‘Bride He Bought Online’: Lifetime’s New Movie Tackles Catfishing, Mail Order Bride Scams, Most Likely Based On Some True Story
Bride He Bought Online is a new Lifetime movie that is set to make its debut tonight. Lifetime movie lovers have become accustomed to being entertained every weekend by Lifetime’s original movies. Tonight’s thriller The Bride He Bought Online takes a shocking turn after some teens decide to play a joke on a lonely computer programmer. Starring Anne Winters, Travis Hammer, and Annalisa Cochrane, according to the Internet Movie Database (IMDB).
The Bride He Bought Online Synopsis:
After finding a mail order bride website, three teen girls become fascinated with the dynamics behind “loser” guys who buy brides online. In the sneak peek teaser, we see the girls making plans to dupe a lonely man who seeks a bride online. Once he shows up at the designated location, the girls watch as the disheveled computer programmer holds up a sign with his bride’s name on it. It becomes apparent to at least one of the teen girls that what they are doing is downright wrong. One thing is for sure, these girls have messed with the wrong man and have no idea what’s in store for them after following through on this cruel joke.
Bride He Bought Online (also known as The Bride He Bought Online)doesn’t boast that it is based on a true story. But there are several real “catfishing” mail order bride stories that could have inspired the writers. Catfishing is the word used to describe the act of creating a fake profile for the sole purpose of duping another into believing that it is real. The MTV show Catfish first popularized the word. In their show, they go behind the profiles and expose the real people to the world. In many cases, those who thought they’d found love online have been left heartbroken. Others have been bullied online by these fake profiles.
One true life catfishing scheme backfired on a man who intended to extort money from a university professor. In that case, Daniel Duplaisir took explicit photos of an underage girl and entered into an online relationship with Professor James Aune. After Duplaisir threatened to expose the once-respected professor by sending a slew of blackmail-type emails, Aune committed suicide by jumping from a parking garage. His last message to Duplaisir stated:
“Killing myself now. And u will be prosecuted for blackmail.”
Daniel Duplaisir was completely shocked by the sudden turn of events, which eventually led to his arrest.
In 2006, a Russian mail order bride named Nina Reiser entered into an online relationship with — and later married — computer programmer Hans Reiser. Reiser ended up killing Nina Reiser after they began having problems. She was missing for a time, but Hans Reiser eventually led police to her body.
The Bride He Bought Online could have also been inspired by some Russian bride pranks or mail order bride pranks.
Tune in for the Lifetime movie The Bride He Bought Online tonight at 8/7 central. #?BrideHeBought?
[Photo Credit: Facebook]
