OPW — Sep 28 — Victims shell out $100,000 every single day to scammers who put up nice pictures on dating sites, sweet talk singles and then say they need money, e.g. they’re on business and are stuck in Nigeria. Scamming is an international crisis with most scams coming from Nigeria. There’s a saying in Nigeria. "You blame the person for leaving the rice available to steal." A lot of the scammers are graduates but don’t have a job to go to. 70% of Nigerians live on less than a dollar a day in Nigeria.
Scammers pocket $300 million a year from British victims. Not too long ago a senior UK politician was a victim; $15k stolen from his bank account.
VICTIM: Deedee accumulated a $928 phone bill…but ‘Cole’ (the scammer) said he’d pay it when he returned to the USA. He needed a $2300 ticket home to the USA. Deedee has sent him $3700 so far. She totally believes ‘Cole’ is in love with her and thinks he lives in Buffalo, NY. Dr Phil located the man. He’s a lottery scammer in Nigeria; people send money to get money back. She never noticed that he had a West African accent. The man in the picture is Michael, a model (and police officer) who’s picture was taken from focushawaii.com.
The next guest is pretty sure she’s being scammed but is in love and can’t give him up. The scammer says he’s English and his father is African. Hence the accent. He asked her for money a month after they started talking. He’d gone on a contracting job and was beaten and robbed and needed money for hospital. Then he asked for $750 for an airplane ticket, then $200 more for additional anti-terrerist fees. "I don’t know, love does strange things to you I guess." Noone was at the airport. Five days after she went to the aiport the scammer’s ‘doctor’ called. He was in a coma after being hit by a car and woke up calling her name. The doctor needed money for his bills. After leaving the hospital he wanted $25k for a farm. She kept on sending him money. 9 times out of the 14 times he asked in the ensuing 4 months. To this day, she wishes he would show up at her door. She’s STILL chatting with him on the internet! In reality, the picture is of a UK model.
Dr Phil estimates internet scammers take $15 billion a year. "All those people who are bullying and victimising innocent people. We’re gonna turn a big floodlight on over their heads, on this show, this year."
Mark Brooks – Dr Phil mentioned Yahoo and Yahoo chat on the show. No mention of Match. After the show at 7pm PST Dr Phil was on the Match.com website on a live chat to take questions. Alas, I logged in at 7:30pm and the chat session was over.
Internet dating sites have three lines of defence again scammers. 1. Automated filters that look for words and behavioral patterns that indicate the presence of a scammer. 2. User flagging. Users can flag profiles of people that they suspect are up to no good. 3. Customer service/abuse teams review profiles, photos and user flaggings.
This paranoia over scammers will kill dating industry sooner or later.
But OK, it’s funny article about scam patterns written by one american guy
Q. I contacted a woman on a dating site. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. Why would a real woman post an ad on a dating site? She
posted an ad to ask you for money later.
Q. A woman contacted me on a dating site. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. Why would a woman contact you on a dating site? She did it to
ask you for money later.
Q. I started corresponding with this woman and she replies. Is she a
scammer?
A. Yes. She is replying to you because she wants to ask you for money
later. Why would a real woman reply to you?
Q. This woman stopped writing to me. Is she a scammer?
A. Definitely. She was afraid that you would find her out.
Q. This woman sends me her photos. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. All scammers send photos with every e-mail.
Q. This woman sent me a couple of photos and then stopped sending
them. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She stole these photos from somewhere and ran out of them.
Q. She tells me that she has a family: father, mother and a brother.
is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She tells you about her family to ask you for money because
someone is ill.
Q. The woman tells me that she has no family. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She will ask you for money later because she will be in
trouble and have no one to help her.
Q. The woman tells me that she has no phone. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She will ask you for money to install a phone.
Q. The woman tells me that she has a phone. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She wants to play you up and show you that she is “real”,
then she will ask you for money.
Q. The woman told me that she did not know any English. Is she a
scammer?
A. Yes, later on she will ask you for money to pay for English
lessons.
Q. The woman told me that she knows English. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She learned English while scamming others.
Q. The woman told me that she would like to meet me in person. Is she
a scammer?
A. Yes. She will ask you to send her money for visa and tickets.
Q. The woman told me that she wanted to meet me in person and asked
me to visit her. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. When you visit, she will ask you for money.
Q. I visited this woman and we went to a restaurant. Is she a
scammer.
A. Yes. She took you to a restaurant to scam you for money.
Q. I went home and we still keep contact. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes, she talks to you because she wants to ask you for money
later.
Q. I proposed and she accepted. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. Scammers usually accept when you propose. Why would a normal
woman accept you?
Q. We are doing our paperwork and I paid for it. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. You were scammed for the paperwork fee. A real woman would
have paid hers and your own.
Q. She got her visa and is coming to the country. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She scammed you for the visa.
Q. We got married. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. Why would a real woman marry you? She did it to ask you for
money later.
