Previously: Okiku’s Well.
Type: EV (Electronic Virus).
Period/location of origin: 2017, the Philippines.
Appearance: Subject appears to be a Facebook user operating under the name “Lucia Joaquin.” Subject’s profile is essentially empty; few, if any, posts have been published to the profile’s timeline, giving it the appearance of a brand-new account. Additionally, the exposure of the profile photo is too dark to discern any details about subject.
Subject is fluent in Filipino/Tagalog, although it is unclear if this is subject’s native language. It is also not known whether subject is fluent in any other languages.
Subject may operate via both mobile and the web.
[Like what you read? Consider supporting The Ghost In My Machine on Patreon!]
Modus operandi: Subject lies in wait until a potential target is detected. Potential targets must satisfy the following conditions:
- They are alone;
- They are awake late at night;
- They have access to a computer or mobile device;
- And they have an active Facebook account.
Once a potential target meeting these conditions has been located, subject will make contact via Facebook’s Messenger function. Target will receive a private message from subject, which, if opened, will commence a conversation. Subject will ask target if it is “okay for us to talk,” stating that she is “feeling lonely” and just wants to chat with someone. Should target agree, subject will begin to flatter target, informing them that she finds their photos attractive.
Once the conversation has progressed far enough, subject will ask target if she may add them to her “Close Friends” list. (The “Close Friends” function allows Facebook users to prioritize designated relationships, including limiting the visibility of some posts only to those on the “Close Friends” list and sending and receiving special notifications for “Close Friends’” activity.) Should target agree, subject will then note that because they are now “Close Friends,” they should take a picture together.
If target agrees to take a picture, believing subject to mean that they should do so at an unspecified point in the future, one of several things may happen:
- If target is accessing Facebook via mobile and has a second mobile device nearby, the second phone may vibrate or ring, as if indicating target is receiving a call, text, or email.
- If target is accessing Facebook via mobile and does not have a second mobile device nearby, the camera on target’s existing mobile device may suddenly ask for permission to access Facebook.
- If target is accessing Facebook via web and has a mobile device nearby, the mobile device may vibrate or ring, as if indicating target is receiving a call, text, or email.
- If target is access Facebook via web and does not have a mobile device nearby, target’s webcam may suddenly ask for permission to activate.
Should target answer their ringing mobile device, they will find no call, text or email has arrived; however, upon unlocking their device, target will experience what appears to be the device’s camera flash going off without warning. Should target grant their mobile device’s camera permission to access Facebook, target will experience what appears to be the device’s camera flash going off without warning. Should target grant their webcam permission to activate, the light indicating the webcam’s status will turn on.
Subject will continue to manipulate the conversation such that target is prompted to ask her to upload a new photo of herself so they can see her better. Subject will at this point consent to do so.
Should target then view the newly-uploaded image, they will see a photograph of themselves in their current surroundings.
Subject will be visible in the background.
It is unknown what befalls targets following the reception of this photograph.
Containment: Containment of subject is entirely dependent on target’s actions. Should target open subject’s private message, engage in conversation, agree to become “Close Friends,” answer their mobile device or otherwise grant a camera permission to activate, and/or ask subject to upload a new photo, then subject will succeed in ensnaring target. However, should target choose not to engage, subject will remain neutralized.
Additional notes: Reports of the first known encounter with subject appeared in a number of places on the internet seemingly simultaneously on April 17, 2017: Several Facebook posts and a YouTube video all posted on the same day tell the exact same story.
In this story, a 25-year-old Filipino man named Enzo Cruz awoke at three o’clock in the morning, and, after finding himself unable to fall back asleep, began browsing Facebook on his phone. He then received a private message from subject via the Messenger app and proceeded to converse with her.
After making her a “Close Friend” and agreeing to take a picture with her at an in-person meetup in the future, Cruz’s second mobile device rang; however, when he unlocked it, all he saw was his camera’s flash going off. He did not appear to have received any calls, texts, or emails.
The conversation continued, eventually turning to Cruz’s and subject’s ages. After flattering Cruz by telling him he looked younger than his 25 years, subject asked Cruz how old he thought she was. He responded that her profile photo was too dark for him to hazard a guess and asked her to upload a new one. When he viewed the photograph she uploaded, he saw an image of himself in his bed, with subject lurking in the dark behind him.
