Editor’s note: Lovefraud received the following email from a retired woman who hopes to warn others about the dangers she encountered on the Internet.
In the past, my only contact with psychopaths was in the psychiatric penitentiary where I worked as the librarian, but lately I have been meeting a number of them on the Internet. Most of them approached me through Skype, although several contacted me via other sources.
If some of your readers do not really realize it yet, if approached by a general in the US Army, or any officer in the Army, or captain of a ship, or a doctor in the Middle East for UN or whatever, who is lonely and wants to befriend you, then loves you — DON’T FALL FOR IT!
I have had about 30 generals (using the name and picture of real generals, active or retired) contact me. They are ALL scammers.
Sometimes they take a long time to warm up to you, giving you the chance to warm up to them. But then they make a mistake ”¦ next thing they come up with some complicated plot involving money, in whatever form.
Believe me, I have had them all: Men in high classed functions, who, if real, undoubtedly would make more money in a month than you get in a year from your well-earned pension. They have some “charitable” excuse, trying to make you feel like a real Scrooge if you refuse. Believe me, they are all out for THEIR OWN BENEFIT, no charity, and certainly NOT YOURS!, regardless of how nice they talk/write.
Fortunately I have been able to really Scrooge them ”¦ None of them has ever had a nickel from me.
If you are linguistically lucky, you would soon notice that their English language skills are not the same as they would be of those high functioned people. First thing I would do, when a new one comes through: Google him to see what I should expect IF he, for some reason or other, would be the real one.
Another scam is those who tell you that something is wrong with your computer, and they’ll fix it by remote. I have one such incidence that was recommended to me: true computer fixer, approached by me upon that recommendation.
But if they contact you — most often in a heavy accent, DON’T LET THEM INTO YOUR COMPUTER. They screw it up and it will not work as well as it did before they got their long fingers on it.
DON’T LET THEM IN. They use different excuses and are very, very convincing. They will show you a whole list of what is wrong; over the years I have been ”˜had’ a couple of times, because I am technologically challenged — they are ONLY helpful to themselves, NOT TO YOU.
These scammers can be unbelievably convincing ”¦ DON’T BELIEVE THEM. Learn from my mistakes, or suffer the consequences.
Sociopaths Can Turn On You In A Heartbeat
It is good to be aware of these scams.