You can’t seem to go anywhere on the internet and not come across one of those Nigerian scams. My spam box is filled with emails addressed “Dearest Friend”, my attempt to find a new apartment is peppered with prospective landlords who suddenly had to go away to Africa on business, and I’ve been instructed by eBay sellers to send them my bank account number while they are visiting their sick aunt. In fact, they use the same schpeal so many times I wonder how anyone still falls for it.
Though the scammers are everywhere, I never expected them to target dating sites and neither did my friend Kenneth. He’s not a bad looking guy and he’s good on paper and all that crap, but he’s convinced he is more likely to find his Ms. Right over the net as opposed to a bar. “There’s never any time to really connect with someone on an intellectual level in a noisy crowded place,” he often says to defend himself. While he does have a point, I’m pretty sure he prefers to stay behind his computer because he feels it’s safer on the pride than face to face interaction.
Regardless of his reasoning, I still listen when he gets excited every time he finds a girl on MySpace who “just may be the one!” Sometimes I’ll interject when it’s obvious the girl is stringing him along, but there’s not much I can say. He never listens and just tells me, “I have a feeling about this girl.”
So I wasn’t planning on saying anything to him when a few days ago he called me and said “This is it, I’ve found her,” about a girl who he’d been chatting with from eHarmony.com. Even when he told me that this girl was in the midst of breaking up with her boyfriend, I kept my mouth shut. I was in no mood to have him accuse me of being negative as usual.
“Yeah, so this guy she was with was a real prick. He took her on vacation with him to visit relatives someplace in Africa and then he beat her and robbed her.”
That caught my attention. “He did what?”
“Isn’t that messed up? She says she’s stranded now with no place to stay and no way to get back. She asked if I could maybe send her some money so she could buy a plane ticket back. All I have to do is send her my bank account number so she can get the money for the airfare right away.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You don’t find it weird that she has no money, but is still able to email you?”
“I figured she was at a Kinko’s or something,” he replied. “So do you think I should send it?”
Despite the devil on my shoulder telling me otherwise, I told him about the Nigerian scams and read a few from my inbox. “They do this everywhere, don’t tell me you’re gonna fall for it too.”
“I guess not,” he said. “I just have a feeling about this girl. She might actually be telling the truth.”
Despite everything I told him, he still was going to send the money and even logged into his email to respond with his info…until he saw a message he got from a girl on True.com whose boyfriend also stranded her in Nigeria while visiting relatives!
Same story? What a coincidence! Guess those chicks didn’t want to hitch hike home…
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This one had me rolling on the floor, laughing
Great post!
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