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Everyone has friends, some of whom they are very close with, and others with whom they might be just a little familiar. Very often, these kinds of acquaintances are harder to figure out, and time might end up revealing some interesting or even shocking things about them.
These secrets can either be completely harmless or be something so out of left field that it can shatter your perception of your buddy. That’s exactly what happened to these folks who ended up finding some creepy stuff out about their “chill” friend.
More info: Reddit
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#1
They had recently moved from another city, where they faked cancer, raised money for “treatment,” and were prosecuted for it.
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#2
A guy I used to work with, was casually friends with. He was shy and awkward at first, but was really into music, had a motorcycle, and was into astronomy. He was always very sweet.
A year after I quit that job, I saw his picture in the paper. He had been arrested for hiding cameras in the toilets in public port-a-potties at a local music festival.
#3
She was one of the stalkers that ruins celebrity and band meet and greets and makes them afraid to go outside sometimes
she tried to brush it off like "I found their homes and their family online"
Nah, you didn't find it, you hunted it down.
It’s definitely tough to make new friends as one gets older, which is why, when people connect well with someone else, they’re often excited to snatch that person up as their buddy. This kind of relationship might be superficial at first, as folks get to know one another, but eventually, there ends up being a lot of trust.
According to research, for nearly 84% of U.S. adults, the confidence and faith that they have in their friends often surpasses what they have for their family. That’s why it can be very shocking to learn a close pal’s secret out of the blue, especially if it’s something they’ve been purposely hiding about themselves.
#4
A co worker telling us about her dates etc., (with our maintenance guy) even saying she met the boyfriend’s son. Turns out it was all lies. They never went one one single date.
After maintenance guy found out he was scared to come into our office 😂.
#5
I had a friend who was the ultimate "low maintenance" guy—always down for whatever, liked all the same obscure bands I did, and agreed with all my specific political takes. It felt like we were totally on the same wavelength. Then one day I walked into a party and saw him with a completely different group of people, and he wasn't just hanging out with them, he *was* them. He had a totally different laugh, he was using slang I’d never heard him speak, and he was loudly arguing the exact opposite political point he’d agreed with me on over dinner the night before. I realized in that moment that he didn't have a personality; he was just a mirror. He was unconsciously terrified of conflict, so he just downloaded the software of whoever he was standing next to. It wasn't malicious, but it was deeply unsettling to realize the person I thought I knew was basically just an empty room that I had been decorating with my own reflection.
Big Chungus 8 hours ago
Maybe autistic? My husband does this (to a lesser extent) without realizing he is mirroring someone and their mannerisms
#6
Not a friend but coworker.
Me (22F) at the time working as an EMT and this older EMT (40'sM) approaches me after a few pleasant conversations and is like oh my daughter would love to talk to you. Her mother isn't in the picture but I feel like you two would really get along. Me being nice and nieve say "sure". So he gives me his "12-13 year old" number and I text it and "talk tl her" about some stuff. He gives me a hand written note from the girl thanking me for talking to her and s**t. But I started to feel real weird about it.
Looked into the guys fb and he had like 3 pictures of A YOUNG GIRL, but they did not all look the same and weren't clear in resolution to be able to see of it was the same little girl.
Turns out he was pretending to be this girl and talk to me about boy problems and wanted me to come to his house to "hang out". Mind you, I was dating a paramedic in the same company and he knew this. He was a major f*****g creep.
Everybody hopes they’ll remain close with their friends for a long time, but to maintain such relationships, it’s important to actually get to know their buddies well. That’s why experts state that in order to forge deep bonds of friendship, it’s important for folks to be vulnerable and truthful with each other.
The issue is that even though some buddies have known one another for years, they might not have shared the deepest, darkest parts of themselves yet. This could be due to a sense of insecurity or fear that their bestie will end up judging them harshly or leaving them due to it.
