Romance Scammers

It is Valentine's Day today - the day of lovers and loved ones. The Internet message boards I am member of are full of romantic Valentine wishes for those who are in a relationship and even more wishes for those, who are not. So I am writing about something romantic, too : romance scammers. They pretend to love you, but are only after your money.

After I personally  have been bored by so many amateurs, I thought it is high time someone writes a guide for young men who want to try this as a living. So here are some points a professional should consider:

- Check your English. Chances are you come across a teacher of English who gets very suspicious if you claim to be an academic and native speaker, but can't write a single complete sentence without mistakes.
- Check your victim's age. If she is older than 50, she might have children of her own and thus might  not be interested in becoming the step-mother of a motherless 11-year-old girl, who will be a bitchy teenager faster than you can say "puberty".
- Particularly  don't say you are widowed with a pre-teenage kid when she is a teacher ! She deals with them in her job, she doesn't want to have any at home  as well.
- Don't move too fast: it is very suspicious if you say you cannot stop thinking of her and she is the woman of your life after half an hour of chat and a blurry photo.
- Don't be too insistant on getting her mobile phone number, a better photo, her real name, address, job information, income and things like that too soon, and particularly don't ask for this at your first "date".
- Don't ask for money after all together a few hours of contact. And the argument : "Yes, you are clever to be careful, but if you give me the money, you will see that I pay back..." is not very convincing. In fact, a professional scammer doesn't ask, but waits until money is offered.

In other words: LEAVE ME ALONE and don't bore me with your stupid stories !!

PS:
Sarcasm alert ... yes, the obove is meant ironically. There are  warning websites on the Internet  and if you never heard this term and are single, you should go and study them. Romance scamming is no joke for the victim, but maybe the above helps to raise awareness.

And: I still  wish you all a lovely and enjoyable Valentine's Day  !!!