YOU THINK YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCAM...

YOU THINK YOU ARE IN THE MIDDLE OF A SCAM...

You are talking to someone you met online.

You have been talking to them for 1 month / 6 months / years ! It doesn’t matter, scams last for as long as you are useful to the scammer.

Things have been going well ! He is so loving, so kind, he can’t possibly be not real.. and yet !

Doubts have started to come in.

I want you to stand back and imagine you were talking to a friend who is telling you about this man she has met online. Or this girl, if you are a man.

Because the stories they tell are often nothing you would hear in real life. Some of the ones we come across are :

*He was on patrol in the war and he lost his gun. He would get into trouble but if he paid the Commander money he’d be ok. ! * He was on patrol and they found a lot of ISIS gold and money and they were going to share it out between them, but it had to be shipped away ! * He is a ship’s captain and there are pirates on the ‘high seas’ !! Because pirates will force you to hand over your bank details (do they?) he needs to get his money out to you, so can you give him your bank account, or open a new one for him. * He was on the way to the airport and they were hijacked and shots were fired and the driver was killed and he was shot. * He has sent his child to a boarding school in Africa and the teacher needs money for equipment, water, food and can you pay. * He is deployed and the Army does not let them have access to their bank account, or pay them whilst they are away, and he needs iTunes or gift cards. (!!!!! the most unlikely story). * He is deployed and the food is so bad in the camp all they have to eat is what they can forage in the surroundings (in Afghanistan???? ) * He can’t pay his hotel bill and the hotel manager is holding him in the hotel until it is paid. * He can’t pay his taxes to the government where he is working as they have not paid him yet. He is being held and can’t leave until they are paid. * He was caught with drugs on him and even though they had been planted he is in prison and needs some thousands to get out ! * He was caught with large amounts of gold and he is in a cell at the airport until he pays them. * His drill does not work on the oil rig. Big accident, he is hurt but they can’t drill for oil any more until a new part is ordered and delivered.There is no oil being drilled on the whole rig and yet he still has to pay his men. He has to pay for guards to watch the other equipment or it will be stolen or damaged, these men are so angry at not being paid. * He is on the oil rig but he can’t get off because he can’t afford to pay the helicopter ! * He is so frightened in the hell that is a war zone he wants to pay to leave it. ~~ * She used to be a Porn queen but now wants to get out of it and be looked after. * She went to Ghana to work but now wants to come back to the U.S. * She went to Ghana to work but now she wants to come to your country. * She went to Ghana to work but can’t afford the hotel bill and is being held there until she can pay. * She is arrested at the airport for wrong documents. * She is arrested at the airport for carrying high value items.

AS YOU READ THIS LIST OF TRUE STORIES TOLD TO VICTIMS BY SCAMMERS YOUR MIND IS SAYING.. how can anyone believe stories so far-fetched they could never be true.

~~~ Maybe you are much older than your online lover. ‘Age is just a number’ is their favourite phrase. Is it though??You are maybe 70 and he is 35 !! Imagine your 60+ friend telling you she has a boyfriend / girlfriend 30+ years younger. Now.. when does that happen in real life?? How many of your friends do you know where the man is 30 and she is 60?? In your dreams but not in your life.. and yes, I do know men and women marry younger people. I am asking about a military body builder or a millionaire engineer ! NEVER HAPPENS AND I’M SORRY.... BUT IT ISN’T REAL.!

You have never met this person and yet over time you have sent iPhones.. cards, and cash. Often a constant stream of cash. Always needing more and always promising it back.

Now they want some more. The loan you took out needs to be repaid and yet they now want a credit card ???

Stand back and think of the advice you would give to someone else. Your sensible head listening to a friend going through this. Or you are watching TV and seeing these stories on Dr Phil or Catfished. Your head would be saying...’that would never happen to me ! ‘. How on earth can anyone believe that. YET YOU ARE.

*NO REAL PERSON, MALE OR FEMALE HAS A SUCCESSION OF ACCIDENTS OR DISASTERS THAT NEEDS MONEY. IF THEY DO, THE EMBASSIES OF THEIR COUNTRIES ARE THERE TO HELP. *IN FACT NO REAL PERSON WOULD ASK FOR MONEY OR ANYTHING ELSE. *NO REAL PERSON LOVES YOU IN DOUBLE QUICK TIME AND SENDS LONG LOVE POEMS AS LOVING AS IF THEY HAVE LIVED WITH YOU FOR YEARS (Really,how many people send long love poems to anyone ! Even when they have known them years ! ). * EVERYTHING YOU ARE TOLD CAN BE CHECKED SOMEWHERE. WITH THE MILITARY, WITH AN OIL COMPANY, WITH AN EMBASSY ! yet you haven’t checked because he/she is constantly on at you to ‘help’. Even from a jail cell or surrounded by pirates on the sea !

STAND BACK AND CLEAR YOUR MIND. THINK HONESTLY. YOU’VE BEEN LONELY, YOU WANTED ATTENTION. How much have you had.. or how much have you given?. ALL THESE TEXTS AND MESSAGES.. has the loneliness gone because he/she isn’t there. Look up from the phone and the room is still empty. BUT YOU HAVE REAL FAMILY AND FRIENDS YOU DON’T TALK TO NOW BECAUSE YOUR LOVER TOLD YOU HE / SHE WAS MORE IMPORTANT.

STAND BACK AND THINK AND SEE WHAT IS HAPPENING AND HAVE THE STRENGTH AND COURAGE TO GET OUT OF IT ALL. You deserve better than this than to be used for money.

KEEP LIFE REAL,BECAUSE THERE ARE PROBABLY MORE PEOPLE AROUND THAT CARE THAN YOU THINK. YOU JUST DON’T WANT TO SEE IT.