This is what happened
After all the stress I had here upon my arrival and the mails that followed it, I decided to make a public post for everybody to read and comment on - and hopefully voice their thoughts on the issue.
1) I cannot help but blame myself for wanting to trust people I've met online. So far I wasn't disappointed - but there is always a first time for everything. (Note to self: If things are too shiny to be true, most likely they aren't true.)
2) In case the girl in question here did actually end up in hospital, I'm really and honestly sorry. Please keep this in mind. Some people do have bad luck.
3) This is mainly thought as a reminder to be careful with who you meet online and how much you trust those people.
---------
So, after I've got through the first three points, here we go:
I met a girl called Acha online in Summer 2008. Sadly I can't remember anymore in which community, but I think it had something to do with getting tickets for JE plays and I commented on some post there and we started talking with each other.
Talks were mainly common topics: my life, her life, love and work. Acha lived in Tokyo at that time, going to college/university there and originally came from Indonesia. After a while she slowly opened up and said she is friends with some JE guys and in late 2008 she got a contract with the jimusho as staff-san, due to her connections. (see above: too shiny to be true)
When I went to Japan in January 2009 she said she could help me get a ticket for Tsubasa concert through the jimusho. I did get a ticket, but it was an FC ticket = with a name on it. Now, if the jimusho would hand out tickets to staff-san, would they actually put a name on that? Not sure, but I addressed her on this issue and how it was difficult for me to trust her. Acha went all "how can you be so mean? why don't you trust me? I already had this happen again and again to me. Mean people are mean. Buh ;_; " on me...
As I still had a few days left before I had to return home, I tried to meet up with her, but she was all too busy. I even said I would go anywhere in Tokyo/Yokohoma, where she claimed she would be. All she had to do would be go in front of the door, but no...
After maybe two or three months I decided for myself that I did want to give her a chance, because talking to her normally was nice and refreshing.
Fast forward to November 2009. I started to make the arrangements for this trip to Japan and she offered to help me with the lodging. Apparently a friend of her would be out of town and me and two other friends of her could use the flat and be house-sitter.
Acha claimed her PayPal-account had been hacked and whether I could send the money with Western Union to a friend of her in Indonesia who could then put it on her account, as she wasn't at home at that time... (see above, I'm the only person to blame for making such dire mistakes). Now, as we are not talking about only 50 dollars here but a bit more, this is the whole reason why I'm beyond angry over this whole issue.
I do have the address of this person, so if somebody in Indonesia is willing to check if said person actually lives there/that address exists and who that person is, I'll gladly hand it over.
During December I asked Acha twice to give me the address and contract she said she has, but she failed to do so, but said she would meet me in Shinjuku and guide me to the apartment.
Now, I'm sitting in the plane, am on the way to Tokyo and her reply to my "where do we meet" came one hour after I had left home... I read the mail in some manga kissaten in Shinjuku upon arrival, trying to find out where she is atm.
While I am reading the mails I see one mail of her boyfriend who was talking/mailing with Mel while I was on the plane. This is copied from the original:
dude this is dustin, im achas bf & im currently here. i jus noticed ur email & i think we got sumtin to figure out real soon cus sumtin bad hppnd lst nite. so does ur gf alrd kno the address yet? acha was worried cus she found out sum failure notices 4 sum of her emails to katja bck then an tat includes the 1 wit the apartment address an wat to do if we aint got 2 spot each othr. id love 2 get into her email addy but idk her pssword.
lst nite she left our hotel & a note 4 me.she only told me tat she'd b back as soon as she got ahold of katja. acha thot katja mite hav wifi as she got her msg thru twitter/sumtin. our connection heres FONT face="Courier"tty much rubbish so she went out in search 4 an internet cafe. witout me. i felt bad but idk wat 2 do as i dint kno tis place til then 1 of her friends her came 2 our hotel to let me kno tat shes now in the hospital blackin out aftr an attempted rape.
i jus went to the police wit her friend an all an i 'membered bout this. so pls lemme kno like wen katja would arrive an does she know 'vrything? cus im FONT face="Courier"tty much lost here an achas still blackin out an im worried i cant catch ur gf at the rite timing
Actually, I have to say I was NOT surprised that something would happen. I did just wonder with what excuse she would come up. This kind of excuse was very much unexpected though. Let's bring in the boyfriend she kept mentioning for quite some time already. Creative!
So, while I was in the mangakissa in Shinjuku, with no place to stay for the night, I managed to get a hold of Dustin online and he said he had reserved a) a room in Asakusa and b) a room in Kanda. I settled for the cheaper room in Asakusa, went there, cancelled the other room and kept mailing back and forth with Dustin. He kept promising that a friend of them or he himself would visit me and pick me up, pay for the room and bring me to where I was supposed to stay. Guess what? That didn't happen.
For randomness he gave me a telephone number of said friend and... oh, this number is not available.
