Myriam was the victim of a feelings scam by a man who approached her on Instagram.
The latter managed to extract 400 euros from him.
At the microphone of Olivier Delacroix, on "La Libre antenne", Myriam says she understood that it was a scam when the man asked her for the sum of 6,000 euros.
TESTIMONY
Myriam was approached by a man on Instagram in January. For a month, they exchanged and got closer. Claiming a credit card problem during a trip abroad, the man then asked him to send him 400 euros. Myriam accepted. She realized it was a scam when he then demanded the sum of 6,000 euros from her, having allegedly been arrested with cocaine on him. On "La Libre antenna" of Europe 1, Myriam says she blames herself for having been duped.
>> Listen to Myriam's testimony in full here
"I was the victim of a feelings scam. I was approached by a man on Instagram in early January. I'm 50 years old. I suck on social media. It was one of the first times that I have was going on Instagram. He suggested that I continue the exchange by messages. It went little by little, very smoothly. He sent me pictures, even pictures with his daughter. A relationship of trust developed. installed between him and I. He was very courteous and delicate, and he expressed himself very well. I even had him on the phone several times.
"
Communicating with him made my heart soothing
"
In the end, he scammed me for 400 euros.
I fell from my little cloud.
I was lonely and it was wrong.
Communicating with him made me feel good.
I told myself that I had met someone good.
As I have a good heart, he managed to get me to give him 400 euros.
He used the pretext of a trip to England.
He told me that he could not use his card and that he could not contact relatives to help him.
He really turned my brain around.
It was only afterwards, when he asked me for the sum of 6,000 euros, evoking more and more aberrant things, that I told myself I was being ripped off.
I received a phone call from him in a hurry, telling me that one of his clients had asked him to bring something back to a friend in France.
He had supposedly been stopped by customs with cocaine on him.
The 6,000 euros was for me to pay his deposit.
It's enormous.
"
Even today, this person is texting me
"
I told myself I had to help him, but I didn't have the money.
I even wrote an email to the French Embassy to find out how we went about contacting a loved one who was detained.
I told myself he was a victim.
It was only when his lawyer came to claim the 6,000 euros from me in slang language that I understood.
I asked her which bar she belonged to.
I had the instinct to phone the Melun Bar to ask if she was really practicing there.
They told me no.
I was handled little by little, very gently.
I understood
in extremis
that it was a scam.
Fortunately I did not have the 6,000 euros in my account, because I was telling myself that I had to support him at all costs.
I even showed her picture to my whole family who were happy that I had a good person in my life.
Even today, this person sends me texts to tell me that because of me his life will be turned upside down, because I do not pay him his deposit.
"
I thought I was really dealing with someone who existed
"
I have reported the facts to the government's Cyber Scam Prevention and Assistance site.
I was advised by a person who told me that I had to mourn my 400 euros.
He explained to me that these people will never be worried.
Even if they keep sending me emails, there's nothing we can do about it.
He gave me a tip: 'This is world 3.0.
Only natural persons should be trusted. '
I am disillusioned that nothing can be done and that this person is never worried.
This man phoned me, sent pictures, talked about his daughter so much for a month that I thought I was really dealing with someone who existed.
At the end of the day, it's just a scam.
These people are very talented.
He also had a very professional profile on LinkedIn.
I am ashamed to have been fooled.
I feel like a pitcher.
I try not to think about it, but it comes back to me.
I feel guilty and I blame myself.
I tell myself that it is ridiculous to have fallen into such a big trap.
>> Find Olivier Delacroix's Libre antenna in replay and podcast here
What shocks me the most is that this gentleman stole a picture of a dad with his daughter and sent it to me.
The professional who advised me explained to me that they take what people post on the networks and they set up false profiles.
I find it disgusting that this child is being used without her knowledge.
This daddy and this child exist and do not know that their photos are being used to hurt.
I find it despicable.
When I saw this child's smile, it melted me.
I thought he was a good person, he looked adorable.
It's filthy.
I have experienced difficult things at the marital level.
I was doing work on myself to regain my self-confidence.
Besides the 400 euros, it does damage.
For example, I had to call my mother, who is 81 years old, as a witness.
I can't believe I got screwed.
I am generous and I will not remake myself.
My mother said to me: 'You were the victim of your good heart, and your good heart must be kept.' "