Too Good To Be True

In recent weeks I've been contacted by attractive looking guys on Social media, out of the blue, on new years day, Instagram messenger alerted me that Chris More from Ontario Canada wanted to connect with me. Ooooh, how exciting. I am pretty strict when it comes to social media but thought, its new year, a new me..why not.

The sender had sent me a new years greeting. I decided to reply. I was feeling somewhat nonchalant about the day, I spent the whole holiday on my own and was getting bored of my own company. Conversation with a stranger maybe what the doctor ordered.

The chat was pleasant enough. The normal what do you do. Where are you living, etc etc. When questioned he even said he was a Christian, what a lovely coincidence. I responded throughout the day. The man in the picture was attractive, his story was somewhat plausible but odd. Doctor in Yemen, working with Red Cross for the UN. Within hours the guy had informed me that he was an Orthopaedic surgeon. I'd noted that his written dialogue was abit unusual when asking questions. He told me that we needed to use Hangouts, a Google messaging service. His job required complete privacy, social media was abit of a no no. I was happy to oblige but noticed that there where certain questions he avoided. By 8 pm that evening he'd fallen in love with me...I was flattered....NOT. He'd sent some stock photos of the army camp he worked on, with strict instructions to delete the photos on receipt...I felt like I was in a man from U.N.C.L.E episode. Something was off though. This poor surgeon must have been losing it out there. He declared he was taking early retirement , he'd had enough, he needed to get back to his daughter in Canada. Why not visit me on the way through so we could start our new life together. Arrrgggghhh. That freaked me out, he was enthusiastic, was he emotionally starved?? Desperate even??

I'd mentioned some key subjects in my life that where personal to me, he accepted everything I said, he was very amicable, no opinion just acceptance, what a wonderful thoughtful man, so accommodating. He really showed maturity and strength...I could yearn to love this guy.

Wow, just wow. My ego was just big enough to think that there could be an element of truth to his story, but I was on the fence, my instincts were telling me this guy was a complete lier, the story just wasn't adding up. My romantic nature dreamed of Canada. The Instagram page disappeared, my suspicion confirmed, I blocked him on my mobile and removed the apps. I chastised myself for being an idiot, the romantic in me had been a little silly but the realist knew something was way off. I laughed too myself and thought nothing more of it, a little niggled by the audacity of the bloke but not surprised. Its a tough world out there. People will do anything to make a buck.

A few days later I was on my laptop and a video call came up. It was him. Right I thought, what's your game. I answered the call, and there he was..Big blue eyes staring back at me, he spoke of concern in an odd half Canadian half Middle Eastern Accent. It was slight but it was there. Confessions of panic and worry spilling from his mouth...reaffirming his declaration of love. None of which I believed, you don't love someone in hours of 'meeting someone' on the Internet..no chance, ...you just don't, not in my world thats for sure. But hey, there was something inside of me that had the cheek to subconsciously think that based on my instgram profile, why wouldn't the guy be interested, I mean...what's not to like. Perhaps he was abit emotionally retarded and found being isolated in Yeman lonely.

The video call didn't last more than 3 minutes, but something was still niggling at me. I have massive trust issues as it is, but this had so many holes in it, too good to be true is probably exactly what it says. I decided to do some digging on Google, Orthopaedic surgeons in Yemen, scam scam scam. My suspicions confirmed. Boom I had my evidence.

I wrote an epic message to Chris More, Orthopaedic Surgeon extraordinaire telling him he'd been caught out. That he'd been outed on a scammers page and pointed out the errors in his story. Which in hindsight was probably the worst thing to do. He could refine his scam ready for his next potential victim.

Situation avoided, bullet dodged, I kicked myself for thinking I was worthy of such attention, I needed to work on that.. no harm done but boy what a nasty piece of work. He would never have got money out of me, I would never have trusted him, I would never have believed that part of the story. There is no way I would have fallen for that...but I had wanted to hadn't I. My friends would have seen it all from a mile away, the con just wouldn't have happened. How wonderful to have friends!.

I was approached on Facebook recently aswell, same M.O. Just joined FB, widowed, 1 photo on the profile, a man of very little opinion, I had fun with this one. I was so straight with him, but he kept saying how sorry he was that my life had been so full of men who'd either lied, used or let me down. I even told the second scammer about the first scammer, these guys reek of confidence, he was so so sympathetic...an absolute hero of a man.

I eventually fessed up, the cat was out of the bag, I knew he was a scammer, he'd asked me to go on hangouts, I told him he'd jumped too quickly, that was a big give away.. and that I didn't love him anymore, it wasn't going to work....I bid him farewell and blocked him.

So that's my experience, I was lucky. Men and women no doubt playing on people's loneliness, trawling social media profiles for their next con. I'm glad for friends that can back me up, I'm glad for alot of things.. as it was, my inability to trust actually saved me on this occasion, or I could have been so lonely or yearning for a little love in my life I could have fallen for this sham scam,...but I didn't. The guy even used my faith as a way to connect, but again, it was obvious he was lieing by the way he didn't talk about God in any way whatsoever. There are so many vulnerable lonely people out there. 2 approaches in 3 weeks just shows how rife this is. I hope whoever reads this is forewarned and forearmed just in case it happens to you. NEVER part with money to someone who you have never met. Love in less than a day. Just not happening. These people are in it for the long game, don't believe in any of it......thankfully I didn't.