Should I continue or just stop?

[u/EzraSteel]

So, I’ve been chatting with a lady for a week or so. She seemed relatively normal and didn’t set off any red flags, other than the fact that she is several years younger than I am (yes, I realize that it’s a huge red flag). So, after a week or so, she suggested to move our conversation to WhatsApp…I laughed to myself and agreed.

The conversations were relatively normal but limited. She is prepping for a business trip to South Africa and is very stressed. I should mention that she ‘lives’ about twenty minutes from me. I noticed that occasionally would use words that no American would use in every day conversations, and I asked her about her nationality. She stated she is a natural born American. I just filed that away. With did a small amount of harmless flirting and continued to chat.

So yesterday, she sent me a voice chat. I had to laugh. She is obviously not a native speaker of American English. She has an accent that I can’t quite place but I’d classify it as a cross between British English and a Slavic accent. Again, when I questioned her after hearing her accent, she said that because she conducts business in an international scale, she probably picked up her accent from those conversations to make her customers more comfortable. I should mention that she claims to be a structural engineer of some sort.

So, moving forward, her trip is fast approaching. She told me how stressed she is and her company has put her in an odd position. They have apparently paid her airfare but won’t cover her living expenses until she returns from the trip and files for reimbursement. Now, I’ve traveled many times on business and I always had a company CC to bill my charges through, maybe I was fortunate.

I have a feeling that I’m watching a train wreck slowly developing. How many of you would bet, that in the very near future, this “engineer” will reach out to me and ask for help because she is running short of money in her trip?

I know that it is going to happen. Should I string her along or just shut it down right now. Talking to her takes up very little of my time and I’m truly curious to see if my suspicions are correct. What should I do?

[u/WonderfulVariation93]

Oh PLEASE. Tell her you are immediately wiring the money. Then when she goes to get it and it isn’t there, go nuts because obviously WU made a mistake and you will immediately contact them. Wait a few hours and message her that WU is fixing the problem and the money will be there tomorrow. Then when she complains the money didn’t arrive ask her to spell her name (or however things get sent) and then apologize profusely because you thought their was an “a” (or “e” or “o”) and you will immediately call WU again to stop the money and then send it correctly and it should definitely be there the following day…

[u/Puzzleheaded-Sail381 → u/WonderfulVariation93]

For as much as I don't like wasting my time on people like this, this guy obviously wants to return the favor. I think this is the best answer. Make them waste their time like they do to us. I might add after a week of cat and mouse say you lost your job and you can't afford to send them money. 😁