My Scam Story by Kate Kleinert
“I certainly wasn’t looking for love, but it found me! I never, ever, ever accepted a friend request from someone I don’t know; until the day that I did.
I wish I could go back to that day and figure out what possessed me to accept the friend request from such a handsome man. At that time, I had been widowed for 12 years but was not looking for another relationship. The pictures of this man who said his name was Tony were of a handsome man dressed in both a white coat of a doctor and another picture of him in scrubs.
After a few days of exchanging messages, Tony asked me to download either Hang Out or What’s App. He wanted to be able to hear my voice. I didn’t know then that these apps are the favorites of scammers because they are untraceable.
Tony got romantic very early on which at first startled me but then became very charming. It was so lovely to have someone call me every night and ask, “How was your day, Honey?” No one has asked me that since my husband died.
After months of his verbal love making, I will admit that I let my defenses down and started having feelings for him. Tony talked about coming here to meet me and hopefully get married. By now we were speaking 4 to 6 times a day, and I felt like I knew him to some extent. By the time he asked me for money, I trusted him.
Plans were made for Tony to come to the States, and I sent him money for airfare. Once I sent money the first time, there were many other reasons why he needed me to send more. He convinced me he would pay me back when he arrived.
He never showed up.
By that point I had sent him $39,000. It was all I had. Coming to the realization that I was being scammed was gut wrenching. Losing the money was more devastating than you can imagine. Losing that love that I had finally opened myself up to broke my heart. It was a long road to travel to where I was no longer crying. But I know now that I was not stupid for falling for this. I was the victim of a criminal who knew exactly what he was doing.”