Recently I met with a client and she was all atwitter over the status of her love life and her new beau. She couldn’t wait to tell me that her life had completely changed and she’d met the man of her dreams…all in the course of two weeks.
So I asked, “Is he handsome? Is he a businessman? Is he interested in everything you’re interested in?”
She turned to me shocked and said, “have you met him before?!”
Yes, I have. I met him when I was a federal prosecutor and he was running a boiler room scam making hundreds of phone calls selling penny stocks. He may wear a new hat these days, where he lurks behind a computer screen and lies in wait for the people he called “suckers” back in the 80s.
I dug a little bit deeper with my client and asked her if her new beloved had asked her for some money-just until they met-to defray some of the travel costs for when they could finally be together. I knew from the slump in her shoulders that he had. It was then that the she knew what I had picked up on.
The love of her life, the man of her dreams was just another internet con man looking to score some quick pocket change. Had he been able to bilk her a little longer, he could’ve walked away with her life savings. Thankfully, we caught the situation before any money changed hands and my client realized that she hadn’t done her research. She had just counted on love.
I fear she will become involved in another one of these situations in the not too distant future, but I don’t think she’ll tell me about it. No one wants to hear bad news or be made to feel like a fool, so she likely won’t share with me. Love on the internet? For me, the jury is still out.
Take my advice for what it is…It’s just, AS I SEE IT!
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