be happy, and start a family. He is so involved in this perspective of life together as a couple that the next step becomes decisive: leave the American army. Resign, leave permanently.
«But are you sure? - she asks - The choice youâre making is forever. Wonât you regret it?»
Melanie is a little worried, but very flattered by the fact that a man like him would completely change all his life plans for her.
«Regret it?» says John. «Regret wanting a life with an adorable woman in a wonderful country like Italy? Iâd regret it bitterly, a thousand times over, if I didnât take this step. Straight away, now. And Iâm tired, fed up of the dry land where my military boots tread. Iâm tired of war and blood!
I want to see blue skies, Italyâs turquoise sea, your hazel eyes with specks of gold, Melania my love!».
The request for money
At this point, all of you reading this, would have woken up from the daydream if John had asked you for money, right? Melanie doesn't wake up; but letâs look at their chat exchange:
«Iâve applied for discharge. Theyâve told me theyâll accept my application but with certain conditions.»
«What conditions?»
«They want me to pay something. A sort of penalty.»
«How much?»
«The equivalent of 24 thousand euros in dollars.»
«Well, youâve got it, havenât you?»
«Iâve invested in securities in the United States, itâs money that is tied-up. I havenât got the amount they want, here.»
Melania is upset by this request. Itâs not decorous for a man to ask his woman for money. Sheâs not used to it, because although she can remember many shortcomings of her former husband, he always provided for his family.
She never lacked anything while she lived with her first husband.
A little alarm bell rings faintly in her brain, but her heart overrides the doubts that are surfacing. Because heâs also clever at brushing them aside.
«I donât know if Iâll be able to get that amount together» Melania says, already starting to regret her caution because she has some money put aside, more than the amount John needs.
«Donât do it, my darling, if itâs a problem. I feel rotten asking you to do this. Itâs not right. I have enough savings for both of us in my US accounts. Itâs the man who should always look after his woman! Forget what I said. Weâll find another solution. Iâll stay here a bit longer and weâll postpone meeting for a year until Iâm discharged.»
«A year?». Melania is appalled at the prospect of waiting another year to be able to embrace John. No, she canât wait that long. Because he writes to her assiduously, intense words full of emotion. He tells her how much he loves her, how lonely he feels laying in his bed and hugging his cold pillow; every night he dreams of kissing her and making love to her, then in the morning waking up leaves his soul empty and sad.
So, Melania gives in. She dips into her savings and transfers some money by Western Union. John collects it and disappears. The great love affair ends overnight.
John doesnât really exist. The person writing to Melania is a 23-year-old Nigerian. Heâs part of a gang of crooks who split the loot between them after each romance scam4.
When Melania contacts the police, they tell her she is the third woman from Rimini to be scammed in a few months. But thatâs small consolation to her. As soon as she can she insults the so-called John (online again) and calls him a thief and a scammer. He answers that he gave her what she was looking for and suggests she join him in Nigeria to have some âfunâ. Melania calls him an âanimalâ and ends all contact with him for ever.
No dream could finish in a worse manner. Poor Melania. Sheâs upset about the money - yes - but even more about having fallen for a scam which, with hindsight, seems so obvious to her. «I really am stupid!» she tells herself every morning as she looks in the mirror.
She began treatment because she didnât know what else to do. She closed her Facebook profile. The psychologist told her to avoid the computer and start going for long bike rides again like she used to when she was young, to enrol in a club for environmentalists, artists or whatever she liked, to leave the virtual world alone and get out and meet real people.
Luciana
When Luciana reads the friend request on Facebook, intrigued she thinks âA Frenchman? Heâs not bad actually!â
The man immediately tells her heâs a widower, like Luciana, and he makes a date to chat online with her the following evening.
Sheâs a widow, heâs a widower. Theyâre the same age, both 50 with children. This is how their daily online meetings begin. A very pleasant date for the woman who becomes fond of Vincent (this is the name the self-styled French widower gives her).
According to Lucianaâs tale their date every evening becomes pleasantly unavoidable. The messages he writes are always very polite, he sends her kisses and little hearts, and he also sends a few photos with and without his children. Luciana does the same as she falls in love like a teenager.
«It felt like I was reliving the now forgotten feelings of my youth. He used to send me words of love that Iâd never even read in books. In the end I was completely off my head, to the point that I was unable to tear myself away from my mobile or my computer»5.
Departure for Ivory Coast
Letâs be clear in our minds that Ivory Coast, Senegal, Ghana, are almost always involved in any fake love stories, because these are the places where the swindlers live, and they need to have the money sent there. Our dear Vincent warns Luciana he is about to leave for Ivory Coast for his work as an art dealer. But this is wonderful news for her. Once he has finished his African trip to buy inlaid wooden masks, he will return to France, but not without first stopping off in Italy to embrace his beautiful lover from Rimini.
How exciting! The dream is coming true. Luciana starts to fantasize about their meeting at the airport. Her holding a notice on which she will have written âVINCENTâ in big letters. Him, handsome and elegant, with his suitcase labelled Abidjan, and sunglasses; perhaps a small souvenir for her or her child.
Luciana canât wait, and she begins organising all the details of her welcome for Vincent. âShall I make a banner to put up in the hallway at home? Perhaps not, itâs silly.â
She doesnât want to seem too taken and treat him as if he were the only man on earth. Much better to think about more concrete things like a special dinner, with all her best dishes: saffron-flavoured lasagne, blueberry tart, a good Italian wine. Everything must be simple, but perfect, to welcome the man who