Q. She got her residency. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She did it to ask you for money later.
Q. She got her ten years card. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes. She did it to ask you for money later.
Q. She got her citizenship. Is she a scammer?
A. Yes, now she will be asking you for money.
Q. She found out that I was posting here, read my posts and left. Is
she a scammer?
A. Yes. You were scammed for citizenship!
Q. I am trying to find someone again. I posted my ad on a dating site
and a woman contacted me. Is she a scammer? …
Yes, something seriously needs to be done about the scammer issue. When I first started eRomance.com, I was appalled to find that 40% of my signups were coming from Nigeria and Ghana. Thank god I have the years of experience in software development to be able to deal with this effectively but I would imagine there are plenty of small websites out there doing serious damage to the reputation of the industry as a whole. Some may not realize the issue. Some may not care as long as they get their subscription fee. Some may just not know how to fix it. Whatever the case – I would love to see the industry ban together for some collaborative effort. In fact, I’ve considered doing this myself … offering some service that other dating sites could use. I haven’t yet because I can’t think of a way to ensure collaboration is fair…if anyone has any ideas or would like to encourage me to move forward with this project – please drop me a message. (neal@eromance.com).
…and by the way I should have probably mentioned (for my own benefit) that I now how scammers well under control at eromance – I estimate I’m blocking about 95% fo those members now. I would still stay 30-40% of new profiles created are likely scammers however which is why it is SO CRITICAL for the whole industry to get this issue control in a meaningful way!
Hello Dr. Phil
I was so happy to watch your show about online love scammers.
I am a disabled woman who started a new website for the medically and physically disabled and it is so sad to see scammers pick on persons who have a hard time finding a mate as it is.
I do not have many members yet and I am working very hard to get it going but because of funds and scammers it is hard to protect this minority group who are very couragious in wanting to have a site of their own. It is difficult to believe that the scammers would target the disabled whose money and resources are usually limited.
I would love it if you considered doing a show on this aspect. I know it would help a lot of disabled people. Many people assume that a disabled individual lacks the physical and emotional needs of an abled bodied person. They have a hard time in society and they need to be recognized. It often takes a disabled person to understand another disabled person.
Having worked managing medical offices for many years in the past and now that I have a disability myself I feel an affinity with them.
A dating website gives the disabled a chance to find companionship but the scammers are getting in the way.
Thank you Dr. Phil for listening.
Yours sincerely
Louise Maxwell creator of Soulful Encounters
In the original article, it is suggested:
>>Internet dating sites have three lines of defence again scammers. 1. Automated filters that look for words and behavioral patterns that indicate the presence of a scammer. 2. User flagging. Users can flag profiles of people that they suspect are up to no good. 3. Customer service/abuse teams review profiles, photos and user flaggings.
At http://www.ChristianSinglesDating.com we do all 3 things and more!
1) Every profile comment and online mail sent out is scanned for common scammer phrases. Rarely, we catch an innocent victim and send them an apology, with a free membership, but 99% of the time our filters catch actual scammers, immediately flag their profile as hidden and as a potential scammer. I then receive an immediate notice to my pager so that I can check it out and confirm it. If the member is a scammer, I immediately post them in our scammer forum, and send out an email to all members they have sent mails to or who have sent mails to them and warn them that this person is a scammer (whether they have an active account on our site or not, in case they are communicating offline with this scammer).
When a member logs in, they are taken to a page that shows the latest 10 scammers, along with reasons why they are scammers and how to protect yourself from scammers.
Our scammer forum is open to everyone to view and is here:
http://www.christiansinglesdating.com/s/forum/scammerpreview.asp
Many men write to me telling me that our warnings showed up in their search results and they saved thousands of dollars by learning to spot the scammers from reading our forums.
2. User flagging: With every profile and every mail sent online, members have a link to report the mail as scam mail or the profile as a scammer. We check out the profile and act immediately to remove them and again to warn our members.
3. Our photo approval team is taught to detect scammers. When a photo is reviewed and approved, it also shows the IP address the person is calling in from, and where the member claims they are from. It includes other pertinent information to detect whether this is a potential scammer. Our photo approval team reports potential scammers to me and immediately flags the account has hidden and a scammer. I then deal with it later and warn members if necessary.
4. IP checking: Above and beyond what is recommended, we do IP checking. We display the location of the IP address where the person is calling in from within a person’s profile. As members view profiles they can look at the IP address and see if it matches where the member says they are from, and if not, immediately report them to us. We also block known scammer IP addresses from countries where scamming is prolific. Do we block some innocent people, yes, but we feel it is more important to protect the majority of our members.
When a member logs into the site, we detect their IP address and block those from these known scammer countries. We must do more than that however, because scammers are starting to use proxies, so that requires steps 1, 2 and 3 as well.
5: When a new member joins the site, within the first 5 days, we track the mails they send out. If they send out 15 mails, we send ourselves a copy of the mail and notice that they sent out 15 mails. We review their content and can immediately delete scammers. If the member sends out 50 mails they are immediately flagged as a potential scammer and hidden until we can review them. We catch many many scammers this way, as non-scammers typically never send out 50 mails on their first day.
