BY: JULIET AWUOR.
A few weeks ago, an exposure was made on the media concerning women being conned in search for love.
This four letter word puzzles me many a times. One would go to unbelievable heights to try and keep it. With technology, there are all sorts of platforms to look for your special one. Top on that list is the internet. I don’t have anything against technology, in fact, I happen to be a member of one such online dating site. I have met some really interesting personalities there; one asked me to help him with 200 dollars, and that was the end of our communications with him.
Problem is things are changing with time. A few years ago, it was a common thing to hear of a lady being a gold digger. Nowadays there is a new breed of men out there to get money from ladies. I call them opportunists- it’s no longer a woman’s exclusive domain.
Women should be on the lookout for such men who are out to draw cash from ready ATMs, unsuspecting victims who are either blinded by desperation from years of loneliness, or by the “charms” that these con artists may be using.
These opportunists will look for your weak spot and prey on it. I happen to have one weak spot- I tend to be soft and sometimes I prefer to reserve my comments even if something offends me. I’ve learned the hard way; I met a guy in the neighborhood and he clung to me like a leech from the time we met.
He told me he was a program coordinator for a renowned organization; he spoke big concerning himself all the time, perhaps to impress me. Stories of him having been to Europe, owning land that is under construction and perhaps the most absurd of them all, having a wife with whom they are at loggerheads and that was the reason he came to live in the neighborhood.
Wonders don’t cease, this man wanted to know the amount I paid for my rent wanting to chip in, even after telling him that I don’t deal with married men. He then changed his tactics to the “Brother in Christ”, coming daily to share his unwarranted devotions; after finding out that I was a Christian.
After two weeks of coming to my house and leaving at odd hours, and my being silent in the name of being nice, he surprised me by asking me for 3000 shillings to sort someone and he would refund me in two days. Of course I didn’t give him the money- where could a student get that money? He persisted until I gave him 500 shillings which he never returned.
A week later, he borrowed my camera which he never returned. On following it up, he had stories that he had been arrested for getting into a fight with his wife. The shameless thing still was asking me to send him a thousand shillings via M-pesa.
Gone is my camera, probably never to return- that was in February this year. I just thank God that he didn’t find the nerve to borrow my laptop. Look out for this type of artists- con artists; or should I call them opportunists.