He travelled a thousand kilometres to meet his virtual girlfriend, but she never showed up.
This 18-year-old boy spent all his savings to travel to Sao Paulo to meet his girlfriend. When the military police saw him sleeping in the terminal, they took up a collection and gave him $90 to return to his home.
The internet age is here to stay, evolving and responding to different user needs. The applications created and updated daily are increasingly common in society, mainly social networks or dating apps. In the end, both serve to meet people from other countries and from all over the world.
However, with great power comes great responsibility, and with this ease of meeting people, there are also many risks. Creating a virtual friendship is a great experience, but there is still a level of skepticism for not physically knowing the person. Therefore, you are never safe from falling into the clutches of those who commit deception or scams by these means.
This is the case of Mateus, an 18-year-old Brazilian who thought he found love on the internet. As reported by Visa Oeste, the boy had a relationship for two years with a girl named Luana through chat conversations.
Mateus was hopelessly in love and felt their relationship was progressing so well that he thought moving was a good idea. Thus, he began to save money to pay for a bus ticket to travel to Osasco, where Luana supposedly originated.
The boy travelled more than a thousand kilometres, full of excitement and expectations of finally meeting Luana, whom he only knew from text messages. In other words, he had never made a video call with her.
However, when he arrived in Sao Paulo, in Osasco, his girlfriend stopped answering his messages and broke off all contact. When he got off at the terminal, he discovered that no one was waiting for him, and as hours passed, his girlfriend blocked him on all of her social networks. Mateus had been tricked.
He was desperate, and with only 3 dollars in his pocket, he thought of asking the military at the terminal for help. One of them approached him and decided to help him, but he first told him to wait because the young woman could appear.
Mateus slept in the terminal and realized that his virtual girlfriend would not appear. The soldiers took care of him and arranged for him to return to his hometown. That’s how they raised almost $90, so he could buy tickets back to his house.
“There were times when I thought I couldn’t come back. I want to thank them very much for everything they did for me,” explained the young man, who approached the soldiers crying in despair.