Scammed by Moroccan guy in Italy

Submitted by Catrin (Denmark), Mar 5, 2016 at 18:20

He (27) currently residing in Italy, me (41) in Sweden where we met in a bar 3 years ago and kept contact via Facebook. We have been in a long distance relationship since last June where I visited him in Italy. He came to Sweden twice last year, he stayed here for 1 month and we had such a great time together. No talk of money or marriage or the like. But I paid for 98% of everything and I had many doubts about our friendship but was blinded by my feelings and attraction.

He is only in Italy now to try to have his residence permit renewed and is now in the hands of some mafia-like restaurant who milks him for money and free labour in exchange of them signing a contract for work and giving him an address as this is obligatory for the proces of renewing the residence.

I went to visit him last week where we lived together in an apartment I had rented. It was a nightmare. He was nothing like I remembered, just 6 weeks ago here in Sweden, sweet, smiling, loving. He was constantly talking on the phone which I to some extent do understand, since he is in a horrible situation and dont have internet connection where he lives but again – I am here!

I am NOT naive and I never had any illusions of us sharing a future together as a married couple which he knows. At some point during my stay an "a new girl is interested"-notification popped up on his phone from Badoo and he said "i dont know how this thing works". I also confronted him about a second (and presumably secret) Facebook profile he opened while still with me in Sweden, stating him as single, looking for romance. His english is really bad so I gave up trying to understand his explanations. Even though I know we have no serious future in the long run I still feel very bad about all this and we had a fight.

In the middle of my stay I found my self offering him 50 Euro and later 60 Euro so that he could pay his patron (his boss) the rent for his room. I never expected this and I felt so bad about giving him money since our relationship is already so unequal financially. But I did because he looked so stressed about his situation. I could not not do it.

When I came home last weekend I checked my bank account and found odd transactions presumer-ably made in Dubai: expensive luxury hotel in Dubai, perfumes and sexy lingeri. All my money gone. I still have my card, never gave it to anyone. I immediately closed my card and started second guessing my "boyfriend". Why?

-The odd transactions begun the day after I had arrived in Italy
-His older sister live in Dubai, has just been married
-Her Facebook says she checked in as "sightseeing" in the tourist resort close to the hotel which was paid with my card
-You get the impression of a shop o' holic when you study her "likes" - beauty, perfume, shopping malls, expensive interest. She does not have any higher education and from what I know has a low paid job. A week after she(?) paid the hotel with my CC-information, she checked in at an airport flying to Bahrain.

What do you think? Has anyone had similar experiences? What's the best revenge? Would you tell him what happened or leave it and him for good? Appreciate any comments.

Thanks for reading and sharing.

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