Watch out for virtual babes!

 Once upon a time ICQ used to be a novelty, but all sorts of old foxes were already taking advantage of this invention. ICQ is an instant messenger, which made it possible to have business conversations or just to chatter online. How lovely! Here’s a story, which illustrates a common method now widely used to drag money from foreigners looking for brides in Russia. 

One day I got a message from an unknown user and sent a reply just out of curiosity. It turned out to be a girl who had sent a message “by mistake”. After a brief chat I found out that she was 25-year-old Natasha (a bit younger than me) from Saint Petersburg, a prominent businesswoman who was single (just like me!). The farther in, the deeper. To our surprise we had so much in common. We both even liked the same poets. After several days of innocent chattering I got a feeling that I had known Natasha for many years. The exchange of photos followed shortly. And even if my new ICQ friend was not as perfect as Marilyn Monroe, I was impressed with her looks. 

Of course I was longing to meet her. And I got the chance. She had to travel on business to Moscow, where I live. So we decided to meet. There were many discussions about the time and the place of our rendezvous. I was already making plans for tomorrow when…Natasha said she was so short of money at the moment that she would not be able to pay for the petrol. Hesitating and embarrassed she asked to spare her a dime. Of course, she would solve this trouble as soon as she met her business partners. As you can guess, I ran to the nearest post-office and sent her money via Western Union to make it quicker. You probably already know what comes next in this story. I never heard of Natasha and her ICQ number since then.

It is obvious that I didn’t even try to look for her. Neither did I regret sending her money (thanks God the sum wasn’t too much!). Still, I wonder how many people she took advantage of. That is what offends me. There are so many unknown users sending their messages at present (ICQ database gives everybody an access to the information about age and sex of other users). Some really seek new friends; others try to cheat on such fools as me. And there are also those who send gullible users computer viruses.