#7
This was years ago and in retrospect it didn't really surprise me/us (the College crew) but this guy was cheating on his wife (mother of their 3 kids) with who knows how many women and the way she found out was when her Gynecologist told her she had an STD. After that respect for him disappeared.
#8
We were teachers. She was a very sweet woman, very popular with kids. Then a dad showed up at school because she'd been texting with his son (about 13). The school threatened to fire her but didn't, they kept it all hush-hush.
#9
Not a friend per se, but when I was a kid I had this nanny.
Turns out it was my dad disguised as an old lady. He lost any custody after that and was ordered to have a psych evaluation.
If you look at some of the stories on this list, you might wonder what people can actually do if they find out their friend has been hiding something creepy. According to professionals, when something like this happens, it might be better to just get a clean break from the individual in order to protect your mental peace.
If they haven’t done anything illegal or morally wrong, and their actions just didn’t sit right with you, it might help to reflect on whether you still want them as your buddy or not. This can be done by trying to understand whether they were a pal who treated you well and made you feel valued, or if there were any red flags that you ignored.
#10
I had a friend in high school who had a little sister that was very... awkward.
Found out years later that it was because their dad was s******y a*****g her.
Then, a number of years later, I met this guy (the dad) at my dealers house. He knew that I knew, being friends with his son and got really scared and promptly left without the d***s he paid for. My dealer was all like "what was that about". So I told him.
Guy was... never seen again.
Chrystina Sumpter 5 hours ago
Good. Anyone that would hurt kids or animals deserve to never be seen again.
#11
My partner and I met her at a vape store and had a handful of nice interactions. She was funny, and my partner liked her, so we scheduled to hang out after work. We're all ~26 at this point.
We went to her place. Huge hoarder pile at the bottom of open basement stairs. It's wall-to-wall, 4 feet tall sea of absolutely filthy clothes. Everything smells like cigarettes. She lives with her mom and her dog. The dog has a softball sized tumor on its ribs.
I am formulating a game plan on how to smoke as fast as possible and gtfo. My partner is being polite.
We're about 5 minutes into talking. This girl begins to suddenly dump on us about how she's dating a s*x predator who is (at that time) in a psychiatric hospital and that she's made and sold b********y p**n for him. I looked up the bus directions, set the phone on my partner's lap, and said, "The next bus is in 7 minutes. We're leaving." and I dragged him out of there. She said, "I hope I didn't scare you off!"
He was frozen in shock. We stripped off all of our clothes at our front door and were super cautious about bedbugs. I reported her to the police and animal control and haven't looked into an update since then.
#12
He caught an STD from cheating on his girlfriend, and knowingly continued to have s*x without informing a new s****l partner. This was after the doctor told him to take antibiotics and abstain for just 2 - 3 weeks while the antibiotics did their magic. I called him disgusting and threatened to expose him publicly unless he came clean to his partner and get her treated, then cut ties immediately. .
Although it can be heartbreaking to find out that someone you trusted as your friend is actually not a good person, there can be ways to avoid having to experience this ever again. According to relationship experts, the next time you’re on the lookout for a pal, pick someone whose values align with yours.
This can help you get along well with them, and also bond you both together in a much deeper way. Another important thing to do is to really get to know your new friend well, so that you understand their interests, likes, dislikes, and personality better, which also might save you from any unwanted surprises later.
#13
My friend had this weird failure of a boyfriend. She tells me that they are heading to the UK for 6 months. I’m like “who’s gonna look after his cats?” He had two cats and they had a litter. She so nonchalantly said, “we’re going to lock up the two adults and his mom will feed them. But, we took the kittens to the park and drowned them.” I laugh nervously and I’m like, “you’re joking right?!!” She’s like, “no I’m not.” I lost it on her. I never spoke to her again and she told other friends she was confused as to why? She’s now a devout Catholic.
