I AM NOT ALONE

I felt compelled to write a follow up entry to my last post ‘I Have Been Catfished – Stay Away From This Man – PAUL BENJAMIN JONE’.

http://berniesafricanodyssey.blogspot.com/2015/01/i-have-been-catfished-stay-away-from.html

Since my post 5 days ago I have been inundated by support from friends, which I should have known everyone better and that they would have my back, and that there would be no judgements from the people who are in my life and care.  I also received A LOT of messages from close friends and also from people who are just acquaintances, but they all had a similar stories, whether it be themselves, a family member in denial, or knowing someone who had/or was in the middle of a ‘catfish’, and finally a handful of stories of people who had been in the same boat as I, not to the same extent in regards to a monetary loss, but when it comes down to it, that sometimes isn’t the only issue to overcome once you have been wrapped up in web of deceit.

I am not alone.

I knew that there were other people who were victims of this crime; it is on TV all the time.  But to hear from friends, most of them not having told many people due to the embarrassment, it is nice to know that out of a pretty flipped up situation I have given a voice to people who can’t or don’t want to make their own stories public.  I do get it, I understand completely, and unless you have been in that situation you really can’t understand just how GOOD these fraudsters are.  It’s easy to say ‘how can you be so gullible’ but I’m telling you, they are just so superior at what they do.  I even had a male friend who was targeted by a ‘lady’ and luckily, as hard as it was’ cut off’ all communication after 6 months, when she suddenly asked for money.  She had all the excuses under the sun on why she couldn’t set up a Skype date or set up a visit.  It all sounds familiar and after getting all the messages, it seems that the fraudsters have the same MO.  He got out of it with no loss of money, but certainly a piece of his heart and soul was taken away that can never be replaced, just like the money that is ‘given’, it is lost forever.  Whether you lost one dollar, thousands of dollars or after months of conversing online investing yourself completely, and recognising the final stage where they ask for money, and THEN having to be emotionally strong enough to say no, the emotional toll itself is so overwhelming, it can be just as traumatic, no matter what category you fall into.

One of the many stories I received, I met my friends sister-in-law when I was holidaying in the United States.  She shared my blog post with a group that she frequents and got a very good reception. Two ladies said that they had been trying to figure out how to talk to their moms about being careful online and said that they were going to share my post with their moms.  One woman wrote her back and said that her mom had read my post and recognized my baddie!  IMAGINE!!!!!  She now wants to share what she knows and asked for my email.  I never thought that I would find someone that had also dealt with the same ‘baddie’.  This internet world really is a small world indeed and as I still wait for the email from this lady, it will make for a very interesting read indeed.

So I just wanted to say THANKYOU to every single person that liked, left a comment and messaged me the last few days. I am very humbled by the support and comments from all over the world. Life is about choices and in 2015 I chose to not let this predator ruin my faith in people or my relationships for the future. I do agree that Karma will come and this makes me smile secretly on the inside. For those friends who asked, I am more than happy for you to share my story, the more people who are made aware of these monsters targeting women online the better and the blog post was not all in vain. Thank you; seriously, to every single person I am lucky to call friends and family. 

PLEASE keep spreading the word.  Post my entry, EVERYWHERE.  Talk to your own friends and family and let’s get this type of crime and story out into the world more.  Get people talking.  You will be amazed just how many people YOU may know who are too scared to come forward.  It seems like it is this dirty little secret that nobody wants anyone to know about and it is affecting more and more people every day.

 

I know we won’t catch ‘my’ guy, but maybe we can band together to make it harder for these people to not catch the good people unawares……..

REMEMBER:

STAY AWAY FROM ‘ALIAS’ PAUL BENJAMIN JONE……