6: We optionally allow email address confirmation where members must click a button to receive a password in their email and then return to the site to type in the password to ensure their email address is valid. Scammers typically sign up with a bogus email address and send members their yahoo email address. Yes, I said yahoo, because probably 95% of our scammers have a yahoo email address. I am so urked that yahoo cannot protect people from scammers. What is to stop yahoo from implementing the same safeguards we do? They have a much larger budget for implementing safeguards and should be a responsible online business. But no, they provide free mail services to many of the world’s scammers. I get irritated every single time I see a scammer provide their yahoo email address and wonder when yahoo is going to take scamming seriously and do something about it. But for now, that is yet another clue, yahoo email address and everything else looks like a scammer, they probably are.
7. We warn members in our forums, our newsletters, and send out warning emails as needed. We try to educate our members to spot scammers.
8. We track failed credit card attempts and alert as potential scammers. For every failed credit card attempt, we check the profile and online mails to see if this person looks like a scammer. Some are valid failures due to incorrect expire date or something else, but most indicate this person is a scammer trying to use a bogus credit card. If a credit card notice comes back with “PICK UP CARD” we IMMEDIATELY flag them as a scammer and their account is hidden.
Here is an article we send to every member of our site, telling them about the measures we take to ensure their safety:
http://www.christiansinglesdating.com/dp.asp?section_id=&post_id=38710
Ensuring member safety is time-consuming, but well worth the efforts if an owner truly cares about their members.
God bless,
Nannette Thacker
ChristianSinglesDating.com
Neal said:
“I would imagine there are plenty of small websites out there doing serious damage to the reputation of the industry as a whole.”
Please! It’s the large websites with big bucks destroying the reputation of the industry! I’ve heard stories from our members that they love the safety on our site because after visiting these larger sites they were constantly hit on by scammers and the management did nothing about it!
Nannette
Individuals should be very cautious on these dating and friends spaces for the Nigerian love scammers. They pretend to be looking for their one true love and later may lead you into an IM room where they can privately ask you questions. They will say they are from the U.K, however live in the U.S as an art collector or dealer for example. Later may follow a questionnaire to see if you are a compatible mate. They will shortly tell you that they love you and can’t wait to see you. You are their one true love. Then comes that they are really in Nigeria on business. Wow! This happened to me just in the past 2 days. Upon reading a very long e-mail with a photo from a friend’s site, I noticed that there were numerous typos especially about their own personal description. I found this humorous. So I responded. After the questionnaire was completed, which I received the same completed questionnaire back from the pursuing party. I was amazed at all the similarities and qualities. Now, the part that really clues you in. Age and photos don’t match. A photo of a model in his 20’s, but yet he says he is 42. He claims to be a graduate from Oxford University and still can not make a grammatically complete sentence. IM’s with Oh, k, ic. You will notice that he will copy and paste quick responses in an IM to your questions. Really if I could type that fast, I would be in the guinness book of records. So as the pursuit goes on and I am having a good giggle, I provide my own questionnaire. Now the true test begins. Will he understand the questions, how long will it take him to respond, will he respond or simply disappear after the final question is asked, Are you familiar with the (SAPS), South African Police Service.
I just had a man that contacted me from E-Harmony.com that was supposedly a man from Illinois doing business in the UK and Nigeria (red flags) He wasn’t savvy enough to remove the name of the photographer at the bottom of the photos he was using. I was able to get online and look up the studio and email the photos to the photographer and asked him if the man’s name was indeed “Michael Donald”. As I suspected it wasn’t. The scammer was using a photo of a man from Texas.
Being the suspicious person that I am I didn’t get scammed.
I was raised in the South. A gentelman will never ask a woman for money…ever. Any person in their right mind wouldn’t ask a woman that he just met for money! Get real women!
I am glad that Dr. Phil did an episode on The Nigerian Scams…it alerted me on the dangers of internet dating….and I think that I may have come across one…he claims his name is Terry Ray and that he owns a contracting business in Atlanta and Washington….he claims that he is so in love with me and he asks for money even though we have never met…he sent me gorgeous pics of a male model and the voice does not match his pic…his voice seems immature. If he is so rich, why does he want my money!! He just happened to go to Africa on a contracting trip, coincidence, I think NOT!! Guys are doing this all over the place…my last boyfriend Nigel did the same thing…he just wanted money….they should get themselves jobs….The guys on Shaadi.com and Desi-Planet.com are a bunch of homeless bums with no education, money or dignity….instead of preying on innocent women they should go to school, get a degree and find a job!!
Good afternoon.
My name Sergey.
Everyone know that on sites of acquaintances and single games, exist weight of swindlers the name this scammer.
These people to not have the feeling love because they to search only money by a deceit of fair men.
