February 2017 | Lovefraud | Escape sociopaths - narcissists in relationships

Psychopaths are naturally skilled at spotting potential victims

February 27, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// 4 Comments

When I was married to James Montgomery, who was later diagnosed as a psychopath, we once attended a local trade show together. We ran into a woman whom I didn't know at all and James barely knew. After about one minute of conversation, James started offering to help her with some project that she was working on. “What did you do that for?” I asked James after we continued on our way. “What?” “Offer to help that woman. You hardly know her.” “Do you know who she's married to?” James asked. It was a man that he believed could possibly be useful to his plans. Psychopaths are always on the lookout for people they might be able to manipulate. A study published by Canadian researchers …

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In A Relationship With A Sociopath, We Come To Accept the Unacceptable

February 23, 2017 // by O.N.Ward// 3 Comments

Every week, a chapter of my book, "Husband, Liar, Sociopath: How He Lied, Why I Fell For It & The Painful Lessons Learned" (available via Amazon.com, just click on the title or book cover) will be published here on Lovefraud. To read prior chapters, please see the links at the bottom of the post. Chapter 40: Whether I was alone or on the phone with a friend or my mother, tears flowed daily. I felt worthless, entombed in quiet despair. Hardly anyone would argue that, with Daniel twelve and Jessica going on fifteen, parenting would be a breeze. Yet, my parenting unraveled far more than can be attributed to dealing with two young teenagers or preteens. I grew increasingly s …

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Learn to use EFT Tapping to heal your life – FREE 10-day online summit starts 2/27

February 22, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// 3 Comments

If after dealing with a sociopath you're feeling stuck, even trapped, in your life, EFT Tapping can help you break free and move forward. It's an amazing technique that can heal deep emotional wounds, calm PTSD, and overcome health problems. I'm not kidding. EFT stands for Emotional Freedom Technique. Tapping is what you do with your fingers, you tap specific accupressure points, mostly on your face, while bringing to mind the situation that you want to address. This changes the energetic connection between your memory or perception of the situation and specific structures in your brain. When the energy changes, your life changes. This stuff works. I've used it myself, and I've …

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Don’t try to understand their lies, because sociopaths ARE the lie

February 21, 2017 // by Lovefraud Reader// 1 Comment

Editor's note: This comment was posted by the Lovefraud reader "Stargazer" a few weeks ago. Readers have asked that it be highlighted as a post. By Stargazer You can try endlessly to figure out why a sociopath lies, but you can never quite grasp it because the motives are not really human as we know it. Sociopaths themselves ARE the lie. They lie because they lie because they lie. They lie because they can. They lie because it's fun. They lie because they want something in the moment. They lie because to them a lie has same value as telling the truth. Truth has no inherent virtue to them. And they mistakenly assume that because they lie, everyone lies. It is just a way of life to them. In …

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Identifying and recovering from psychological abuse

February 20, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// 5 Comments

Book Review: Healing from Hidden Abuse, by Shannon Thomas, LCSW Review by Donna Andersen Mind games everyone who has tangled with a sociopath, psychopath, narcissist or other exploiter knows them. The sociopath makes a statement, and then denies ever saying the words. You call out the sociopath's bad behavior, and it's all turned around on you. And the lies well, the objective of lies is to poison your perceptions. The more formal term for this destructive behavior is psychological abuse. And now there's a book that explains exactly what psychological abuse is, why perpetrators engage in it, and the steps of recovery. Healing from Hidden Abuse —A Journey Through the Stages of R …

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Romance Scams Part 4: Fake dating apps and malware

February 19, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// Leave a Comment

Here's yet another take on the dangers of online dating: The website Information Security Buzz reports that a number of fake dating apps have been created specifically to record your private data. And some dating sites have spread malware and malicious content. So if you're involved with online dating, not only do you need to worry about suitors using fake profiles to steal your heart and your money, but you also need to worry about your computer being infected with a nasty virus. The risks associated with online dating just don't quit. The ins and outs of online love scams, on InformationSecurityBuzz.com. …

