Her mind’s eye focused upon the horizon
Blissfully unaware of any danger
The present, the future; converging in union
Into the form of an image of a handsome stranger
Cyberspace preys on illusion and trickery
Images are just a taste, a tease, a lure
And is what makes this a fool’s game for sure
The handsome stranger vows honor, truth, loyalty
Words he cites in chat sound too rehearsed; too planned
Then comes “his” story; a painful story. One of tragedy
Married with a child, wife dies painfully. The story? Also planned.
Also part of the lure, the trickery, all to ensnare
For this stranger, it’s a twisted sickening game
For the fool who follows, it’s a road fraught with traps and snares
And all lead to one place: devastation and shame
The words continue to be passed on over time
Sharing, caring and soon, terms of endearment come
Too soon, too fast and soon? The first trap is sprung.
But she doesn’t know this yet. No alarm bells have rung
He’s telling her, “You’re my darling for all time.”
“My love” “My Darling” “My precious one”
He knows what a woman wants and how to get it
Time. Patience. Persistence…and a powerful ability
That ability? It goes against what he says he stands for
The gift…of manipulation. He’s the salesman, who does the workover
Anything BUT honorable. Anything BUT truth. Anything BUT loyalty…except to one.
Himself and what his “cut” of the funds will be.
Yet again, she doesn’t know this, not quite.
She’s still “his Queen” “his adored one” “His WIFE”
The one he wishes to share his entire life
And it may have been….a few days now?
All since this stranger interrupted her life
Now, he is taking OVER her life. And she wonders “How?”
But the daydreams of life everafter
They’ve begun in earnest; promises made
Vows pledged – after all, he is of honor
He’d follow her from one end of the earth to the other
And this woman who was only days before unaware
Now is madly “in love” with an internet image who swore forever after
She was “the one and only one” for him
Beautiful, adorable, “blessed to have her”
One day things change radically – it usually does
A disaster, a catastrophe has happened; a crisis looms
The real question, whose crisis IS it? Hers or His?
“I received a letter from a holding company….”
The true hook, the true motive casts a pall of gloom
Over this once-blossoming “romance”
If she fights, the reaction of her “lover” is bitter like acid
She’s “disloyal,” “dishonorable,” and he? “Disappointed.”
As for her? She’s destroyed; her lover who called her “his”
Now, all he thinks about? Money and his share
Vanishing as fast as her “forever after”
If she does as she’s told, an email goes out
Another returns asking for money from her
If she’s smart, she’s starting to pull back and cut things off
She’s digging around, armed with information
Blocking emails, changing email addresses and phone numbers
She’s running as fast as she can from this situation
And she’s NOT saying ONE WORD to this loser
We want him caught with the empty bag
And she does it all. Blocks it all. Changes it all.
Now, the pain is quickly easing
The relief is just as quickly soothing
This was too close; just too close
This woman was the lucky one – she escaped
But others aren’t so lucky – they’re trapped
She, however, can move on….
I was scammed by a man on the internet for over 5 thousand dollars. This poem speaks to me all about the lure, the bait and the hook and then the switch. The one good thing is that being burned like this wakes you up to reality and you become much more aware and cautious next time. Love Deborah
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Ohhhhh! Hearing stories like this infuriate me! I was so lucky he couldn’t get anything out of me. He kept telling me to send an email to be a beneficiary – but I immediately blocked the address and all addresses I had. I reported him and the account he used to lure me in. He was moving over to Google and slammed him there as he “dumped” me – his images? All went through Google images and were all of resident interns – not full doctors – that all looked very similar but all were from New York. He was claiming to be in Syria. Once I got that information on the images, down went the hammer on my end. No troubles since then. But to hear what others have lost in reading those web pages is sad – some were ready to fly off and MEET these guys! My heart broke! And no one can ever catch them. Someday he’ll get his.
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