Man Pays $200,000 To Save Fake Online Girlfriend 464
An anonymous reader writes "A 48-year-old Illinois man has experienced an online scam that was particularly devastating, both financially and emotionally. A woman he believed to be his online girlfriend turned out to be a fake, and his money has disappeared with her. The scam was recently revealed because he went to the police asking for help to rescue the woman, insisting that she had been kidnapped in London. The online 'relationship' between the two began over two years ago, during which he wired about $200,000 to several different bank accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, England, and the US."
Dumbass (Score:4, Insightful)
Dumbass
Hire her (Score:2)
It's sad they had to steal from him. He would gladly have paid 200K just to continue the fake relationship for more years. It seems to me that 200K compensation for being a fake online girl ought to be plenty for a Nigerian Scammer, so why not just continue the relationship for a 200K fee instead.
Can't Feel Pity For Him. (Score:5, Insightful)
Darwinism at work folks. Move along, nothing to see here.
Re:Can't Feel Pity For Him. (Score:5, Insightful)
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Tits or GTFO would have saved him from all this, you know...
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Sounds painful for the lady.
Re:Can't Feel Pity For Him. (Score:5, Insightful)
A friend of mine once got engaged and moved the Scotland (from Massachusetts in the USA) for her Everquest sweetheart. Never having communicated with him in any way but online.
Now they didn't last more than a couple years, but it shows there are quite a few that never really alive in their own skin, and the prospect of making new friends in person causes stress and panic. But the need to connect is still there.
Personally, I feel for him even greater sympathy than those that lose their savings in a 419 scam; one has a core of inherent dishonesty -playing off ones greed for a quick payoff. This played off his need for companionship, and as he invested years, and thousands, into it, it wasn't for any form of payoff. Just to connect.
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I don't get the "online girlfriend" part. In other words, "an online acquaintance".
Anyway, "online" has little to do with it. I knew a girl who had a couple relationships which were entirely founded around her bilking somewhat older guys out of money and eventually breaking up and disappearing. The simple answer is not suspect everyone and don't fall for every fucking snatch that crosses your path and you'll have a lot more time, money, and sanity to enjoy your life with. (Not that I don't still feel some s
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And this is where being poor, ugly, and having a small schwartz comes in handy?
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And he didn't get a lap dance out of it!
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A real woman may cost you well over 200k.
The Internets (Score:5, Funny)
Where men are men, women are men, and children are federal agents.
Re:The Internets (Score:4, Funny)
But who are small fuzzy things from Alpha Centauri?
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Obviously those are small fuzzy things from Alpha Centauri.
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So you two will have to settle for high fives.
Congratulations, you win one Internet.
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The children of the small furry creatures from Alpha Centauri, obviously.
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Damn... I don't have my copy here, but you're right, it's "small furry creatures", not "small fuzzy things".
Hit me with a cluebat.
I am! (Score:3)
There can be only one!
Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
How do people this stupid have $200,000 to begin with?
I've worked hard for many years, and while my lifestyle isn't excessive, I still don't have anywhere near that kind of money to throw around even if I was getting laid by a real girlfriend.
This guy gave "her" $200k and never even got a blow?
Wow, where do I find suckers like this? I need the cash.
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Ever heard of credit cards?
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I'm not sure if you can read.
$200 000.
Not $200.
Home Equity Line of Credit (Score:2)
A HELOC can have that kind of credit line.
Re:Can this be real? (Score:4, Insightful)
Actually it's not as absurd as you may think.
I could pull about 75k out of my credit cards. I could also get a HELO backed "creditcard", I keep getting offers for HELOs for anywhere from 100k to 250k.
So really it'd not be that hard for me to pull out 200k from a "credit card".
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
A new girlfriend would be way cheaper.
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Funny)
Not necessarily, depending on what state/country you live in and how long you've been together. For most places, living together 6 months is the same as if you were married, and that means she gets a chunk of your income.
