Have you ever been a victim of a scam or set up?

[Maricel Evasco]

This question hits a painful nerve for me right now. One of the  main reasons I left MA was the tensions there were getting to me during a time I was feeling raw and low after discovering that my intuition was right since the onset about a particular guy I encountered on  an online dating site. Serves me right not for listening to other people's advice particularly Lunarian Soul.  1 1/2 month of daily email exchanges, lovely ones too even though false. Good scammers know how to reach ones vulnerabilities and he was good, but not good enough for me not to catch discrepancies early on, ones that I ignored simply because I wanted this relationship to work...formulaic poems, no access to cell phones while on the job, and saccharin-ly religious, request for monetary assistance (that's when I knew for sure).

 

Please look through this site and do yourselves and friends a favor by bringing out an awareness of protecting yourselves against online and real life scammers.  I used this site to call him on his game. he never responded after that email was sent.

http://www.datepad.com/safety/scams/

 

 

[Quinn]

Maricel, I'm so sorry this happened. To you, of all people. You are so kind and gracious and generous.

Bastard...who is he? I'll hunt him down for you :-))

 

I am a rather trusting person.

Except for the internet...I guard my privacy extremely close. I'm not sure why, nothing has ever happened to me or my friends. I guess maybe I've heard too many bad stories and it leaves me leery so I always proceed with caution. 

[Maricel Evasco]

hehehehehehe Quinn....serves him right if some one cast a voodoo spell on him to make his phishy fall off. I'm not that vindictive yet.  I haven't had anything bad happen to me in 15 yrs of Internet foraying until now.

 

I think it was a necessary learning experience. I'm trying not to sour myself to the online social dating networks so I am FORCing myself to interact with guys....sorta like if one falls off a horse, the best way to deal with the learning experience is to get up on another one.

[Wendel]

I'm sorry, Maricel.   I've been scammed by a few people online and it has made me a bit suspicious of others.

[thallygal]

It is disappointing to say the least, am so sorry that this happened to you sweet Maricel....yet I always say to engage in open heart is to take a risk of being hurt, and unless we take that risk...we may miss a great opportunity n'est pas?

and as the aborigines say " Break, break, break my heart, that I might learn to love again."

We will keep trying huh???

have a fantastic Easter filled with love and laughter

[Boothby171]

I was scammed once, and so learned--since then, I was able to warn one friend successfully to avoid one of those "internet lover" scams, and tried, unsuccessfully, to warn another friend (well, I warned him successfully...but he failed to heed my warning)