In my last article I talked about penpals and the good times and good influences writing can be. Overall, this is the way it is most of the time.
Yet, due to some personal experiences, I can tell you there can be some experiences that are not quite so good.
One such time was with the guy I wrote to in Norway. We had written for a while and were enjoying each other’s letters. The last letter I wrote did not get a reply in normal time, which made me wonder what was going on. A few weeks later, my letter came back and on the envelope was posted ‘deceased’. That was a shock to me since this guy was not very old. Now, did he really pass or did he get tired or writing? I will never know, but it was certainly not a pleasant experience to get such a notice.
The main event I had with a bad experience was with a guy from a country I will not mention, but it is known for having a lot of scammers. This guy was a little younger than I was, and although people in this particular area were known for asking for gifts, this guy never did. We emailed letters for about one year and he had never asked for anything and never said anything that made me question that he was a legitimate penpal.
One time he emailed and told me about a Christian Children’s Home he worked for and they were needing some items for the kids. He still did not ask me for anything other than if he could have some items shipped to my home address, be picked up by UPS and shipped to the Children’s Home.
My first thought was, he has never asked me for anything in almost a year, and he was still not asking for anything nor asked for monetary donations. I figured what harm was it in having a drop-off point here in the US. But, after thinking about it overnight, I emailed back and said no. I would prefer he not use my address for anything.
Well, too late. Two days later I got a box delivered. I did not think much about it, but wished he would not have sent this without my approval. The next day I got another box. The next day two boxes. I got a little worried and decided to open one of the boxes to verify what was inside.
To my surprise, the box I opened was a box full of J-Crew jackets, all in men’s sizes. That got me worried. Why is a Children’s Home getting men’s jackets. I opened another box and saw men’s watches and jewelry. The next box was a small TV/Video player. Needless to say, I was really worried now.
The next day UPS showed up to pick up all the packages, but at this point I told them no, I was not allowing them to go anywhere. The next day I got another couple boxes, all with items that had nothing to do with children. I called the police and they came out to make a report. After getting my story and seeing all the boxes, they had to call an additional police car to get all the boxes loaded up. I gave the officer all the information I had about my so-called penpal, name, address, picture etc., but was told there probably was not much that could be done about him.
The good thing about all this is that I refused to ship the items from my address and I did call the police. After a few weeks of investigation, the police told me I had gotten myself right in the middle of an international crime ring. They used stolen credit cards to make purchases and also to pay for UPS shipping. Fortunately, since I had not forwarded anything nor did I keep anything, and since I called the police, I was off the hook and had no more dealings with the police about this issue.
I did email the penpal one more time and told him the police were investigating him and the crime ring, but he acted like he had no idea what I was talking about. Needless to say, I never wrote him again and I never heard from him again. I never did hear anymore from the police, so I do not know if anything was able to be done or not.
So, to be sure, penpals can be a rewarding, enjoyable and a helpful thing. Yet, always keep in mind there are bad people out there in every country. Be careful what you say and what you allow. The wrong person can ruin the whole penpal purpose of promoting friendship and peace around the world.
Speaking of Penpals
Wow, not come across that type, nor that problem.
A few penpals I let go without reply - one wanted "fantasies" and.., another was a prisoner in the US (nasty crimes), and one more wanted to convert me....
I lost touch with another penpal, my fault somewhat... You know how you say to friends, "Pop round anytime" - well, I had invited this penpal but didn't take notice of when he came so he turned up on the doorstep at my folks! Pleasant enough, nice visit, but I did think he wanted something more from me. I had moved out to move in with a significant other, but still used parental address.