It would seem there is no decision of this a problem
This kind of women strongly to lower pride our country
But we group of people which seriously to borrow this a problem.
I to live in Russia and for me and the group of people is not present mine a problem to find that the woman which to take yours of money.
We have found the decision that to a problem which will allow to return yours of money.
We to make the help already 93 person to take the of money back in hands.
If to wish to take money back in hands write to us on antiscamgerls@yahoo.com
We wait for your letters, we are ready the help to you.
im will from australia .met one girl from ghana. went through the process of bringing her to australia.paid for documents tickets and such. then her family wanted money for a ceremonial wdding there in my absence. it cost me $8,000 aussie then agent demanded between ten a fifteen thousanddollars for her pocket money to gain entry to australia , so i pulled out of deal. ive heard nothing since about a refund ha. another girl contacted me pleading for me to date her. she said she would help me and the others were cheating me. i accepted her and process started again. documents, tickets, ceremony money for famiy food . then she said she had some gold to take to australia, document fees $5,000. allup $16,000 they then wanted a further $8,000 for transport so i said no i cant afford any more. so they said ok we leave the gold here day before girl is to fly the family heads demand $5,000 for a market stall so het sick mother will have an income without her daughters support i said no , so they stopped her from flying. so at the end of it ive paid $24,000 to two families and still no girl , what a bloody scam. i came looking for a good honest girl and this is what i get . at 58 years of age ive never met one yet and time is running out for me , surely there must be one out there for me dr. phil
Yes scamming is a very dirty business and an example of this is the post above by “Sergey” advertising how he helps victims of Russian love scams .
Sergey will tell you how he helps victims with his reply to me about finding “the bad girl” in Russia with just with a photo of the girl and oh ! yes….. lots of money.
one of Sergey’s letters :
Yes certainly, we to give you the help.
For us it will not be difficult to do search that the
girl because we to live in Russia.
I hope you to understand, that that we should ask as
money for this search.
That search bad the girl – 100 $
Rent the lawyer (charge) – 400 $
To give the claim in judicial administration – 400 $
Only you должень to send us that the information which
you to have now, as a photo that the girl.
We wait very much a fast reply.
So Sergey will tell how intends to do this after the next letter to me with details of payment by the untraceable Western Union.
A very dirty business and antiscamgerls@yahoo.com is just another scam only this time scamming the scammed .
Hello Dr phil,i have heard cases of this scammers,i live in maryland upper marlboro,i actually met a young beautiful girl on a dating site,i thught she was a scammer until i saw her on the web cam,i paid for her ticket and she came over to me….so one has to be very careful at time…….scammers are real but not all are scammer
My story is typical for on-line dating scams from Ghana. I signed up with Match.com. After 2 weeks I was contacted by a a Greek / American living on Long Island. His picture showed this handsome dark haired/blue eyed young guy. We started to chat on yahoo. The romance was heating up on-line, soon he asked for my address to send me a present. First I said no, but then eventually gave in. Soon after, beautiful 24 long stem roses arrived. He claimed his name was Mark Donii from Athens, Greece and now for 2 1/2 years in Long Island City, NY. He was a business consultant and just started his new business. And his birthday was August 13, he was turning 36. Soon after he had to travel to France and won a contract, returned to Long Island City for a couple of days and had to travel to Accra, Ghana for business to fulfill this contract. First red flag: Why not travel directly from Europe to Ghana and why come first back to NY, then fly back to Ghana via London? I didn’t hear from him for a week. When he finally called he said that they lost his luggage with his cell phone and his lab top. Next red flag: Couldn’t he use somebody else’s PC to e-mail me? He had a local Ghana phone number and wanted me to get a prepaid phone card and call him all the time (instead of him calling me). The on-line romance was getting a bit heavy and heated, sometimes he seemed very controlling and pushy (next red flag). He was constantly asking questions and would give out little information. He was getting very serious with me very fast (watch out for this red flag), talking about marriage, kids, having a business together, being together for the rest of our lives. Mind you, I haven’t even met this guy yet. Every time I told him that he was moving too fast or when I had some objections, he got upset and put a guilt trip on me. Also, he told me these sad stories that he’s a widower and that his wife died in Greece. And then after being alone for 3 years he moved to the U.S. and that his last ex-girl friend had cheated on him with his best friend. He wanted me to feel sorry for him. A soap opera or what?? He also asked me not to tell any of my friends about our “love” because they might get jelous or our love and that they want me to be single like them. (BIG red flag – asking to keep him a secret). I answered him back that this seemed very fishy to me and that I think he might be up to no good. He got very upset on line… I have to add too that he was writing these incredibly poetic e-mails, incredibly romantic and passionate, although his English was terrible. He didn’t have an accent that sounded African. I’m familiar with accents since I’ve lived all over the world myself. These people feel out what you need to hear, what you react to, they are fishing for what makes you tick and then they go for it. They have no shame. I got “hooked” on his e-mails for a while, because I am a “sucker” for romance and poetic love letters. Yet at the same time, I’m a very analytical and suspecting person and don’t trust easily. He tried to get sexual info out of me, which bothered me very much and I refused to answer those questions. Some of his chats turned sexual, which I ran from. Then he wanted to come out to California, flying straight from Ghana and send a package ahead of time. I got very nervous about that and asked him whether he was involved in something illegal. I am a bit worried because he has my private address where he sent the roses to. Thank God I refused to give him my work information. A day later I got a phone call from a doctor in Accra, Ghana stating that Mark was involved in a serious car accident and that he is inconcious at this time. When I called him back, some guy and a woman answered, the woman asking who I am and what I want (mind you, this supposed to be a doctor’s phone number at a hospital) and the guy laughing because I was asking if this was a doctor’s number at the hospital. I hung up, knowing that there is something very wrong here. Sure enough, this “doctor” called me back stating that he cannot treat “Mark” unless I send him money and that Mark would otherwise die. Very cruel game. I said that I know that this is a scam and that I have friends from West Africa and that I know for a fact that no money needs to be sent ahead. He got very pushy. He said that I should talk to Mark then myself tomorrow. (I see, the patient in a comma is going to wake up miraculously next morning again so that I can speak to him?). This “doctor” told me that Mark gave him my number because I was his “wife.” What?? I haven’t met this guy even yet, and I am already his wife? I told him that I haven’t met him and that I am definitely not his wife and that Mark should contact his mother in London (another lie). I said that I would contact the U.S. Embassy in Accra for help and that’s the only thing I could do. I also told the treating “doctor” that I couldn’t do anything because I had no finances available to me at all. He tried to put a guilt trip on me. Anyway, I did go on the U.S. Embassy’s website just to find a posting on Romance scanning originating in Ghana. And all these stories are so similiar to mine, it’s almost like these people are following a script. I googled internet dating scams and found out that there are so many women who met these men on various dating sites in the U.S. and actually fell for their scams. This scam is widespread. So, instead of this gorgeous guy from Greece (the pictures posted on match.com) I was actually talking to somebody in Ghana the whole time. Anyway, this guy’s name was Mark Donii, his yahoo ID was mark_d11. He’s no longer on match.com and may have changed his yahoo long in name. 2 weeks into our on-line romance he made a mistake and sent me an e-mail that looked like it was copied and pasted, while he forgot to edit something out of there which was obviously meant for somebody else. He was referring to Chase, who had a sweet voice “like you.” Obviously, he was trying to scam a single mother here with a boy by the name of Chase. I called him on it and should have cut any contact with him right then, but he got me wheeled in again somehow. I was very lucky that these people didn’t scam me out of any money, and it has been a great lesson for me to be careful. But I am sorry for all the other women who got cheated out of money, and especially this single mother with a boy named Chase has really touched my heart, because our paths crossed accidently. It’s a very heartless and sick game these people are pulling and women (or men) need to stay allert.
PS – Just wanted to know if somebody else had contact with the same guy above (calling himself Mark Donii) and what your experience was. If so, please post your comment.
Maggie,
I have just met “Mark” on datehookup. Mark Donii, same story, same looks. He IMed me and we spoke. He thought I was taken with him. I did give him my phone # as he said he wanted to hear my voice before he went to London. I sometimes give my # on dating sites quickly. He called me the next morning, sounded very sweet. I talked to him for 2 days on IM before I knew something was wrong. First of all, all the love talk, that was weird. A few red flags like 2 emails he sent me, 1 was written like he typed (English was not his first language)on the IM and the other was perfect English, and so I googled him and found your email. What he didn’t know is that I am not a lonely woman looking for instant love. I date a lot and am really into seducing men. That’s why I was talking to him. I was feeling him out so that I could be his “perfect” woman, so he would fall for me. I love to do this. Never for anything material. It’s all the thrill of the hunt and game for me. Sometimes I have sex with them and sometimes I keep them at bay and have fun having them go crazy for me. Probably why it was so easy for me to see into his game. He took himself off of datehookup as soon as he thought I had taken the bait. I sent him an email telling him I knew he was a phony, but thanks for the fun. I also emailed the dating site.
Good for you, Leslie!! That’s great. These guys need to be put out of business.
Would love to see a photo Mark because he sounds just like Anthony. Met on yahoo personals, from CO, working in London. Got contract in Nigeria. We talk IM, email, and phone…he calls me. Only child, parents deceased… says he loves me… calls me his wife. Been talking for 6 months. Has asked for my home address to “send me something” though nothing has arrived. Has not asked for money, but now ended up in the hospital 3 weeks before he is to come home. Shouldnt one get vaccinated before traveling overseas??? Waiting for the request for money. None to give. This should be interesting. Seriously…would love to see photos of these guys. If they are using several aliases, we could benefit from seeing their faces, not just knowing names and profiles.
Hi Dr Phil,
I do appreciate your articles on scammers(Nigerians).
