Conned: an internet cautionary real-life tale · 7:01pm April 20th
This isn't a pleasant story. In telling the group about what happened through the medium of this blog, I'm hoping to make a few people think. Passing on the details of events -- or rather, mostly doing so. Because in writing this, I'm not going to include any names. Not just yet, anyway. Those who want an ID on the self-assigned 'victim' of the tale are welcome to come into the chat server, and we'll be happy to fill you in. (Not that the primary online ID may still be good -- but if you feel you may be among the true victims, please come in.) But for the initial recounting, I'm leaving all of the names out -- and there are conditions where that ends.
There won't be names at this time. I'm also excluding links, except for the mandatory one at the end -- and honestly, that's partially there just for the irony.
It's a story about how caring can be turned against you, and how you have to try and keep caring anyway. You're always vulnerable when you care. When you try to help. But to completely turn away from caring, to turn off the heart... that's how you make a monster.
On a lesser level, it's the story of why I didn't write a Glimmer chapter yesterday. Or today.
I wish I didn't have to tell this.
But you've got to know.
My chat server has a reputation.
It's not a widespread one. (We could make the usual math jokes in comparing my follower count to that of, say, Markiplier -- but to be really insulting on the fractions, swap in Mr. Beast.) Still... as with Fluttershy and ponies bringing her animals on the verge of death, people just seem to know. If there's a suicide attempt, they come to us. There's a dedicated #crisisintervention channel, and I would give so much to never see it go live again. We've had to find so many people, send welfare/wellness checks to the door. Sometimes it works. I... don't want to think about the times when it doesn't.
And there's another side to that. We're seen as a place where, if you truly need it, you can ask for help. None of us are rich. (If they are, way to keep it fully under wraps.) But there are kind hearts, and when those who care act in unison... it's possible to get a lot done. People know that I've been the one to set off a few alarms. 'Sounding the bullhorn', in the server's language -- just means using an @everyone in the Discord -- or 'ringing the bell'. Results, as with the above, are mixed. But sometimes it works.
It also makes us vulnerable.
I have spent a couple of years in waiting for a troll to fake a suicide attempt.
And if you think that would never happen? Welcome to the Internet. Please keep reading. You need to know about what happened.
No names.
There's a server denizen. (Somehow, 'denizen' became the label.) They knew an artist, someone outside the MLP community. That person worked with anthropomorphics. Furry art. They'd been friends for a while -- online. And the artist was having a hard time. One of those really, really hard times. One thing after the other. And at the time they were first brought to our attention, they were pretty much homeless. Trying to move to the east coast, because there was a residence waiting for them if they could make it. And the denizen asked if I would try to ring the bell for their friend.
Because they cared.
I was a little hesitant. Not because of who asked, or why. It was because the artist was outside the community. I didn't know if it was possible to rally for someone who wasn't known. I couldn't even show off the art. I didn't have an account on that site: I couldn't see the art.
(Later, someone found a few other galleries. There was a lot of porn. Quite a bit of it was AI generated. I'm told some of it was suspect in darker ways.)
But... someone was in trouble.
People have rallied for me. I'm still trying to pay that back. Or forward.
I tried...
After a while, we got the artist to come in. Got to at least meet the person you're trying to help. And maybe, through interacting with a pony server, they might consider taking MLP commissions. New source of income, right?
(Y'heard the one about the three best ways to become a billionaire? Tech, fraud, and 'furry artist who takes porn commissions'.)
Collectively, we got them to the east coast. There was another round after that: they said they're on Medicaid, and that got left behind in their previous state. Gotta pay for new scrips until the fresh application goes through. Lotsa meds.
I sort of got involved on a medication bit, back in January. One of the other denizens wanted to help. But the artist only took money through PayPal, and the denizen didn't want their own real name on the transaction. Privacy. I understood. And I have a drop account, so... we used that. Sent to the drop, and I relayed from there. Using the Friends & Family option, so as not to cost the artist any of PayPal's fees.
(I was sort of proud that I was trusted that much.)
Things went quiet for a while.
Then they weren't.
There was a pattern.
To quote James Kirkwood, this was a person living through a Fleet Enema: the universe was taking a dump on them. I've been there. I had some sympathy.
The server has about three hundred denizens at any given time. Some of them are offline, others are duplicate accounts, and I don't doubt that we've picked up some 'bots. A few people just lurk and read along. Never posting. So it goes. I'd prefer for them to join in, but there are those who are more comfortable with silence.
The artist only posted to ask for money.
