I found her on Facebook, and I was still new online. We talked for several weeks, and during that time, our acquaintances grew. Actually, I joined the online world recently, and everything fascinated me.
So when I met Tina (name changed), who was from Manila, on a chatting site, and she read all my posts and always wrote lovely comments, I liked it. Let me tell you here that we both were married but her husband left her and lived in Dubai.
Imagen de Ryan McGuire en Pixabay
Whoever commits a fraud is guilty not only of the particular injury to him who he deceives, but of the diminution of that confidence which constitutes not only the ease but the existence of society. -Samuel Johnson
I knew this was an immoral thing, but we both decided together that the time had come to take the relationship to the next stage. She was going to come to Delhi and was saying that we could stay together for some time. As I said, the relationship started online and then moved to texts and phone calls. There was no WhatsApp then.
Tina asked me for return tickets via Dubai with a three days layover which I booked and gave details of her flights, arrival times, connections, etc.
She then said she was sending her luggage and other items directly to Delhi so she didn't have to carry them in Dubai a few days ago and would reach Delhi as per the scheduled program.
I received a call from customs two days ago before her arrival saying that the goods had arrived, but the customs duty on gift items had been underpaid, and they would need to be paid immediately to release them for delivery to me. If it's not paid immediately, the items will be returned.
I was advised to pay the customs duty through a bank transfer, as it was instant and bank details were given to do so. I paid about $400. Later I came to know that the call was not from customs but from a Farud gang.
Two days later, when Tina's flight was scheduled and she did not arrive, I told a friend about the stress of getting the payment to customs. He told me I had done something wrong and asked me to contact the bank. Initially, I refused, but when Tina did not arrive on the scheduled day, I realized that I had become a victim of fraud.
Even when I received a notification in my email that Tina had canceled and cashed out the ticket that I had purchased and sent to her, my travel agent informed me about this. I couldn't believe it was true and thought maybe there was something wrong with her in Dubai.
However, I later tried to withdraw the payment from the bank, but the money had already been transferred, and I was unsuccessful. Upon further investigation, I discovered that over the weeks of the relationship, I had made several small payments for little things I did for her. I had bought a few gifts through Amazon Ph, gift vouchers, and things like that.
Although Tina never said it directly, the hints from that deceitful girl were enough, or was she really a girl? Although I guess I did it like anyone does in a relationship, perhaps a married person like me needed to be more careful.
Now I know the importance of what I share on social media and online websites. I never give my full name to everyone but a selected few whom I trust. My home address that is linked to my bank accounts is nowhere but official websites. In fact, to avoid fraud, I keep my identity safe.
I am not interested in anyone who asks a lot of questions about me but does not tell me much about themselves. And most of all, I use only authentic websites but have stopped using social media or texting because you never know when you will find yourself in a honeytrap.
I now know that giving my bank details to someone I have never met, no matter how much I trust them or who they pretend to be, is no way. I never buy anything for anyone unless I know them offline.
I now know that anyone can pretend to be whoever they want to be because I have no way to attain their identity. I can tell you that despite all the claims, once one becomes a victim of fraudsters, there are remote chances of recovering lost funds.
