meeting friends on the internet.

[manny]

i would like to share a story that i learned from a friend.

he worked with this lady who was single and looking for a partner.
on some friends/social network forum,she started to chat to man from...i think Africa.

they struck up a relationship.
he said he had children but his wife had passed away.
so the relation ship blossomed.

after a couple of week chatting he claimed his daughter was ill and needed medical expenses .
the lady was all set to pay the money via western union...
the amount was i think about 700 pounds.

when another person intervened and explained it could be a scam.
she would not believe them.
she was encouraged to stop the money being wired.

the man in question started to drop the price of the medical bill..700..500..300..ect
then he got irate,and demanded that she pay it.
hence relationship cancelled.

the moral of the story is please be careful.

[crosby]

a very wise and thoughtful thread manny. many people are naive when it comes to such things. i have always told my children to not trust total strangers when they strike up friendships and then ask for money, or if they want to know your address or phone number. there is so much evil out there, we must always use good judgment and discernment in connection with the internet. i have heard dreadful stories on how young teenage girls have run off with a 'young man' that they met on the internet, only to find out after the fact that it is not what she had expected. it can be very dangerous. and i think everyone has heard of the craig's list killer. what an abomination. be careful out there everyone.
warmest, corson

[Carmen]

I fully agree with advising caution as to meeting partners via the I Internet but I have to tell you this story:

I young mother of four little kids in our area met a man via the Internet. He was called Nathan and he is a black man from Chicago. When Michelle told us about him she said that he was coming out to New Zealand on a certain date, they were getting married the next day, then he was going back to the states to settle his affairs and coming back out here to live.

As you can imagine, we were all rather alarmed at this and warned her of the pitfalls, but she was quite adamant that he was the man for her. Well, to cut a long story short, that is exactly what happened. They have now two more little black babies, cute as, and they are very happy. Michelle has a really happy bouncy personality and a great sense of humor. She went back to the States to meet his family. I saw her before she went when she informed me she was off the Meet the Fokkers. She didn't know how she would tell them apart cos black people all looked the same to her!!

I only see her occasionally now as they have moved away from the district,but I saw her recently in a shop and said "hi" to her and Nathan. She leaned over to me and said"he won't remember you, we all look the same to him".LOL

[crosby]

I fully agree with advising caution as to meeting partners via the I Internet but I have to tell you this story:

I young mother of four little kids in our area met a man via the Internet. He was called Nathan and he is a black man from Chicago. When Michelle told us about him she said that he was coming out to New Zealand on a certain date, they were getting married the next day, then he was going back to the states to settle his affairs and coming back out here to live.

As you can imagine, we were all rather alarmed at this and warned her of the pitfalls, but she was quite adamant that he was the man for her. Well, to cut a long story short, that is exactly what happened. They have now two more little black babies, cute as, and they are very happy. Michelle has a really happy bouncy personality and a great sense of humor. She went back to the States to meet his family. I saw her before she went when she informed me she was off the Meet the Fokkers. She didn't know how she would tell them apart cos black people all looked the same to her!!

I only see her occasionally now as they have moved away from the district,but I saw her recently in a shop and said "hi" to her and Nathan. She leaned over to me and said"he won't remember you, we all look the same to him".LOL

Carmen that is one of the funniest stories that i've had the pleasure to hear. thank you for that. good one.
warmest, corson

[Isthatso]

Thanks Manny.....and here's another one.

I good friend of mine met a man on an internet site from Germany (she's based here in NZ). They communicated for quite a long time and she met up with him for a few days when she went back to see her family in the UK. They had a wonderful few days together and she came home glowing. They carried on the relationship via phone and internet and then agreed he should come out to NZ and they would live together and see how it went. She was so happy to have him finally coming to NZ. When he arrived he was quite a changed man and she didn't say much...in fact, she was very quiet from the moment he arrived. I suspected all was not well immediately and saw her trying to make excuses and hoping it will work out given a bit more time. He proclaimed he didn't have any money to do anything and wanted my friend to pay for his needs and the study course he wanted to undertake - so he could then look after her later! He became critical of how she was living her life and what she spent her money one - basically trying to control her. He started to become quite threatening and irrational. He felt that as he had made the sacrifice to come over here she should financially support him and pay for his university course. He stopped eating at one point and shut himself away in the spare room - we were very concerned as he was a small man but well trained in martial arts.

Unlucky for him she has a good network of friends around her that jumped in and supported her. Finally getting him to leave the house after a couple of days of his explosive pressure. He still tried to get her to pay for some study, however, when she refused he finally left the country - only to go home via a two week holiday in North Africa! He was clearly unbalanced and several months later contacted her on 'His' birthday to see if she wanted to give him anything! She was very sad for a while and reflects on it all still, but has taken off the rose coloured glasses.

She also foud out he had done this before to another woman in NZ and she sent him packing also!

It would be much harder for someone that doesn't have a strong support network.

Warm wishes ......

[Strat]

Hey manny, I bet you'd like the documentary 'Catfish.' This is exactly what it's about. There has been controversy on whether or not the documentary is real, but if it's fake, the moral of the story is still good and something to keep in mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catfish_(film)