Although the reports that appeared on Facebook were written from the first-person perspective, with Enzo Cruz as the narrator, the post does not appear to have been published by Cruz himself; it has appeared only on third-party profiles. As such, it is not known what may have happened to Cruz following his viewing of the photograph.
It is possible that subject may be responsible for target’s waking. Cruz’s account includes the following exchange:
LUCIA JOAQUIN: Why are you awake?
ENZO CRUZ: Actually, I just woke up. I’m trying to get back to sleep, so I just ended up on Facebook.
LUCIA JOAQUIN: Maybe the reason why you woke up because someone else woke you up?
ENZO CRUZ: Huh? What do you mean?
LUCIA JOAQUIN: Oh, nothing.
This exchange implies that subject may have purposefully woken target up in order to ensnare him on Facebook. However, this has not been confirmed and remains only a theory at this time.
It has been suggested that a 2007 short film by Chilean filmmakers Joaquin Cocina, Cristobal Leon, and Niles Atallah may be connected to subject. However, this has not been confirmed and remains only a theory at this time.
It has been suggested that the death of a woman named Luciana San Pedro in 2013 may be connected to subject. However, this has not been confirmed and remains only a theory at this time.
It has been suggested that subject’s story was written by two people named Roel Arhanes and Reylie Cieno. However, this has not been confirmed and remains only a theory at this time.
It is also possible that Cruz himself does not exist.
It is possible that subject is not the entity known as Lucia Joaquin, but rather the story about Lucia Joaquin.
It is possible that simply sharing the story is enough to trap targets.
Recommendation: Do not engage.
Don’t answer your phone.
Don’t turn on your webcam.
And do not, under any circumstances, accept messages or friend requests from people you don’t know.
Resources:
Lucia Joaquin’s Creepy Story On Facebook.
The Story Of Lucia Joaquin – English Translation.
Lucia Joaquin’s Story On Facebook.
Lucia Joaquin’s Story On YouTube.
Lucia Joaquin Profile On Facebook.
The Possible Origin Of Lucia Joaquin’s Creepy Story.
A Possible Explanation Of Lucia Joaquin’s Origin.
***
Support The Ghost In My Machine on Patreon for behind-the-scenes access and bonus content. You can also follow on Twitter @GhostMachine13 and on Facebook @TheGhostInMyMachine.
[Photo via Digitalpfade/Pixabay, remixed by Lucia Peters]
Hey, great story as always, but just a small correction: The Filipino language is Tagalog, not Flipino (unless I’m missing something). Good stuff, keep it up!
That was what I originally thought, too, but while I was researching, I found out that Tagalog is actually the older version of the language; the national language these days is Filipino, which is *based* on Tagalog. Additionally, all of the translations programs I ran the original version of the story’s text through detected the language as Filipino, rather than Tagalog (which was notably also an option in all those programs).
I might still be wrong, as I can’t tell the difference between Filipino and Tagalog on sight (readers in the Philippines, help me out if you can!) — but that’s what I was able to dig up. Researching this one ended up being a lesson in the modern state of language and linguistics in the Philippines for me!
Tagalog is one of the languages (though referred to as a dialect, my Linguistics professor told me it and Bisaya/Cebuano are not actually dialects, but languages all on their own) of the Philippines, and is the one people usually think about when they think of the Filipino language. Tagalog used to be our national language declared by then-president Quezon, but it was changed to “Filipino” because it was alienating to those outside of the Tagalog ethnolinguistic group. Personally, I can’t tell any difference between Tagalog and what is declared “Filipino.” Apparently the difference is like how Castilian is what people think of when they think of the Spanish language. Mind you, I don’t speak Bisaya or any other language/dialect, so I can’t say for sure that it doesn’t have any features of other languages/dialects of the Philippines. Though, if you want to be specific, you can say that “Lucia Joaquin” is speaking in Tagalog.
Ah, thank you! That’s super helpful. Appreciate it!
Lucia you have outdone yourself with this one! This story left me with chills ahh. Great job as usual!
Thank you! So glad you enjoyed it!
This is terrifying by the fact that I’m a Filipino and in the Philippines. But I’m surprised to not hear about this urban legend in the Philippines.
So, I have been searching for a LONG time for a good horror site and I found this site. It’s the most AMAZING I’ve seen. BTW, I searched up Lucia Joaquin on Google and … It wasn’t pretty.
Thank you! So glad you’re enjoying the site!
Phew, at least I never browse Facebook. I’ve gained some chain mail of that guy from my friends.