[puckerman]

I feel very sad for this guy. He worked hard to get somewhere and then had his opportunity effectively destroyed by this thing. We really don't know what he lost in all this. He went through a lot of emotional turmoil after this "rejection." He also missed out on a chance to study with the teacher of his dreams and opportunities to network with other people. It's truly impossible to calculate what he lost here.

I doubt she will be able to come up with the money. Considering this, I do wonder why some type of criminal charges were not pursued for this.

That being said, though, the men also do deserve a little blame here. If I had really wanted a scholarship and had gotten a rejection email, I would have called him anyway. And if I was a teacher and really wanted a student to study with me, I would have called him as well. I am actually surprised that he believed the phony email, as it was coming from an address he didn't recognize.

Sadly, this says something about how lazy people have gotten with their communication nowadays. Maybe I am just old-fashioned--email is a very lazy form of communication. If either of them had simply gotten off their lazy asses and picked up the telephone, this situation would have been averted.