Yeah, after I got poking around LJ (and seeing what other folks had to say about him), I realized I HAD heard of him before as this enormous fraud. The amount of energy he devotes to fabricating stuff indicates some serious dysfunction.
I'm super-skeptical of people on the internet. Before I buy anyone's sob story about anything, I research as much as I can and listen to my instincts about them.
Actually, I have a friend on-line who I met 15 years ago in a White Wolf vampire-themed rpg chat, and she faked being a 'he' for ages, to really sell the idea that her character was male. She was also trying to protect her real-life identity; back then, it wasn't nearly so accepted to live RPG chat stuff. I caught onto it early on and asked her point-blank, and she admitted it to me. Eventually, she admitted it to all the rp folks she actually cared about. We're still friends today, but she never tried to milk anyone for sympathy or attention or money. We had a mutual friend in this same circle who got taken for a lot of money (and hand-made gifts) by a guy claiming to be Italian and in love with her. We tracked his IP to Florida. SO not Italy. And there were other things too, but fact is, people do this crap to each other all the stinkin' time.
You're a good soul, Ash. He (or she) took advantage of a lot of good souls. Don't stop being kind-hearted! Just do a quick google if someone's life seems so fraught with misfortune, it's the stuff of soap operas. :)
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Date: 2015-01-17 05:23 pm (UTC)I'm super-skeptical of people on the internet. Before I buy anyone's sob story about anything, I research as much as I can and listen to my instincts about them.
Actually, I have a friend on-line who I met 15 years ago in a White Wolf vampire-themed rpg chat, and she faked being a 'he' for ages, to really sell the idea that her character was male. She was also trying to protect her real-life identity; back then, it wasn't nearly so accepted to live RPG chat stuff. I caught onto it early on and asked her point-blank, and she admitted it to me. Eventually, she admitted it to all the rp folks she actually cared about. We're still friends today, but she never tried to milk anyone for sympathy or attention or money. We had a mutual friend in this same circle who got taken for a lot of money (and hand-made gifts) by a guy claiming to be Italian and in love with her. We tracked his IP to Florida. SO not Italy. And there were other things too, but fact is, people do this crap to each other all the stinkin' time.
You're a good soul, Ash. He (or she) took advantage of a lot of good souls. Don't stop being kind-hearted! Just do a quick google if someone's life seems so fraught with misfortune, it's the stuff of soap operas. :)