[BobbyDavis]

This is probably going to come across as a bit insensitive but I have noticed this is becoming a growing trend lately and many men and women have been conned into sending thousands of dollars over to people in foreign countries only to find out the person they are talking to is not who they say they are. Am I not the only one to think it is dumb and naive to send money to somebody online especially when you have never met them face to face? What makes people stupid enough to fall for this crap? I don't trust anybody I have never met face to face online and I mean no offence saying that to people but let's just say I have had my share of bad experiences online as a former admin and I have seen one too many crazy idiots to trust the internet ever again.

[baseline]

Originally Posted by BobbyDavis

This is probably going to come across as a bit insensitive but I have noticed this is becoming a growing trend lately and many men and women have been conned into sending thousands of dollars over to people in foreign countries only to find out the person they are talking to is not who they say they are. Am I not the only one to think it is dumb and naive to send money to somebody online especially when you have never met them face to face? What makes people stupid enough to fall for this crap? I don't trust anybody I have never met face to face online and I mean no offence saying that to people but let's just say I have had my share of bad experiences online as a former admin and I have seen one too many crazy idiots to trust the internet ever again.

The only thing I can think of is there are a lot of very lonely people who want to reach out to someone. Very sad that they are so vulnerable and taken advantage of!!

[Fuzzybear]

Yes, I too have had more than a few bad experiences online. And I have been a moderator on 2 different (well respected) websites...

One of my best friends online years ago told me to take everything anybody says online with a "pinch of salt..."

I'm thinking, maybe a "bucket of salt"

(still naive
Paws

[baseline]

Originally Posted by Fuzzybear

Yes, I too have had more than a few bad experiences online. And I have been a moderator on 2 different (well respected) websites...

One of my best friends online years ago told me to take everything anybody says online with a "pinch of salt..."

I'm thinking, maybe a "bucket of salt"

(still naive
Paws

I know how you feel. My H doesn't know I reply to forums. He makes me feel paranoid i will be hurt or taken advantage of. Anytime I'm on the computer my son asks what I'm doing which also gets on my nerves! No one wants to be taken advantage of! I just am so lonely and confused and reading other people's posts proves that their are others who think like me. thanks for listening/reading.

[Fuzzybear]

PC is a safe place, as far as forums go. The moderators do their best to make this place safe for all (if anyone does anything against the guidelines you can always "report" it here)

[Fuzzybear]

sorry I meant to "quote" this in my post

Originally Posted by baseline

I know how you feel. My H doesn't know I reply to forums. He makes me feel paranoid i will be hurt or taken advantage of. Anytime I'm on the computer my son asks what I'm doing which also gets on my nerves! No one wants to be taken advantage of! I just am so lonely and confused and reading other people's posts proves that their are others who think like me. thanks for listening/reading.

[Fuzzybear]

I was just thinking of what I said, there are some people I do trust who I met online...

Originally Posted by BobbyDavis

This is probably going to come across as a bit insensitive but I have noticed this is becoming a growing trend lately and many men and women have been conned into sending thousands of dollars over to people in foreign countries only to find out the person they are talking to is not who they say they are. Am I not the only one to think it is dumb and naive to send money to somebody online especially when you have never met them face to face? What makes people stupid enough to fall for this crap? I don't trust anybody I have never met face to face online and I mean no offence saying that to people but let's just say I have had my share of bad experiences online as a former admin and I have seen one too many crazy idiots to trust the internet ever again.

Lonely people have there guard's down and are desperate for anyone to love them , talk to them and so on .

I saw a show a while ago a woman gave her life savings to a man she fell in love with on the internet she even ask her family for money to give to him !
This woman was so out of control !
The family was so upset with her but she just could not see it ..

Is was as if this guy was her drug and she keep feeding him with money .
It was so sad

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by BobbyDavis

This is probably going to come across as a bit insensitive but I have noticed this is becoming a growing trend lately and many men and women have been conned into sending thousands of dollars over to people in foreign countries only to find out the person they are talking to is not who they say they are. Am I not the only one to think it is dumb and naive to send money to somebody online especially when you have never met them face to face? What makes people stupid enough to fall for this crap? I don't trust anybody I have never met face to face online and I mean no offence saying that to people but let's just say I have had my share of bad experiences online as a former admin and I have seen one too many crazy idiots to trust the internet ever again.

the main site with free ads in the US, Craigslist, regularly warns consumers of scams. These scams need not be romance-related. There are common threads that people should be aware of. E.g. if an apartment is listed with the rental price below market (by much) and the owner says in the ad that she or he had urgently needed to move to China but would send the keys for the apartment via FedEx to his or her new tenant after receiving a Western Union wire, that is a scam. There are MLM scams. There are work from home scams. There are secret shoppers scams. There are "you have money in a Nigerian bank" scams. There are lots and lots of scams. People are gullible and want to believe what in reality seems to good to be true. This is a general trend and "romance" is a specific example of that general trend. Loneliness, as has been noted above, makes people especially susceptible to romance scams, while laziness or desperation makes them susceptible to scams that promise easy money. The exact reason differs, but the main idea is the same - people want to believe in something that to a neutral and grounded outside observer would appear too good to be true, be it love at first chat message or a windfall of money or an unrealistically good deal on a purchase, etc.

[PennyD]

I think loneliness for sure, but maybe some people really are searching for love, and wanting to feel love and not feeling loved in any other area of their life

[BobbyDavis]

Thanks for all the replies.

I guess it is the whole money part that confuses me the most because for these men and women to send thousands of dollars to these scammers they can't be all that stupid unless they rob banks and I would say it must have something to do with the loneliness factor because that is the only way to explain it.

I don't mean to put people down who have been victims of online romance scams so I apologise if there are some people on here that think I was but I am just trying to understand it.

[s4ndm4n2006]

Originally Posted by BobbyDavis

This is probably going to come across as a bit insensitive but I have noticed this is becoming a growing trend lately and many men and women have been conned into sending thousands of dollars over to people in foreign countries only to find out the person they are talking to is not who they say they are. Am I not the only one to think it is dumb and naive to send money to somebody online especially when you have never met them face to face? What makes people stupid enough to fall for this crap? I don't trust anybody I have never met face to face online and I mean no offence saying that to people but let's just say I have had my share of bad experiences online as a former admin and I have seen one too many crazy idiots to trust the internet ever again.

I don't understand it either but it kind of goes the same for people falling for scams in general related to money. I think this is just yet another way for con artists to line their pockets and there always have been and always will be people who are manipulated easier than others. Con artists have always been around, the internet just makes it easier to con more people and faster.

In this particular con, I think it's that people have a need to be wanted and loved and are lonely. couple that with people that are typically gullible or easily manipulated and it's going to happen, there are going to be victims.

I don't particularly feel right in calling anyone an idiot or stupid. It seems to leave out the factor that you dont' know how good the con artist was, and how well they are able to cater to the victim's needs or desires to get them to give in.