Eh?

4Chickens

I have read all of the comments and am still unconvinced that this is not the beginning of an elaborate scam. Here are my questions/observations:
1 Where in Wisconsin does she come from? Where did she go to school? These things can be verified online.
2 How long does he thinks it will take her to get a passport? Convicted felons are not allowed to hold a passport. Now I'm not saying that this woman is a convicted felon but lets look at the probabilities:
A Her own mother is a drug dealer/addict.
B Her father is violent
C Unmarried reluctant mother of two
D You would be surprised at what minor offences in the US are considered to be felonies and felonies stay on your record forever.
E The apple doesn't usually fall far from the tree
F And not forgetting she has mental health issues, this could mean anything for godsake

If I was a gambler, I would bet that any day soon she is going to be touching him up for cash. Ohhhh dear I don't have enough money for my passport, ohhhh dear I don't have enough money for gas for a lift to the airport. Ohhhh dear I have been told that I have to purchase a Visa to enter the UK and it will cost £1000. Oh dear, you are not permitted to buy the ticket for me, I must buy it myself or the airline won't allow me to travel, please send me another £1000
Get the gist?
I am going to be keeping an eye on this thread to see when the penny finally drops. And if I am wrong I will personally visit said lady when I am next in Wisconsin, which will be September this year, and apologise. But I've got a funny feeling I won't have to.

Acc72

jaqui59 wrote: »

It could end up that he is paying £500 (the price of the ticket) for a steamy sexual encounter, and yes, before you mention, contraception will be used, and he understands all about STD's

This whole story has kept me entertained for the last 20 minutes.

Is he buying just one ticket ?

If so, what is she going to do with the children she no longer wants - does she plan to leave them with her "uncaring mother who deals in drugs" ?

I won't even ask if how you know that "contraception will be used" if and when they do meet (do you plan on being there to unwrap the condom for him ? - the whole set up is nuts, you describe your son as a "homely not going out person", you pick him up from work, you tell him to wear condoms ........ surely this is not for real ?).

If he has £500 of his own money to spend / waste, let him do what he wants - it will be a lesson well learnt when he doesn't hear from this 40 year old African man again (er ... I mean American woman ...).

In my opinion he then needs to be encouraged to develop interests and hobbies and to make friends with real life people.

In the meantime, it sounds as though you need to realise that your son is 20 years old and not 5 and you need to treat him as such otherwise he will never be self sufficient.

Please keep posting updates though ..........

Calien27

Not sure if OP has said, but how did they meet online? do they share a common interest or was it a random thing? and did she contact him first?

Elzmumof3

totallybored wrote: »

If this is real tell him not to pay for anything! The woman is dodgy. Mental problems, kids she doesn't want, drug dealing mother, and she's a liar!

How do you know she is dodgy? Maybe if people werent judgemental so often, she would have had some help/support and things would have turned out differently for her?

OP i hope this works out for your son, and IMHO fairplay to him for wanting to meet her/support her when she has such issues!

SailorSam

I've been 'talking' to a woman on the Internet for the last couple of months to a woman from Thailand, she found my profile on PoF and wrote to me. I think she's genuine, she's not said anything to make me think she could in fact be a guy in a computer cafe in Gambia, and although i've not actually lied to her i'm being very careful with the truth.
She tells me her ex husband is English, she lived here for a number of years and so has a passport. The only thing which sounds wrong is she says she doesn't have a Webcam or use Skype which as others have said sounds odd. 'Cos she's lived here she has been back to England on regular holidays and was hoping to come again this year. I said if she did perhaps she could come up to Liverpool for a few days. She has her house up for sale (in Thailand) now she's saying until it's sold she may not be able to afford a holiday ........... unless her lottery numbers come up, or perhaps i'd like to pay for her. (I think that last bit was said tongue-in-cheek as a joke). I just replied to say my numbers might come up first, it may not have been a joke but a line to see what i'd say.
Op i know it's a lot different from your son, i'm 59 and been talking less than 3mths but there is no way i'd travel that far and even less chance i'd ever send any money. Until i see her on Skype i'm taking it all with a pinch of salt.

claire16c

Elzmumof3 wrote: »

How do you know she is dodgy? Maybe if people werent judgemental so often, she would have had some help/support and things would have turned out differently for her?

OP i hope this works out for your son, and IMHO fairplay to him for wanting to meet her/support her when she has such issues!

Why won't she go on Skype then?

There is never a good reason for that.

I'm just about to watch last nights episode of cat fish! I've thing that did strike me from previous episodes was the desperation/ naiviety of the people on there.

One girl who had been talking and texting a 'male model' for I think a couple of years, when the MTV people called him, it was clear in about 30 seconds of him talking he was not an adult male, how this girl didn't realise I have no idea. It's like they are in denial & willing to believe anything the person tells then without question. Funnily enough this 'man' also had an insane family life which turned out to be a pack of lies.

Even if this girl is telling the truth, it still makes no sense as the no face contact thing. Any op please make sure your son doesn't buy a ticket until she's got a passport done & emailed him a photo of it - hell need the passport number for the airline ticket anyway.

Calien27

Elzmumof3 wrote: »

How do you know she is dodgy? Maybe if people werent judgemental so often, she would have had some help/support and things would have turned out differently for her?

OP i hope this works out for your son, and IMHO fairplay to him for wanting to meet her/support her when she has such issues!

In a whole year of talking, they've never once had any "face time" ok she doesn't have a webcam, but they are cheap if you get a basic one, or alternatively someone she knows may have one she could use for a quick 10 minute Skype session so both of them can see they are who they say they are. Skype is free and quick to set up and can easily be deleted after the call. Both of them (not just OP's son) should want to be able to see the person they are meeting is who they claim to be.

Claree__x

claire16c wrote: »

I'm just about to watch last nights episode of cat fish! I've thing that did strike me from previous episodes was the desperation/ naiviety of the people on there.

Don't ruin it for me - I've got it on my list for tonight

The difference between this and catfish, IMO, is that both people actively are wanting to meet - rather than one (the genuine one) wanting to and the other saying they do but backing out.

Good luck to your son, OP, I really hope it is real (and just for once I want to watch an episode of Catfish where they're telling the truth - please!) but I agree, I'd get her to go on cam first.

Is it actually possible to do the google image search that they do in the show? Might be helpful

unoriginal_uk

jaqui59 wrote: »

I was talking to him more last night, and I really don't think this is the case, and I feel quietly confident their relationship is genuine. He has been talking to her for a year now, and he said its reached a point where they just have to meet. I am just so relieved that she is now coming here.

A few of you have asked where she is from, and her age ... She is from Wisconsin, and yes, she is older than him at the age of 27.

She is going to apply for a passport today ... Is there anything else she has to do?

If she is applying for a passport today, she certainly WON'T be coming to visit him next week. With her family history, her passport application is going to take a VERY LONG time. The USA don't muck around with these things. She could pay to speed it up - but if she is going to do this, then by the same token she's got money to pay for her own flipping ticket.

Whilst she waits for her passport application to be processed, what exactly is stopping her saving up her own money for her plane tickets? (And yes I mean ticketS - I assume she is also going to make your son pay for her return?)

Which intrigues me - are they intending on organising return travel for her at the end of her stay?

unoriginal_uk

Sorry to add to this also and apologies if this has already been asked/answered - is your son also paying for the hotel stay?