Or for other things.
At one point, they casually walked in and announced that they'd almost committed suicide.
I feel like I can't run it all down. (I'm going to leave a lot out. I'm not sure there's any way to get everything in.)
There were the medical expenses. Then, out of nowhere, they were off the east coast and back where they started, in the southwest. What happened? Weren't they supposed to be serving as live-in caretaker for a property? Nope: landlord rented that away. So now they're going back. And there's more needs: further medical issues, they need to get groceries for the week, and suddenly a lightning surge fried their laptop.
I got involved again on that last. I do know someone who repairs systems for a living, and he can wind up with surplus older pieces. If the goal was just to get the artist online -- they said they were posting from the library at that point -- then that could be managed. Lots of I3s available --
-- got any I7s?
You know. For gaming.
(Nothing ever got mailed out. Timing, partially.)
The pattern registered with the moderators. The team asked the artist to -- interact a little. If you're going to be rattling the cup, then at least introduce yourself. Tell us who you are. We'd like to meet you as a person. And the artist started typing. To wit, they would type for about an hour on either side of a request for help. The mods felt there was some resentment from them in having to do that much, but... at least they were talking. Bits about job and family. They didn't like their job -- food service -- and were apparently on really, really bad terms with their sister. The original friend had been told some nasty things about the sister. Drugs were mentioned. Hard ones. And they really didn't deal well with their mother.
...it's as good a lead-in as any.
Patterns.
I wasn't the one who spotted them. The moderators did.
(I ask so much of them...)
There was always something else going wrong. And... I've been there. I've been helped through it. I told people about the problems, and then I told everyone how things had resolved. There were times when I got to share good news. Yes, my mother's Medicaid application finally got approved, and they backdated the acceptance! At others, I asked everyone not to help. Yes, my car is dead. Please don't do anything. It was a money pit. Time to seal it over.
I... have always been afraid of being seen as a con artist. A pretty lousy one, admittedly: lots of work for relatively little payout, plus I sort of need to write on the side. But I've talked about that before, and... I'll repeat something I said the last time. (I said it yesterday in the server too.) That if it was all a lie, then my mother would still be alive. Also not on Medicaid. And with massive hospital bills. Plus there's the whole 'car' thing. Can't drive around a near-terminal patient without a car.
I lived through my own Fleet Enema. (Maybe that makes me vulnerable.)
Time passed. My mother died. That set off a new round, and the things which arose? Mostly resolved. Because the plotline of a life doesn't necessarily lead to a happy ending, but... the story advances.
With the artist... it could be said that matters were going backwards. Nothing ever seemed to wrap up. And the moderators were starting to see holes in the stories. Contradictions. They told me about it, and... they started asking around. Getting people's impressions of the artist. What did they really think of what was going on?
We were becoming worried. There were a lot of reasons for that. One was obvious: the artist had already gotten money out of us. It wasn't the smallest amount, and they kept asking for more. The never-ending nature of the crises was another, but... extended bad luck periods happen. You can't hold ill fortune against someone.
There was also the question of everyone else.
People have asked for help before. Some may need it after this. We've done what we could. And...
...we were starting to wonder about a scammer...
...if we had a scammer -- then for the first time, trust would have been broken. What would happen when the next person had a true crisis? Would anyone be willing to act?
And of course, the artist came in with another disaster.
Just trying to summarize this is its own brand of dark comedy.
...so the claim was that the artist's mother had the electricity shut off to the house.
The artist is living with their mother? Isn't that kind of counterproductive, to turn off the power?
No. The artist owns the house --
-- sorry?
-- it was inherited. Dead father.
...when did he die? Everyone thought you were homeless --
-- anyway, it's the artist's house. They're not used to the ownership thing. Could be lots of problems ahead. But the power company was getting ready to shut off the power anyway, because the electric bill is about $180 overdue. And they did shut it off. Without any notice whatsoever. The mother called and got it disconnected. So there's another $25 to restart. $205 in total. Needed immediately, if not sooner, because they're in the southwest and it's heating up. They already lost their insulin to the lack of refrigeration. Which is $2000 and not covered by insurance, but they don't need to replace that immediately...
So why isn't anyone ringing a bell?
Because at that point, we were still asking around. Trying to figure out what was going on.
A couple of denizens asked why the bullhorn hadn't been sounded. We had to talk to them in PM, tell them a little about our worries and ask for silence. I... slept through another denizen offering to help and by the time I woke up the next morning, they'd sent some money.
(There have been a lot of apologies.)
