Everything you need to know about TikTok’s queer relationship scammer

These days, you have to be extra careful who you decide to allow into your life. Not only are scammers getting better at scamming us out of our identities, funds, and peace of mind, they’re showing up in unlikely places…like the bedroom.

If you haven’t heard about the Taylor Duggar story, for instance, prepare to be terrified. The drama is currently unfolding on TikTok, and it’s bringing up some questions about how queer people can stay safe on dating apps.

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Here’s the TL;DR: several queer TikTokers have come out in the past few days talking about how they got catfished by a woman named Taylor Duggar, who happens to be married with kids. So far, three victims have spoken out, one of which dated Duggar for four years. Another moved across the country just to be closer to Duggar.

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Why did Taylor specifically reach out to butch lesbians and trans men? And how was she able to keep it up for so long? We don’t know. All we know so far is that her victims spoke out and allegedly were promptly served with cease and desist papers.

While some of Taylor’s partners knew she had kids, most didn’t realize she was living with (and still married to) her husband, the father of the children. Duggar found many of her partners on Bumble and Snapchat, and when she kept canceling appointments to meet up, some started to question whether or not they were being catfished. It was only after victims started talking about their experience with Duggar on TikTok that things started to add up.

One of Duggar’s girlfriends, who dated her for 7 months, went to TikTok after Duggar said she was being “blackmailed” only to find a video from another partner complete with receipts, screenshots, and more damning evidence.

We don’t know the total number of victims yet, since many have decided not to speak out. But the drama is ramping up and more queer victims come forward.

All in all, it seems like your typical romance scam, but with a queer twist. The fact that Duggar was married to a cis man the whole time but only approached butch women and trans mascs seems like an especially sad detail—as if queer folks need more things to worry about! Apparently, Duggar was even able to get some money out of the people she was romancing.

It’s a strange, sad story, but if we can find a moral from it it’s this one: be careful who you give your heart to, especially online.

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