Catfishing is generally considered a bad thing, but are their times when it’s a good thing?

This story makes you wonder.

The boss is bad. The employee just wants what’s owed.

Let’s cast a line and see what’s out there…

I catfished a former boss to get paid

I used to work for a married couple, Billy (M52) and Gigi (F44), who owned a business services/public relations agency. It lasted more or less for a year.

They seemed nice and humble but in reality, they were shady and untruthful.

Appearances can be deceiving.

The company began to falter because of poor management and zero intention to prioritize.

Billy was your baby-faced next-door neighbor type. He looked about ten years younger and had a “kind” smile. He was soft-spoken and had an artistic and creative flair to him.

Gigi looked matronly with a Mother Earth incarnate attitude towards her children. She prided herself on “being ruthless” when it came to giving her family only the best.

She could be really nice when she wanted to, but I found out early on that she was 100% apt at gossip and being two-faced.

Here’s a BIG red flag…

The company’s constant changes were a red flag.

They went from Business Services + PR Agency to IT provider, to a business incubator, to “indie beer partners.” What I’m trying to say is that they tried to dip their donut in everyone’s coffee, figuratively.

Some of us had no real way to escape.

Sounds like the opposite of a dream job.

The lady working next to me was already 67 years old and scared that no one would hire her.

I wasn’t in a great place either. We were 8 employees in total. They wouldn’t lay anyone off because they believed that the employee should quit.

They paid us only a portion of our salaries ( incomplete weekly payments). Employees would run for the hills once they found a better job.

Some of us were stuck.

It was horrible.

Then, they would pay the normal rate for a month and then do it again.

It’s never good when your boss is making up his credentials.

They never cut down on their luxury expenses, so the wife would post her shopping sprees or arrive in a new car like it was nothing.

Zero empathy. Very insensitive.

The husband was obsessed with making it big time. So much, that he sometimes failed to see an opportunity right in front of him.

He said he was Coca Cola’s brand manager. I swear I looked it up and could never find any reference.

This married duo was a power-tripping couple.

Gigi had a display full of small local magazines (mostly about design and architecture). They were very proud to be a “team member” but in reality, they just helped them print two issues.

They wanted “big business only,” but in the meantime, looked down upon tangible potential clients. Like the young Latino couple who showed up trying to learn more about their services. They seemed “lost” because they wanted someone to help them set up a coffee business and had no idea how it was done.

The couple was worth talking to.

I talked to them and helped them in the waiting room.

They even showed up with their baby in a stroller. That means they must have driven by and decided to come in.

An impulsive client should be retained.

The guy said his grandpa had a farm and he wanted to create an import/exports company.

Once Billy showed up, he listened for a bit, then kind of gave them an abrupt dismissal. That was a jerk move because that couple opened their own business with someone else and even have a FB page.

It could have been Billy.

His head was too big to even notice what he was missing.

Billy lined his office walls with posters of Steve Jobs and Elon Musk. His wife, the Chief Enabling Officer, put up signs on each room.

The main employee area was “the machine room,” Billy’s office was “the chamber,” the conference room was “a meeting of the minds.”

Every time an employee disagreed with Billy during a brainstorming session, Gigi would call them aside and tell them that, “Billy is your boss. You need to know that he is brilliant and a genius. I want him to have that taste of success.”

I experienced that firsthand.

Nothing worse than false affirmations… especially from charlatans.

I also hated brainstorming because that was never on my job description. They just wanted to pick everyone’s brains.

In the meantime, we had to see the Pandora jewelry, the expensive makeovers for their daughters, and the “weekend at the spa” updates on FB.

Gigi’s captions were usually about rewarding herself after a “hard week” or “because she deserved it. “Oh! And I’d like to mention that they bought into the “social guru” phrases about “emotional direction.” So if an employee ever got angry, Gigi would tell you “remember the one who gets angry is the one who ends up losing.”

For anyone who’s been in this situation, you may understand how painful it can be.

They baited the line… would the bosses bite?

You cannot leave the job because you have no other job waiting for you, and pathetic as it may sound to some, “some income” is better than no income at all. This is an involuntary compromise and it’s abusive.

Why were we expected to pay for their luxuries via incomplete wages?

My best friend’s ex is into coding and programming and he agreed to help. If it didn’t work out, at least we would have something to laugh about.

We created a great fake website with a matching LinkedIn and the whole nine yards. To make a long story short, this was supposed to be an investment company and my friend would be very casual. Nothing too eager.

These two went catfishing… and caught a big one!

He started by liking my employer’s FB page. Then commenting.

Before we knew it, my boss took the bait and was engaging. They exchanged emails and he was eager to share all his “projects and ambitious stuff.”

On the other side, the investor sent him a list of requirements, like proof of concept, employer payroll, EIN #, etc. the investor “agreed” to work them if they could prove they were legit and up to date.

No bank account of confidential info was asked.

She left the job ASAP.

Within three weeks, I was paid the equivalent to the 2 months and a half I was owed.

The investor did an about-face and never contacted him again.

I left the job as soon as I could.

My friend who remained until she got paid told me our boss seemed “off” and a bit down after he announced “big things are coming” but it all seemed to deflate.

I never disclosed what was really going on.

Sometimes you have to go to extremes to get what’s owed you such as creating a fake client to get money from a bad boss.

What do the comments on Reddit have to say about this ruse?

One person says, why didn’t you let the law do its job?

Another person says, nope, gotta take matters into your own hands.

This person is disappointed the catfish wasn’t more romantic.

Another user knows the feeling of a braggadocious boss.

Lastly this person says… wait, what?

The boss took the bait, and the catfish got paid.

If you liked that story, check out this post about an oblivious CEO who tells a web developer to “act his wage”… and it results in 30% of the workforce being laid off.