Not if the kidnappers kill her, she doesn't!
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
Well you see, an obsessive devotion to a single pursuit tends to lead to two things:
When you take that devotion to extremes, you can make a lot of money and not have the time or desire to spend it on anything. And unless you work hard to avoid it, the "lack in other areas" is likely to include your love life.
How do you not know this?
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Funny)
When you take that devotion to extremes, you can make a lot of money and not have the time or desire to spend it on anything. And unless you work hard to avoid it, the "lack in other areas" is likely to include your love life.
How do you not know this?
Uhhhhhhhh........
2. A corresponding lack in other areas.
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Yeah that would roughly be the joke. Man, subtlety is dead.
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Man, subtlety is dead.
LOL. I was thinking the same thing.
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I am confounded on a regular basis by how desperate people are, in general. Guys who cling on to the first thing that fucks them, even in highschool (and of course, realize twenty years later that they wasted their youth). Girls who can't stand belong alone for five seconds and go from one stupid/bad/pathetic/abusive relationship to another. Nobody seems to be able to just hold the fuck up and be with themselves for awhile. It's like the idea of not having someone to cling to or fight with or have drama wit
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
A puppy is for life and not just for Christmas.
Except for you, apparently? It's an instinct, hard-wired into people's brains to ensure the survival of the species. Most people follow their instincts. Congratulations on being so intellectual that you managed to over-ride this programming. Now let's talk about how your highly evolved genes are going to be passed on. Oh wait...
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Funny)
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Somewhere around age 28, I took a year off chasing tail and hearts and yeah, just spent some time hanging loose. After awhile, I started seeing patterns in the kind of women I'd been dating/pursuing (more emotionally stunted than myself; therefore safe to date and self destruct) and realized that was getting me nowhere. Once I figured out what kind of woman would be good for me (self assured/creative/down-to-earth/technical/funny), I took a look at myself and realized that a well grounded woman who was livi
Actually most people (Score:5, Insightful)
You seem to think Oprah is real. Well it is, for a segment of the population. Don't let the tv stereo-types fool you into believing this is how most people are. TV shows the extremes because normality doesn't make for intresting TV.
There won't be a program Deadliest code, gripping the nation season after season. O.C. Support Desk is NOT a sure fire hit. BugBusters will not be challenged by the president of the US of A.
Most teenagers? Never rebel and get along with their parents and siblings. Most women are not complete sluts in college crying they can't find a good guy while banging the soccer team. Most men do not in fact follow their cock, either that or the navy has a LOT more gay people in it then a republican can stand.
Most people lead simple sensible lives, they might screw up a little by accident but recover and move on. The real idiots are rare. Same as with criminals. Most people will NOT in fact kill to gain a fortune even if they could get away with it.
Humanity is a lot more normal. TV reality is about showing the extremes on the edges but you would be a fool to believe it. Do you believe everyone can run really fast because you just saw the olympics? Then why do you believe all people behave like the freaks on talkshows.
Ancient statistic. 50% of people loose their virginity before 18. Means over half the population does NOT.
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Clearly I meant "faggot" as "gay". I could tell by his lack of parens that his lisp is terrible.
Also if you're going to make judgements about a person's value system (based on a reply to an obviously trolling AC no less) and find it so opposed to your own as to be contemptible, just for future reference the emoticon kind of kills the gravitas.
Re:Can this be real? (Score:4, Informative)
How do people this stupid have $200,000 to begin with?
I guess you've never been to northern Canada.
Any smart person would refuse to work: outdoors in -30C weather, in the middle of nowhere, where you can lose an arm because someone forgot to properly chain a pipe down, and the only thing to do during your time off is drink and do drugs in an all male labor camp.
If you're willing to endure all that, then you can make $120k+ per year all while still being just smart enough not to wet yourself.
