A viral TikTok about a lost wallet belonging to a 'Jake Joseph' led to memes and an army of people impersonating him — until it was finally reunited with him
Jake DeMarco
- A TikToker made a public service announcement about a wallet he found in New Jersey.
- The video went viral as dozens of people changed their accounts to impersonate the wallet's owner.
- The real owner, Jake DeMarco, told Insider he woke up to a barrage of texts from friends who notified him about the TikTok.
On Friday night, the TikToker @antonio_marchiano made a video announcing he'd found a stranger's wallet in Ocean City, New Jersey. "We were just walking on the street," @antonio_marchiano said in the short clip. He opened the wallet on camera and flashed a picture of a man in graduation attire.
"Jake Joseph, buddy, if you want your wallet back, we're gonna put it in this bush over here," the TikToker said. He said they were standing across from a hotel called Ocean Manor as he stuffed it in a shrub.
In just three days, the video has been viewed over 20 million times. It has spawned an entire movement and meme where people are impersonating the wallet's owner, "Jake Joseph," by changing their account names and profile photos. Some are even pretending to be "Jake Joseph's dog," mother, little brother, car, and in the most absurd instance, the wallet itself.
As a result of the video going mega-viral, the real Jake Joseph — whose full name is Jake DeMarco — has been reunited with his wallet. And he appreciates the internet's relentless sense of humor.
DeMarco, whose middle name is Joseph, told Insider that he knew he lost his wallet on Friday night. After mini-golfing and going to Cinnabon, the 16-year-old realized the wallet wasn't in his pocket when he got home. He and his friends retraced their footsteps and searched for 30 minutes but couldn't find it.
"I was really stressed because I've had that wallet for a really long time; my granddad gave it to me," DeMarco said. He explained that the photo of the person graduating in the wallet wasn't actually him either — it was a friend who graduated a few years ago. While the wallet didn't have much cash, it contained valuable photos, his debit card, and Wawa coupons.
He was alerted to the viral TikTok video the next morning when he received a slew of texts from friends who had seen the viral TikTok. Luckily, he was near the area and shrub where @antonio_marchiano had left his wallet for him.
DeMarco and the TikToker filmed a FaceTime video shortly after the wallet was recovered, which gained hundreds of thousands of views. The comments were packed with the same impostor Jake Josephs now claiming that the real Jake DeMarco was also a clone.
"That's not him," wrote a user who claimed to be DeMarco's twin brother. "I know my twin brother when I see him."
DeMarco said he found the hoaxes and memes "very amusing."
"It was pretty funny because seeing those comments I just knew, like, it's not me, because my [full] name isn't even Jake Joseph," he said. "Immediately, I was, like, all these accounts obviously are fake."
Some of the fraudsters have gone so far as to make detailed edits of the man in the graduation photo and use it as their profile thumbnail. One user edited a dog's face onto the blue gown, while another person added a thick white beard and said they were DeMarco's grandfather.
People even pretended to be the money inside Jake's wallet, Ocean Manor, and the shrub across the street. "It's true Jake, I'm the bush," a user named "The Bush Outside Ocean Manor" wrote in a comment with dozens of likes on the same clip. "Please come get your wallet, it's uncomfortable…"
"We are all worried about Jake's wallet but THERE IS A 25% OFF WHEN GETTING A ROOM FOR THE FIRST TIME, COME NOW TO OCEAN MANOR!" an account named "Ocean Manor" with 0 followers joked underneath @antonio_marchiano's video.
Even after DeMarco posted a TikTok himself clarifying that his name is not Jake Joseph, several fake Jake Joseph accounts stormed the comment section to claim he was lying.
An account called "Jake Joseh's Wallet" wrote, "Bro don't lose me again."
Ultimately, DeMarco was overjoyed to be reunited with his wallet and is very grateful for the internet, despite all of the trolling.
"He was a nice guy, I was really thankful for him," DeMarco said of @antonio_marchiano who thought to turn to TikTok to find him. "Not only did I find my wallet, it was a really cool way to find it."