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Romance Scams Part 3: Malaysia busts four love scam syndicates and arrest 27 perps

February 18, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// Leave a Comment

[youtube_sc url="https://youtu.be/aN848rHAv0E" title="Malaysian,%20Singaporean%20police%20bust%20Internet%20love%20scam%20syndicates"] Police from Malaysia and Singapore arrested 27 Internet love scammers in a joint operation on February 6-8. The criminals including 11 Nigerians and 14 women were members of four different crime syndicates. These thieves of hearts and money cheated 108 people in neighboring countries out of $4.9 million. All the syndicates were masterminded by Nigerians who entered Malaysia on student visas, according to David Chew, director of the Singapore police Commercial Affairs Department. Romance scams cost Australians more money than any other form of cheating, …

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Romance Scams Part 2: U.S. victims lost more than $230 million online in 2016

February 17, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// Leave a Comment

[youtube_sc url="https://youtu.be/BmIvqOYwGGU" title="Special%20Agent%20Christine%20Beining%20describes%20romance%20scams"]Almost 15,000 complaints of romance scams or confidence fraud were reported to the FBI's Internet Crime Complaint Center in 2016. Victims of these crimes lost more than $230 million. In Texas alone, victims lost more than $16 million in romance scams. Who is running these scams? In many cases, says FBI Special Agent Christine Beining, the perpetrators are organized crime gangs. Why? It's an easy and lucrative crime. Criminals can often remain anonymous and beyond the reach of authorities. That's why it's on the rise. Romance Scams - Online impostors break hearts and …

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Being With A Sociopath Is Like Being In A Cult

February 16, 2017 // by O.N.Ward// 7 Comments

Every week, a chapter of my book, "Husband, Liar, Sociopath: How He Lied, Why I Fell For It & The Painful Lessons Learned" (available via Amazon.com, just click on the title or book cover) will be published here on Lovefraud. To read prior chapters, please see the links at the bottom of the post. Chapter 39: Past The Point Of Rescue (Hal Ketchum) Secretly, I hoped that Paul would just pick up and leave or be killed in a plane crash or in a car accident on one of those dark nights he came home late from a business trip or “working at the office.” I had never been able to shake my concerns that Paul had been and perhaps still was sexually involved with Anne-Marie. He alwa …

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Romance Scams Part 1: Canadians lose $17 million in 2016

February 15, 2017 // by Donna Andersen// Leave a Comment

Looking for love online is dangerous and in honor of Valentine's Day, law enforcement agencies around the world tried to remind citizens of that. The first of three articles Lovefraud will be posting on the issue comes from Canada. Nearly 750 Canadians reported that they lost money in Internet romance scams last year, totaling $17 million, according to CTVNews.ca. But the Royal Canadian Mounted Police believe only about 5 percent of cases are actually reported so the money lost is likely much higher. Sgt. Guy Paul Larocque says that most of the money stolen is never recovered. According to CTVNews.ca: Larocque added that these scams are often executed by professionals based in other c …

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Donna Andersen on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “Hi Samson75 – My paper was peer-reviewed and published in the International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology. There’s…”
Joanie Bentz, B.S., M.ED, LBS, CCBP on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “HI Samson, from what I read of Donna’s article, she had more than 2,000 Lovferaud readers as a valid sample.…”
samson75 on More evidence that psychopaths do not ‘burn out’: “love fraud subscribers are not really a valid sample as they represent people who either have had trouble dealing with…”
Donna Andersen on The relationship between sociopathy/psychopathy and bipolar disorder: “Thank you for your thoughtful comment.”
samson75 on The relationship between sociopathy/psychopathy and bipolar disorder: “The majority of studies show that bipolar and psychopathy can be comorbid, though it is rare. What people likely see…”