Raymond is a charming man. I could learn a lot from this guy, I thought, because he was very smart and I felt lucky that he seemed to like me. He said more than once that it was destiny that brought me to his office, because he had a great opportunity for me. He reminded me of my second husband, a brilliant psycopathic con man, and just like before I felt strangely drawn to him.
After the first interview Raymond bombarded me with emails with links to websites and articles that I should read. The position I first applied for was legal researching and writing and he was offering 16 per hour which was decent. I am licensed, but have been out of work for awhile and Raymond said I could leap over the break in my work history by getting involved in internet law. I stopped working on the freelance brief I was writing for someone else and got engrossed in the multiple links he sent me. It would be a hard subject to master, but I am ready to start earning and I got excited about the money I would make.
The con-man connection occured to me at the time, but I didn't put it all together until after he called me the next day. He wanted me to pop over again for another interview because it was something he could not discuss on the phone. He talked in generalities about "opportunities" he had for me to get involved in, but I said I was flat broke and couldn't afford any "opportunities". He told me to forget about the appointment then, and he would think further about how he could help me.
In the middle of this conversation it occurred to me that I didn't know Raymond's last name and I asked him for it. I jokingly asked him what I would find when I googled him. It was an appropriate question since we had been discussing internet law and the ways that you can use the internet to smear someone or build them up, and the appropriate answer would have been to praise me for my dilligence, but his reaction spoke volumes. "What do you mean, " he asked suspciously. Red flag. I googled him immediately after I hung up and found this site. Well, well.
There were warning signs of course. The fact that we were talking about internet issues and his own website did not have any active links and looked like it was built in an hour. The practically empty suite of offices with his tiny office right by the door. Also Raymond was way too complimentary about me and my accomplishments which is exactly what con men do. MY web site is basic, and I know it, but he made it sound like I had a career in writing code. He never read my blog, but he complimented me on how creative a writer I was. When I left his office I was on cloud nine. Please let this be real, I said to myself, but that in itself was a bad sign. When something seems too good to be true, and you have to lift your eyes upward and beg for it to be real, you can bet that it isn't.
Another flag was the lack of talk about personal things. I spoke about my son and myself, but Raymond made no mention of a wife or family or where he lived. When I asked him where his accent was from, he admitted to being Persian, but seemed angry and said that he had lived mostly in Europe. Con men have a deep self-loathing and like to blur their true identities. Some, like my ex-husband create completely different identities and life stories. They also don't discuss family because want you to think of them as alone and available which is a way to get vulnerable single women to follow them. When you see a man with no family pictures around your radar should go up.
People ask me why I don't hate my ex-husband, but Raymond is small potatoes next to him and I am grateful for all that he taught me. Having learned from the best, I couldn't go to long without spotting the red flags that Raymond puts up. Of course I should have googled him sooner and saved myself the trip over there, but it was only a 16 dollar an hour job and I can't be too hard on myself. Google is a great tool, and lack of internet presence is another red flag. Raymond has none, of course, except for this site.
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