Over the last few weeks, a lot of people are laughing at Manti Te'o for his online relationship with a woman that doesn't even exist!
But really, you ain't immune to getting pranked on!
Even the most street-wise, the most intellectual, the most toughest, the most whatevers, will eventually get out-smarted and humiliated, or even worse, getting scammed out of their money.
When you're desperate, that's when you become an easy target for scam artists. When you're feeling isolated, that's when you become an easy target for scam artists.
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For example, Te'o might've felt homesick going from a mostly Polynesian community of Laie to a university located in Indiana (that would be Notre Dame). Very few people there that he might have the cultural connection. Easy to feel culturally isolated!
That made him vulnerable to his so-called "friend" who hooked Te'o up to an online relationship with a fictitious woman with a Hawaiian last name and a hapa looking photo!
This kind of prank, called "catfishing" has happened to others, it's just that Te'o just happened to be one of the top college football players about to join the NFL. Whereas others have luxury of just being humiliated in private, Te'o's humiliation became very public!
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Closer to home, the UH athletic department was also in a desperate situation. Being out in the middle of the ocean, they have extremely high travel expenses that other colleges don't have to worry about! They have facilities that need upgrading!
So yeah, trying to get a big-time superstar to do a benefit concert sounded like a good idea!
Apparently, they contacted someone claiming to be a talent agency representing big stars like Justin Beiber, Rihanna and Stevie Wonder. Well, that "talent agency" said Stevie Wonder is available!
Turned out that "talent agency" was bogus. All it had was a website with photos, and a small PO Box somewhere in Florida! It had ZERO connections with ANY musicians.
But it was too late, the "talent agency" got paid, UH lost $200,000!
It caused the UH Athletic Director Jim Donovan to be suspended and moved to a different position. (Donovan since left for Cal-State Fullerton). And tons of controversy, and even legislative hearings over how things are done @ UH!
All this because of desperation.
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I am sure not immune to that type of desperation!
The summer of 2011 was one of the crappiest ones ever for me!
I was laid-off from the part-time tutor position at Niu Valley Middle School. (most of the students who relied on those services were about to go on to high school, and not enough students to replace them).
I still had the sub-teaching gig, but there isn't much work for the summer! And whereas in the previous years, I had some extra work subbing at the pre-schools, most of them have since faced hard times with declining enrollments and lay-offs!
What to do? What to do?
I went on Craig's List job ads!
A tutoring gig that paid $50 an hour? Where do I sign up for that?
I emailed that person posting the ad! He claimed he was going to visit Hawaii from a foreign country, and would like me to help tutor his teenage son at a library!
He also said he'll also send a check ahead of time!
Too good to be true?
Yes it was!
When I deposited the check -------- RED FLAGS!
Lucky thing my bank just put a hold on checks coming from outside of Hawaii for a week. Otherwise, I might've spent $$$ that didn't even exist!
Because it turned out the check was bogus!
I contacted the banks and the police about this! Well, since I was lucky that "check" was put on hold, I didn't lose money. But since I didn't lose money, they legally couldn't do much about me being pranked on! I was just advised to e-mail the scam artist (claiming to be Timothy Largier) that the "tutoring session is cancelled and this will be the last time we ever communicate"
When I mentioned the issue to my mother, she said "you read the newspapers, you watch the news, you know this type of things go on".
True, but I got pranked on because I was desperate as hell!
So yeah, I'm more careful with Craig's List ads! I look for real work instead of BS tutoring gigs!
I'm even at the point where I don't even answer my phone if the caller ID shows a phone # I don't even recognize! This is to prevent some tele-marketing person from pulling me into his/her scam!
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But yeah, back to the Te'o situation. The guy who did the scam, Roniah Tuiasosopo probably thought he was having fun playing with someone else's emotions!
But fun doesn't last forever. His reputation is ruined forever.
It will be like the "boy who cried wolf".
So even if Roniah Tuiasosopo tells the truth, who's going to believe him?
That will be the hardest lesson for Roniah!
