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13th May 2015
By Ari Kopel
Guest Writer for Wake Up World
I guess we all learn from our bad experiences. Hopefully we understand what to do or not to do the next time we’re confronted with a similar situation…
In 2008, I experienced a financial disaster. I was losing my home and had lost my car due to the real estate crash that hit Florida like a demolition ball. It left me eating at my savings. There were no jobs that I was qualified for since I had been in the real estate and mortgage business for a good seven years. The housing industry summed up my experience and was all I had on my resume that was current. Everyone who had been in this industry was out looking for jobs.
I figured I needed an environmentally-friendly car, one that would help me economize. So I searched for a Toyota Prius that would allow me to save on gas. They were going for a lot of money back then, but I thought I would get a good deal on eBay. After searching that site, I found one there that I really liked, and I placed the bid. My bid was too low, and I didn’t get the car at the auction. But a week later, I got an email from the owner of the car letting me know that he hadn’t sold the car. Even though I hadn’t won the bid, he wanted to know if I was still interested. He said that he was desperate to get rid of it because he was going through a rough divorce and needed to sell it fast. He was willing to let go of the one-year-old car, with low mileage, for $9,000. My excitement took over me. It possessed me and possessed my mind. “Sure, I’m interested,” I said.
He sent me a link, and when I opened it, it took me to eBay. I followed the link and followed the instructions. I read that there was a guarantee from ebay, and that was good enough for me, and I sent him the $9,000 via a wire to his bank. He emailed me back as to how the vehicle would be transported to me and that he’d send me all these instructions in a day. I kept visualizing this car in front of my house. I was very excited and couldn’t believe the deal I had just gotten!
A day passed, and nothing was sent to me. I wondered if he got busy, maybe he was in the middle of all the paperwork necessary for the transport of the truck. I held on to that vision of the car. I emailed him to find out about the delivery of the Prius, and to give him a gentle nudge to find out how things were going at his end. There was no response back. I emailed again and no answer. It’s OK, I thought to myself. It’s mine. It’s a done deal. I imagined myself driving it and saving money on gas. It was on its way! I kept emailing and emailing, but I never got back a response. My heart had dropped and was sitting in the pit of my stomach giving me major indigestion. This was beyond heartburn — I was now scared. My only hope was the guarantee from eBay. So, I contacted them. They told me they didn’t have any such page with any such vendor.
Due to the very sobering realization that I had just been conned, my heart fell to the floor and splattered. I called the police, and they sent me a detective. It was a “white collar crime” he said, one that he would put at the bottom of a stack of files of more pressing crimes. Needless to say, I cried for days. I still look back, and the thought of this incident conjures up feelings of deep sadness.
“How could I have been so trusting?”, I would ask myself. “Why didn’t I pay attention to my gut?” Yes, that uncomfortable nudging was there – that nudging that told me “don’t do it!”
Previous articles by Ari Kopel:
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2008 wasn’t a bad year for you only. I think it was a bad year for many people. TPTB were testing out various ways to destroy people. They are now employing their evil tactics in neighborhoods all over America with great success ever since!