Flirt trap Facebook – An abrupt end to an internet flirt

I recently came across a startling article in Stern's online magazine. In it, Stern reader Eva-Maria from Saarland tells how a harmless Facebook flirt ended ugly.

I would like to share this report with you to warn you to be careful when it comes to giving out your private contact details too quickly on social networks such as Facebook.

The incident with Facebook was a few weeks ago now. Eva-Maria (name was probably changed by the editors to protect the identity of the reader) reports in the article upset and angry about her internet flirtation. She didn't tell anyone she knew and didn't want to read her full name online. Eva-Maria should be enough. Here is an excerpt from the Stern article about an internet flirtation that ended very unpleasantly:

Eva-Maria lives in a small town in Saarland, her three sons are grown up, the family lives scattered across Germany. Her partner died five years ago and the 56-year-old has lived alone in the apartment since then. She works freelance and uses the Internet every day: emails, listens to music on YouTube. She is by no means an online expert, but neither is she a net newbie.

The foreign admirer flattered her

She began her life at Facebook at the beginning of the year; In an interview she read how an actress keeps in touch with her children via Facebook. Eva-Maria liked the idea - now she sees what her friends and old acquaintances are experiencing, and when her son travels to Sardinia, she later looks at vacation photos.

A few weeks ago she received mail. Someone had sent her a friend request. Someone she didn't know. “It really clicked with me,” she says today. The stranger's photo looked nice. She didn't know right. Eva-Maria had never chatted before, but rather wondered how her friends could spend so much time doing it. But then she answered.

He complimented her, saying how much he liked her photo. She felt flattered. A day or two passed and they wrote to each other every now and then. It was nice that someone was interested, she says. “You don’t have that many admirers.”

His aggressive tone startled her

She was initially hesitant to give him her cell phone number, but thought to herself: “What would happen?” They spoke on the phone, the man told her that he lived in France, that he was looking for a woman with money and that he wanted to come to Germany. He became more demanding, wanted to know how much money she earned, how she lived. She was silent at first, but then hinted at her income, told him how big her apartment was, and at the same time was annoyed by his babbling.

He called again, once, twice, several times. She let it ring. But at some point she lost weight again. He shouted at her to answer it. He sounded hysterical and aggressive, she remembers.

Eva-Maria was frightened. She broke off contact, told him to solve his problems on his own, turned off her cell phone and hasn't turned it on since. Today she is annoyed at how naive she was and is amazed at why she was so careless. Why she continued to write back even when it seemed strange to her.

I think Eva-Maria is not an isolated case. Anyone who registers on social networks or dating portals and is active there can also become a victim of men who specifically exploit the anonymity of the Internet in order to catch prey.

I don't want to paint anything black and there are certainly many serious and decent men on the flirt exchanges.

However, you should always be a little careful when flirting online. So you should definitely be careful about who you give your private contact details to.

The first date should also be planned carefully and definitely take place in a neutral, public place where there are other people. Better safe than sorry!