How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

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Identifying and recovering from psychological abuse

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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

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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

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[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

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

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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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Identifying sociopathic behavior is easy; giving advice is hard

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Just about every day, Lovefraud receives e-mail from readers who are looking for answers about confusing, contradictory and abusive behavior exhibited by people in their lives. The new readers don't understand what they are dealing with; they just tell, either in a few paragraphs or lengthy compositions, their stories. The e-mails describe some or many of the following behaviors: Pathological lying Pity plays Shallow emotions Devalue and discard Cheating or promiscuity Addiction to drugs or alcohol Controlling demands Financial irresponsibility Manipulation of children Broken promises Claims of “you made me do it” Pleas of “I'll never do it again” The …

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Convicted con artist Patrick Giblin again pleads guilty to scamming women

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Patrick Giblin, 52, formerly of Ventnor, New Jersey, yesterday pleaded guilty to scamming more than 10 women out of $15,000 to $40,000. Giblin did this between January 2013 and December 2014 while on parole for previously scamming 132 women out of $320,241. Here's Lovefraud's original coverage of the story: Patrick Giblin trolls phone dating lines, taking money from 132 women, on Lovefraud.com. According to U.S. Attorney Paul J. Fishman, Giblin's most recent adventures in phone scamming went like this: From January 2013 to Dec. 16, 2014, Giblin allegedly posted advertisements and messages on telephone dating services throughout the United States. Giblin cultivated a telephone rapport with …

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Woman finds the ‘pickup artists’ who raped her – and bragged about it on the Internet

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A San Diego woman passed out in the apartment of some guys she just met in October 2013. She was raped. When she awoke, she went to the police. Many rape cases end up being "he said, she said" situations, where the perpetrator claims that the sex was consensual. But this woman conducted her own Internet investigation. She found that the man who raped her, Alexander Markham Smith, 27, and his friend, Jonas Dick, 28, ran a business called "Efficient Pickup." The idea was to teach men how to have sex with as many women as possible. To prove that their methods worked, Smith and Dick posted stories about their exploits including a detailed account of the San Diego woman's rape. It was enough …

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Radical Acceptance – a path to true emotional healing after the devastation of a sociopath

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Book Review: Radical Acceptance Embracing your life with the heart of a Buddha, by Tara Brach. Review by Donna Andersen You realize, or at least suspect, that you have a sociopath in your life — that's why you're reading Lovefraud. You may still be in a state of shock — you never really understood that people like this actually existed. But they do; now what do you do? Lovefraud is full of information and advice about escaping a sociopath and dealing with the fallout. Generally, recovery means moving forward along two paths. You can pursue both paths at the same time, and progress on one path helps you with the other one. The first path is solving the practical problems the soc …

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Woman fakes blindness for 15 years, collects nearly $400,000 in veteran’s benefits

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Back in 2001, Veronica Dale Hahn, 60, of Bonifay, Florida, told the U.S. Department of Veteran's Affairs that she was 100 percent blind in both eyes due to her military service. The VA believed her, and started paying her veteran's disability benefits. In 15 years, she collected $394,800.85. In the meantime, she obtained driver's licenses in New Mexico, Alabama and Florida, with no vision restrictions. She drove her vehicle and worked full-time as a case manager at state correctional facilities. Hahn pleaded guilty last week. When she is sentenced, she faces 10 years in prison. Holmes County woman pleads guilty to fraudulently receiving veterans disability benefits, on Justice.gov. …

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