When Emily Shepherd embarked on a train from Bournemouth to Manchester, she probably did not know that she would become privy to one man's cheating scheme, let alone a Twitter sensation.
Whilst on her journey, Shepherd overheard a man, named Ben, boasting about cheating on his partner to his friends.
Acting on a sense of comradery, Shepherd took to social media to warn Ben's girlfriend about her boyfriend's conquests.
"If anyone has a boyfriend called Ben on the Bournemouth — Manchester train right now, he's just told his friends he's cheating on you. Dump his ass," Shepherd posted in a tweet.
Joining the "Ben hunt," BBC Two's Dragon's Den judge Deborah Meaden tweeted: "Dear cheating Ben… can you please make yourself known before all the non cheating Bens find out where you live."
However, it seems that the Twitter community's attempts to find the cheating individual have not succeeded.
"For everyone asking: Ben is yet to be found, I've had several messages but nothing yet. I'm now on the Manchester — Bournemouth train and no sign yet… thanks to everyone calling me a grass and a snake, you're all great X," Shepherd posted two days later.
They did, however, spark a massive conversation on the social network about cheating partners, privacy and gender equality.
Woman overhears man on train discussing cheating on girlfriend
— Andrew Hankinson (@AndrewHankinson) 4 декабря 2017 г.
She asks social media to help her tell girlfriend
People celebrate
So we're encouraged to judge strangers' morality and choose punishment
Will end up applied to abortion, sexuality etchttps://t.co/rJEb0altZO
I don't condone cheating but a twitter account doesn't make you all judge jury and executioner! I'm not going to call her a grass or a snake, but as a complete stranger to this Ben and his girlfriend, she should mind her own business and so should we.
— NmcG1981 (@NmcG1981) 4 декабря 2017 г.
Come on cheating ben! You're giving non cheating bens a bad name. I also bet the music wasn't anything from Beethoven…
— ben slingsby (@murseben) 4 декабря 2017 г.
Cheating ben isn't anything I got Prince Harry in my Instagram dm confessing his love for me pic.twitter.com/jrpl1GJ4tN
— Ashley Dawn (@FanAjBurman) 4 декабря 2017 г.
— Jordan (@J90Pry) 4 декабря 2017 г.
I've jumped on the 'cheating Ben' bandwagon. Who are you, cheating Ben? https://t.co/tuXbNTV1du
— Charlotte Tobitt (@CharlotteTobitt) 4 декабря 2017 г.
https://t.co/EVsQFBm2gv
— TeamSharb (@TeamSharb) 4 декабря 2017 г.
Imagine if it was a woman cheating and a group of internet men tried to out her. They would be accused of #slutshaming and probaby arrested for stalking #cheatingben #hypocrisy #EverydaySexism