Also, to make the situation "awwwww, poor Acha" Dustin wrote things like this:
hello hey im rly sorry 4 this, im still blaming myself cus i shouldve been there. So ok jus hold a moment, il read this new incoming email
AND
i probly will need to ask [friend] to ring u,as my fone dont work here, only email. acha jus got her 2nd blood transfusion but gettin worse im still tryin to reach her fam
(I changed the name of mentioned friend to [friend] for reasons)
See me suffer here, when I sent Acha money, have to pay for the hotel again and have to doubt I'll ever see my money again.
So, I did the normal thing if you hear somebody you know is in hospital. I asked Dustin in which hospital she is. He couldn't answer that, but soon after I got a mail stating that her mom arrived from Indonesia. So, hmm... if the mom is in the hospital, he must have given her an address, no? -.-;;; Why not copy it for me too? o.O
At this point I asked him to send me the money via PayPal, which he promised to do, as he talked briefly with Mel before and promised him to take care of the issue. (Boyfriend to boyfriend promise, you know this stuff...)
Still no money on my PayPal, but then I got this mail...
acha stopped breathing a moment ago an docs still inside the room we dunno 'nythin yet..
And this is the last mail I got and which I only saw three days later, due to the travelling to Kyoto and Sendai it somehow slipped my attention. I did reply, but no answer yet.
------------
This is the current situation. The person called Acha owes me quite some money and due to my stupid mistake and sending it via Western Union I have no chance to claim it back -.-;;;
So, if you ever meet somebody online who says that their life is all shiny, don't trust them. Same goes for people saying "I need your help, send me some dollars for xyz".
For me, it's lesson learned, I guess. I'm now only waiting for Dustin to write me "she sadly really died *cry*cry*" and then he'll go "somehow I can't find any proof you ever sent her money, so I'm not going to send it back to you"
(again, if she's actually in hospital I'm sorry, but then I don't get why he fails to give me the address...)
------------
MAJOR EDIT:
I started some searching on the internet and had a lot of help from people living in Indonesia.
I actually managed to track down the parents of Acha and her brother (from what I believe the person I sent the money to is Acha's brother). One call to the couple and suddenly everything went quite fast.
Dustin started mailing me again and tried to tell me, that those parents are not related to Acha, but well... I can't prove it, neither can he.
Result: I called the parents, I got the full amount of my money back. Case closed.
I do leave this post open for the public with a reason:
Please think hard, not once but at least five times, before you entrust somebody with your money.
How much do you know about that person? Are they friends of your friends? Do your friends say "it's okay to give them the money"?
If you only feel the slightest bit that there is something fishy, better try looking for some other way. Or in the very least: Don't ever use Western Union or send the money in cash.
1) I cannot help but blame myself for wanting to trust people I've met online. So far I wasn't disappointed - but there is always a first time for everything. (Note to self: If things are too shiny to be true, most likely they aren't true.)
2) In case the girl in question here did actually end up in hospital, I'm really and honestly sorry. Please keep this in mind. Some people do have bad luck.
3) This is mainly thought as a reminder to be careful with who you meet online and how much you trust those people.
---------
So, after I've got through the first three points, here we go:
I met a girl called Acha online in Summer 2008. Sadly I can't remember anymore in which community, but I think it had something to do with getting tickets for JE plays and I commented on some post there and we started talking with each other.
Talks were mainly common topics: my life, her life, love and work. Acha lived in Tokyo at that time, going to college/university there and originally came from Indonesia. After a while she slowly opened up and said she is friends with some JE guys and in late 2008 she got a contract with the jimusho as staff-san, due to her connections. (see above: too shiny to be true)
When I went to Japan in January 2009 she said she could help me get a ticket for Tsubasa concert through the jimusho. I did get a ticket, but it was an FC ticket = with a name on it. Now, if the jimusho would hand out tickets to staff-san, would they actually put a name on that? Not sure, but I addressed her on this issue and how it was difficult for me to trust her. Acha went all "how can you be so mean? why don't you trust me? I already had this happen again and again to me. Mean people are mean. Buh ;_; " on me...
As I still had a few days left before I had to return home, I tried to meet up with her, but she was all too busy. I even said I would go anywhere in Tokyo/Yokohoma, where she claimed she would be. All she had to do would be go in front of the door, but no...
After maybe two or three months I decided for myself that I did want to give her a chance, because talking to her normally was nice and refreshing.
Fast forward to November 2009. I started to make the arrangements for this trip to Japan and she offered to help me with the lodging. Apparently a friend of her would be out of town and me and two other friends of her could use the flat and be house-sitter.
Acha claimed her PayPal-account had been hacked and whether I could send the money with Western Union to a friend of her in Indonesia who could then put it on her account, as she wasn't at home at that time... (see above, I'm the only person to blame for making such dire mistakes). Now, as we are not talking about only 50 dollars here but a bit more, this is the whole reason why I'm beyond angry over this whole issue.
I do have the address of this person, so if somebody in Indonesia is willing to check if said person actually lives there/that address exists and who that person is, I'll gladly hand it over.