The moderators and I were trying to piece it all together. A list of three major questions was worked out. Things which, if answered carefully, would reconcile the holes. (Insurance didn't cover insulin?) I feel it was possible to, with full truth and actual events, satisfy our curiosity. And if the artist had done just that... Fleet Enemas happen. Maybe theirs would end.
But they hadn't dealt well with previous questions. There had been some minor accusations of Mods Don't Like Me. And that was before the real query sheet hit.
Beginning of the end.
I did the research on this myself: in the artist's claimed state of residence, a utility company which has reached the shutoff point must make contact at fifteen days before termination, then again at two days remaining. Payment plans will be offered. They will do their best to make personal contact, and they must leave a notice.
That's the law.
I couldn't look up insulin coverage without an insurance provider.
...how does a parent turn off the power if the house is in another's name...?
That's a question. The artist didn't respond well to it. Or any of the others.
I wasn't part of the questioning: the moderators did that. So the artist tried to play them off against each other. The one who'd started the questions was 'reported' to one who hadn't. Mod abuse, mod abuse! And it went on from there. Gaslighting? Give me a time machine and I could use the artist to power Victorian London for a week.
The holes weren't closing. New contradictions were appearing. And all we were getting was the petty rage of someone who'd gone straight for How Dare You Accuse Me.
Toss in a little Especially When I'm In So Much Trouble to that.
Some of you have read On The Slow Death Of Crocodiles. A subset are aware that I based it on a real person. (I haven't heard from her in -- almost three years. One phone call after my mother's death, and nothing since.) It's a story about compassion fatigue. About wanting to help, and destroying yourself in the process because you're afraid of what might happen if you stop.
I was terrified. Afraid that I was about to make the wrong call. Because if the problems were real... if the artist just had trouble expressing the answers and we were about to cut the lifeline for someone who truly needed help...
(When did this house show up, anyway?)
...I told the others about the fear.
Then I precogged.
I said -- that the reaction was likely to be the same either way. That if we had a con artist, a grifter, and what we were seeing in the emotional reactions was the anger from being on the verge of expulsion -- then they would take their revenge through faking a suicide attempt. Giving us the guilt to live with. And if they were truly in so much trouble, and the rope was sliced -- then they might just try for it, period.
The answers got worse. Most of them weren't answers at all. Anger and accusations. The holes deepened. Contradictions piled up.
The call was made.
I wasn't the one who actually delivered the kick. I'm just the one who said to do it.
Good luck in your future endeavors.
And then I had to explain it to the entire server.
...did you know that PayPal no longer has protections for Friends & Family transfers? You might be able to get something back if you try within thirty days, but... I'd been a relay in January. I still tried to file, because I wanted PayPal to know something was going on with the artist.
PayPal found my filing to be suspicious activity and restricted my drop account.
...that took a couple of hours to clear up.
I was apologizing to so many people. I should have looked more closely, I should have suspected earlier, I'm sorry. None of that got anyone their money back.
There was anger. And with the person who'd asked for help on the artist's behalf in the first place -- someone who is part of the community... some people get to fall victim earlier than others. I won't speak to their emotional state: I'm not them. But I am going to say this: they had been pulled into a toxic relationship with someone they'd never met. Something which wasn't their fault. The artist was now sending them private messages, and... it got ugly.
More ties were cut.
We were all trying to talk it out. Work it out. I took over #medical for a while: my original venting channel. Talked about the fears. All of them.
And then the artist threatened to commit suicide.
Because of the bullies.
The bullies had driven them to it.
All our fault.
Don't ask me for the lottery numbers. The artist wrote themselves as a character. I just predicted that fiction's next move.
It was a blog announcement on their art gallery site. One of the denizens spotted it. We'd kind of been waiting for something to be said. I'd made a dark joke about being Public Enemy #1 for a whole new community.
So here we have someone who was very likely grifting all of us. (I was at about 90% certainty at that point. The remainder was a tight ball of agony.) And as predicted, here comes the emotional blackmail. LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO. And know you can't do anything to stop it.
Or... a broken life, about to be an ended one.
Who remembers my blog after the Prlncess Cadance situation?
(Still the correct spelling.)
Don't fake a suicide attempt for attention, or drama, or the joy of it. Because you may have fun in crying wolf -- but you're still going to trigger the hunt. Only we're not looking for a wolf. We're looking for you. Trying to get someone who can help to the door.
There was at least a 90% chance that the artist had conned us. Hurt so many.
#crisisintervention went live.
