I am one of you

Submitted by Michele (United States), Aug 21, 2018 at 00:13

Like so many on this list, I too was scammed by a Moroccan man doing "bezness" (Google it). I almost ruined my life with this young man and barely got out of the situation. I am not posting for advice. I simply need to share my story as a way for me to heal and I want to "talk" to others who have been through this. I am 52. He is 27. I have a doctorate degree and was the youngest senior manager in my division before I retired this year after saving money for 30 years to make retirement happen at my age. I've also got a side business that is successful and brings in money. So, I am a highly educated, driven, successful woman. Of course my Moroccan love is extremely good looking, uneducated, and poor. He makes $5 USD/day in the tourism industry. But this is not where I met him. I participate in international running events. I met him at a running race in Morocco.

I'm embarrassed to say that I fell really hard for this guy, and the worst part about it, yea, I'm married and was going to divorce my husband for him. Over the course of 15 months things got really intense and I saw him three times in Morocco. He didn't tell me he loved me and wanted to marry me until 9 months into our correspondence. If it wasn't for this site and all of these stories of destroyed lives, I may very well have given up everything for him and his family. I almost bought a house in Morocco for the two of us and was planning to marry him.

So typical. . . .things went from sweet texts every morning 15 months ago to most recently me giving him money and engaging in late night sex videos. Before I broke things off for the third time, he never seemed available during the day to speak with me. There were also red flags, like texts that didn't make sense because they were clearly meant for another woman. And when I discovered his Instagram account, I felt like I was going to die. My God! Who were all these women in very little clothing (that were not models) that he "liked"? Every time I confronted him, he would "love bomb" me or make me feel guilty saying that his life is not worth living without me, he will stay with me forever and die by my side, promised he would love me forever, help me every day with anything I needed (cooking and cleaning), and was crying because I hurt him by making him feel like a bad man when he is sure he is a very good man.

It's been 2 weeks since I blocked him on my social media accounts. And I am in pain. It hurts. The money and gifts I gave him and his family ($8,000 USD) are easy to get over. The emotional pain is not. I am mentally destroyed. Even though I now understand he never loved me and the whole relationship was a scam, I loved him so very much. I cry every day. Some days are harder than others but reading this forum and another web site help me to be strong. I also think about how lucky I am that I did not throw my entire life away. I am sure that after a few years of marriage he would have left me for a younger woman who could give him children. I want to thank all the woman who have posted their stories here. You have saved me. I just hope my story will help someone else.

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