(This is part of a short series about being phished for love on the Internet. This is the sixth and final part of the series, which has run the past two weeks on A ‘lil HooHaa).
Being skeptical can be a good thing and it can be a bad thing.
It works both ways because sometimes the skepticism can go against you. By this I mean you could be skeptical about what is in front of you and it could be a legit situation. On the other hand, it can be a good thing as it makes you think a bit more about the “too good to be true” situation.
This includes internet scammers.
As you have read in the series I’ve run over the past couple of weeks (if you haven’t read them, go back and check it out – the links to each are at the bottom of this post), people will go to pretty much any level to try and scam cash out of people. The promise of love goes a long way, and if you add in religion, you can really pull people’s strings.
Thankfully, in each of the situations I wrote about, nobody lost any money or fell for anything,
That doesn’t change the fact that every day people fall for scams. It can be something as simple as household repairs or calling about back taxes or things on the internet where you can get rich quick.
But as the old saying goes … if it’s too good to be true…
The reality of these two situations is nobody got hurt, lost money or had anything truly bad to them.
That’s a good thing.
But what if somebody fell for the one and wired $875 to this person – in Ghana. Most of these money transfers would be through Western Union (which, for the record, has a good page on fraud and scams) and when they get the money – goodbye!
For research purposes, I tried to e-mail both Irina and Linda to see if they would respond, speak up, talk or whatever.
Not shockingly, both e-mails bounced back as no longer working. I didn’t, however, try the one phone number as I didn’t want to deal with anything on the other end. With internet numbers and all of that easy to get now, it’s a bit better just to let it go.
For me, this made for a good series of blog posts. But in the bigger scheme of things, it also shows what is out there. People pry on others emotions and things like that to try and scam you out of money. They reel you in with a sob story, promise of love or something else and then try and guilt you into money. When the money doesn’t come and they realize you are likely onto them, they move on to the next person.
Hopefully that person is skeptical, too.
And hey, the Internet is an obvious medium for finding love or friendship. Look at all the legit dating sites and things like that. But, always keep in mind that anybody can be anything on the Internet. So if they come asking for cash quickly, you may want to re-consider this possible mate.
It’s my hope this series of stories was entertaining to you and, maybe, informing.
To read the other parts in this series, please click on the following links:
- Monday, August 18: A Russian beauty chases me
- Wednesday, August 20: Falling fast for the American
- Friday, August 22: The truth is revealed
- Monday, August 25: Utilizing dating sites to cash in
- Wednesday, August 27: No money for you!
- Thursday, August 28: And that’s a wrap, folks!
Feel free to leave a comment, or e-mail P.J. at hoohaablog@gmail.com. Also, please “Like” HooHaa Blog on Facebook!
The maxim you put forth, “If it’s too good to be true…” still is the best thing to remember when something like this falls into your lap.
A very good series.
Paul Myers recently posted..Sometimes, things happen
Yep, I firmly agree, Paul. It’s one thing to chase money, but it’s tough when people attempt to pull on heart strings. It makes society a little more cold, I think, when the guard is always up.