But i must say your article is not wholly true,i’ve known of many nigeians and other africans meeting their soul mate through the magic of technology.INTERNET.
No doubt your article is a wake up call to all to be careful.
But i must say there are many clues that easily gives away a would be scammer if only we try hard enough to scrutinize and thought provoking questions from potential mates.
I must make a point of correction, its not only a nigerian thing(scamming),its widespread in the whole of africa,with the help of technology a french speaking african or spanish speaking african can easily use a software to chat in english with a potential victim,come to think of it,webcam is readily available in africa u can always see ur “potential” soul mate on webcam.
With all this in mind,its easy to nab a scammer with a good sense of judgement.
I hope my humble contribution will help to clarify some of the issues raised.
hi dr phil i think i have been scammed but my scammer was latin american to be precise brazilian met on a site called continenal romance i live in london uk i don’t regard myself as stupid this lady is from salvador bahia in brazil the first six months where okay then she asked f money 2 come over i sent it she never came she used her own daughter 2 snd me a e mail tht she was sick i confronted and demanded a medical report and 5 days later she sent one but i don’t spk portuguese i gave her benifit of doubt i sent her gifts willingly she did’nt have a she sent messages on her friends she claims i sent her one to cut a long story short i decided to fly to brazil to see her for myself when we met she looked older then her pictures she refused to take me to her hse only spent a hour a day with me claiming she had to wk in short i new i was wasting my time introduced me to her cousin daughter and mother who i thought was nice gt bck to england waiting f me was a e mail claiming tht she had been robbed tht she needed R500 to give her friend for the stolen raido cassette player i sent her a second hand one i think what really bothered me was the amount of pictures she sent of her and her daughter and documents of her court case agaist her daughters father who she claimed was not giving child support she even tried to get me to give her money for a lawer i said forget what really upset me was how she used her daughter so tht she could get money from me i felt bad i met the daughter nice kid she also sent me hospital bills prescription bills she had back problems i laughed and she would get mad any it all came to a head last week she agn asked f cash for her kids school books i refused the following week she said sorry she has met her new love thnk y for everything good by plus she sent me photo’s of them together but one of the photo she is wearing a pair of glasses i gave last year this was the guy she been living with all along she is a real pro beautifull elegant spks decent english and a bit of italian dresses with a bit of style and can manipulate any man i would say that good if i had the power i would shame her and embarace her she is dangerous and is only a matter of time before some one really gets hurt she has scammed so many guys you need to do a show on latin american love scams its huge i am thinking of trying to frighten her to stop there has to be a way thanks
Hi Dr. Phil
I wished that I had seen your show on Nigerian scams. I ALMOST became a victim but did not pay attention to the red flags or to my gut feelings. I received and email by a guy claiming to be from Berlin, Germany. He said he owned his own business and was looking for a serious relationship. His profile is posted on yahoo.com and it looked to me like it was legit. Anyway, he sent me his personal email and then asked me to IM through yahoo messenger. I didn’t think anything of it so I did. We started corresponding for a few days and he seemed genuinely interested in me. He said he was a poet and sent me some beautiful poems..I’m sure that were somehow altered. Anyway, he told me about his mother and how sick she was and that he was worried about her. He was in Africa taking care of her and he was very upset. He said that she was all that he had left. His father had died and he was an only child. His english was broken and he spelled fairly well so I never suspected anything because I thought he was from Germany. We corresponed for a few more days and then he said that he was very upset because his mother needed a masectomy and the doctors needed $350 dollars to do the surgery. I questioned him on this but he really didn’t elaborate. He asked if I could send him some money and I told him no because I didn’t know him. He then proceeded to tell me about a “customer” of his that owed him $2500 dollars and that he could have his customer send me a check in my name and then I could deposit the check in my bank account, withdraw 500 dollars and then he would collect the rest when he got back to the US. Somehow it didn’t seem right and when I questioned him about his friends and why couldn’t his customer send him the check – he said that he couldn’t cash an American check in Nigeria. Even though I hesitated I went ahead and gave him my address. I figured if he were to trust me with the money then he seemed to be ok. He told me that he was going to have it FedExed to me and then I could put into my bank acct and then have the money wired to him. Well, I truly believe that I have a guardian angel and that God was watching over me because about 2 days later, I received another IM from this guy and he gave me the tracking number from FedEx. When I went to track the number, the package had been held up at one of the Fed Ex depots. Somehow it was “confisgated” and then sent back to the sender who happened to be in New York. I haven’t heard anything from Fed Ex but I do hear from the scammer but I haven’t returned any of his IM’s. PLEASE, PLEASE stay aware. I didn’t and I almost became a victim. I am a trusting person by fault but this has certainly made me very, very cautious about anything anymore.
I have just found out that I have chatted with a “Internet scammer”
AVOID!