(All the guys dumb enough to wet themselves in -30C weather died of hypothermia)
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Most of those guys end up blowing 99% of that on women, drugs, and vehicles. I knew a few guys who worked the rigs - 3 years after getting there, they all had brand new pickup trucks and a coke habit, and were just as broke as when they got there.
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Funny)
Most of those guys end up blowing 99% of that on women, drugs, and vehicles..
And the rest just waste it.
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"This guy gave "her" $200k and never even got a blow?"
Love is a many-splendored thing...
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
Wait, do you think we live in some kind of meritocracy where intelligence and hard work are rewarded, while stupidity is punished? No, we live in a kleptocracy where connections and favors are rewarded and being born poor is punished. If you have money and/or connections, you can make more money with very little risk or effort by stealing the labors of honest working people, who are so desperate that they will do nearly anything for you. So, you shouldn't have to look to hard to find suckers like this, if you aren't already rich, try looking in a mirror. If you are halfway intelligent and working at a salaried job, you've more than likely given away at least that much value.
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Contractors are just as fucked, though. The point being: most of the value you produce is going into another man's pockets. You are, at a measly quarter million a year, barely upper middle class. You are still playing the chump's game, working for a living, rather than having other people work for you. Basically, you can either be a sucker or a con artist, letting yourself be taken advantage of, or taking advantage of others. If you are working for a living, as opposed to making other people work for you, y
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Interesting)
Do you really not understand the point I am trying to make, or are you being dense for rhetorical purposes? To the elite who control our country and take in ninety percent of the income, $250k/year is a joke, a sign that you aren't any sort of real player, but just a peon no different from the guy making $20k/year. If you are making $250k/year, some wealthier fellow is still eating most of your lunch.
Back to my original point, plenty of stupid people make more than enough money to blow $200,000 on a fake girlfriend and not even feel it. It does not take brains to make money, it takes connections and money to make money. Real money, that is. Brains and a whole lot of luck might get you into the $250k/year "Adorable Junior Capitalist Club" but without connections and a certain amount of sociopathic lack of empathy and remorse, you won't be making much more than that.
Simply put, there is no upward social mobility in America anymore. The children of the middle class are just as likely to make less than their parents as they are to make more, and things are even worse for the poor. We do not live in a meritocracy, that is my point. My point is not "$250k/year isn't that much to the average guy," of course it is! My point is that $250k/year isn't going to buy you a Senator, or even a Congressman, and therefore, is not real money to the people who can and do buy Senators and Congressmen.
And, more importantly, neither you nor anyone you know will never be one of those people, no matter how hard you try. If you want upward mobility, go to France. Or Sweden. Or, heck, almost anywhere but here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html [americanprogress.org]
Less upward mobility here than in France (Score:5, Interesting)
There is no social mobility in America anymore.
http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2005/01/the_economist_o.html [brendan-nyhan.com]
and, from here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html [americanprogress.org]
The key findings relating to intergenerational mobility include the following:
*Children from low-income families have only a 1 percent chance of reaching the top 5 percent of the income distribution, versus children of the rich who have about a 22 percent chance.
*Children born to the middle quintile of parental family income ($42,000 to $54,300) had about the same chance of ending up in a lower quintile than their parents (39.5 percent) as they did of moving to a higher quintile (36.5 percent). Their chances of attaining the top five percentiles of the income distribution were just 1.8 percent.
*Education, race, health and state of residence are four key channels by which economic status is transmitted from parent to child.
*African American children who are born in the bottom quartile are nearly twice as likely to remain there as adults than are white children whose parents had identical incomes, and are four times less likely to attain the top quartile.
*The difference in mobility for blacks and whites persists even after controlling for a host of parental background factors, children’s education and health, as well as whether the household was female-headed or receiving public assistance.
*After controlling for a host of parental background variables, upward mobility varied by region of origin, and is highest (in percentage terms) for those who grew up in the South Atlantic and East South Central regions, and lowest for those raised in the West South Central and Mountain regions.