#14
They were absolutely obsessed with stalking someone they knew from high school. Like, coercive control, interstate stalking situation. Turns out, the stalking victim had a***e and mental health issues in childhood and this person built their identity around monitoring them for 20-ish years. They were CONVINCED this person would become a serial criminal, which they never did, but they were so invested in the narrative that they seemed chill because all their neuroticism was focused on that one person. I really hope the stalking victim is ok.
#15
Family member and friend has been married for two decades and NO ONE in my family including me has ever met or seen his wife.
The thing is, every single person has different facets to their personality, and it’s not really possible to know even your best friends 100%. That’s why it’s better to just accept and love people for who they are, and to end the friendship if they turn out to be too creepy, like many of the folks in these stories.
Have you ever had a nasty revelation about any pal of yours who you always thought was nice? Please do share your stories with us.
#16
One guy. Two things.
He was a friend-of-a-friend who showed up at the bigger events. He was a little too weasel-like for me to get really close to. But he always walked like the would is a puzzle he had solved in-vitro.
Brian had not been employed for over a year. He would wake up. Shower. Kiss his wife goodbye. Leave the apartment and wait for her to go to work before heading back home.
Still no idea how he financially pulled it off but it's likely his mom paid his way.
His beautiful wife found out, told everyone, divorced him and left him to do whatever it was he dropped out of the workforce to do.
So what did he do with his time off?
He amassed gigs and gigs of CP.
One of the arresting police officers knew someone in our group and it was described as a large collection of the really bad stuff. (Actually it was described in a bit more detail but this is enough of a description.)
He was arrested. Face and name all over the news. Forced out of town. Employed by a vending company to empty coins from vending machines and on a list for the rest of his life.
#17
My husband and I had a close friend we hung out with and even traveled with. One night, we were being intimate and heard a loud bang on the window. When my husband turned on the outside light, I saw a person run by the window. After my husband chased him and tackled him, it turned out the peeping tom was our friend of 5 years. He had been stalking us and many other people, collecting private photos from our phones over the years and filming all of us randomly on his phone. We filed a police report and notified all the victims, but he fled out of state, never to be seen again. We always described him as the sweetest person who would never hurt a fly and as a great friend.
To be clear, our house backed up to the woods, and our window curtains always stayed shut. However, one day, we both noticed our curtains were slightly opened. Both of us thought the other person opened them, and neither of us cared enough to close them. It was our friend who came into our room at some point and opened them so that he could eventually watch us.
Edit: I responded to someone directly and not sure how this works, so I’m copying and pasting here to answer all of your questions.
So the noise (we assume) was him getting too close to the window in some way, shape, or form. I remember the detective I filed the report with saying that “the sound” was common in these cases. So the sound happened, and I immediately rolled off (awkward tmi but details, details) and was very startled. It was around 9pm, so there was no reason for any window sound, like a bird, which is what my husband tried to chalk it off to be in the moment. In the meantime, our friend (let’s call him Tom) tried to hide against the house. I quickly convinced husband to check outside, so he simultaneously got up to put on pants and flicked on the light, which is when I saw the body swish past the window. The house we lived in at the time had an exterior door on the master room. So as soon as I yelled, “OMG I JUST SAW SOMEONE!” husband took off barefoot and chased him down through several yards before tackling him. Yes, Tom was slow. Yes, my husband is fast (for more context, he has been extremely athletic his entire life). Tom was also wearing sandals and was gentle and thin, like a stereotypical hippie. It was a really sad situation, because as I said, we thought he was a completely different type of person.
After he got tackled, Tom was in fetal position and wouldn’t make eye contact, apologizing and feeling guilty. Therefore, husband did not beat the s**t out of him. Instead, he wanted to make sure he didn’t do anything stupid to make the situation worse and encouraged him to go home safely. Also, we did not know it was a recurring situation or why he was there in the first place. Husband had compassion for his friend in a high intensity moment.
After talking to the neighbor down the street who Tom parked his car in front of, they confirmed that Tom’s car had been parking there for a few months. The neighbor thought it was another neighbor’s friend, naturally.