The joke here is that I'm not the only person who can use drop accounts. I thought we had a name from the first second: the PayPal information. We didn't. We had some trouble isolating a gender. One of the aid calls had been for tampons, and the name on the account... nope. Trans was possible, but it's easier to change a birth certificate than a PayPal identity.
I'm not going to tell you how we found them. There's little tricks we've learned over multiple desperate searches: places to look, methods for doing so. And it's also not my job to plug the holes in the artist's story.
It turned out to be a story with quite a bit of repetition.
We searched. We found older blogs. A lot of them were requests for money, going back years. And I guess lightning does strike twice, because go back by eight years and they're requesting that someone buy or send them another laptop...
There was one point where I found myself looking at a picture of a fursuit wearing a retail uniform, and wondered exactly what had become of my life.
Suffice it to say that after a while, we had a name.
We had a name. But we didn't wind up using it, because we also found a sibling. And that? Is just about the ideal. All we could do, as strangers, was call the police and ask for that check. It's not always easy to explain the why. A blood relative... they can do a lot more. So we started by contacting the sibling. Which turned out to be the sister. The one whom the artist hated. Bad relationship, remember? Accusations of hard drug use. But that's still a family member, it was the best shot we had, and...
...contact was made. The sister wrote back. They would reach out. Make sure everything was okay. We'd won.
And if anything had happened to their sibling, they would spend the rest of their life in going after the bullies who'd made it all go wrong.
...
...did we say anything about bullies?
...you know... she types a lot like the artist...
Shortly after, a new blog went up. The artist said that they'd spoken to their sister -- no mention of that bad relationship -- and wasn't going to do it now. They were just going to play cards with some friends.
One of the denizens put together some instant false marveling at the artist having real-life friends.
Wonder where they're gonna play. The house where they were supposedly babysitting, which was supposed to explain how they were online when the library was closed?
(There were other postings outside of public hours.)
Sure won't be their own home, which they somehow have full possession of.
(We found the father. Deceased. Maybe something was inherited, and maybe it wasn't.)
After all, it's getting late. And the power's supposed to be out.
I failed.
It's my server. To some degree, that makes the denizens my responsibility. I should have figured things out earlier. I didn't. In that view, some of this is my fault.
How much did the artist get away with? I don't know. Probably well over a thousand dollars.
Was any of it real? I think... a couple of things, possibly. Early on, and that's the best case. But even if that's true... we must have looked like an easy target. Just keep dipping in the well, over and over. (There was one point where I made a dark, private joke about wishing for one week without a crisis just so I could truly try to put the convention Ko-Fi drive together.) Until it went dry.
What happened with the suicide attempt? Well, I can move to 100% certainty on it being a lie now (and the same for the grifting). Trying to hurt everyone who'd cut off the flow of cash. What I think happened is simple: we got too close. In reaching the sibling -- assuming that was a sibling, and not the artist themselves -- we introduced them to the concept of Unintended Consequences. No one ever told them that the server was doing the looking, and they may have assumed it was someone on the gallery site who'd seen the blog -- but suddenly, it was possible that the cops would be knocking on the door. Time to abort.
The artist was permanently kickbanned from the server. But they're still out there. And they have more than one name which they use online. We found a group of identities.
Maybe they'll just start over somewhere else.
Compassion fatigue. The fear of asking for help, because you might be seen as a liar. During the talk about the reveal, another denizen invoked that second. Someone who's been around for years, and I had to tell them they were trusted.
It's so easy to stop caring, isn't it? Never care and you can't get hurt.
We were conned because we cared. Because we wanted to help. And it's that same emotional complex which activated #crisisintervention last night. Just in case.
A lot of my anger centers on what might happen when the next person asks for help. The one who truly needs it. We act freely, and of our own will. That applies to reaching out, and to pulling a hand back.
It's a judgment call. Always.
We have to be careful. (Another dark joke made: the server had to adopt American medical care terms. You must be here six months before...)
But we can't stop.
I'm not giving the artist that victory.
So.
Hi, you.
Right. I'm speaking to you now. The artist. Not that I know if you're reading this, of course. You don't have a site account (or an alt account in the server), or much interest in MLP at all. And you might have blamed the moderators more than me, as I was so silent during most of this. But I feel like you might have peeked in today. Seeing what we said about you.
There was a threat made against us last night, wasn't there? From the sibling, or from you. Possibly a team effort, or one and the same all along. Because we were the bullies. The server entire: bullies. You kept using that word. Questioning you, trying to patch the holes, get answers and explanations so you could stay -- that was bullying. The term was pulled out over and over.
