on Jun 7th, 2006Dating Online: Beware of the Gambling Hustler!
True love is like sky diving without a parachute. Somehow you believe the purity of your love will cushion your fall once you hit the ground. That’s about the time to recall whether you bothered to name a beneficiary on your life insurance policy, which may not even cover you during high risk activities such as sky diving.
The Washington Post has a must read article about the pitfalls of online dating. The intimacy of language sent back and forth through email conjures up the illusion of true love in a way that postal letters never did. Why? The instantaneous nature of emailing makes it possible to reach an orgasm just by hitting the send button.
But beware, ladies and gentleman. That $2,000 your Russian lover needed for a plane ticket just might be worse con than those Nigerian email scams!
Then there’s the Arizona man who shelled out $2,000 for plane tickets to fly in a Russian beauty who had written to him, breathlessly, “Every time, when I reading your letter, my mood become well and my heart is knocking so strong!” She never showed. Or the guy in Australia who defrauded a bunch of old people so he could transport his Internet “girlfriend” who was a “North American model” to Australia. He’s in prison.
The Online Laws of Love
By Dahlia Lithwick
Washington Post, June 4, 2006; Page B03