My Darling Ron

A novel on the Military Romance Scams

Available on Amazon.com in both Kindle and Paperback format

Summary:

Sandy Glover is a pretty 45-year-old divorcee, who lives in the Flatbush area of Brooklyn. One rainy day she comes home late from work. She switches on her laptop and immediately notices that there is a Private Message waiting for her. She never gets any. So, out of curiosity, she clicks on it and suddenly . . . she is face-to-face with a handsome American soldier.

Preface

All scams are despicable as they prey on the vulnerable.

Perhaps it is because I am a soldier’s daughter, but the scams I find the most despicable of all are the so-called Military Romance ones also known as the Nigerian Military Romance scams.

People think the victims of these scams are only women, but nowadays, more and more men fall victim to them and totally in the same way. The man is lonely and suddenly the picture of a beautiful female soldier appears on the screen.

All the victims have one thing in common. They are lonely. Maybe they don’t realize they are lonely at that particular moment, but when a handsome or beautiful (in the case of a woman) soldier falls into their message box as if by magic, and in addition seems to be not only attracted to them but cares about them . . .well, can you blame them?

Although I have felt strongly against these scams from the first day I heard of their existence, the idea of writing this book became a persistent thing after waiting for a bus in Sliema on a hot, sunny August day.

When you take the bus to work every day, you soon become acquainted with all the others, who like you, take it on a daily basis. Usually, you don’t know their names or even where they work, but it is always nice to see them, and if they don’t show up for a few days you start wondering why.

Like Sandy Glover in My Darling Ron, one of my bus stop acquaintances one day came up to me all excited.  A few months prior to that hot August day, she had met a handsome soldier on Internet. They were in love. He was going to leave the army after his tour of Afghanistan, come over to the island, marry her and buy a house. He had even asked her to start looking at some properties.

This fifty-year-old woman was so happy because she had had a very unhappy first marriage and she could see that this one was finally going to bring her the happiness she had always wanted.

I was silently screaming “Don’t believe him. It’s a scam.” Instead, I sat quietly next to her in the bus listening to her happiness bubbling over, I asked her if she had told her children. She said no. She was a little embarrassed to tell them because her handsome soldier was younger than she.

I could not bring myself to tell her it was a scam.

I could not bring myself to break the happy bubble she was in.

I simply could not.

Instead, I said I was happy for her and in what seemed to be an afterthought, I added, “I think you should tell your children. You don’t want to spring the surprise on them when he arrives. Let them get used to the idea first.”

Was I right?

Was I wrong?

I don’t know.

She did not show up at the bus stop for over a month, and when she finally did, there was no mention of a handsome soldier and an upcoming marriage. I made believe I had forgotten all about it.

So, how do these guys work? They must be real smooth operators to be able to commit so many scams? The answer is: Oh, yes, they are smooth operators. They have a particular modus operandi and they are experts at manipulating people and especially people’s emotions.

Here are ten of the many clues that tell you what you are dealing with when “face-to-face” with a Military Romance Scammer:

  1. They tell you that their parents, wife or husband is/are deceased. It’s always a very tragic story. The Maltese have a word for such stories: ‘Tal-Biki’ (it’s to cry for). It’s the kind of word that carries its meaning in its very sound and is also impossible to translate in any other language.
  2. They profess their love almost immediately. 
  3. They call their victim “my love,” “my darling” or any other affectionate term very quickly or even immediately. 
  4. The relationship progresses quickly. Quickly doesn’t mean months. It means weeks.
  5. Although they say they are in the U.S. military, their English and grammar do not always match that of someone born and raised in the United States.
  6. They ask for money which, of course, will be refunded immediately.
  7. Be very suspicious if a third party gets involved, Ex. A commanding officer or as is the case in My Darling Ron an estafette to pick up the money.
  8. They have a very fertile imagination and really don’t worry about what is true or not. They figure that if they tell a lie with enough sincerity. . . it’s more than believable.  Members of the military are not charged money so that they can go on leave or for their funerals. 
  9. They always have a reason for avoiding phone calls and tell you they cannot write or receive letters through the mail. All military personnel have an APO or FPO (Fleet Post Office) address.
  10. They ask you for your address or personal information. 

Above all they are criminals and should be treated as such.