Internet love & being phished: Utilizing dating sites to cash in

(This is the fourth in a six-part series that finishes this weekat A ‘lil HooHaa)

You’ve read my tales about an attempt to be phished on the Internet. But all the while, I knew it was a scam and knew I wasn’t going to be hitched to some Russian beauty and living the American dream.

That was 2005. These days, it’s a lot easier to tug on somebody’s heart and work a scam. But, a scam is still a scam.

So this story is of a deeper attempt at phishing and, truthfully, quite despicable.

A friend of mine, who will remain nameless for this story, was on a Christian dating site. Now, I’ve personally seen ads for things like this, but never really looked into them. Heck, I’ve barely ever looked at mainstream ones, such as Match.com. But, apparently this site caters to the Christians in the world, which is perfectly fine and understandable.

What happened next is a sham of all shams. And the way it ended is quite disturbing and shows what these scammers will do to make something work, or to make sure things end quickly.

This story starts sometime in April of 2013. I don’t have all the e-mails, but enough to tell the story of this scam. And it all has to do with this dear girl Linda, a beautiful gal who is searching for her Christian mate.

This isn’t just about love, though. This is about tugging at somebody’s heart, playing with emotions and anything else to try and scam a few bucks.

And that’s just wrong in many ways, but especially if you are throwing it out there in the name of God. No matter your religious preference, I think my readers would agree that playing with the name of God isn’t really the way to go about a scam. Not that there are morals involved, but ya know …

Hello my sweet man, happy Monday to you! I feel so wonderful this afternoon because my heavenly father spoke to me this morning through his word – which really refreshed me. You know I’ve prayed for a Godly man to come into my life and I’ve been waiting on the Lord to bring him into my life and to open my eyes and soften my heart so that I would not miss him.

I’m not a church-going person by any means, but even I can see this would be tip-toeing in a place one shouldn’t go.

She continues …

I’m not sure if you’re the man the Lord has for me, but I can feel you’re an amazing person, truly a man of God and someone that I am thankful that God is allowing me to communicate with, I’m very hopeful that it will lead to greater more profound things between us. I am very hopeful that God is now getting ready to give me the desires of my heart ( a man of like faith – one whom I can love as he loves me and we can love the Lord and worship him together). I am ready to meet you and any time you are ready we should coordinate a date and time to meet.

Now, let’s realize that the two had just started talking. But meeting is something that is being spoken about. It’s a game, though. There wasn’t a plan to meet – no matter what somebody may think. It’s all about believability. Send some sexy photos, whether they are of you or somebody else, learn the other person’s interest and draw them in.

She goes on to explain her background – born into a Norweigian family, parents and a brother. Father was a marine biologist, so she was closer to her mother.

Then the shit got real. She drops an early bombshell.

In June 2011 my mom was involved in car accident with my brother, my cousin and his girl friend and both died. I was very bitter and depressed and dad retired from active service and now into private business. My mom’s death made my dad to be more close to me and we became best of friends. It also draw us nearer to God. We started attending Church services and I was able to study the bible more often and I was convinced that Christ is the reason for every season and I gave my life to Christ in May 2012. Ever since then I have been renewed and the love of Christ follows in me.

OK, first –details. There were four in the car, but both died. So who died? Mother and brother I am assuming, but what about the cousin and girlfriend? Then she goes back to the God part of her letter. It’s understandable as she knows her target is a religious person.

Apparently, too, she’s a registered nurse, so she appreciates life more. She’s only dated two men. One was a childhood friend and it doesn’t seem like it ended perfectly, as she’d rather not discuss until meeting face-to-face. The second was an Arab man (her words), but his parents didn’t approve of the relationship for religious reasons. She’s been single since June 2012, but her father is now getting worried (mind you, that’s less than a year later that this exchange started) and her father is pushing for her to marry anybody, apparently.

She also sent a list of questions and noted any time he was comfortable talking on the phone or exchanging text messages, she was up for it. He just needed to send a phone number. This is a whole new level of interesting when it comes to phishing scams.

On the outside, this still seems legit. The girl supposedly lives about an hour and a half away and seems to know some of the area she claims to be in. So this budding romance starts off and moves along.

He responds back to her with a lengthy e-mail, answering the questions. He, too, speaks about God. He gives his background and feels a connection.

Too perfect? Absolutely.

He poured his heart out to her about his hopes, his dreams and his love of God, as well as what he looked for in the future. It was very sincere and, so much so, that I don’t want to share most of it because he was pulled into this by a scam artist.

On a side note, I look at this and wonder. I’m not a scammer and am not sure I ever could do it. But I definitely don’t think I could read something from somebody about their love of God and be able to fake it to try and scam them. As noted, I am not a highly religious person, so if I see somebody who is, I’d have a very hard time trying to take advantage of that.

There is one thing I must share, however. She asked a question about what he wouldn’t be tolerant of in a mate. His response:

Lying, dishonesty! I can’t stand that more then anything! The biggest part in a relationship is trust and lying or dishonesty kills a relationship. Which includes cheating!

He then gave his phone number and personal e-mail address (the reason I don’t have the early exchanges is because he didn’t save all of the correspondence on the site and it was deleted). Some texts were exchanged, which is interesting in its own. But, it also shows these scammers are really working it.

I’d also like to note that Linda (her name) also got my friend’s name wrong more than one. Details, people!

From now on? She will be calling him her prince! God’s will brought them together! She then – seriously, you can’t make this up – quoted the scripture.

One thing stood out to me, though:

THAT IS OUR NEIGHBOR, and we are COMMANDED TO LOVE THEM in the manner that Christ has loved us. Wow- sometimes this Jesus stuff is tough! But if we are going to bring a light into this world, we must bring it to ALL, we must LOVE our enemies

I’ve yet to ever hear a true Christian say something along the lines of “Wow, sometimes this Jesus stuff is tough!”

Seriously?

Red flags are waving, folks!

Then things got a little shaky. See, her number got lost when he got a new phone. And he’s quite sorry about it and misses speaking with her. She was not too happy about him losing her digits, though, you see.

But, she’s been busy over the past few days anyway. Her father called and asked her to go to Boston as it was around the time of the Boston bombings and he wanted her to check on cousins because they wouldn’t answer the phone. So she headed to Boston and then just got back. She wants to meet face-to-face. After all, she wants to make sure he’s the man of her dreams.

In response he tells her his tales of phones crapping out and things were erased. He’s praying for her family and wants to meet. They need to plan a weekend and can talk at any time. He also – and I loved this – corrected her about his name.

What follows is an exchange of e-mails where it’s discussed about actually chatting on the phone. This is a scamming thing for sure, but there’s a bit of stringing along.

And then it begins.

It starts when she travels to Tucson to pick up some things for her father. See, they have two commercial buildings there. Her father traveled to Africa on a business trip, and she was sent to Arizona to get some items for him.

Let’s remember what I noted in previous posts – details, details, details! If they own these buildings and a business, wouldn’t there be people who could do these things? Instead, she travels from New York to Arizona to do this.

She finishes it off with this, though:

I am thinking about you daily and I am looking forward to meeting you. Send me your mailing Address I will like to send you something nice. Take care of yourself ok and don’t forget to always eat healthy.

Kisses from my heart

Linda

Keep ‘em coming back for more!

But then it slowed down. She didn’t respond much. He was looking forward to talking. She finally sends a phone number. Could it be the girl of his dreams? Could he be the man of her dreams? Only time will tell.

What happens, though, is reality when scammers are busted or know they aren’t getting anywhere. And it’s rather crazy. So stay tuned for the conclusion of this tale.

Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!