Another close friend (we will call him Jerry) was living with Tom at the time. After we contacted Jerry to ask if Tom was home (we wanted to confront him), Jerry said he was already worried, as he had been waiting on Tom to get home that same night so they could play video games. Tom never showed up until after Jerry went to bed. When Jerry woke up, he noticed Tom had taken a few of his most used items, but left his laptop open in his room (Tom had ADD and got side tracked easily, so it was not surprising he left important evidence by accident).
Jerry was extremely supportive and kind and let me come over and look at the laptop. This is where I found a file with footage that dated back pre-friendship (5+ years) where had been engaging in random voyeurism- filming videos on his cellphone of girls in bikinis on a Canoe trip, girls at the gym stretching, or other things where I did not recognize anyone. However, I started to see footage of me and my friends I had introduced him to on occasions where we rented a pontoon boat, or swimming in at an apartment pool. Then I found footage of his ex girlfriends where they did not seem to know they were being filmed. Then I found private pics that I had only sent to my husband. Then I found private pics of another married female.
Jerry always used a wallet phone case that had a flip cover, which allowed him to film inconspicuously. Asking to use any of our phones for any reason, mostly to add a song to the queue on Spotify, was not uncommon. We determined that he would use that time to air drop content to his phone. That’s when we realized there is no way to track air drop functions.
After the incident, Jerry was able to track Tom through Pokémon Go for a short while, until his location was back to his home state. Tom had moved to our state with his best friend (we will call him Woody to keep the character theme) before we all met. Woody talked with Tom’s parents, who asked him to never tell anyone. Woody never talked to them again. We were all sad. It felt like our friend was gone.
Every summer since then, I see someone randomly filming people whether it be on the river or at the lake. It is not illegal. He didn’t have any incriminating evidence against him. He was never in a private place, like a bathroom. He was not filming minors. He was trespassing, but then he fled the state. For that reason, a restraining order was advised against by the detective to avoid a “long, drawn-out, headache that could take a year to go through in court.”
I am grateful to have the whereabouts of voyeurism now, as well as being more guarded on who uses my phone. I am also, unfortunately, way more skeptical of overly nice people. Now I am less naive and more aware.
TLDR: Our master bedroom had an exterior door. I made husband investigate noise. He put on pants and flicked on the light. I saw human run past window. Husband chased and tackled.
LizzieBoredom 7 hours ago
This problem would be eliminated if people stopped naming their children Tom.
#18
Elementary school first time sleeping over at my friends the parents were going out leaving us with rented VHS movies & NES to play. Not unusual for parents in the 80s to do that.
I remember thinking the parents were spending an exceptional amount of time rummaging around making sure there wasn’t anything flammable or sharp. When I asked the Dad bluntly stated so my friend doesn’t burn the house down.
After the parents left my friend grabbed a baseball bat & said lets go out. I declined saying his parents told us to stay in. He got angry saying he just wanted to hit a baseball at the nearby school.
I said ok we walked over & he proceeded to smash every window around the school climbed inside smashed up classrooms. I booked it back to his house ended up calling my parents & went home.
#19
I made a great friend at work. We did everything together, went out drinking and dancing, beach all summer, BBQs with my kids and family. He used to talk about how he liked to make music, but was too embarrassed to share any of it with me.
One day I go online thinking maybe he's uploaded something I can listen to, let's Google him. Didn't find any music, but I sure did find that he used to be a middle school teacher and did 4 years in prison for downloading and sharing CP.
Now everyone I make friends with gets a thorough googling before we get close.
#20
Had a friend through elementary school. He was a calm, cool, and chill guy. I ended up moving after 5th grade ended. Around the end 2024 i found out, through my towns Facebook group, that bro was arrested for solicitation and more. I was so shocked and wondered what the heck happened to him since 5th grade.
