You guys are cracking me up.
A few things:
1. keep in mind that six* years ago Skype was being used for work conference calls and that was about it. No computers with built in cameras. I had an iSight for my Mac, but "Jesse" had a work laptop with no camera. MySpace was on my radar during the tail end of this stupid saga, but not Facebook. The internetz was not as sophisticated as it is now, you doggone kids. I'll bet most of you were still in high school when "Jesse" first contacted me six* years ago.
2. "butthurt weenus" is the funniest phrase I've heard this year. So thanks for that.
3. Janna managed to do this to people she knew BEFORE the internet. Face to face. "Hey, I have a friend you'd really like - you should be penpals!" Bitch is ballsy. She's been deceiving people, in person and then online, for thirty years. THIRTY YEARS. At least eight people that I've spoken with personally, not counting anyone involved in the "Jesse" deception.
4. Janna's description of herself on her blog was only added after my friends exposed her. Doy. Give me a little credit.
5. I'd be happy to do an AMA, but I think this blog probably answers all your questions.
EDITED TO ADD:
6. Yeah, the money thing. I was surprised it added up to $10k, but when you're buying little gifts for someone, and also Christmas gifts for their friends and family, over the course of a year and a half, that shit adds up. That amount, though, also includes a plane ticket I never got to use because "Jesse" was indisposed when I was going to use it, as well as hefty cancellation fees for a hotel I booked that I was going to be meeting "Jesse" at. But seriously, you people who are getting lulz out of this. Read this shit before you judge, okay? All I ask.
* edited because I realize it was six (holy fuckballs!) years ago. Not five. Sigh.
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28 comments:
I'm from reddit, don't mind the people calling you stupid there. It seems like a lot of reddit users have an inferiority complex that they have to take out on others.
I am late to the party and just stumbled upon this. All I can say is lady, you rock. Above anything else, I just hope you get satisfaction.
There are a lot of older people on reddit as well. I'm 36.
Anon1: dude, believe me, I am inured to the slings and arrows by now. Janna at her most post-exposé-cunty thickened that skin but fast. But it's sweet of you nonetheless, so thanks. It is difficult to see the other side, sometimes.
toddlok: so do I. and thank you.
Anon2: I was kind of being goofy about the kids thing. It is frightening how quickly technology advances - it's easy to forget there used to be a time when there was no such thing as text messaging. I'm on Reddit also, and my ass is older than that, so let's hear it for the fogeys!
Just curious--and you may have covered this elsewhere--but what would make you say, "yeah, I'm satisfied"?
Don't get run-off by the trolls on Reddit. Stick around. It's a cool place. Also, an IAMA would be awesome!
I just got here through Fark, and I have to say I can't believe how awful this woman is/was. I really hope you can hold her accountable.
People who give you the knee jerk reaction of saying you were gullible have obviously not read though the whole blog. Lots of people have met their partners throught he internet, it's not rare. You had phone contact, snail mail, pictures, contact with friends and relatives, and you tried to meet in person...what else can you do to verify that the person you're talking to is legit?
Unreal! The amount of time and effort she put into it is nuts! And trying to make *herself* the victim? ARRGH!!!
All I can say is you were played by an expert, and she should be totally ashamed of herself. I wish I could come up with something more supportive...good luck, and keep us posted.
toddlok: yeah, I sorta covered it here and there, I want a public written admission from her personally that she made it all up. I'd like her to be forced to go to a shrink several times a week for the rest of her natural life. Mostly, I'd like to guarantee that she never pretends to be someone else on the internet again. Easy, huh? I also wouldn't mind being compensated for my legal fees and the amount I spent on gifts for "Jesse's" family as well as Janna and HER family.
Anon3: don't worry, I'm a big fan of Reddit, I loved Stephen Colbert's AMA (is it AMA or IAMA?), snarky comments couldn't drag me away.
deltaT: yeah, tell me about it. And part of the reason this blog is here is so that some of the doubting Thomases can see how convoluted the clusterfuckery was.
Hi 43 year old Redditor here, I read a recent account of your situation and wanted to express my outrage and disappointment with some supposed members of our species ..
I'm so sorry this happened to you..
The web is like a big masquerade party where everyone is wearing a costume and mask. Some even hide behind the curtains and lock themselves in the bathroom. There's no way to know who is who.
Anonymity is a good thing... a tool for privacy even. But people like St James abuse it and eventually, we'll all have to wear name tags in public. 'Hi! I'm So-in-so!'
Beyond all of that, you really have to wonder about the personality of someone who devotes his or her time to convincing someone else of a lie. A big lie. This has to be ego trip.
Best wishes... rip her a new asshole.
You are seriously one strong lady. Reading the various comments from people on different news sites makes me so angry! I have been following this story since September 2010 and have read all your entries. People are foolish to believe this could not happen to them.
I'm an "older" redditor, too - over 40, after that, I stopped counting.
I just wanted to send a message of support. It sounds like you tried to do the "right" things to confirm that "Jesse" was legit. It's difficult for a normal person to imagine that someone would go to such extraordinary means to pull off an elaborate hoax such as this.
I think that's one of the factors that makes it possible for these crazy people to get away with this terrible shit. Sane people have a difficult time imagining what crazy people are capable of doing, so when it happens, you get caught by surprise.
Good luck to you.
Blei: Yeah, sigh, everyone's a critic. And thank you.
Mike: I met some of my best friends on the internet. Ones I've actually met! in person! And I'm still meeting real people that way. I'm still really gunshy about folks being the Great and Powerful Oz, so I tread lightly, but I'm trying not to let Janna fuck it up for me permanently, y'know. A few bad apples and all that. Thank you.