“Sam Miller” email s.mil84065@yahoo.com
He gave me an address in Huntington beach CA a phone nr in UK but lacked phone credit…redflag
No parents no siblings and wife left him for his best friend…redflag
oh by the way he was a M.D but didn’t practice it and had a Bacheloor degree…..redflag
I can continue but I think you got it now
Well, I was recently scammed by a person claiming to be from Dayton, OH that was on contract in Nigeria….I IM’d back and forth for about a week. I knew something wasn’t right. Told me the same old story, he had a son, parents gone, wife died of cancer etc. I got on the internet looking for address/information on “Mark Springer” in Dayton,OH., there was no one by that name. So I set up a fake email address under a different provider and emailed him to see if he would respond, and he did, so I asked him about it. Then the day came he was stuck in Nigeria, contracting company went bankrupt and he needed money….I told him NO very quickly and that I knew he was a scammer, I copied and posted a website that describes the very thing on an IM message, told him I was a professional person set up on here to track scammers…He quickly got off-line and has not contacted me again.
1. Set up a different email account with a different IP, pretend you are someone different and if he corresponds in the same way.
2. Ask very specfic questions and see if you get a repsonse.
3. If suspicious, tell them you are a professional on the internet looking for scammers and see their response.
4. Match.com is where this person appeared, his screen name is just_markslips so beware of someone that gets back on match or other dating sites with that name. He claimed his name was Mark Springer.
Just like Liz, above, I have been chatting with Sam also. He has just asked me for money. Here’s what he wrote:
i successfully arrived Nigeria and i did get a cell phone at the airport but unfortunately for me as i was leaving the Airport to a hotel where i will be staying before i leave this country then i got robbed by some armed robbers, one of them pointed a gun at me and took everything i had on me including my luggage’s but thank God they didn’t take my flight ticket.
They shot the Taxi driver, right now as i am talking to you he is in the hospital. Thank God for the police officers who came to my rescue they were the one that took me to a hotel where i currently am. Right now i am just so confused and don’t know what to do as i don’t have any money with me here. I don’t wish to tell you this but i guess i should cos i don’t want it to be kinda like i am hiding things from you. I don’t know if you can help me with some money so i can get to pay my hotel bills here as the hotel Manager promised to throw me out if i don’t get to pay my hotel bills in time.
It’s not that i don’t have money but i don’t have access to my money as my credit card, Money order or my personal check as they were been stolen.
I met a man on a Christian website. Love and seek. Same old story. Lost his wife, 1 son, no family. Professed his undying love for me vey quickly. When I asked him for his phone number told me had problems with Sprint. First clue. Then he was off to Nigeria for a project and gets robbed and has his leg broken. Wants $2,000.00 wired to Nigeria so he can have surgery to his broken leg. Even sent an xray since I am a RN. Gave me the name of the doctor to wire funds to. I told him my credit cards were maxed out and that I had no savings. I told him to contact USA embassy. That did it. Not another word from him as I blew his cover. Be careful of men who promise there undying love after only knowing you for a few days. They prey upon vulnerable women like us. I am glad I told my best friend what was going on and she convinved me that this was a scam, How right she was. No more trying to find Mr. Right on internet dating.
I have been contacted by some called Carlos Favalli… he said he was US/Italian… wife died of cancer, parents and sister died in car accident….he was on business in Berlin…then on to Ghana to clear his merchandise (cars)… Said his cars had been impounded and the fine was $15,000 US and he only had $13,000 cash on him…. His e-mail address was carlosfavalli117@hotmail.com…..be careful ladies
I can not believe what I am reading. This happened to me. I know God was watching out for me. The scammer name was Dave Ball. He told me he lived in Paris and was a contractor working on a project in the UK. He was a widower and had a son 21. He even had his son e-mail me. I did research and there was a Dave Ball who lived in Paris. 2 1/2 weeks later he had to go to Nigera and check out a project before he was coming to California with his son. They were robbed and his son got shot. He asked me for $1,500 because the Doctor would not operate on his son. What I fool I am. Almost fell for it. Like I said God was watching out for me. That same night I put his e-mail address on Goggle and it came out on Scammers. The first e-mail I received from him was on that site word for word. So please beware. His e-mail address is dave4real7@hotmail.com. I just hope this helps other women.
