It’s hard for a geek like me to imagine ever falling for a man online and sending him a rather large chunk of money without ever meeting him in person. But it’s happening — and obviously it’s happening quite often.
Susan, a Charlotte woman who went looking for love online, reads a man’s profile who she became involved with. She thought he was the love of her life.
“He was a widow. He had a daughter. He seemed like he really loved his daughter a lot and that really fascinated me,” she said describing the man she met.
But the man had the same picture all over the internet, with several different names. She instant messaged him seven days a week, two hours a day. They talked about everything.
“My Mom, my work, the people I work with, just everyday conversations. We just really built up a trust.,” she said. Within two weeks, he asked for $1,200. He told Susan he’d been robbed and his passport and wallet had been stolen.
Soon, he asked for more. Susan wired him the money every time, believing she was helping someone in need. Helping someone she had fallen in love with.
On my local news, several states away, another woman was interviewed who had sent the man she’d fallen for over $10,000.
It’s not just women who are falling victim to these scams, it’s happening to men too.
Anytime a person you are corresponding with online asks for money from you, that should send up HUGE red flags. You should delete every email from that person, block their email address and force the image out of your mind that you’d fallen in love with.
There are several informational tools listed via The Office of Fair Trading, I strongly urge anyone and everyone to read them, learn them and live them.
source
yep it’s there, and there’s nothing we can do about it. women always use man for money, and thus man use women and vice versa the cycle goes.