Lurkers

About Lurkers

Lurkers is a narrative true crime podcast about real cases that begin online and turn into real-world danger. We follow the digital trail behind catfishing, grooming, cyberstalking, sextortion, deepfakes, romance scams, and other forms of manipulation that cross from screens into everyday life. Hosted by Frank Battiston, each episode combines careful research, immersive sound design, and a focus on the people at the center of the story. We look at what happened, how investigators uncovered the truth, and what these cases can teach us about trust in the digital world. New episodes every two weeks. Stay Aware • Stay Present • Stay Safe. Follow LURKERS: Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast (https://www.instagram.com/thelurkers_podcast/) TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@thelurkerspodcast) YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@TheLurkersPodcast) Website: www.thelurkerspodcast.com (http://www.thelurkerspodcast.com/) Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Publisher

Frank Battiston • PowerTale Podcasts

Category

society & culture · technology · true crime

Language

en

Explicit

Yes

First episode

4 Nov 2025

Latest episode

22 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

32 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   22 Oct 2026

   29. Sweet Bobby, Part 2: She Loved Him. He Didn't Know Her.

   In 2018, Kirat Assi finally finds herself standing face-to-face with Bobby Jandu, the man she believes she's been in love with for years. But Bobby looks at her like she's a complete stranger. He says he's never spoken to her. Then Kirat's phone rings... the name on the screen? Bobby. This is Part Two of Sweet Bobby, one of the most extraordinary long-form catfishing cases ever uncovered. For years, Kirat believed she was building a future with Bobby. There were thousands of messages. Late-night Skype calls. Plans for marriage. And an entire network of family members and friends who seemed to confirm that everything was real. But there was one thing Kirat could never get. Bobby, in person. As the relationship begins taking over her life, Kirat starts demanding answers. Plans to meet keep falling apart. A hotel can't find Bobby's reservation. An address leads nowhere. And eventually, a private investigator gives her something she can finally verify... a real address in Brighton. What happens when Kirat reaches that front door changes everything she thought she knew about Bobby, their relationship, and the people she trusted. But discovering the truth is only the beginning. In this concluding episode, we follow the unraveling of the Sweet Bobby deception, the extraordinary web of online identities, and the search for accountability after years of emotional manipulation. Because when an entire world seems to confirm that someone is real, how do you recognize that something is wrong? And what happens when the truth finally catches up? If you're new to the story, start with Part One: The Man Everyone Seemed to Know. Content warning: Long-form catfishing, identity misuse, emotional manipulation, coercive control, harassment-related allegations, and psychological distress. Listener discretion advised. Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production. Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe. — Follow LURKERS: Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast (https://www.instagram.com/thelurkers_podcast/) TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@thelurkerspodcast) YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@TheLurkersPodcast) Website: www.thelurkerspodcast.com (http://www.thelurkerspodcast.com/) Production note: All narration, quoted messages, and dramatized readings are performed by the host or human voice actors. Some voices are altered through sound design and are not original recordings unless identified as such. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

2. 

   21 Oct 2026

   28. Sweet Bobby, Part 1: The Man Everyone Seemed to Know

   In 2011, Kirat Assi is on a dance floor in Brighton when she sees a man she recognizes immediately. His name is Bobby Jandu. She's seen his face on Facebook for months. They've been messaging. They have a connection. They come from overlapping circles. So Kirat walks toward him, says his name, and introduces herself. But Bobby looks confused. “Who?” It feels strange. But not strange enough to become a warning. This is Part One of Sweet Bobby, a true-crime story about long-form catfishing and how an online relationship can feel real when an entire world seems to confirm it. Bobby didn't appear as a random stranger in Kirat's life. He came with mutual connections, community ties, family names, medical updates, Facebook profiles, relatives, and friends. And whenever something about his story seemed impossible, there was usually someone else who could explain it. Over time, their friendship became something more. There were late-night calls. Plans for marriage. A future Kirat believed they were building together. But there was one thing missing... Bobby himself. For years, every time reality left a gap, Bobby's world seemed to find a way to fill it. And eventually, Kirat received something she could actually hold in her hands. Something that made the relationship feel more real than ever. But how long can you believe in someone you've never truly been able to reach? Content warning: Long-form catfishing, emotional manipulation, coercive control, medical deception, and psychological distress. Listener discretion advised. Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production. Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe. — Follow LURKERS: Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast (https://www.instagram.com/thelurkers_podcast/) TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@thelurkerspodcast) YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@TheLurkersPodcast) Website: www.thelurkerspodcast.com (http://www.thelurkerspodcast.com/) Production note: All narration, quoted messages, and dramatized readings are performed by the host or human voice actors. Some voices are altered through sound design and are not original recordings unless identified as such. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

3. 

   7 Oct 2026

   27. Alexander McCartney: The Girl Who Didn’t Exist

   Police enter a house in Newry, Northern Ireland, early in the morning. Upstairs, a twenty-one-year-old man is asleep. Beside him is a smartphone. The Snapchat camera is still open. Investigators can see the last victim interaction happened only about two and a half hours earlier. Another girl. Another conversation. Another screen McCartney had not let go of. This episode follows the case of Alexander McCartney, a man who created fake profiles posing as teenage girls and used those identities to target young victims across countries. What looked, from the other side, like another girl around the same age became a trap: a friendly message, a photo, a threat, and then control. The investigation begins with reports from Scotland and New Zealand, moves through NCMEC and U.S. investigators, and eventually reveals a scale that is almost impossible to process: victims across the world, hundreds of thousands of images, and a case that forced prosecutors to ask a difficult legal question. Can someone behind a screen be held criminally responsible for a death, even if he and the victim never met? This is not only a story about sextortion. It is about speed. How fast harm can move through a phone, how slowly systems can respond, and why bringing someone else into the conversation can be the first moment control starts to break. Content warning: sextortion involving minors, child sexual exploitation, online coercion, self-harm, suicide, and death. Listener discretion advised. Hosted by Frank Battiston. Produced by Daniel Urdanivia. A PowerTale Podcasts production. Stay Aware · Stay Present · Stay Safe. — Follow LURKERS: Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast Website: powertaleproductions.com — Follow LURKERS: Instagram: @thelurkers_podcast (https://www.instagram.com/thelurkers_podcast/) TikTok: @thelurkerspodcast (https://www.tiktok.com/@thelurkerspodcast) YouTube: @TheLurkersPodcast (https://www.youtube.com/@TheLurkersPodcast) Website: www.thelurkerspodcast.com (http://www.thelurkerspodcast.com/) Production note: All narration, quoted messages, and dramatized readings are performed by the host or human voice actors. Some voices are altered through sound design and are not original recordings unless identified as such. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy (https://acast.com/privacy) for more information.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

5 ratings

Spotify

4.5 / 5

8 ratings

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