AutistAcolyte
Well-Known Member
i've been apartment hunting around east los angeles for the past few months and have gotten initial responses from a few places but once it came down to sending me a lease agreement, they flaked. now i've found a place on craigslist and it seems perfect: in budget, good distance from work, i get to live alone. but my current roommate said something tonight that has me worried... i could be getting scammed. i've sent a security deposit of 1050, and i won't be signing a lease or sending any more money until i get in touch with a property manager and get in to see the place.
i'm bummed if i just lost the money, but my mother had already offered to help me financially with moving since living with my current roommate is not workable. so as bummed as i am, the money isn't the reason i'm upset.
if this is actually a scam, it will be the second time this year that i'll have been suckered out of at least a thousand dollars.
i havent told anyone about the other time because i'm pretty ashamed, it makes me feel very stupid. i wasn't even in a good financial place to be giving money away the other time, but heres the story, maybe it will help someone avoid getting scammed.
a family approached me and the man asked for some help, he said they were visiting from another country and their hotel had double booked a room, but they couldn't get a new hotel because they had lost their luggage and had no way to pay for it. i went with him to a bank and withdrew 500 (the max withdrawal i could make at an outside bank). i had enough for a couple months rent, and he said he would pay me back the next day and gave me a whatsapp number to get in touch. then he said that 500 wasnt enough for his whole family (there were about 7 people in this escalade) and he handed me some jewelry, which i tried to decline. i'm religious and was just helping him to be kind. i've been in a similar situation where i was out of the country and had nowhere to stay and someone was kind to me and let me stay with them, and i remembered how much that meant to me.
we went to my bank and i gave him $1,000 and when he asked for more i had to decline several times and tell him that if i gave him any more then i wouldn't be able to cover my own rent that month.
well, i ended up essentially paying over a thousand dollars for some fake jewelry i didn't even want in the first place.
now i'm worried its happening again.
i'm trying to identify what i'm feeling, its definitely some shade of shame. i feel kind of sick and upset that i am this gullible and in the moment it makes me want to quit my job and leave everyone and go live back at home in florida.
any advice for getting over this shame about being taken advantage of?
i'm bummed if i just lost the money, but my mother had already offered to help me financially with moving since living with my current roommate is not workable. so as bummed as i am, the money isn't the reason i'm upset.
if this is actually a scam, it will be the second time this year that i'll have been suckered out of at least a thousand dollars.
i havent told anyone about the other time because i'm pretty ashamed, it makes me feel very stupid. i wasn't even in a good financial place to be giving money away the other time, but heres the story, maybe it will help someone avoid getting scammed.
a family approached me and the man asked for some help, he said they were visiting from another country and their hotel had double booked a room, but they couldn't get a new hotel because they had lost their luggage and had no way to pay for it. i went with him to a bank and withdrew 500 (the max withdrawal i could make at an outside bank). i had enough for a couple months rent, and he said he would pay me back the next day and gave me a whatsapp number to get in touch. then he said that 500 wasnt enough for his whole family (there were about 7 people in this escalade) and he handed me some jewelry, which i tried to decline. i'm religious and was just helping him to be kind. i've been in a similar situation where i was out of the country and had nowhere to stay and someone was kind to me and let me stay with them, and i remembered how much that meant to me.
we went to my bank and i gave him $1,000 and when he asked for more i had to decline several times and tell him that if i gave him any more then i wouldn't be able to cover my own rent that month.
well, i ended up essentially paying over a thousand dollars for some fake jewelry i didn't even want in the first place.
now i'm worried its happening again.
i'm trying to identify what i'm feeling, its definitely some shade of shame. i feel kind of sick and upset that i am this gullible and in the moment it makes me want to quit my job and leave everyone and go live back at home in florida.
any advice for getting over this shame about being taken advantage of?