After a woman shared the unsettling text messages she received from a man she only briefly met on a train, people on the internet are warning her to stay away—and finding similarities to Penn Badgley’s creep of a character in Netflix’s You.
The woman, 20-year-old Lynda from Bromsgrove, England, told BuzzFeed News she recently had a short chat “about weather and stuff” with a stranger on a train. She didn’t give the man her number or social media handles, so she was surprised when he texted her on Sunday.
“Yo it’s me … from the train the other day,” the texts read, “Got ur number from one of ur friends hope u don’t mind.”
Lynda asked how he got her number, to which he responded: “I searched u on insta and you follow some people I know so I asked about u.”
The man wouldn’t say who shared her number, and things got even weirder. Despite Lynda’s obvious apprehension, he insisted he would take her on a date.
“I’m really not flattered by this,” she wrote to him. “It’s weird and invasive. And there is no way you can decide for me that I’m going out with you.”
So I briefly spoke to someone on the train last week, we didn’t even exchange socials or anything and today he messaged me😭
— Indlovukazi (@Lyndahx) January 13, 2019
Am I overreacting by being creeped out because what on earth 🙆🏾♀️ pic.twitter.com/SCVdZjHsg1
Lynda ended up blocking the man and tweeting screenshots of their conversation, asking followers if she was “overreacting by being creeped out.” But as her tweet went viral, people had an emphatic answer: No, she wasn’t overreacting. That dude was creepy AF.
https://twitter.com/psptiwi/status/1085194159047139329
https://twitter.com/unicorn_o_s/status/1084779061430415361
People compared Lynda’s experience to that of the woman in You who’s unknowingly stalked by abusive murderer Joe Goldstein (Penn Badgley).
Make sure your curtains are closed sis! And have your security on lock 🤣
— Safiyah 🧚🏽♀️ Gulabi Gang (@safiyahtasneem) January 14, 2019
I have a feeling he didn’t get the number from a friend… pic.twitter.com/oCC6RwpG5x
https://twitter.com/LP_Casso/status/1084777941551202304
It’s an unfortunate reminder that even though Joe Goldstein is fictional, threats of stalking and harassment against women are very real.
READ MORE:
- ‘You’ is a disturbing show about a psychopath in the digital age
- 15 facts you should probably know about revenge porn
- A plain and simple guide to understanding consent
H/T BuzzFeed News
