Post #255418 by GatorRob on Tue, Sep 19, 2006 6:10 AM

Hewey, thanks for the scenarios. At first I was angered that we were all scammed. But then I was confused because even as a scam, it didn't add up. But your scenarios show me that it is still 99.99% likely a scam, even if the events leading up to us sending packages to Andy/Barbara are somewhat roundabout.

Even though I'm back to being angry that our generosity was taken advantage of, I'm happy that there is likely no Andy from Texas with terminal cancer. I'm surprised I was taken in by this. I am a natural born skeptic and always toss those "tug on the heart strings" emails. Hell, I'm always the one who points people to snopes.com and tells them they've been scammed! Well, fortunately, I hadn't gotten my package in the mail yet, so no financial loss here. But now I have to explain to my two kids that someone lied to us about this. THEY were taken advantage of too because they heard the story, helped pick out gifts for Andy and signed a "get well" letter to him that was just about to be mailed. I guess I get to turn this into a lesson for them about how to protect yourself from people who would take advantage of you. But I also get to tell them about what incredibly generous and caring people TC people are! And they will get to meet these wonderful people at Hukilau in just over two weeks! I think we all really need Hukilau now to erase these negative vibes and raise a glass (make mine a Jet Pilot please... hehe) to our incredible ohana.