Remember what was said? That if anything happened, revenge would be sought against those bullies?
For a lifetime.
I know you don't read my work. It's a pity. I had this line about the best way to make a monster. It's sort of relevant to the current situation, but -- I won't bore you with it. Instead, let's cut to the chase. In terms of reasons for seeking revenge, you have your anger at having been caught, and the desire to make us hurt.
Here's what I have.
* Your real name, and those of your family members.
* Your location.
* Every message you posted to the server, which you can no longer delete because you were kicked. Also screencaps from your previous blogs, messages on other sites, pictures, and so on down the line. Connecting the identities.
* Receipts. Actual receipts. We were all sending through PayPal, y'know. There's plenty of receipts. It's a full evidence trail.
* An attorney.
Oh, you didn't know that? Guess you should have talked to me a little more. Admittedly, mine likely hasn't passed the bar in your state -- but he can make a recommendation. Firms pass off cases to each other all the time, and that includes cross-country. Maybe they'll even work on contingency.
Even so, it'll cost money to come after you. Airfare to that state, at the very least. But I think I can put that together.
I think I can reach your state.
I know you committed fraud.
I can prove it during your trial.
Send refunds, if you still have any of it left? Offer restitution? I'm under no delusion that you'll try to make this right. I don't believe you care. And you just might continue to insist we're in the wrong for having figured you out.
You want to come after us? Seek revenge, because you were caught? That's your call, I suppose. But as soon as you try anything...
Go ahead. Keep calling me a bully. Or a monster, if you want to pick up some fresh vocabulary.
You can even say it from the witness stand. Under oath.
The following is not a threat: it's a promise being held in stasis. Come after anyone in the server, any of my followers, or me... and I will do whatever it takes to press charges.
Here's your choices:
Make restitution.
Stay away.
Go to prison.
Think it over.
I have to put a Ko-Fi link at the end of every blog until the Ponicon/Tokyo drive either wraps up, crashes, or hits the deadline. As of this writing, it's at 20% of goal.
I pointed out to the server that with the convention drive spamming, I have asked for money more than anyone else.
I am fully aware of the irony.
From one of the lurkers in your server - good job! Noone is infallible, and feeling bad for compassion is just. plain wrong. Yes, it can lead to being used, to fraud and lies, but this is a con artist life - to make personal gains from other people's compassion. Or just passion in general.
Scam the Continuum?
Go to jail.
Go DIRECTLY to jail.
That grifter has some nerve using an entire group of people as an ATM machine.
Note to self:
Do.
Not.
Upset.
Estee.
A reminder of what you've done here.
The world of Ponies is filled with magic and fantasy to pull us away from our own world for most, but for some, those stories aren't just fantasies.
What you've done here, both clear in your words, and your actions, is Heroic.
Moments in the real world that compare to the epics of demon slaying quadrupeds or Love sparkling in the dark against all odds are exactly like this. You Loved, you Fought, and you Protect.
Never stop Loving and thank you, and those with you, for being a Hero.
A thousand dollars? I mean, I know people on the server aren't rich, but I seriously expected it to come out to a lot more than that. At any rate, good job catching the jerk.
I hope to God, Celestia, or whoever might be listening that I remember this line for later, because it is solid gold.
Note: not criticizing, just thought-experimenting.
Looking at this incident and re-reading the Prlncess Cadance post, I start to wonder about perverse incentives. A successful intervention is to the social as a botched attempt or resuscitation is to the physical: while you're alive, you're worse off than you were before, and certain options you had before the attempt are no longer open to you (including a do-over of the attempt).
As knowledge of the likely outcomes increases, some percentage of people who would have used a blog post as a (subconscious?) attempt to be talked out of it may decide that the costs outweigh the benefits, and either do the thing silently, or ensure that the post only goes up after it's too late to intervene.
There's always someone claiming it's all a sick attempt to manipulate others when a suicide-scare comes up in the site. Obviously it shouldn't be ignored. Obviously, it shouldn't be abused. But we see them here too and unfortunately it just feeds the fear of others that it's all a scam, even when it isn't. It's unfortunate your community was used like this, but I hope you all keep your efforts going. Being a good person might mean that occasionally someone will try to abuse that, but thankfully your moderators caught it. It still doesn't change that it is normally used as a force for the good of others.
oh, fun! D:
This is always the big fear, honestly. :( It's not easy to heal this kind of emotional damage.
5777576
Beware the wrath of the kind ones.
