A modern time stake burning.
I lost track of my high school girlfriend Lydia for years. Until the crowdfund action that I saw on facebook.
She was involved in a car accident yesterday, it stated, and her son was also in the car.
She came out pretty well, but her son was in a coma and needed surgery. Her insurance didn't cover the costs.
They needed 56000 dollars that she didnt have.
I felt pity and donated 200 dollars, no more fun shopping for me and my wife this month. I knew she would be annoyed by it, but
she would understand it. What the heck, I thought, we don't need to go to a restaurant this month, and I donated 200 more.
I befriended Lydia on facebook, and sent her a message asking how her son was doing. She replied back that she was happy to hear from me,
but that there's nothing wrong with her son. She has received lots of similar messages, but it is all a fraud.
There has never been an accident, and she just hoped that I did not fall for it and did not donate money. She just reported it to the police.
I was furious. But clever enough to make screenshots of the crowdfund action and of the profile and all postings of the person that started it, a so called Wanda.
Then I contacted Mike, my wife's brother. A real computer geek, but the one and only person I know that can trace back who this Wanda was.
Next day Mike sent me an extensive file, This so called Wanda did not exist. Her facebook profile was already gone now,
together with the crowdfund action, that landed her over 35000 dollars. But the pictures of Wanda were linked to another facebook profile and 2 instagram profiles.
All 3 of them involved in crowdfund actions.
Mike forwarded the information to the police, but because they did not know who was behind all this, they could do nothing without evidence.
After hearing this, Mike promised to keep digging.
Two days later Mike phoned me, and said that he traced the identity and address of the person involved. A woman named Sylvie Dupont,
currently living in a small town in Mexico.
He also tracked 2 more aliases that she used to post crowdfund scams on social media. And the names of dozens of people
that have been donating large sums of money to her scam crowdfund actions.
He also forwarded this information to the police, but because of the suspect being in Mexico, they could not do anything. Case closed..... or not?
I contacted several of the scam victims. Just to warn them against donating more. Overal disbelief, followed by anger. But one of the victims, named Pedro Sanchez, contacted me a week later. He ent me a short movie and a message.
The message stated: I happen to know some people in the area that still owed me something. They took care of the matter. There is no chance to see any of the money back,
but she will never make any more victims.
I opened the video. It showed Sylvie Dupont, naked and cuffed to a metal pole in the desert. She was clearly scared.
Four masked men came into view. One of them said something in spanish. Then they took molotov coctails and stepped back some twenty paces. The first guy lit his molotov coctail and threw it in her direction. A near miss that made Lydia screaming her lungs out, and set the ground close to the pole alight.
The second throw was also a near miss, bringing the fire so close to the pole that she had to twist her body to escape the flames.
The third man took time to aim, supported by encouraging cheers from his comrades. The burning bottle arched through the air and smashed against the pole, splattering the pole and their target with burning gasoline.
Loud cheers from the four masked men, even louder screams from the burning Lydia.
The fourth guy walked a few steps closer and gently threw his bottle at the base of the pole, completelt engulfing Lydia in flames now.
It took several minutes for her to stop screaming, and stop moving at all. The fire kept burning for a good 10 minutes more. By that time, she was completely charred.