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  !!!

Internet Friends

I have already written something about the positive sides of the Internet here, but  I would like to add another aspect:   there is more to Internet contacts than "not being only bad." Let me explain:

- You can keep in contact more easily. I know a lot of families that are spread all over the globe and thanks to email, IM and video chat they can exchange information quickly and keep in touch. 200 years ago, when a member of the family emigrated to Australia, it meant that a letter travelled about half a year ... nowadays, an email reaches its destination in half an instant.

 - You can really get to know someone . The anonymity of the Internet can create an atmosphere where very personal talks are possible that would not happen in real life. If (big IF!!)  both partners are honest with each other (of course, with due caution), we come to the next point:

- You can make  good friends on the Internet. Long chats, exchanging photos and information and seeing each other in a video chat, all this can lead to a point where you get really close.  I have talked to hundreds of people and gotten to know a bit about their lives, but some of them have become  good friends. Some I have already met here in Europe - others I still have to meet.  Some have become very important for my life and I owe them a lot (for example the courage to start this blog - xie xie, Sam)  ...  and all this has made me curious as to where life will still lead me.

So next Friday I am travelling to Mexico for four weeks to see a new country, learn more Spanish and meet two more of my Internet friends ... one of them a young woman who I have known since she was a teenager. I am happy about how the Internet has opened the door to the world for me  - so that we all can become friends and be united in peace.

(photo: "Friends" by Guillermo Macias)

Cave Woman

Last weekend my computer crashed - first I thought it was only the system that had been affected by a virus, but in the end it was the hard drive that was broken and had to be substituted by a new one. On Sunday morning it ceased to function, on Tuesday evening I was reconnected to the world. THREE WHOLE DAYS without computer !!!!!!

To give you the good news first, I had done a backup of my files on Saturday morning, so in the end only one school worksheet and five photos were lost. But I found it amazing, how handicapped I felt without my computer. To mention just a few things:

- I had to write an important letter
- I had to design a test for my 5th year English group
- I wanted to work on some more writing
- I wanted to upload and send away some photos I had taken that day
- I needed some information for my lessons
- I could not talk to my friends around the world

I had to go down on my knees to beg my son to allow me to use his computer for five minutes for two emails, one professional and one private one. Reluctantly he let me approach his precious machine for five minutes, standing next to me counting the seconds and suspiciously viewing my every move. After all, my role in this household is that of the computer idiot and I probably had done something that caused the hard drive to break. I could also do some things at school on Monday and Tuesday afternoon, but that meant I had to stay in school longer on days with an already very busy schedule.

So, the computer makes my professional life a lot easier. But what I missed most were the conversations with my online friends - sure, we could exchange emails, and those are faster than the old, pre-Internet method, but still, I have so gotten used to a little chat here and there with someone on the other side of the globe.

Well, in the end I could leave the age of smoke signals and was reconnected to the world again. But it makes me wonder, what would happen, if by some disaster we were thrown back to an age without electricity and gadgets that pass a message around the world at the click of a button...

PS:
I have to add that after my son had built in the new hard drive, I was able to set up everything that was needed, but had problems with my old monitor. I asked my son to help me and that caused him to raise eyes to the sky and declare mothers the most annoying people on this planet. I pointed out to him that his annoying mother was paying for the new brakes for his car... it turned out to be a convincing argument...

Internet is not only bad

Internet is not only bad. Despite all the warnings about meeting potential rapists and murderers on Internet notice boards, I have been around quite a few of them and have made a lot of new friends. Of course, you should be careful with what you publish about yourself. You should not give your real name, address and phone number to strangers. But when you observe these basic precautions, you can have a lot of fun.

Some people my age complain about the anonymity of Internet. That you cannot see the person you are talking to. I find that this is at the same time a danger and a great asset.

There is the danger that someone you talk to pretends to be someone he/she is not. This is particularly annoying when you are looking for a partner on the Internet: if the one you are interested in presents a completely false picture of himself, you waste a lot of time.

But when you are simply looking for interesting people to talk to, this "anonymity" can be a great advantage. It can enable you to find chat partners you would in real life never have considered. I have had the most fascinating conversations with younger people, who in real life would probably not want to be seen talking to a middle aged woman. Looks, age and sex don't play a role, what counts are the thoughts and ideas you want to discuss. I can share my life experience and get some fresh views - horizons are widened and new doors are opened.

Definitely, Internet has a lot of positive aspects !