This person scammed you and your group, and then threatened the lot of you?
I'd choose the Nuclear Option and drop the hammer on this one's head...see how they enjoy scamming from inside prison walls.
Got hit by a car December 31, 2020. I've had limited mobility since then. Thus, I spend a LOT of time online. Some of these scammers get away with literally millions of $.
But, this is bad enough to suit me, no complaints.
I'm proud to be part of the server that cares. Even if sometimes we care too much, in cases like this.
...and just in case "Artist" ever reads this, one more point?
You aren't nearly as clever as you think you are. Literally the only reason you managed to steal as much as you did is because the server wanted to be kind for as long as possible. Your story was really bad and you raised red flags from day one. Seriously. Amateur stuff.
5777596 indeed
A scammer in the server? Just one?
I have a long list of lovely comments I want to leave here. But instead of any of that, I will quote the Paypal terms of service here:
All we need to do is prove a story once. And then if you fail to satisfy the investigators -- We can demand Paypal take certain actions from this list.
You let us set up the transactions, too, don't forget that. So we can open cases any time we like.
There's a 180 day limit to opening a case.
Lurker, here.
FWIW, there's an outsized population of marginal (Flakey? Fringey?) people involved in 'fandom', and oftentimes when these folks present with stories of dire circumstances it's impossible to suss the difference between outright lies, mental disorders and genuine need - oftentimes it's a terrible admixture of all three.
Generally speaking, it's best to direct these cases to local charities and other resources that can help them. Otherwise you end up feeding raccoons.
5777601
Prison is practically crime college, and they would likely emerge from it a worse person and with smarter scams.
As cathartic as it might be to do that, it might be better to just leave it for now and hope that the sword of Damocles Estee's hung over their head is enough to scare them off.
5777661
>.>
And this is why I try to not ask for help; you're compared to animals. I believe it was just the once (but I know my memory is bad, brain damage does that).
It's also the reason it's a cliché that 'the same $20 gets passed around' disabled & marginalized communities. 🤷 If you've never been in legislated poverty before you probably have no idea what it's like.
(I'm on SSI, I get under 10k/year to live on; in September they're finally going to make food gifts (dinner out, a meal w/ family, grocery store gift card, a sandwich, etc) NOT INCOME! Yay! Because income is detracted from your benefit...and they can see your bank account, they have your SS#, to get the SSI benefit you have to agree to surveillance & random audits.)
As one of the lurkers who rarely speaks, let me publicly say; Estee, I very much enjoy your world-building and your ability to articulate emotion via text so well. I also appreciate how thorough this blog post has been in laying out the history of the interactions with the artist and the steps taken to get to the truth. I’ve been here long enough that I remember giving money to them when it was requested, I even viewed their art when they claimed to be taking commissions and found it not to be in good taste but hey, art is art I suppose. I don’t regret giving them money. I know that anytime I donate money to any person/organization that there’s the potential for fraud/misuse/mismanagement of the funds. It won’t stop me from continuing to donate to those who need help in the future, because I know that most of the time the money is needed and appreciated. I don’t blame you, Estee, or anyone else who advocated for this false claim because the good intentions from the wonderful people here were true. Don’t be too hard on yourself, don’t blame yourself, and don’t stop asking us to help those who need it.
This is the reason that lottery winners insist their names be kept anonymous. If you are foolish enough to announce your winnings, the floodgates open wide and the scammers come rushing in wholesale. And I mean 24/7 relatives coming out of the woodwork, dying everybody around, bail me out of jail, pay to get my car out of the mechanics, etc squared times a million. I once heard our admins on our company Exchange server claim that 4 out of 5 incoming emails were flagged and dumped as spam/scams/frauds and such. I thought it was an exaggeration, but...
5777722
Only 4 out of 5? Was there some prescreening before that point?
👏
You did exactly the right thing. In fact you did all the right things. I'm only sorry it cost you so much time and mental agony.
Of course, that's exactly how the scammers like it: they want it to be more trouble to stop them than to just let them scam. Good on you for pushing past this.
Look up...I think it was "Louve." That was the handle of somebody who scammed the furry community way back in the UseNet days. Exactly the same methods. Might even be the same person. The more things change...
Anyway, thank you for striking a blow against scammers, and also for giving a poke in the eye to cynics who think good people always get played: you are, and you didn't.
Jeez... what a torturous situation. To not trust and care and give in this world only worsens it, but to do so makes us vulnerable to those without decency... walking the balance between that is such a difficult thing.