How to recognize and recover from everyday sociopaths - narcissists

You are here: Home / Lovefraud Blog

Joe Morrissey, jailed for sex with a 17-year-old employee, leads Richmond’s race for mayor

//  by //  Leave a Comment

Eight people are running for mayor of Richmond, Virginia. In a poll released a few weeks ago, Joe Morrissey held a comfortable lead, with 28% of the vote. The second-place candidate had 16%. Morrissey, a former prosecutor and state delegate, has a lot of name recognition probably because he's in the news a lot for bad behavior. Morrissey was busted for having sex with a 17-year-old assistant in his law firm. First he denied everything, then, when the girl turned out to be pregnant, married her. Morrissey went to jail for fighting a defense attorney, and for beating a contractor. Morrissey was cited for contempt of court 10 times, and went to jail for it. Mark Holmberg of WTVR in …

Joe Morrissey, jailed for sex with a 17-year-old employee, leads Richmond’s race for mayorRead More

3 Mixed Messages Toxic People Use to Manipulate Your Affection

//  by //  21 Comments

By Amber Ault, Ph.D., MSW Cognitive dissonance the mixed perceptions and feelings that result from inconsistent experiences helps to explain why people find it difficult to leave toxic relationships. On the one hand, the toxic partner tells us they love us; on the other, they engage in behavior that is cruel, disrespectful, or exploitive. Our brains work overtime trying to make sense of these mixed messages —and in the process, we often stay longer than makes sense; in the meanwhile, the toxic partner continues to benefit from our attention, support, and resources. Here are three mixed messages that toxic partners often create through their words and actions: They are brilliant, e …

3 Mixed Messages Toxic People Use to Manipulate Your AffectionRead More

Gaslighting and one key behavior that reveals a sociopath’s true character

//  by //  8 Comments

[youtube_sc url="https://youtu.be/iTHyReK2r4s" title="Is%20he%20hiding%20my%20keys%20because%20I%20won%27t%20have%20sex%20with%20him?"] Here's the next installment of Letters to Lovefraud. Because of her medical issues, a Lovefraud reader doesn't want to have sex with her boyfriend and suddenly her keys are missing. Is he retaliating?  I explain that the boyfriend's behavior may be even worse than retaliating it may be gaslighting. His objective is to make her doubt her own perceptions so that she is more easily controlled. And that's not the only issue. The bigger problem is why is he demanding sex when she is in pain? …

Gaslighting and one key behavior that reveals a sociopath’s true characterRead More

Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Donna Andersen in romance scam story

//  by //  Leave a Comment

When serial scammer Patrick Giblin, of Ventnor, New Jersey, was arrested again for attempting to swindle women through dating sites, Barbara Boyer, a reporter for the Philadelphia Inquirer, called me. She was writing an article about romance scams. I wasn't scammed by Giblin, but I covered his case. And after my own experience with a con artist, and all the cases I've collected, well, I'm an expert on the topic. The story is in today's newspaper. Read it here: Victim of romance fraud: 'He took everything I had. My self-esteem, my money,' on Philly.com. …

Philadelphia Inquirer quotes Donna Andersen in romance scam storyRead More

I detected a sense of evilness and anger coming from him. I knew he was ready to kill me.

//  by //  Leave a Comment

Editor's note: Lovefraud received the following story from a reader whom we'll call "Marguerite." This extremely attractive person started speaking to me while I was taking a break in the park one day. Because of his strong charisma, I related back. We kept in touch afterward. I had just moved to NY and had nowhere to go so after a few weeks I moved in with him. I did wonder why he was by himself but I found out later. One month after moving in he started hitting me in the face for no good reason. I was pretty shocked and angry. Two days later he did the same thing. I was nauseated because the cut he caused in my mouth was re-opened. I never had that happen. Anyway I realized I was in …

I detected a sense of evilness and anger coming from him. I knew he was ready to kill me.Read More

The murder trial that’s rocked the UK

//  by //  Leave a Comment

By our reporter in Borchester, Michael Path Charismatic, charming and controlling Rob Titchener, the 'perfect' husband and step-father, was knifed by his heavily pregnant wife Helen last April after she decided to leave him. Shortly before the knife attack, Titchener told her she was 'clingy, feeble-minded, an over-sensitive harpy, desperate to be loved, desperate to be needed . . . An unhinged, single-parent disaster zone, a lonely, frigid spinster just yearning for a real man to complete her'. After telling her that 'You're mine. Wherever you are I'll always be there' and slapping her, he put a knife in her hand and taunted her that she was 'nothing' without him. He then dared her to …

The murder trial that’s rocked the UKRead More

How Sociopaths Use “Triangulation” To Maintain Control

//  by //  5 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 23: Devil Woman Unable to abandon the premise that Paul was fundamentally a good, loving, honest man who truly cared about me, I had to explain his behavior in some other way. Still not ready to conclude that I was an essentially selfish, controlling person, as Paul often suggested, the more extreme Paul's moments of weirdness became, the more I assumed he must be under severe s …

How Sociopaths Use “Triangulation” To Maintain ControlRead More

Patrick Giblin, who scammed 132 women, is charged with more crimes

//  by //  1 Comment

Lovefraud has been following the case of con man Patrick Giblin for years. Between 2000 until 2005, Giblin, of Ventnor, New Jersey, defrauded 132 women out of a total of $320,241 and blew the money in Atlantic City casinos. He was sentenced to 115 months in prison. He was released on probation and went right back to scamming women. So after finishing his prior sentence, he has just been charged again with the additional crimes. New Jersey con man charged with using dating services to scam women, on philly.com Read the Patrick Giblin case on True Lovefraud Stories: Patrick Giblin trolls phone dating lines, taking money from 132 women     …

Patrick Giblin, who scammed 132 women, is charged with more crimesRead More

New research says 3% to 21% of executives have psychopathic traits

//  by //  Leave a Comment

Psychopaths are as common in the upper echelons of the corporate world as they are in prison, according to forensic psychologist Nathan Brooks. In research presented in Australia this week, Brooks and his colleagues found that 21 percent of 261 corporate professionals in the supply chain management industry had clinically significant levels of psychopathic traits. Brooks said job candidates should be assessed first on their character, and then on whether they have the needed skills and qualifications, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. One in five bosses is a psychopath, research reveals, on SMH.com.au. How to tell if your co-worker is a psychopath, on NYPost.com. Story suggested …

New research says 3% to 21% of executives have psychopathic traitsRead More

Video: Aren’t there any laws against social predators?

//  by //  Leave a Comment

[youtube_sc url="https://youtu.be/VD2k5iW1VSg" title="Aren%27t%20there%20any%20laws%20against%20social%20predators?"] Here's the next installment of our "Letters to Lovefraud" video series. A Lovefraud reader lost $38,000 to a con artist who has a history of scamming women. He employs the same deception and manipulation tactics time after time, cycling through a new woman every four months.  If you've had a similar experience, I explain why the con artist may or may not be prosecuted, what you can possibly do, and what you should think about before making a move. …

Video: Aren’t there any laws against social predators?Read More