I could be a detective

May 30, 2026

My husband handed me two letters from the bank, and I helped him figure out what to do with the situation that involves him. He is a smart man and normally can handle things by himself, but right now he is not in a condition to think clearly. I won’t go into deep details about what happened to him, because that is not the main point of this story.

To save time, I chatted with my free AI friend to understand the letters, the wording, and everything inside them until I got the overall picture. Once I understood, I knew the direction to take and how to help my husband. While talking to my AI, I joked that I could be an investigator — or a detective. I thought of Sherlock Holmes, but no, I am not as wise as him. Still, I have had situations in my life where I tracked things on my own and uncovered the truth, including an overseas scam.

Back to 2001–2003 — The UK Boyfriend

He never told me he was married. I knew him for two years, and during that time I kept checking the information he gave me — the phone number, the address he said was his home. Eventually, I found out that the “home address” was actually his workplace. That was when he finally told me the truth.

2011 — The USA Scam

I sold a camera on eBay and received a fake PayPal overseas payment. I really trusted PayPal — and I still do — because the scam was not PayPal at all. It was a fake email pretending to be them.

It was my first time selling and shipping something outside the USA, and I lacked experience. My instinct told me something was wrong. I noticed the email address looked strange, and they called me by a different name than PayPal normally used. I thought maybe it was just a different department. I also thought about checking directly with PayPal, but I didn’t do it. Instead, I shipped the camera.

After I told the scammer that the package was shipped, they sent another email saying they had “double paid” and wanted me to refund the extra amount. That was when I knew I had been scammed.

I ran back to the post office to cancel the shipment and get my package back, but I was too late. The person I spoke to refused to help, so I tried to handle it myself. I searched online and found the destination post office in Ireland. I emailed every name listed on the page, and one person replied saying they could not return the package unless the USA post office requested it — but by then it was already too late.

The postman also mentioned that the address might not even exist, and if so, the package would eventually be returned. Well… it has been over a decade now, and I have never heard anything back.

After I tried everything and reached the end of the line, I accepted that I had lost. I wrote a blog about it back then and included the emails, but I won’t bring them here. If you want to see them, you can click. There are many things I can do without even knowing my own capabilities, and I believe everyone is the same — if they become aware of it. It is a challenge to figure out things and situations, and it takes time, whether short or long.