joyful2beeblogs

I’ve noticed a trend in people wanting me and others to be their “friend” in various groups. I have had several people (all males) tell me how much they enjoyed my blog posts, and how they enjoyed my comments or blogs; or how “gorgeous” I look or what a beautiful woman I am. Then, they ask me to send them a friend request.

If I am in a group, and get a request similar to the one above, I check to see if the guy sent the same request to the other females or males in the group. Often the male members don’t get the same friend request. Only the female members.

That is not a true friend request when it is sent to so many people in one group of a great variety of people.

Often, they claim to be overseas; or on a oil rig or in the military; or they always live on the other side of the continent or the world!

I do not accept friend requests that give little to no information about the person writing them. Would you be a friend (in the truest sense of the word), when your chances of ever meeting someone to be a friend is practically nil?

I have found it revealing when I go to the guy’s page. I search for his Facebook page name at the top of the page first. Interestingly, several times, I found a list of other pages with the same name, same photo, but different variations of information. Some do not have any “personaI” information other than their name,” In other words, “BE CAREFUL!”

I can’t help but find this behavior perplexing. I do not understand why a guy who lives on the other side of the world, or continent wants to be my “friend.” Don’t get me wrong. I am a friendly person. Face to face I will be friendly with almost anyone. But to “be a friend” to someone I will never know or see… why? It arouses suspicion in my mind.

We have all seen the “Dr. Phil” episode where a woman was “romanced” long distance from the other side of the world. The guy strung her along, then began begging her to send him money because he was in jail and couldn’t pay the fees or some such. Over time, she sent him literally thousands of dollars, believing he would eventually come to her and marry her. Please do not be desperate.

Find someone where you live or work or party or go to church with. If you are lonesome, join groups that interest you. Seek out other people in your neighborhood, your town, your church, senior centers or YMCA’s or groups on sites, or a friend of someone who is already your friend. Better still, find someone who is lonely, and get to know them if you know them some already.

There was another scam I found several years ago. Someone signed on in messenger using the name of a friend of mine. I assumed they were my friend. Then they started typing how they won $5000 or some large amount.

They “wanted me to have that wealth too” and she started to tell me how I needed to call someone, she knew, who had helped her win $5000, and could fill me in on the details of how to get the money.

I caught on when I realized those people were not “friends” of mine. They were absolutely pushy about calling that person who could “help” me. I stopped the communication. Who knows what those two were planning?? Uploading a virus or stealing info from my computer?

Be careful and teach your kids to be careful about who they have for friends; what their friends are like or what hobbies they have; and where they met them.

I hope this helps someone and prevents an innocent person from dating or accepting a friend request from someone they never met.