Siblings are supposed to look out for each other. Usually that means covering for them when they sneak in past curfew or lending them twenty bucks. But one older sibling on Reddit decided that “looking out” for their sister meant constructing an elaborate, terrifying, and publicly humiliating trap involving a fake Tinder profile and a surprise appearance by their dad. It is a lesson in internet safety that went from “concerned sibling” to “psychological warfare” real quick.
Our narrator starts off by snooping, which is standard sibling behavior. They borrowed their 17-year-old sister Ashley’s phone to make a call and spotted a Tinder notification. When confronted, Ashley snatched the phone back and said it was none of their business. Now, a normal concerned sibling might tell their parents right then and there. But our narrator? They decided to play a game.
Instead of having a boring conversation about the dangers of online dating, the narrator recruited a male model friend named Kevin to lend his photos for a fake profile. They set the age filter to 22, swiped right on the sister (who was lying on her profile and claiming to be 19), and waited. Sure enough, she matched.
Things escalated quickly. The narrator, posing as “Jim,” asked Ashley out to a fancy restaurant downtown. Then, to test her judgment further, “Jim” suggested they head back to his place afterward. Ashley agreed to everything. She told her parents she was staying at a friend’s house for a track meet sleepover, put on her best outfit, and headed out to meet her dream guy. Little did she know, her “dream guy” was actually her older sibling sitting at home with the receipts.
Once Ashley left the house, the narrator dropped the nuclear bomb. They told the parents everything. They showed them the Tinder messages, the lie about her age, and her willingness to go to a stranger’s apartment. The parents were, predictably, furious. But instead of calling her and demanding she come home, the dad and the narrator decided to crash the date.
They drove to the restaurant and walked in to find Ashley sitting alone at a table, all dolled up and waiting for “Jim.” The dad walked right up to her and delivered a line straight out of a mob movie: “Jim’s not coming.”
I can physically feel the second-hand embarrassment from here. Ashley screamed, confused and terrified. The narrator then stepped in to reveal the hoax, telling her there was no Jim and calling her “f*cking stupid” for trying to meet grown men on the internet. The dad joined the pile-on, lecturing her loudly about lying and safety while the rest of the restaurant watched the drama unfold over their appetizers.
It ended exactly how you would expect. Ashley burst into tears and ran out of the restaurant, humiliated in front of strangers and her family. The narrator thinks the whole thing is “hysterical” and believes she needed to be taught a lesson.
But let’s look at the scorecard here. Did she need a lesson on internet safety? Absolutely. 17-year-olds meeting 22-year-old men at private residences is a recipe for disaster. But was this the way to do it? The narrator didn’t just teach her to fear strangers; they taught her that her own family will conspire to publicly shame her for their own amusement.
Some of the narrator’s friends called them “cruel” and a “d*ck,” and honestly, they have a point. There is a difference between protecting your sister and setting her up for a traumatic event just so you can say “I told you so.” She definitely won’t be using Tinder anytime soon, but she probably won’t be trusting her sibling anytime soon either.
So, AITA? It is a tough one. You saved her from potential danger, but you did it by becoming the danger. You caught her, but you also crushed her. Hopefully, she learns the safety lesson, but the trust in this family might be the real casualty of the evening.
Teen girls always want people to think they are older, and often get in over their heads and get taken advantage of.