During December I asked Acha twice to give me the address and contract she said she has, but she failed to do so, but said she would meet me in Shinjuku and guide me to the apartment.
Now, I'm sitting in the plane, am on the way to Tokyo and her reply to my "where do we meet" came one hour after I had left home... I read the mail in some manga kissaten in Shinjuku upon arrival, trying to find out where she is atm.
While I am reading the mails I see one mail of her boyfriend who was talking/mailing with Mel while I was on the plane. This is copied from the original:
dude this is dustin, im achas bf & im currently here. i jus noticed ur email & i think we got sumtin to figure out real soon cus sumtin bad hppnd lst nite. so does ur gf alrd kno the address yet? acha was worried cus she found out sum failure notices 4 sum of her emails to katja bck then an tat includes the 1 wit the apartment address an wat to do if we aint got 2 spot each othr. id love 2 get into her email addy but idk her pssword.
lst nite she left our hotel & a note 4 me.she only told me tat she'd b back as soon as she got ahold of katja. acha thot katja mite hav wifi as she got her msg thru twitter/sumtin. our connection heres FONT face="Courier"tty much rubbish so she went out in search 4 an internet cafe. witout me. i felt bad but idk wat 2 do as i dint kno tis place til then 1 of her friends her came 2 our hotel to let me kno tat shes now in the hospital blackin out aftr an attempted rape.
i jus went to the police wit her friend an all an i 'membered bout this. so pls lemme kno like wen katja would arrive an does she know 'vrything? cus im FONT face="Courier"tty much lost here an achas still blackin out an im worried i cant catch ur gf at the rite timing
Actually, I have to say I was NOT surprised that something would happen. I did just wonder with what excuse she would come up. This kind of excuse was very much unexpected though. Let's bring in the boyfriend she kept mentioning for quite some time already. Creative!
So, while I was in the mangakissa in Shinjuku, with no place to stay for the night, I managed to get a hold of Dustin online and he said he had reserved a) a room in Asakusa and b) a room in Kanda. I settled for the cheaper room in Asakusa, went there, cancelled the other room and kept mailing back and forth with Dustin. He kept promising that a friend of them or he himself would visit me and pick me up, pay for the room and bring me to where I was supposed to stay. Guess what? That didn't happen.
For randomness he gave me a telephone number of said friend and... oh, this number is not available.
Also, to make the situation "awwwww, poor Acha" Dustin wrote things like this:
hello hey im rly sorry 4 this, im still blaming myself cus i shouldve been there. So ok jus hold a moment, il read this new incoming email
AND
i probly will need to ask [friend] to ring u,as my fone dont work here, only email. acha jus got her 2nd blood transfusion but gettin worse im still tryin to reach her fam
(I changed the name of mentioned friend to [friend] for reasons)
See me suffer here, when I sent Acha money, have to pay for the hotel again and have to doubt I'll ever see my money again.
So, I did the normal thing if you hear somebody you know is in hospital. I asked Dustin in which hospital she is. He couldn't answer that, but soon after I got a mail stating that her mom arrived from Indonesia. So, hmm... if the mom is in the hospital, he must have given her an address, no? -.-;;; Why not copy it for me too? o.O
At this point I asked him to send me the money via PayPal, which he promised to do, as he talked briefly with Mel before and promised him to take care of the issue. (Boyfriend to boyfriend promise, you know this stuff...)
Still no money on my PayPal, but then I got this mail...
acha stopped breathing a moment ago an docs still inside the room we dunno 'nythin yet..
And this is the last mail I got and which I only saw three days later, due to the travelling to Kyoto and Sendai it somehow slipped my attention. I did reply, but no answer yet.
------------
This is the current situation. The person called Acha owes me quite some money and due to my stupid mistake and sending it via Western Union I have no chance to claim it back -.-;;;
So, if you ever meet somebody online who says that their life is all shiny, don't trust them. Same goes for people saying "I need your help, send me some dollars for xyz".
For me, it's lesson learned, I guess. I'm now only waiting for Dustin to write me "she sadly really died *cry*cry*" and then he'll go "somehow I can't find any proof you ever sent her money, so I'm not going to send it back to you"
(again, if she's actually in hospital I'm sorry, but then I don't get why he fails to give me the address...)
------------
MAJOR EDIT:
I started some searching on the internet and had a lot of help from people living in Indonesia.
I actually managed to track down the parents of Acha and her brother (from what I believe the person I sent the money to is Acha's brother). One call to the couple and suddenly everything went quite fast.
Dustin started mailing me again and tried to tell me, that those parents are not related to Acha, but well... I can't prove it, neither can he.
Result: I called the parents, I got the full amount of my money back. Case closed.
I do leave this post open for the public with a reason:
Please think hard, not once but at least five times, before you entrust somebody with your money.
How much do you know about that person? Are they friends of your friends? Do your friends say "it's okay to give them the money"?
If you only feel the slightest bit that there is something fishy, better try looking for some other way. Or in the very least: Don't ever use Western Union or send the money in cash.