*By international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents’ income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults. Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States.
Key findings relating to short-run, year-to-year income movements include the following:
*The overall volatility of household income increased significantly between 1990-91 and 1997-98 and again in 2003-04.
*Since 1990-91, there has been an increase in the share of households who experienced significant downward short-term mobility. The share that saw their incomes decline by $20,000 or more (in real terms) rose from 13.0 percent in 1990-91 to 14.8 percent in 1997-98 to 16.6 percent in 2003-04.
*The middle class is experiencing more insecurity of income, while the top decile is experiencing less. From 1997-98 to 2003-04, the increase in downward short-term mobility was driven by the experiences of middle-class households (those earning between $34,510 and $89,300 in 2004 dollars). Households in the top quintile saw no increase in downward short-term mobility, and households in the top decile ($122,880 and up) saw a reduction in the frequency of large negative income shocks.
*For the middle class, an increase in income volatility has led to an increase in the frequency of large negative income shocks, which may be expected to translate to an increase in financial distress.
*The median household was no more upwardly mobile in 2003-04, a year when GDP grew strongly, than it was it was during the recession of 1990-91.
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Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Interesting)
Home equity loans. Those are usually used for cars, bling, and cosmetic surgery, and on very rare occasion are used for home improvement. I got a roof and air conditioner with one in the early 00s.
Usually these "moralizing human interest stories" have a much more complicated and detailed real story behind them.
When it comes to he said / "she" said like this, if he was dumb enough to be out $20K, but smart enough to report it as $200K and theres no paperwork to prove it either way, he may as well go for the gold and strike back at "her". Worst case he's busted for filing a false report, although how they'd pin it on him is a mystery. Best case is he makes a nice profit. He's probably pissed off and looking for revenge....
Another possible situation is someone turned 200K into coke, snorted it, doesn't want to admit it, and weirdly enough this utterly pitiful story sounds "better", or at least doesn't violate someones parole terms, divorce settlement, custody requirement, etc.
Then there's the money laundering mule whom got burned. His handler got him used to sloppy handling procedures (yeah I know I told you to keep the last $20K for yourself, but I'm in a hurry and you can just keep $40K of the next shipment). Next thing you know "his" share of the money is gone and he's left holding the bag for laundering, errrr, I mean now he's a unfortunate victim going to the police, how sad.
Sometimes these stories are people whom did NOT get burned, if you know what I mean. Sure, they withdrew $200K of their money and wired it to Mr Kingpin in another country whom now has $200K with a valid receipt proving it is his. The untold story is Mr Kingpin handed him a bag of $300K cash as the first step. Sometimes the IRS catches these guys if they're dumb enough at cash handling (buys a Ferrari, in cash, the week after reporting his "loss", etc). Generally the less the guy helps the cops the more likely this is the situation. He's probably not making that much on a risk free carefully choreographed transaction like that. Probably more like 10% or maybe he's having a favor taken care of for him or being forgiven of a certain mistake toward a powerful person.
The IRS situation is very complicated. If you withdraw the cash, stash it, or wire it to your brother in another state, suddenly you have quite a capital loss there to report. Of course you can only do this about once per lifetime, but, maybe he had a windfall inheritance and this is how he, uh, "lost" it...
Sometimes you see this "behavior" when a genuine, although illegal, deal goes bad and at least you'd like to deduct it from your taxes. So, your "co worker" promised you a 25% rate of return, and he just needs a little cash to get him thru a tight time, but he skipped town instead... Well, at least you can write it off, and/or explain where the money disappeared to, even if thats not exactly where it went. Look thru the local papers for a grow up that got busted a couple weeks ago that had about $200K of expenses, etc.
Shockingly enough, it might be true as reported. Historically unlikely, sure, but possibly true. Maybe. Its a heck of a story anyway.
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How do people this stupid have $200,000 to begin with?
