Did you know in 2016, the FBI reported that over 1,000 Texans had complaints of being victims of the “Romance Scam”? Out of the $230 million scammed in 2016, Texas accounted for $16 million.

'Catfish' on MTV is one of my favorite shows on television. It focuses on people who form an online relationship, but haven’t actually met in person. This show is filled with mystery, surprises, and sometimes shocking revelations as one partner discovers the truth about his or her significant other. In this particular case, one Houston man found out the hard way that all that glitters isn’t gold.

From KHOU.com, Greg Davis from Houston thought he had found true love on Match when he met “Malikah” from Chicago.  They both instantly connected and she was everything Greg hoped for - beautiful, exotic looking and she was attracted to him as well. So after phone calls, emails, and a few “naughty photos” Greg finally thought he met his dream girl.

Greg received an email from “Malikah” stating her father passed away and was left an inheritance of millions.  The problem was the money is overseas and she needed assistance in receiving it and asked Greg to help with paying the taxes and shipping.  Greg sent from $5,000 - $10,000 as well as paying storage fees, which turned out to be a two-year process.

After growing suspicious of the situation, Greg asked for proof to see if the actual inheritance was real. He received a video of a man with a large sum of money with “Gregory” printed on every single note. Gregory maxed out his retirement, credit cards, and took out more than a dozen payday loans which added up to $80,000.

As for “Malikah”... research proved the mystery woman turned out to be a Colombian adult film star.  Match.com has a page on their website warning users about being scammed and if you want more information you can click here.

As for Greg, he said:

I feel kinda stupid!

While one half of me wants to tell Greg to get it together, the other half feels pretty bad. The idea of being taken advantage of (and losing a ton of money for it) can really make it hard to trust somebody again - especially if he decides to take another gamble on love.

Please use better judgement when looking for that next potential mate online.  Now if you will excuse me I’m going to delete my Tinder account.

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