I was scammed. The catfish was someone who called himself Michael Lucas Anderson, and I eventually learned that he was simultaneously pursuing other women, and perhaps men, under several names, including Thomas Juliano Cruz and Donald Brown.
Unfortunately, and despite my doubts, he scammed money out of me.
Experts who work with this kind of thing say victims never get their money back. I fought back, and fought hard, and I did get most of my money returned.
One of the things Michael/Thomas/Donald said that made me cringe was his use of the word “relentless.” I’m not a car or hospital commercial, nor do I want to date one. And I would never have used that word to describe myself—until I decided to fight back.
Falling in love is fun. Romance scams are not. For catfish, scamming is what they do. They feel powerful, important, virile when they’re scamming. It’s fun and it excites them.
“Relentless.fun” is not really about making fun of Michael/Thomas/Donald, although his reactions are very humorous. This blog is part of my fight. Dale Carnegie once said, “People rarely succeed unless they have fun in what they are doing.” In my relentless (!) fight, I am transcending my hurt and embarrassment and finding fun and empowerment.
May Relentless.fun keep someone else from making my same mistakes, expose Michael/Thomas/Donald and his ilk, educate other victims, and heal anyone whose heart has been broken by someone who wasn’t who they said they were.