. Then
when they win, they take the story to the local and trade press, and on and on
it goes.

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forkLding
Can I get a brief summary from a fellow HNer, not too versed with reddit and
reading all the many reddit comments have confused me more than just simply
reading that man's confession.

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psyc
It's not entirely clear, but I gather one of the following occurred: either 1)
The person convinced Reddit they are a wealthy app developer, by using fake
sources, or 2) The person is actually a wealthy app developer, and is trolling
Reddit by telling them he was faking it.

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superasn
I don't know but #2 is equally as likely as #1. I just went through his FB
profile[1] and some reddit comments[2] and this is just too much shit for it
not to be real. I guess if this is a fake then it has to be one of the best
fakes i've read online in the last 10 years.

[1] [https://www.facebook.com/allenapp](https://www.facebook.com/allenapp)

[2]
[https://reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/67zv7a/my_dad_does_tile_fo...](https://reddit.com/r/WTF/comments/67zv7a/my_dad_does_tile_for_a_living_this_is_one_of_the/dgv60tg)

[2.1]
[https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/68pck7/im_that_multim...](https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/68pck7/im_that_multimillionaire_app_developer_who/)

~~~
stickydink
There's a YouTube channel with 60k subs and dozens of supercar videos, those
would be pretty hard to fake

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baron816
The double irony is that lots of media outlets will pick this up and interview
him and eventually he’ll become the authority on how to “fake it till you make
it.”

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petraeus
Bamboozling redditors is a really low bar to set as a life goal

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dandigangi
What a POS. I've known him online for years.