Anon4: Nobody believes they'll be stupid enough to fall for (fill in the blank), and they can be harsh about it. Even Josh, a friend of mine, was not above being scathingly mocking. Why should I expect more from people who don't even know me? Still, there are enough non-assholes like you and many who comment here to prove a balm for my ragged soul. Still, I know the unsympathetic will be dropping a few bombs here too. Which I will publish. So there! I don't know how strong I am, really, since this renewed attention is kicking me in the ass, but I am determined to see this through.
Hannah: I lose count all the time, which amounts to the same thing! And yeah, I think only an extremely paranoid (and self-centered) person could have possibly imagined that another individual would waste their time creating twenty personas to deceive them. Who has the time for that? Lots of people, it seems, since Janna is only one of many. Thanks for your support.
Thinking about this, how the fuck does she keep all her lies/stories straight? The average person gets totally thrown off when it is lie after lie after lie.
I also love the fact you address people in the comments--nice touch.
toddlok: Janna had an answer for everything - her memory was a little patchy after she was raped/beaten and left for dead in the cornfield, and "Jesse" of course was a bipolar ex-junkie with PTSD and taking meds.
oh, and thanks! How could I not address people's comments? I endeavor to be as clear as possible, so if there are questions, I'm here to answer them...
How can Janna keep her lies straight? Well, she does sometimes slip up; and she has had A LOT of practice. She has been telling variations of the same story for a long long time. I suspect her mind works in such a way that all info is sound bites and can be arranged and re-arranged at will - as she does not have an emotional connection to words and the ideas she constructs.
Re: this being an ego trip for her - she shows heavy sociopathic traits. Read Robert Hare and see what you think.
She's not so smart, and definitely not artistically talented, but she is good at mimicry. She seems utterly gleeful when she hurts people, doesn't seem to have a moral compass and lacks remorse when she hurts folks. Sound familiar? Not all psychopaths/ sociopaths are killers - that's a Hollywood fantasy. Read Hare, and judge for yourself.
Until you have actually dealt with a person like Janna, you have no idea what you could fall prey to.
Audrey kicks ass; and we are hoping she kicks Janna's.
hi... i stumbled upon your story via fark.com, which took me to josh's article, then this blog. I just wanted to say that i don't think you're gullible at all. I have met 90% of the people that i hold dear to my heart via the internet...it's NORMAL. in fact, i met my husband on a local irc channel 12 years ago...
anyway, i really really hope you get to see some justice. Even if it's just Janna being committed for the rest of her life... or maybe she should have to register as some kind of internet predator, and not be allowed to even think about getting online ever again. i would have fell for "jesse's" sob story too, Audrey... especially with 20 of his "friends and family" talking to you too. Janna is one fucked up individual, and her time will come. You can count on that.
Hang in there, and good luck!
Nikko: it's funny, even though people like you and I know that the internet is no different than any other means of social networking (and if you ask me, it often cuts to the core of a person more quickly), there are still many people out there who find the internet an alien place. How many years, after all, did it take people before they realized that television would truly become more popular than the radio? There's a built-in prejudice with the internet, because it is somewhat faceless. Sadly, many judges and politicians are part of this demographic, so getting any sort of legislation on the books to regulate internet behavior is super slow going.
Thanks for your support. Let's see where this takes us.
People don't realise that Janna fucks people over with her imaginary friends through blogs and message boards. Her imaginary friends are "private people" who don't like to be photographed, but can blog better than most professional writers. However, what she doesn't realise is that when one blogs their life story, they are no longer a "private person", and unless she labels said stories as fiction from the beginning, the people she reels in deserve to know the truth behind the stories.
Take care, Audrey. You have my support. :-)
Anon: people don't realize a lot, many of them aren't taking the time to read through before judging.
If I had a nickel for every time Janna or one of her Jannafestations claimed to be non-internet savvy (whether it's "oh my goodness, I've never done a blog before" or "what is this Facebook of which you speak?" or "Twitter? What's that?"), I'd be a fucking millionaire. It's another of the many steps she takes during every con to lull people into a false sense of security.
Of course. Anyone can play dumb. Ever see those episodes of COPS where the "borrower" of a "friend's" car gets pulled over and the car happens to be stolen and the "borrower" can't remember the name or even a vague description of their "friend" they "borrowed" the car from?
Anon: not sure what you're specifically responding to.
Criminals on a reality show from the late 80s/early 90s, playing dumb, to get out of going to jail.
Oh. Okay.
I realise I'm late to the party - sorry!
Just wanted to say a) that I met my husband online, so please don't lose all faith in the relationships you start there. And b) that you could never have anticipated Jenna being THAT INSANE. So for goodness sake, don't blame yourself.
I'm weighing in (pun intended) as someone who was deceived by Janna in person, face-to-face, more than 15 years ago. I finally realized (after about 2 years) that she was a liar of epic proportions and was able to extricate myself from the "friendship" with very little damage. I felt so stupid afterward, and it took a long time to get over feeling like the most naive person in the world. When I heard she had moved on to the internet when I first read Audrey's story, it made my blood run cold. I could only imagine the damage she could inflict on people's psyches with the power of technology and true anonymity. Unfortunately, this really COULD happen to anyone.
Paige, thanks and yes of course, you're correct. And I've just recently met a few very lovely people online, who really truly exist! so yeah, I dig, man, I dig.
Anon - sigh, another one. and hi there! You are amongst friends! Hmm, it seems as though her scams have a shelf life of about two years, although if the past decade is anything to go by, she staggers her deceptions - she started a Second Life scam about a year after she started scamming me, which ended about six months after she was thrown out of my house. That way, she's always got something feeding her need.
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