Back on Miscellaneous Wednesday, I mentioned an email I got from a man who works for Cadbury (I repeat: Nom Nom Nom) telling me his tale of woe and loneliness. And I felt sorry for the guy and wished him good luck in his search.
Yesterday, I get a message from a man in the UK and his tale of woe is surprisingly similar to Mr. Dairy Milk. Both said that they had been widowers for four years and were raising a daughter alone, and how difficult that was. UK man jumped the shark, however, by adding that both his parents also died in the fiery crash that killed his wife. And, I thought, hmmm I see. If he hadn’t thrown that parent thing in he was still believable. But he blew it.
Which got me to thinking about Internet scams and an episode of Fifth Estate I saw a few years ago about this con man who had married 2 or 3 women that he had met on a Christian (!!) dating website. And he’d basically taken all of them for every cent. He was married to more than one at a time, but none of the women knew about the others.
And now I’m thinking, is it really that easy? Are women of a “certain age” really such easy marks? Why is four years considered to be a good timeframe for their alleged widowerhood, and why say they are raising a daughter rather than a son? There’s got to be evidence that this is the kind of detail in the story that lures the lonely woman in. How cruel to exploit a person’s loneliness.
The Internet: Source of endless fascination and creepiness.
5 comments:
Four years because he respects the memory of his cherished wife. No Jerry Lee Lewis he. Imagine raising a step-daughter, being something of a role-model (boys, they can be a bit wild). And just think, the dead wife's parents won't intrude - they were dispensed with. Not just a car crash, but a fiery car crash. Hmm... would a lonely widow really provide details?
You're right, of course, Mr Dairy Milk and Mr Flake are one and the same.
But his parents died in a fiery crash?
If I were you...I'd send cash.
JAW fan
I figure I'm just one or two emails away from meeting a Nigerian prince who will shower me with money, if only I just float him a loan of a few grand to take care of some "bank paperwork". Then, I'm laughing, baby...
Oh, his parents. I see. Well then, I'm convinced.
No longer Mr Flake, consider him Mr Wunderbar.
This brings to mind the scandal at my former employer about someone being paid to write refugee applications so that people would be sure they would get citizenship. Why do I think there is someone out there that says "for 100 bucks, I will write a dating site profile/intro message that I guarantee will pull in the babes". The only thing missing is his spare time volunteer work at the animal shelter and kidney he donated to the alcoholic neighbor.
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