Romance scams.......would you be gullible enough.

one guy video called me after playing scrabble(i didnt know they could do that) . so me types in oh do you know sign language then .?), ,, end of ....

Notspaghetti I agree. About 5 years ago a male friend of my sisters, was befriended by a much younger foreign man he met at a club in London. Since they married he has been pouring all his money into building a house in the country of origin of his husband, supporting his family and investing in businesses for them.

My DS is afraid that eventually all his money will be in this other country - and when no more is available, the husband will just leave him. He already spends six months of the year in his country, leaving her friend, who does not like hot countries alone in this country.

No online scam involved.

It is not just women, there have been reports of men being scammed too. It is unbelievable to me and I wouldn’t part with my money for anyone!!

I agree Shropshirelass.
Look how often we see young, beautiful women coupling up with some wealthy man who is old enough to be their Grandpa. It’s obvious why!
As for these older ladies parting with their money to virtual strangers, I can only feel sadness for them. They’re either lonely or living in cloud cuckoo land.

Tim Harford on why people fall for scams. Men are just as vulnerable as women.
timharford.com/2019/09/we-are-all-potential-victims-of-the-con-artist/

janeainsworth

Tim Harford on why people fall for scams. Men are just as vulnerable as women.
timharford.com/2019/09/we-are-all-potential-victims-of-the-con-artist/

Illuminating. We all have our vulnerable moments.

M0nica it must be horrible to watch this happen. How tricky for your sister.
Online or not, real people are likely to get hurt.

Yes, scams have always been with us - and always will be. They adapt to the social protocols and technology of any age.

In a previous time when money was thin on the ground, and virtue was all, how many women were left pregnant and despairing after being persuaded into a physical relationship on the basis of a promise of marriage, which was reneged upon and they were deserted when they became pregnant.

Many a great Victorian novel is based on this premise and what happens as a result.

I too was caught up in a scam when I joined an online dating site about 8 years ago. I was very vulnerable as I had just had a nasty marriage break up with my narcissistic husband.

I got chatting with an American soldier who posted several photos on the site. He appeared very caring and wanted to know all about my family. After about a month he said he wanted to marry me and be a good father to my kids. He befriended me on Facebook. I did think it was odd as when I asked him what star sign he was, he appeared puzzled saying he was the son of his father.

He told me he was caught up in a Nigerian war zone and if I contacted his senior officer he would get permission to come to the UK to marry me. I googled Nigerian war zone and up came an article about Nigerian scammers using photos of American soldiers and cheating women out of thousands of £.

When I contacted him on Facebook saying I knew he was a scammer, his profile suddenly disappeared as did his dating site profile. I count myself lucky not to have lost any money. But in all fairness to the scammed women, they do tap into your emotions when you're really vulnerable and you hope they are the "one."

It's very sad to hear about people losing their money in this way. I think there is a big difference between academic intelligence and emotional intelligence. Some people are bereaved and feel lost and alone despite having a good job or loving family. I used to feel that such victims should have none better but after listening to a couple of their stories I can quite understand how they got caught up with very plausible scammers.