I was also contacted by Carlos Favalli. He asked me for money but after reading your report I was made aware of the fact that he was a scammer. I kept him hanging on and played him at his own game. He tried saying that he was ill but I told him I hoped that he had good medical insurance. I haven’t heard from since.His story to me was the exactly the same as yours
Hi There, i never ever thought this is gonna happen to me.. but it did
i met this very handsome and nice guy on meetic.com, we started talking and chatting, he told me he is
a business man(??) we chatted several weeks, then he had to leave to Japan for some business at least thad he told me, he also told me he had to wire 3500 USD
to Afrika before starting the trip to Japan,unfortunatly the Western Union had closed already so he couldnt wire the money so he had to take the money to Japan, guess was happend next? he told me after arriving in japan, his son lost the bag with all the money ,even his creditcard was gone,so no money at all , i realy couldnt sent anything, so he got some money from a business partner in Japan, after the Japan adventure he had to take care of his farm in Afrika, because of the Harvest there and he would make lots of money with that too , unfortunatly he needed money .. so stupid me i ve sent him 400 USD, he promised me i would get the money back no problem at all , he wanted to marry me and live with me happily ever after , then he needed money for the Airline ticket,in between his son was in hospital ( i realy believed that too ) and he needs money, again i didnt sent him any, he seriously he asked me to sell my car (!) so i could sent him money then thank God I didnt do that,then he asked me to go to a bank and get a loan of 15.000 (!!!) USD thank God i didnt do that either , he wrote a pretty poor english too so I thought already thats not an American from orign.. and see the other day as i checked the www. i found his name and Profile on another dating site called cuteonly.ru, where he wrote he s living in Salford Uk and is a Dph, (he told me he s living in New YORK) all other things we re the same as on Meetic.com so i think I v been Love Scammed, i realy had hughe feelings for this guy, but right now i just want everybody to know don t fall for MR Melgymoy, it only brings you Heartbreak and Pain, and money loss too
so be aware there are lots of people who only want your money, and dont care about any feelings..!!!
smith
more links
Hello everyone,
I got scammed too . i had an internet love affairs to this man from Uk for almost a year since Sept -20-08 till this Sept 30 -09 ,, I would like to know if u know someone who can write my love story . this is a good story is about , love, money and deceit ..I got scammed with a huge a mount of monies ,,, Pls kindly sent me email asap.. tarabrooks12@yahoo.com ………….. Hope to hear from u .. Tara,
To Dr. Phil,
Hello , i need ur help how and where i can find a writer who can able to write my love, money , deceit on internet . i had a love internet with this man i me from Match.com . since Sept 20-08 till Sept -30-09 ..My story is good to write a books and make a movie about it. Please kindly email me .. tarabrooks12@yahoo.com
I have been able to detect on line scammers on dating sites myself. Broken writing speaking, always widowed. always wanting my personal information. I have written to warn others they have listed as friends and caught several on my own. A few NAMES I remember are James Simons. Mike or Michael in Military. Shadrack Bent from London and they were all from Nigeria. Smarten up AMERICA WE NEED OUR MONEY FOR OURSELVES.
Met him on match.com and he introduced himself as Sgt. goodwill from USA in mission at Iraq, wife died and had son with a friend in Ghana. We chatted for month including his son Perry on cam. It happened that he found a briefcase of gold and wanted to ship to me but had no way then he brought the idea that his friend in Ghana knows Ghana Customs and can pass gold there to me, it started with few $ until I paid almost $46,000 during the process until I found on the web that it scam and I contacted the Ghana Serious Fraud Crime Unit(info.ghanapolice at consultant.com) and he was arrested and some of my losses recoverd.Beware of scam from Ghana contact officials!
It all started on Skype with a request and we become closed acquaintance and share everything thing being it news and personal affairs, A good kind hearted man i would describe and he propose love to me which i accepted it and it happened that we would like to see each other and he was stationed in Iraq so i should send down leave fee for him to visit me which i did, and he was denied entry to travel when Police found gold on him, i paid to grant him bail and i was supposeed to pay fee to get gold licensed which i did until i contacted the Embassy that said it scam and linked me to contact the SFO in Ghana(info.ghanapolice at consultant.com) and the scammers was in Ghana through ip traced and is arrested and 40% of my money recovered.
Hello Neal,
I agree with you, I went through this several times, when I could tell they were all foreign. I was actually scammed, after my husband died over a year ago. I would like to see these sites screen there members. I am a widow and have a target on my back for that. I do not want to lie, but you almost have to.
I am also in IT and would like to see something done about this.
Either background checks for members or something of that sort.
Thank you for trying to do something.
Tammy
There are some seriously sick people out there…got a scammer on cupid…said he was a widow with two children.. in the military…sent pictures talked for a bit…then he had to go to west africia with the marines…So he was on patrol lost his wallet…needed money etc…..then he have me his so called sister’s email…we sent one email….now he wants to send me something…there is much more but embarrassed…So his name is joel nickola pesce….that is 3 names taken from folks who died in 911 watch out for him
Hello, I my self almost got scam. I met Patrick Ekarman on Match.com We started talking almost everyday for six months. He started expressing his love to me and said how much he loves me. He ask for my address and he sent me an edible fruit basket. I though that is sweet of him. He says all the things that women wants to hear. Finally, he ask me for money at first $4000 dollars which I didn’t have, then $2000, then tried again for $1500 I still don’t have the money to give him. It came down to $100 dollars for I tune. When I asked him to do face time he had all excuses that his phone camera is not working anymore. He needed to get a new phone, he own his on business. He sent me his passport and driver license, to convince me which either of them match the DOB That was a big red flag. I started caring for him and when I did not give the money he stop talking to me. I already knew he is a scammer. Thank God he didn’t get a dime from me.