started watching a camgirl in January 2024, was fun she said she knew camgirls who had done private shows off the cam site and been paid through paypal.
Not sure what cam site this started on, but unless it's one that allows sharing other social media, seems daring of her to quickly be offering to do privates offsite and take payments offsite. I'm assuming that she made these offers to you on some other platform. Even a scamming model knows to be careful about the sites.
we were both happy to be friends with benefits
You were not friends. I've been there. It took me awhile to realize that we weren't friends. In my case, it was an act that she performed for money, she had a lot of practice at it in the studio for years, and it was second-nature to her.
she told me she was struggling to pay her rent, then was ill and was in Hospital
I got requests to help with these expenses all the time. The list over the course of more than a year included rent, medical tests, medicines, her car loan, cat vet expenses, winter boots, god I've forgetting but there are many more. lol Even helping her mother. She used to talk about how she had to help support her mother, who worked for a low salary, and how she was so glad to help her mother get dental work, fix her apartment, and other noble good deeds for mom.
Some of these were probably real expenses, some were fake, some were real but exaggerated. Oh, also yeah she even asked for help paying for driving lessons and license. Later I learned that the cost for the driving lessons was half of what she was saying, and the exam was free - not a separate charge. I could go on an on with details but you get the point. And when I started pushing back (very quickly), I saw a different side of her. I even learned much later, by coincidence, that she did this to someone else, starting on a different site, but a lot of the same expenses. But then she had a dog in addition to her cat, and she needed help to pay vet bills for the dog. And new medical bills, and still the car loan. Same tactics. "Oh, dear, I am hesitant to ask but it would mean so much to me, I am really so worried that I am falling short this month, it has been slow on the sites, I don't have enough for the cost of the exams and the surgical procedure."
Like I said, some of these were real (I believe). Life costs money and making a living isn't easy in Russia. But when you realize that other "friends" or "boyfriends" the model has on the sites are getting told the same thing, and she is probably doing much better financially than she's saying, you have to accept reality. This is an integral part of how she makes money.
was going to buy her a new mobile phone for her birthday but paid her rent instead
HA! I forget she also wanted a new iPhone.
decided to test her and said I may not be able to send her money for a while, not long after she said she had broken the camera on her phone and could not send me photos while she got a new one
This is classic. I went through this. When I began to push back about sending money, or questioned things, or pointed out discrepancies, or eventually began to refuse - same things happened. First, she started by being passive-aggressive. Withholding the kind of affection she previously expressed in our chats, distancing, making little sarcastic remarks. over time, the more I resisted giving money or questioned what was really going on, she got more aggressive about it. I started to see a different side of her. Outright aggressively demanding money or presents. And gaslighting! All kinds of twisted arguments for why I should help her.
after I had been thinking about it all having a few beers told her she was lying to me and was also scamming me, she has taken offence at this and said I have offended her
Been there!! Once I got to that point with questioning and eventually accusing, we got into huge arguments. Sometimes on a site, in a chat. Sometimes in communication offsite. Oh how the memories are returning.
A difference though, in your situation she was just saying you all were friends and she needed your help. In my situation, it went from friends (first couple of months) to her talking about romantic interest, and then to her outright saying that she wanted us to be in a relationship, to meet in real life, plans for traveling were being discussed, she was writing love letters taking about having a future. Classic love scamming. She also took some bold steps to convince me, sharing some personal information that turned out to be true, but it still was just to make me have more trust.
I apologised to her and she messaged back with money request in paypal with $500 price of her forgiveness, and has now gone up to $600, I have refused to pay her this money as I think forgiveness comes from the heart
This at first made me wonder, because the model I was involved with often said things like, "You really offended me, now, the price you must pay for my forgiveness is: I want a sheepskin coat." many other similar remarks, like after an argument, "you know the price to make me overlook your rudeness." Looking back, I can't believe how long I played around in games with this woman. She herself must have thought with delight about how there are some very stupid men on the internet.
she has blocked me on whatsapp and email is open but she only responds through paypal money request
You should feel lucky but her only responding to paypal money requests is just more of the manipulation, and outright con.
I really like her but should I walk away?
I'm not going to say what everyone else says about how, if you are asking, you already know. Because from my experience, yeah, you kind of know you are being scammed but you are not sure. Not necessarily from the beginning. Not because we are idiots (though that is a part of it), but because, human nature and the skill of the scammer is how these scams are able to work. most normal people do not expect another person will lie so overtly and convincingly, tell us about how much they value our friendship, or say they have such adoration and want to pursue a relationship and so on - but really they are laughing with friends in the studio about the pay pigs and really dumb guys they are conning, going home to the boyfriend and enjoying the money they are getting from this "job," and having no remorse or ethics about any of it. Most cam models are not doing this, most people in general don't. that's why people are always like, "Wow, that's fucking amazing, that person was willing to do all that for a long time, to get money." Like any kind of love scams or confidence schemes, not only in the world of camming.
But to answer the question: You don't like her. You like the person you imagined. You would not like her in truth, because once you realized and accepted that she has no concern for you at all, and just wants money, what is there to like? Yeah, walk away fast.
I have refused to pay her this money as I think forgiveness comes from the heart
You're stating the obvious, but I understand. Talking to yourself and other people about this helps accept what was really going on.
If you have to pay someone for communication, attention, affection - they are not your friend. Good luck.