Local musician Charlie Lim took to Instagram stories on Aug. 12 to share about how his friend trolled would-be scammers who used his photo as their display picture.

Lim initially started with a PSA to his followers, informing them that an Instagram account with the handle @charl_ielim was not run by him.

Lim also advised his followers to never share private information with unknown persons online, commenting that his impersonator came across as "a creep".

The message shown in the screenshot that Lim shared addressed the recipient generically as "prettyface" and said, "I know this is like a dream to you", in an attempt to make it sound like a celebrity reaching out to a random fan out of the blue.

Meanwhile, the display picture appeared to be a photo of Lim, and the WhatsApp display picture of the Malaysian number provided by the scammer is the cover of Issue 158 of August Man magazine, featuring Lim:

One of Lim's friends, who goes by @agnusang on Instagram, apparently decided to troll the scammer by actually texting them.

Not before saving the scammer's number as "Not Charlie Lim".

The series of Instagram Stories showed highlights of the ensuing conversation:

@agnusang and the scammer appeared to be discussing outlandish business ideas, including one inspired by what she called "the greatest cinematic film of all time", Jurassic Park.

In spite of the fact that she says she is "barely a hundredaire", the scammer persisted, adding her into a WhatsApp group titled "PROJECT FUND" with at least two other individuals, who have the following WhatsApp display pictures:

A reverse image search on one of the display pictures suggests that the photo in use is in fact a somewhat dated shot of Iranian actor Rambod Javan:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxu9WaiA_gh/

In the WhatsApp group, it appeared that @agnusang, too, had taken on a persona as "Miss Naomi".

The conversation in the group chat took an unexpected turn, however, when "Not Charlie Lim" casually addressed "Miss Naomi" as his wife:

Interrupting another participant in the chat, "Naomi" ripped into the Charlie Lim impersonator, demanding to know why she was addressed as his wife when there was no proposal.

She seemed to be placated by a message clarifying that "she is not my wife, just a friend", and the conversation continued on to specifics of a business plan which had been discussed.

When "Naomi" demanded specifics, saying that there will be a "need to find people to extract the DNAs from fossils", the scammers responded with equal specificity, stipulating a cost of $23,450,000.

Lim commented that the conversation had been going on for three days, calling it "a commendable scam".

Lim continued sharing screenshots of the conversation from the chat, with occasional comments on specific messages from the scammer, such as citing the line "if the money is ready. Everything will be ready" as "life quotes".

While it is still unclear what the scammers are trying to obtain by this point, "Naomi" upped the stakes by making a demand for "one condition" – that Charlie has to sing the theme song for Jurassic Park.

This elicited an enthusiastic response from Lim's impersonator, although his conviction began to break down when "Naomi" asked for a voice recording as proof of his sincerity.

Lim then showed how his impersonator brought the conversation back to private chat, seeking to clarify "Naomi"'s demands and asking her what she meant.

He also offered excuses as to why he was unable to accede to her request of a voice message, claiming that he "can't just sing without my manager and my project workers", though this was quickly disputed.

The scammer's Instagram account has since been deleted, though the WhatsApp accounts used by him and the other participants of the group chat, are still accessible.

Meanwhile, Lim said that the story is "to be continued".

More from Charlie Lim:

Top image via AUGUST Man magazine and @wherewascharlie on Instagram