So I mentioned a week ago that at the urging of a poster here who had obvious success (thanks mr & mrs flipper)... I went ahead and took the plunge into the nonJW world of dating and signed up for eHarmony.com. noooo.. I am not going to share every match story. I thought I would share this one to serve as a warning...Before I tell the story let me tell you that thefolks at eHarmony were very responsive and took immediate action in this case.
I have received probably 40 or more matches in the last week...some closed me out, I closed some of them out. Usual pattern with eHarmony. I sent out questions, a few have answered back and sent their questions. For those not familiar with this service, this is part of a Guided Communication process..and a very good idea... but there is an option to bypass this with a Fast Track to opening communication. I even encouraged this in my introduction on my profile.
So the other day I receive a request for Fast Track from a girl named Jam (short for Jamain) from Oregon... this is important. Very pretty girl, 27 (my age range is 25-47, I am 40, right in the middle) I went ahead and ok'd the request and we exchanged email and IM information (this info for me is public on the web, so no big deal)... she emailed me and the first thing I noticed that her English grammar was a bit, stilted, such as a non-native English speaker would use. I know, my ex-fiance wrote like this somewhat, but her english was infinitely better than this Jamain chick. I went with it because the email said she was born in Oregon but her father moved her to WEST AFRICA at age 8 after her mom died (can you say RED FLAG?)
Allegedly she is 27, a graduate of UNILAG (I checked, it is University of Lagos in Nigeria..so the school is legit, even if she is not)...business management major...so if she is a university graduate from an English language university, why is her grammar so poor? I can excuse it in IM, but not in an email when a person has time to think things through. (RED FLAG)
Her father supposedly worked for an oil company from when they got there until recently when he was fired. Now he works in a market stall selling kids clothes and she helps him there(her profile said she was in sales). She claims to have no freedom because it is not safe (that part is probably true) and her father does not let her go anywhere....on one hand she tells me things that are not his concern, yet she claims not to be able to leave the house????!!!! (RED FLAG)
She never asked for money...no...it was too soon in the scam relationship to start that...but she was laying the ground work...she said her internet would be cut off in 3 weeks unless something changed (claiming internet is $120 a month!) (RED FLAG) and because her father lost his job, the phone was going to be shut off, and had not been paid in 3 months....
she was very elusive in answering specific questions.. she did respond to my request for additonal photos...all very pretty ....and posed...much like you might find on a random Myspace or FaceBook page...... but when I asked for more pictures, she said her camera was broken and her friend took these and that she cannot afford a new camera (RED FLAG) so I have put her to the test...I said in my last (and I am certain it IS LAST) communication via IM: "Jamain, I want to believe you..so I want your friend to take a picture of you holding an english language newspaper with today's headline and date." (they exist in Nigeria, I checked while online with her, so it should be a simple request) "...when you send me that picture via email, then we can talk again. Have a good day...snakes" There were so many other red flags over the course of the 5 hours we spent on IM... good thing I did not have to work today....
hmmmmm....haven't heard back on that...... SHOCKING! ....NOT! heh heh.... so I contacted eHarmony via email today and they responded within hours...they not only removed her match from my list...but they removed her profile from the entire service!).... "Jam" did do me a favor though...in appreciation, eHarmony extended my 12 month service another month for free...... thanks "Jam"!
by the way...interesting PDF from the US State department...check this out...it described this "Jam" perfectly....not the perfect girl, but the perfect Scammer:
http://travel.state.gov/pdf/international_financial_scams_brochure.pdf
Thanks for reading...let me know what you think......
SnakesInTheTower (of the "WHAT, do I LOOK like I have SUCKER written on my face?" Sheep Class)
ps...any (non scamming non-Nigerian) single apostababes here looking for a really nice guy? heh heh