I've worked hard for many years, and while my lifestyle isn't excessive, I still don't have anywhere near that kind of money to throw around even if I was getting laid by a real girlfriend.
This guy gave "her" $200k and never even got a blow?
Wow, where do I find suckers like this? I need the cash.
Although the short article did not say so, when I have read about these scams before, the victim goes to their friends and family and tearfully begs them to help. Even if he couldn't quite make 200K appear, a few of his friends and family might have been able to get some loans and remortgages to help him reach the sum.
Re:Can this be real? (Score:5, Insightful)
In a lot of places around the western world nowdays.
This is a natural result of our "civilisation" frowning on and outright prohibiting parents allowing children to meet Ms Danger and get acquainted with it. It is better to get swindled out of your pocket money a couple of times instead of being swindled out of your salary and life savings a few decades down the road.
I know that I am going to be modded into oblivion, but it is a statement of the fact - there were much less nerds and social misfits in the days when I went to school. Despite the fact that I went to a high school that specializes in sciences and math, the number of nerds we had was nothing out of the ordinary. Today that would have been (and actually is) nerd central. 20 years ago it was a school like any other with the usual 1-2 slightly nerdier kids per each class of 25. However even they boozed, did silly things, partied and made their fair share of social mistakes on par with everyone else.
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And high chance that he is a minority as well. More than half of the Naperville's population is Asian.
This proves another point.... Asian men hard to find any girls even if they show the ca$h. How said..... who said racism is gone from America.....
Strange... (Score:4, Insightful)
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He probably borrowed the money against his house or something.
Good point.
To make matters even uglier, he's probably going to have some problems if he ever tries to borrow a significant amount of money again...
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People without common sense don't have $200k? I beg to differ.
Running a Ponzi scheme doesn't seem like something you'd do if you had common sense, does it? Sooner or later it'll catch up with you, right? Well...
OK, a less extreme example? Buying a McMansion with a NINJA loan. Total nonsense. Yet, there were probably some people who actually, through total dumb luck, got out at the right time. Same deal with dot-coms or any other bubble.
The lottery. Suckers game, and yet people win $200k all the time
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A doctor!!!
Doctors are legendary for not being able to handle money. Right up there with dentists, pro sports athletes, and lottery winners.
And yes, my first thought was "I don't want him operating on me".
An accountant or a cop, yeah be scared. Docs get a free pass on money handling. It doesn't really have much to do with their job.
Re:Strange... (Score:5, Insightful)
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At least I know my online girlfriend is real. She sent pictures.
Hard to believe Blogoviovich fell for this. (Score:2)
It happens more often than not (Score:2)
My previous landlord was sucked into this. He has sent over 20k to online scammers who are from the U.S. We even google mapped where they were in Florida yet he still sent money. He was sent various cheques, would cash them and western union the money, then charged with fraud from the cheques. He sent his rent money to "save her" to the point where he was 10k in debt on the house on back payments.
Don't Assume (Score:5, Insightful)
People don't think these classic scams could ever suck them in but if they are done in an artful way they actually can sucker people in. Most of these con artists lack the ability but there are a few out there with serious skills that really can sink a strong man's boat.
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Agree. Also, there is no fool so foolish as a fool in love.
Falling for Nigerian fraud scams isn't normal. But on Love it is.
Love. Not even once.
EPIC FAIL (Score:2)
Stupid person. News at 11 (Score:2)
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Is this a relevant story because the fraud happened online, or because of some other reason that is not in TFA?
Teh lulz are always relevant.
What amazes me... (Score:3)
A fool and his money... (Score:2)
Sigh... (Score:5, Funny)
See the difference between "screwed" and "laid".
Big head... (Score:5, Funny)
...meet little head.
From my soon-to-be-published book "Dick: An Owner's Manual"
Rule #1: Your dick will lie to you.
