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The Sucker
The Sucker Until two months ago, on another 'friends' site, I'd considered myself scam-proof. . .but that was then. Now I know better. You see, I was approached by a woman from Banjul, Gambia, who sought to befriend me there, no strings attached. Against my better judgement I accepted. . . . . Turned out she was, or claimed to be, a 34 year old single woman still living with her family in a cramped one bedroom hovel in a village outside that city, and could I please find a way to help her out; she'd be ever so grateful. I have this rather overwhelming desire to come to the rescue of strays, so, without checking things out (my bad, I KNOW better!) I arranged to send her brother money (she didn't have an ID and couldn't accept it herself) for things like food, rent, phone minutes, etc. I even agreed to put her through nursing school for two years. The total hit was over $300 before I noticed several inconsistencies in her story; lots of little things just didn't add up to me, and I grew increasingly cynical. The last straw was when she decided she needed her own place and found one in the city she expected ME to pay for, to the tune of another $100 monthly. I was ready to do both that, along with seeking a short term loan to the tune of $500 for her first year of nursing school, until I got wise and told her that I needed contact information for both her landlord and the school there so I could send the money to THEM directly. She refused, coming up with a myriad of excuses as to why that wasn't a good idea and didn't I TRUST one who loved me more than life itself? Right. I then did some belated checking online, and discovered that the address she'd given me was general delivery in Banjul, neither landlord or school existed, and that her name was stolen from a prominent journalist in Banjul. Bitch was immediately blocked, the app we'd chatted on removed from my phone, and a complaint filed on that website about her (story now drastically changed) profile there. I am poorer, but much wiser now. Bottom line is that from here on, if I want to help somebody, I'm going to do it through a reputable, LOCAL organization, and NOT via an online contact based on a constantly-changing sob story from some foreigner! Life goes on. . . |
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