The Geese That Lay The Golden Eggs. Nicola Maria Vitola

does not know what decision to make. She calls Marcello on the phone, but there’s no answer. So she tries calling his company and nobody answers there either. She searches for the company on the Internet but cannot find it. Then she really experiences a state of conflicting anxieties. She’s tempted to pay the money, but she hasn’t got enough. Then she thinks of asking her sister for help. She goes to her. «I’ve got a really serious problem,» she tells her agitatedly, «I need 2500 euros urgently!»

      Â«What?»

      Â«Yes, I need it to release a shipment!»

      Â«Sit down a moment and tell me everything from the beginning,» her sister orders her.

      Â«Well, I met Marcello chatting online. He does business deals…»

      Daria talks to her sister and, as she tells her about those incredible events, she realises that her foggy brain is starting to clear.

      Â«She saw the light by herself! - she says - I couldn’t believe my own words as I talked and listened to myself».

      Daria’s story ends here. With her sister, who luckily helped her open her eyes and consoled her sorrow a little.

      But she wants to end her story like this:

      Â«To finish, let me tell you, that even if we’re smart, intelligent people, these things can happen, in the heat of the moment. One very important thing is not to keep everything inside us. We enter a tunnel where reality is easily confused with fantasy unless we share it with someone. I hope I haven’t bored you with this long story, and I also hope I’ve been of help to someone, like you’ve been to me, thanks!»⁸.

      Serena

      This is Serena’s story, freely adapted from the blog on World Romance Scams⁹. The site gathers countless testimonials from anyone who wants to share their own experience to help other women, before they fall for a romance scam, or after they’ve been left heartbroken to show them the way back towards regaining their self-esteem:

      Â«My name is Serena and I’m 31 years old; one day I met a very handsome and dashing man on Facebook who sent me a friend request. I’d never heard of the existence of fake profiles, so I trusted him. He was polite, romantic, attentive; he often told me he thanked God for having made us meet. I couldn’t see anything wrong, so I carried on. He told me what he did; he was at sea on an oil tanker. He was a widower and had a daughter. Slowly I became infatuated with him and I asked to meet. He said he couldn’t come ashore but would do so as soon as possible.

      One day he wrote to me saying that the ship had a leak and they had to dock. He told me they had problems with the insurance which didn’t cover the damage and all their jobs were at risk. He asked me to help him by sending him five thousand euros. I believed him and did it. Then he asked me for more money for further work on the ship. He explained they were making a collection and he needed another five thousand euros. I sent them to him. I was starting to spend too much money and by chance I saw an advert on Facebook for the “World Romance Scam” association. I clutched at it. I wrote to them. Dr Ansaldi replied asking me to call her on the phone. Since then she has been helping me. She helped me understand what trouble I’d got myself into, and she sent me photos of the fraudster proving to me that this person had already targeted other women.

      I followed her suggestions blindly to get through the tunnel leading back to reality. I blocked all contact with him. I no longer answered his calls; I cried, I couldn’t sleep, I felt awful, but I knew I had to succeed and Dr Ansaldi was always there for me. In the end he disappeared and for me that was the end of a nightmare that could have caused a lot more damage if I hadn’t found “Worldromancescam.org". Now I know what fake profiles really are, and I’m vaccinated against them. I just wanted everyone to know that you can heal from these addictions and I’m living proof of that».

      The associations, the media, the institutions that deal with this problem which has now spread beyond all expectations

      The World Romance Scam association does a good job in disclosing information and prevention. On its website and its Facebook page, women interact who have fallen prey to romance scams and want to actively do something to safeguard and help others. Their introduction on the site’s home page is this:

      Â«Association against romance scams, assistance and advice to victims; investigations, information, prevention; reporting according to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime of 23/04/2001 and subsequent updates».

      Looking at the posts published on their Facebook page you can see an infinity of pictures found to be fake. One carries this warning:

      Â«This is another fake using the photo of an Italian model; he calls himself Jean Marck Venus.»

      The answer from one member is the following: «He told me his name was Oliver Perret!».

      Scrolling through the page, many personalities have been cloned by the fraudsters. There’s a picture of a highly decorated and oblivious naval officer, with a strong-willed and interesting face and the fictitious name of Ken Scaparotti. Further down a video with the warning: «New fake who says his name is Miguel Pazamini or Jean Marc Riviet.».

      The comment underneath is by a certain Marta: «Last April this person was called Sebastien Perrot!».

      So, the search continues, on the site, to find the real identity of the fraudsters and to expose the photos linked to the lies that the cunning scammers tell about themselves. There are pictures of many different types of men; handsome men, not so handsome but interesting men, sportsmen in modern clothing, officers in high uniform, teachers, doctors.

      Going on to examine the posts we find pictures of women, mostly young ones (also unwitting clones) that are posted on social spaces with fake profiles and minimum information, invented to set up - like a bait at sea - profitable romance scams. Sole purpose: to get money out of victims found on the web.

      The photographs are all real but stolen from men and women who are unaware they are so loved for their real likenesses and for a fake personal history diligently performed by downright thieves.

      Rossana

      Rossana also tells her story on Cappanera’s blog. She writes that she finds the stories of other women and the advice on the web very useful¹⁰. In turn she wants to talk about her story, to help anyone reading not to fall into the scam:

      Â«I recently started doing web marketing for my business and looking for contacts and friends on Facebook I ran into this man ... note that I sent him a friend request among many others that I sent. Shortly afterwards he contacted me on Facebook chat».

      The man who answers her appears to be suspicious because Rossana’s profile doesn’t have a picture, but a graphic image. He wants a photograph to accept the friend request. She sends him one and a daily correspondence begins. The man’s name is Fred and he tells her he’s English, from London, single, 40 years old, a civil engineer. He’s what they call a good catch. He’s also a handsome man.

      But let's see how Rossana’s tale continues:

      Â«The conversation was always in English which I know quite well… Initially, to test the waters, I also tried writing a few sentences in Italian, but he didn’t understand. We chatted happily for a day or two, but in the meantime - with great class I have to admit - he started to become "friendlier" and began using affectionate names for me such as "dear", then "honey" (and take note, the first time he used this nickname he apologised for having done so). I must admit, I liked it a lot. He made me feel looked after, thought about, at what was, I have to admit, not a very happy time in my love life (and when I say