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From my soon-to-be-published book "Dick: An Owner's Manual"
About time there was a Dick manual, we've had Jane's guides for years (and before anyone says they've got nothing to do with women, my last girlfriend was ocean-going and had a gross displacement of around 10,000 tons).
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Rule #3: Now, to really find out the secret of getting laid, send me $100.
Rule #4: What did I tell you???
For $200k he could have (Score:2)
He saved money (Score:3, Informative)
If it was a real woman, she would have cost him more than that in marriage
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Anyone here divorced? (Score:5, Funny)
Admit it--You're all jealous over how easy this guy got off.
what's the penalty for bigamy? (Score:3)
The really sad part, ... (Score:2)
Ironically... (Score:2)
Prostitutes would have been cheaper, and he might have ACTUALLY gotten laid.
Lack of empathy (Score:5, Insightful)
Not the same, but close enough. (Score:3)
Nigeria (Score:5, Insightful)
As soon as you see Nigeria and bank in the same context, always run away. In fact, just Nigeria should be enough...
Re:Thinking saves money!!! (Score:5, Funny)
why didn't she move to him and then he would know she's safe.
Um, because she doesn't exist....
Re:Thinking saves money!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
How do people that naive get all that money in the first place? If I had a girlfriend who needed $200,000 to save her own ass she'd be S.O.L. if she came to me for it.
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How do people that naive get all that money in the first place?
credit cards?
Re:Thinking saves money!!! (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Thinking saves money!!! (Score:5, Insightful)
Bull. Fucking. Shit. You haven't heard that. Ever. That's just your absolutely pathetic understanding of the "progressive" agenda.
It's probably not your fault though -- smart people with a lot of money have been painting progressives with that brush for a long time, and a lot of dupes have fallen for it.
--Jeremy
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How do people that naive get all that money in the first place?
Because the world is far from a meritocracy. Or an any-thing-most-people-in-their-right-minds-would-consider-worth-measuring-ocracy. Power, riches, and related trappings are not distributed by fairness or intelligence, nor does the gullibility required to lose this sort of money preclude the chance to obtain it by some means deserved or not.
And before anyone points it out: I'm well aware that I'm comfortable compared to many in the world by luck of birth rather than personal worth. Yes it is working out
Re:There's an old saying (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:There's an old saying (Score:4, Funny)
There, but for having more than 2 brain cells, go I.
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Maybe he borrowed the money, so now he might owe $200k plus interest.
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Maybe he borrowed the money, so now he might owe $200k plus interest.
Those kind of amounts are discharged in bankruptcy every day, no big deal. Can anyone prove he was not planning on declaring all along? Makes you wonder if he REALLY doesn't know where the cash is. In fact sometimes the rules on chap 7 vs chap 11 mean you "save money by losing money" if you can get your net worth negative or low enough... Even better if you don't actually lose the money but its just stashed somewhere.
Now someone whom is stupid, would wire it across the country, then buy a plane ticket u
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To be fair, if you weeded out everyone that wants you for your money, you'd have to turn gay.
Re:Sad (Score:5, Funny)
How sad
Yeah, as a Slashdotter, I don't get many opportunities to call somebody else's love-life sad.
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I can't speak on behalf of this guy's intelligence, but I am reluctant to conclude he's an idiot. My guess is that this guy is not so gullible in general, but that he let down his guard here because he really wanted to believe it was true.
Well said. I think if the commenters here would get past their 'smarter-than-everyone' mentality, they'd have a bit more sympathy for the dude. We all act dumb for love, that's why it's such a common topic on sitcoms.
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Con artists can be REALLY good. If she was in contact with him for a long time, he probably really believed her, really loved her. When he found out that this person he trusted was in trouble, he did what he could to help.
People have lost millions over love. The have murdered, committed espionage, and started wars over love.
Need to remember that he was probably not very internet savvy or the scam would not have gotten past the first email.
As far as a dumb move by a person in love, this isn't at all out ther