Re:

Submitted by Straight_Talk_Luigi (United States), Mar 12, 2008 at 00:41

Yeah, I was in a situation just like yours. Only, the perpetrator was a girl, and she lived in an hour away from me.

I suffered through the whole myspace fiasco thing too. She was using it to flirt with other men all the time. I've told a lot of others on here about it, but basically, she really no intention of staying with me. Apparently, I was good-looking or atheletic enough, which is rather ironic because with all the running I did, I always figured I was in better shape that people who did drugs. She was only with me for the money.

So as you can imagine, I think a lot of these on-line relationships--or even friendships---are SHAMS.

The girl I dated also claimed her best friends lived in cities over 800 miles away, and that she knew them better than they knew themselves, presumably by talking on the phone and the internet. Yeah, great way to get to know someone.

The million dollar question with that always is: Is it easier for someone to lie on the phone or the internet or in real life with you staring them down?

Well, why do you think scammers and spammers use the phone and internet instead of going door-to-door like a save the whales person, a Jevohavah's witness or even an appliance dealer?

At any rate, I was so shocked and aghast that somoeone could be this selfish, but as I actually investigated it, I realized this happens ALL the time. Sometimes, it's organized crime networks or families, who really have become the internet mafia, or it's just some selfish person trying to mooch off of you.

I think it's important to share you stories on here, because the women (and men too) who come on here must understand they are not alone, and the key thing is this happened before. And really, that's why it keeps on going, because it works! Women in their 40s and 50s REALLY do believe that a man who is 21 will fall in love with them, and men, don't even get me started! In many cases, they don't even have to MEET the guy to milk him for money.

They think to themselves: I am a good person, I have a lot to offer, bla bla BS! And what happens in MOST cases? They wind up on here or living with relatives. Let's face it, if you wanna play the game of on-line, phone love, I promise you there are people in the third world who would LOVE to reap your life savings, that is, your time away from YOUR friends and family.

It sure is more widespread with the internet, but I'm amazed at how utterly arrogant people are to think they've discovered something new with this. The thing is, people have had relationships over the phone long before computers ever came to be, and that was bad enough.

I still don't think a lot of people understand WHY this happens. First of all, there's about 10 million more women who live in Western countries than men. When you combine that with the fact that many Western men would rather party until they drop dead at 70, I can certainly understand why women would seek mates abroad.

But the thing is, when you do that, the odds are AGAINST you enormously.

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".