Be warned please take note

[Jeanette_Ish]

Anyone been contacted by email, saying i have seen your post on MCTD (or any other illness) & i think we have a lot in common, I did & started a conversation with a person who I thought had the same problems with their health as I do, Over several emails after adding the person I soon had doubts as to whether this person was genuine & i'm afraid my doubts were confirmed, when the requests for money were coming in thick & fast as someone who is struggling with health issues found this an insult for two reasons 1: as someone suffering bad health it make me afraid now to share how I'm suffering and 2: because of health my finances are suffering as it is without someone depriving me of what little money I have. please be warned there are scammers out there who will try anything to get trust be aware this is a scam at the lowest level.

[zenabb]

Many thanks for this warning. I am sorry that you have had such a horrible experience. You didn't need it.

Best wishes.

[Jeanette_Ish in reply to zenabb]

Thank you Zenabb

[living-the-dream-ssc-ray]

Hi, Im sorry too that you had this experience, but thanks for sharing to warn us ! x

[Jeanette_Ish in reply to living-the-dream-ssc-ray]

you are welcome

[Bee346]

Thank you for the warning Jeanette.....there are some nasty people out there who will stoop VERY low. There are also some wonderfully supportive people on here. Take heart..... Bee

[Jeanette_Ish in reply to Bee346]

there are people who stoop very low, but most people here are like us genuine, thank you Bee

[wartsandall]

Thank you Jeanette for the warning........I'm so sorry that you have been exposed to such a low life scammer......we all need to be extra vigilant on the information we share and offer others......I agree that we all need to be careful who we speak to online..... but at the same time we still have to have an element of trust...however, on the other hand we need to be aware !!!!!!........Not everyone wants to con and cheat people.......there are genuine people out there.....we need to be able to trust our own judgement and remember that there are decent individuals out there that need support and want to be able to be supportive themselves......please don't be put off participating in this website........

[Jeanette_Ish in reply to wartsandall]

I would be lost without genuine support from fellow suffers, I would still be searching for help scammers do not realise how much damage they cause to people nor do they care but i will carry on here but be more aware

[Lil_Dee]

As nasty as this sort of thing is, I do think it is an unfortunate sign of what is going on in the wider world. I am so sorry to hear that you have been put through this sort of thing Jeanette, it is very upsetting and I know from experience it makes you question every internet person you have contact with from then on.

If you haven't already, please identify this person to the admin on this site, so that they can investigate, and treat them accordingly.

However, please also take heart - as people have already said - there are a lot of genuine people out there looking for help, as well as to provide help and support others in the same or similar circumstances. I have many friends that I have gained from forums like this, that I have now known (and met in some circumstances) over the last ten years - and their friendship has meant everything to me.

That all said, thank you for being brave enough to admit your mistake, and making it public. We have a natural ability to think "it won't happen to me", and this warning is something that will make people think. Especially the younger and less internet savvy people.

[Jeanette_Ish in reply to Lil_Dee]

I have tried to locate where they received their information from to contact me in the first place to report them but have failed so far to find how they got information as this was the last site i visited when I received the message from them so just thought it was from here, luck I was savvy enough to doubt them from the replies only a true sufferer would understand but i will try & find where they got my details rest assured I have reported them to yahoo where the address came from. who have since suspended the account but that is no guarantee that i will not be contacted again by some one esle

[adow]

Warning heeded, thanks for the heads up on this. But as all of the previous comments state, there are more good than bad, and it goes to show how savvy you are, you sussed them out.

[Jeanette_Ish in reply to adow]

All i was saying was to be careful as I value this site, for the help & advice I have gained from being here

[Jeanette_Ish]

Thank you for all your responses to the post. It was unfortunate that i fell for this, hence posting to stop others falling for the same, as i did have my doubts about the person in question from the start, but as you all say sharing what is happening with you is a blessing without places like this I would still be searching in the wilderness for answers, even though I'm still on the path to finding out what is exactly wrong I have got great comfort from other sufferers that i'm not going out of my mind & I thank you all for that, but just wanted other people to be aware of what is happening & like me to at least give them the benefit to prove who they truly are & not be drawn into the scam. I would have reported them to the site but for some reason I could not connect them to here or any other site i have used, so just be careful where you post information & again thank you for sharing your experiences it has put me on the road to answers to what i have & made me confident to ask more questions in the process, that is priceless so to lose that support from here because of some callus person I would hate to think others would lose out on the support I have received bless you all x

[Springsong in reply to Jeanette_Ish]

Don't lose heart Jeanette, I too have received several of these types of emails (some claim to have found me on a forum, some claim to have been given my info from Google/Yahoo/Facebook!!!) saying how they empathise with us but then going on to say because we are in 'the same boat' could we please help them out with 'xyz' favours & I do start wondering just how many innocent, unsuspecting victims do actually part with their own much needed possessions thinking they are helping someone in need.

Fortunately these days my email account tends to filter these straight into 'SPAM' but it still unnerves the volume of them that are out there. Take care.

[BarbJ in reply to Springsong]

Thanks for bringing this to everyone's attention Jeanette_Ish. I ought to have done the same thing myself as I receveived one of these a while back but, fortunately, I noticed that the e-mail address didn't 'match' what I'd call an 'ordinary' address (i.e. as I remember it, it didn't end in .com, .net, or anything like that) so I just blocked the sender and haven't had anything else since. They are predators - I don't know how they got my address either. Funnily enough, in my spam box today is one of the e-mails from someone supposedly either African or Ethiopian who'd like to send me some gold but, of course, I have to let them have my bank account details first!!!

As, Springsong says, don't lose heart Jeanette. The more of us get them and ignore them / block them the sooner they'll give up. Sadly, they'll probably move on to target another group.

Take care everyone & let's hope they're right about this spell of good weather we're supposed to be getting - I'm still going to work with fleeces on and have only just dared drop down to leather gloves in the last couple of weeks!

BarbJ

[graygirl1]

This forum is for us to encourage, support and share common experiences and offer advice to each other where possible. The moment anyone starts asking for your personal details, becoming personal, hinting or requesting financial aid, end any communication at once and contact the Raynaud's and Scleroderma Association to report it. This is a great forum so don't be put off visiting.

Thanks for the warning on everyone's behalf.

Take care.

[tinaparkii]

Wow. This is the lowest iv ever heard of. Glad U realised be4 putting itself out to try help this person. As if things ain't bad enough health wise with out added stress from the low life. X take care hun. X thanks for the warning

[Madge51]

Forewarned is forearmed. Many thanks for sharing this dreadful experience. Hope your coping.