Romance Scammers... Words With Friends.

 


oh man...
life and its distractions
since the days of dial up I have been drawn towards Scrabble online
the early days of AOL had Scrabble with Chat Rooms
after my then girlfriend now ex-wife would go to sleep I would go online and play Scrabble and chat

ah... I can hear that modem connection with that weird scratchy sound
then the AOL message that we all love "You Got Mail"

the whole concept of talking to someone online always has that chance that things are not what they claim to be
people can post any profile photo they want
they can claim to be whomever they want

no worries... as I was not looking to "meet up"
there was very little risk of being "catfishes"

well... here I am decades later
I was looking for a little distraction over the holidays
Scrabble had moved to Words with Friends
and
Words with Friends had moved to Words with Friends 2

so...
I put out a Facebook Message looking for Challengers
I got all sorts of invites from various people over all sorts of platforms
eventually settling in on a WordsWithFriends.Com site
it loaded up with my Facebook Account which made things easy

as I started to play... I started to get more challengers
more challengers... and more challengers
before I knew it
my effort for a distraction became a massive time suck

I would go from game to game
while being annoyed by the lag created by the advertisements between games

I like that Words with Friends 2 had a Chat Feature
the AOL Scrabble from the dial up days had the chat feature
talking and talking smack are part of the game
otherwise... I could just play a computer

foolishly I started to accept random challengers
the pattern was very similar...
the profile was of a beautiful woman
usually with large breasts and beautiful eyes
then... when the chat started

it usually went from hello... to location... to their being single due to a bad boyfriend situation
then... the majority of these beautiful opponents had very few previous games
very few wins
and showed very little promise as a suitable challenger

sure...  I like to win
but I like a solid game
and well...
I like beautiful women
but... that thumbnail photo is not enough to set the hook

as said... I enjoy the chat feature
yet... people rarely use it

in the Old\Standard Words With Friends the chat uses the Facebook Messenger
so... if the person is not looking at the chat
when a turn is played... the alert goes to Messenger
and bumps the chat dialogue out of view
which makes for cumbersome communication efforts

Words with Friends 2 on the computer has a more comfortable chat on the right of the game board

so... I tried to chat while I played
and sure enough
some of the players were chatty in the same format
sure... the entry lines to any cocktail conversation are often the same

where are you playing from?
single or married?
etc.

but the request to move to Google Hangout was definitely a Red Flag!
why would I move to a different application to chat when there is a chat function right here
then the mention of sharing photos
why would I want to share photos with my Scrabble opponent?
sure she is gorgeous 
but there are plenty of gorgeous women on RedTube

so... I started to be more selective in who I accept a challenge from
and
I am cautious not to share too much information
then also...
I do not enter another chat platform with these people

then lastly...
if the game is too easy...
I do not REMATCH when I am done

Be Cautious Out There...
Do not Fall for PHISHING SCAMS
or in this case...
what do they call it

Romance Scammers...
be cautious of Romance Scammers

it if is too good to be true
it usually is... too good to be true

especially in the situation of a beautiful woman approaching a regular guy