My most painful experiences were being "led on" by people I most trusted. One were therapists themselves and the other was a neighborhood couple I spent much time with. The husband turned out to be kind of a pervert. These episodes left me with a vulnerability that reverberated for years.

There is an MTV program called "Catfish" that explores these stories both from the victim and perp's viewpoint. The program allows viewers to "meet" the imposter on the other end. From the couple of episodes I saw, the perps were desperate and pitiable. (A different catfishing story with a tragic outcome was told in Talhotblond. )

I'm not young and yet have been fooled online, albeit as a simple spectator. I pride myself with having a good "detector," particularly on the page. These incidents always are jolting.