Preying on love’s desperation
“By the third mail, he was talking about marriage and us being soul mates and the woman of his dreams."
It’s as if he stepped out of your dreams.
He seems the perfect gentleman, of artistic expression, sculpted physique and gentle demeanour, and he’s falling in love with you.
It almost seems too good to be true.
Dee Wright, who chairs the DA Women’s Network for Amajuba, has been documenting the stories of numerous South African women, scammed of their savings, inheritances and more, through online scams.
She believes many are ensnared because of the women’s nature to be loved and to love.
“They need to nurture and feel wanted, and these men have locked into that psyche, and are playing it for all it is worth.”
Mrs Wright began intensive investigations into these frequent scams, following her own experience and the lasting scars it left her.
Fortunately, she cottoned on her Prince Charming was far from royalty.
“I was contacted through LinkedIn; I received an invite and because my browser was out of date, I replied with an email address.”
From the point of contact, Mrs Wright noticed a strange tendency of the man to not comment on what she had to say, despite the context. At the same time, she and her daughter began searching for more details on the man.
“I have heard the most common method used is to mention a late wife who always seemed to have died tragically. I became suspicious.”
Upon the man’s claims he was in the Northern Cape, Mrs Wright began asking questions about the sights near Kimberley.
Suddenly, he ‘was in Kimberley’.
“By the third mail, he was talking about marriage and us being soul mates and the woman of his dreams. I was bombarded with emails, WhatsApp and phone calls.”
As the conversations progressed, the ‘Prince Charming’ claimed he was leaving Kimberley that night, and taking a flight to the United Kingdom because his father was ‘dying of cerebrovascular disease and required heart surgery’, only to announce he had arrived in the UK and had already been to see his father in hospital less than 10 hours later.
Mrs Wright knew this was simply impossible.
“By this time, my niece in the UK had called the hotel phone number he gave. The first time the number did not exist, the second time it was a private number but within a hotel room.”
Shortly before this revelation, Mrs Wright had received further emails in which the writer claimed his father was ill and wished he could meet her. Then came the kicker.
“He contacted me for 720 Pounds, because he couldn’t pay his hotel bill. When I told him I had no money, he asked if I could approach my bank or take out a loan.”
Mrs Wright realised if he could not pay his hotel bill, he certainly would not still be staying in the hotel and have a permanent telephone installed as well.
In response, she emailed the man to find out if his scam normally worked, and how many other desperate women had been caught out.
His response was, “Your investigation was wrong.”
The prevalence of the scam is a sobering reminder of how criminals seek out the weakness in a person, leaving them financially and emotionally broken.
“Every woman I speak to has either been approached or knows someone who has been caught. Even men get trapped in this scheme.”
With a file of all correspondence between herself and the scammer, Mrs Wright is collaborating with her niece to create a blog, register on every social media site, go on the author’s platform, write a quarterly newsletter, in magazines and newspapers, and also write a book.
She is inviting women who have been approached or scammed to contact her on condition of confidentiality.
“I believe we have to educate and make women more aware of this online approach, and set up a system so they know how to respond.”
Mrs Wright is set on singling out the swine behind these schemes, which are effectively raping women emotionally.
“We will never stop this scam, but if we can save some women and men the heartache and loss of their cash, it will have been worthwhile. The best we can hope for is to slow it down.”
If you have been a victim or fear you are becoming entangled, send an email to loveafrica11@gmail.com
