Have you been taken for a fool !

I'm sure many of us have been taken for fools at some point. I know I certainly have, especially when I was younger and didn't have the guts to stand up for myself - you're an easy target if you're quiet and unassertive.

Good grief Witzend !!!

Once, ages ago, but badly. Felt very sorry for a boyfriend of a dd, whose parents (so he said) had rejected him. Gave him a substantial amount of cash in order to enable him to start the further education course he wanted to do.,

Not long afterwards, my idiot dd let him drive my car (she was allowed to) whereupon he pranged it, laid into the other party, and was charged with ABH.

Idiot that I was, I arranged an initial meeting with a solicitor for him - he didn’t show up.

So I went to his flat - no reply. Since he’d hinted at suicide to dd, I thought the worst, seriously panicked and called the police.

They managed to open the door - he wasn’t there. (The police were very kind and understanding.).

When I eventually managed to contact him (pre mobile phones) he simply told me, quite unconcerned, that he’d forgotten.

That was absolutely It as far as I was concerned, but only after he’d pursued dd to the university where she’d just started, and tried to break her (hall of residence) door down, did she finally finish with him. After that, the mere mention of his name would make her shudder.

One poster said they' play themselves down' or words to that effect. Do remember that other people will judge you by your own evaluation. Therefore false modesty can be judges by some as stupidity.

Among other things Ive worked on a chat (aka sex) line so I am not in the least intimidated by verbal violence or swearing. I used to do the dominatrix calls,

I advertised a bed for sale in a paper and got one of those inane callers doing what I think was his first sex call (Ive got ten inches waiting just for you).

I told him I was from another planet, psychic, and knew exactly where he was speaking from. I then detailed exactly what I was going to do to him.

He rang off.

An hour later he rang back and apologised.

I hope not

I was taken for a fool who I thought were for real. I gave them £10k to help their business - got them to sign legal work to confirm it was just a loan etc. A month later they the business was taken over (not sold) and I never got the money back.
It made me feel stupid and that I could no longet trust my own judgement on people

ATM I am enjoying wasting the time of a ‘romance scammer’ and warning everyone else this group is targeting on Instagram.
I enjoy asking questions they don’t have a pat answer to, and asking for photos they don’t have! Such as “oh can you take a photo of you and your dog snuggling by the fire”
If lots of us waste their time and warn others maybe we can stop making it worth their while to scam vulnerable women!

You’re a great role model for the ‘quiet achiever’

MarathonRunner

Mmm yes . A friend always asked for help when she was throwing a function , always happy to help with catering and making drinks etc but started to notice the hostess was busy socialising with all her chums while I was stuck in the kitchen and clearing up afterwards . After hearing a passive aggressive comment about how I always took over at her functions I stopped helping and when invited told her I didn't have time . Strangely I don't get invited anymore .
There's only so much foolery I'm prepared to tolerate !

That's exactly how I was treated. She did not realise I was quite slick at it and did not like the thanks I got. While she was off gossiping.

In the days of the heavy breathing phone calls menace, I got a random call from some d*ckhead saying what he'd like to do etc.etc.

I just pretended I was deaf - well, deafer than I am - and kept saying "you'll have to speak up, I can't hear you" & "no, no, still not got it".

The shouting fool had a few attempts, bless him, but the call ended very quickly.

Just watched ‘The Good Liar’ with Helen Mirren and Ian McKellan. Won’t spoil it for you but subject wise it fits with the post. Good film too.

Well here is an example of fooling person who thinks Im a fool.

My NDN has previous form for attempting to steal mail from me - a package got misdelivered. Instead of informing me it was there she opened and kept it until I went around and told her I had just spoken to the courier. Threatened her with the police and have since informed every new postie and courier of her dishonesty.

Ordered a small gift for a nephew to take to an outdoor event just after New Year. It never arrived and on phoning the company informed it was marked delivered. I checked the address and they had mistakenly put my NDNs number on it. So obviously the seller had to refund my c card. Also sent email message acknowledging error and confirming refund.

My ring doorbell showed a courier type male approaching my NDNs door with a small package on the day the seller said it was delivered. The picture did not show my NDNs actual doorstep but the courier walked back without his package.

