Chapter 1
Where I was in my life
Set the scene. What was your life like then?
Every time I watch testimonies about how easily people get scammed and send money to strangers living far away from them, I’m always so judgmental. Like, how is that possible? I heard about the woman who thought she was dating Brad Pitt, like, for real. Or the Bill Gates lottery. Five years ago, I was pregnant with my third, and I was so exhausted. I was in my favorite position, lying on my bed like a whale, when I received a text message saying I was late on my cell phone bill. It made sense, because I had recently changed my credit card, so I needed to update my details. Thank God I was pregnant, and too exhausted and too lazy to leave my bed. My bedroom was upstairs, and my credit card was by the front door of our apartment. So I asked my husband to bring me my card. He asked why. I was already too exhausted to answer him. Like I needed his permission to use my card. I replied, “Please give me my card. I need to update my information, or they’ll cut off my phone line.” He asked, “Did you receive a text?” I said yes. He replied, “It’s a scam.” I said, “No way. The text was too perfect.” When my husband told me it was a scam, I took a screenshot of the message and searched it on Google, which confirmed it was fraud.
