How Not To Find Love on the Internets

This happened years ago before I got married. I got in the habit of chatting on IRC (Internet Relay Chat) every night in a certain chat room. I was new to the internet and found it fascinating you could converse with so many people scattered across the world. I soon started to private chat with a lady with whom we shared a lot of interests and ideals. Within a matter of time, we were also emailing everyday. I looked forward to her emails and grew attached to her. She had also grown attached to me.

Emails blossomed into talking on the phone. The hard thing about this was that she lived in San Francisco, California and I lived in Alabama. I found a web dialing service called Dailpad.com where I could make long distance calls for free over the internet. That solved the problem of the escalating costs of our multiple hour chats on the phone every night. I had an over two hundred dollar phone bill one month and it liked to have left me broke.

We exchanged many pictures and she was gorgeous. She would send me these cute little cards and letters in the mail that smelled of her perfume. She even started sending me gift boxes with compact discs, neck ties, and other things she thought I would enjoy.

We had been talking for months now very intimately. I had a long weekend coming up from work and decided to buy a plane ticket for San Francisco and fly out. I wanted us to finally meet. We talked on the phone about it and she acted VERY strange and tried to persuade me from coming. By this time, I had fallen in love with this woman and was smitten.

A few days after that I got a strange email from a man that shocked me. It went like this…..

Andrew,

I appreciate what you have done for Teresa (I thought her name was Patti.) I am her husband, Avery. Teresa lives in a house that I bought for her and I try to keep her up. She is not able to get around much due to her weight. Thanks so much for giving meaning to her life. She cares about you very much.

Avery

I went into to total shock. I had invested tons of time and money into this relationship and it was a total sham. Her real name was Teresa Coulter and not Patti. She weighed over 400 pounds and could barely get around. She was also twice my age. The pictures she had sent were of her much younger and less endowed sister. I felt completely betrayed and swindled.

I completely cut off ties with her after that but it continued to hurt deeply. She would send me countless emails everyday trying to get me to talk to her. I was not so mad about her age or weight but the fact that she had lied to me and deceived me. I would have been her friend and confidant if she would have been honest with me as I did enjoy our correspondence and communication.

A few years later, after I had gotten married, I got a strange phone call one afternoon. Rachel picked up the phone and then handed it to me.

“Sweetheart, it’s for you.” She said.

“Who is it?” I asked.

“Some man,” Rachel said. “I don’t know.”

“Jonathon?” The strange voice asked. “It's me, Avery, Teresa’s husband.”

“Oh, hello there,” I said nervously.

“I just wanted to let you know Teresa passed away this morning in the hospital due to complications surrounding her weight,” He said. “I lost the love of my life.”

I gave him my condolences and tried to comfort him. I really felt sorry for the guy but I had no feelings what so ever for Teresa any more. I know that sounds callous but I had never been betrayed like that in my whole life. I was sorry she had died but I had more feeling for Avery.

I hope this story is a reminder to be careful with whom you talk to or meet on the internet. Sometimes, people are not always what they seem or pretend to be.