So a 99.9% chance my thieving NDN had my package. I got a replacement for nephew and when he called with his six foot mate to collect it they wanted to go next door and put the fear of god into the NDN. I said no, leave it because I got my refund and nephew got his gift.

The gift was a spring loaded glitter bomb for him to take to an outdoor stag do. Think hot tub, outdoor TV, and lots of males drinking. It was loaded with red glitter and millions of penis shaped bits.

My NDN is not very bright and would probably have put the package on one side to see if anyone came for it. She made no attempt to return it or let me know it was there. Eventually she would open it - and what a delightful surprise to be showered with red glitter and penis shapes. I bet she is still cleaning them up.

I would love to have been a fly on the wall when she opened it. hahahahaha

... I don't think people are getting the drift of the OP. It's not about being taken for a fool (haven't most of us at some time) but playing the fool to fool the person who's trying to fool you.

In other words, you're outwitting the idiot who thinks you're a fool.

Terrible experiences and yes, worse still been made an absolute fool by someone whom we put our trust in and when THAT happens is leaves a scar....

There's a saying but I can't remember it all.

Fool me once ?????
Fool me twice ??????

I will ask Mr Google... he's very clever ha !

Frequently, usually by people I've trusted.

Sadly I got taken for a mug and lost £2000 to a 'friend' who needed rent money asap. So I did, and never heard back, nor did I get the money back. Now I trust nobody when money is mentioned. I've learned the hard way.

Sadly I have been taken for a right fool in other ways over the years, being too trusting. After that incident I'm not so...

I was taken for a fool when selling my house, and I knew it, but was powerless to stop both the buyer and my estate agent. A horrible experience.

sorry for typos - arthritis is bad today!

I developed a "friendship" with a customer in the USA from my online business. We has a lot in commin - art, literature, music and so on, and we chatted for many weeks. There was no romantic involvement.

Then one day he introduced a new topic. He mentioned that his business (personal stylist and hairdresser) was in trouble and he needed money to pay for his mom's operation. I tried to steer clear of the subject and never responded to his comments about money. This was a red flag to me. I was about to take a month off and decided it would be best to distance myself for a little to allow him to work out his problems. I believe its now called ghosting.

One day he came out and asked me to "lend" him $50,000. When I mentioned this to my nephew he showed me how to do a google image search and lo and behold, my friend's picture came up on one of those scam sites. He has a variety of names and glamerous occupations - airpline pilot, officer, personal trainer to the stars - and a string of women he had cheated out of money.

Of course I blocked his email address at deep server level and his phone number. I wrote to all the platforms where I sold with my "evidence" in case he was able to befriend other women.

Its fair to say that I was suspicious from an early stage but there may have been lonely women more easily taken in than myself. I never reported my experiences to the police as I did not wish to become further involved. I simply blocked and moved on.

Its not my responsibility to bring him to justice.

GagaJo

Yes, often at work. I think because I'm not competitive and really only want to do my work well, to benefit my students, others underestimate me.

I can't be bothered with the 'Look at me!' and self aggrandisement. I'm the first one to moan about my short comings. I think all of that leads to others assuming I'm a bit crap.

The up side is that my students always do really well, which counteracts the otherwise low key effect I have. Unfortunately, in British education, self publication is what is rewarded 99.9% of the time, not great results. But then, that is what we get, from the top (government) down, isn't it?

I hear you.

It's big problem in education that promotion doesn't go to people who are good managers (in fact there is often little or not training in management), but people who are good at self-promotion and 'playing the game'.

Reading all these messages makes me feel a bit sad and lucky that I haven’t got similar horror stories.

I have just come out of a relationship lasting 3and a half years.
For all of that time I could do nothing right he always found fault about something
Never paid towards essentials just a bit for food
He had half a million in the bank I hear.
ENOUGH !!!!!.I prefer to be lonely .

I have never been done out of money, I am just too careful (suspicious) to fall for that. But 'friends' OMG!! I only have one friend now, I have known her for nearly 40 years...others have come and gone, they always let me down, in one way or another, and I can't be doing with it anymore.

So sad isn’t it what a world we live in. Just remember there is good we just have to believe we’ll see it someone again.