14 DAY TRIAL // Let me tell you one thing: the Internet is not a safe place even when you're 56 years old. It was proved by Des Gregor, a farmer from South Australia who thought the found his true love on the Internet. After an online meeting with a potential love, he decided to go to Mali in order to meet his predestined woman. But he didn't know that Mali is the land of surprises and, instead of love and Natacha, he met a bunch of kidnappers. Yes, you've heard it right, Des Gregor was kidnapped and kept in Africa for 12 days until he managed to escape with the help of the authorities.
"I was tied, bound by the legs, and that was only probably for a couple of days because they knew that I was going to cooperate. There was always one bloke sleeping at the door, there was no way out," the farmer said according to I4U News.
The entire event is a little bit funny but very sad when you think that Des Gregor could die although he went to Mali to find his true love. Just after he arrived in the airport, the farmer was driven to an airport where several armed men kept him for no less than 12 days. The kidnappers demanded $100.000 or they would hack off his arms and legs. He finally managed to escape when the Australian and the Mali authorities tricked the kidnappers to let the farmer step into the Canadian embassy to take the money.
Now, Des Gregor advises Internet users to be very careful when they talk to someone on the Internet because you don't know who you're chatting with. "Make sure you check everything out 100 percent. I really hope that the message gets out to people that they look after their family and if anyone talks about Internet relationships, that they can be open and share the mail with them to get an objective opinion," the farmer said according to the same source.