Chrystina Sumpter 5 hours ago
Knew a guy in high school that played the cool guy—friendly with everyone, had a sports car, etc. Always gave me the creeps so I kept my distance. A friend of mine was studying with him and they decided to take a drive to clear the cobwebs. Our town had a train track running through it and they had just cleared the crossing when the lights started flashing, the bells started ringing and the crossbars came down. My friend said he changed completely, flipped around, hit the gas headed back towards the railroad track. Car was low enough that it fit underneath the barrier and he just zoomed through, narrowly missing being hit by the speeding train. She was in hysterics. My grandmother was friends with his parents and she intimated that he had done something awful and had gotten into trouble, but refused to give me details. Parents had shushed things up. Nothing would have surprised me—he always had my vote for guy most likely to become a serial killer.
#21
I made friends with a guy who had just transferred to my high-school. He was a really nice and decent guy.
After we had been friends for awhile he confessed he had been in jail for armed robbery. He was apparently a******d to d***s at one point and had robbed a liquor store. Did not see that coming.
I stayed friends with him and we never spoke of it again but inevitably drifted after high-school and I lost track of him. I hope he stayed on a good path.
#22
I work in sound production. I got asked by two bar/scene acquaintances to do location sound for a horror movie they wanted to make. They were looking for a free volunteer so I recommended someone and turned them down.
They basically had a whole crew of high school and college kids donating time for experience.
They ran out of money pretty quick, anyway. Then credit card debt.
Then one of the guys wife was M******D in a burglary gone wrong.
Now the two aspiring horror movie makers are serving life in prison because they faked the burglary to m****r her for insurance money to use to finish their film and got caught in no time.
#23
My friend has herpes and has unprotected s*x commonly without disclosing it. I'm honestly about to cut him off.
#25
A housemate told me when we were hanging out that he came across a passed out man in a suit in the city and stole his wallet and left him.
I was like "you didn't check if he was okay?"
And he said
"I mean, he was a f*****g suit, man!"
Dude tried to act as though he was this radical anarchist but was really just a s*****g.
#26
A friends adult son left to join the service. Returns to town a few years later. Hanging out, in our group. He thanked me for being nice to him with a comment that not many people are. He seemed like a nice guy. Turns out his time in the service was mostly in the fed pen for diddling a young boy. I avoid him now.
#27
He was dating a 14 year old and he was like 26. He told me about it, said her parents approved and everything and he really loved her, blah, blah, blah. It was the craziest s**t. I skedaddled after that. That was the last time I talked to him.
#28
Super fun dude to hang out with, life of the party type. And then he tried to k**l his wife and pulled a knife on her when the kids were in the other room. Stopped being the fun dude in my mind from that day forward.
#29
Not a friend per se, but a coworker who gave off the impression he was super chill and calm. Almost a hippy-esque vibe.
Anyway, long story short, he was found with lots of cp content on his computer and had been talking to a woman from overseas and had a depraved plan with her to bring her over here, get her pregnant and keep the child’s birth away from authorities so that they could a***e the child together. Really sickening and absolutely awful. It still shocks me that we worked together and even attended some of the same social events outside of work.
#30
A guy I worked with later had a mental breakdown and thought he was in some kind of GTA game where his mission was to save children from bad people. He decided some elderly local men were keeping the children so he beat 3 men in their 80s.
#31
My head of department was great fun and we'd go out drinking/clubbing at weekends.
Turns out he was a predator who would look after/keep an eye on the children of other company staff on the premise they could have a night off, go out, have fun, whatever.
Found out about that when I bumped into my old team in the pub one evening and a girl who worked there, after being introduced, said, "You're friends with [redacted], aren't you? He r***d me when I was fifteen."
Yeah...
#32
I found out that one of my friends d**d in prison. After we fell out, still messes with my head.
#33
She faked cancer for one, also a young girl was m******d by one of her male friends in her basement at a party, not only did she stay friends with this dude she blamed the little girl. Giant piece of s**t.
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