The Romance Scams Peer Counselors have dedicated their lives to offering a safe haven for all, free of criticism and judgment. Our goal is to educate by spreading the word to as many people as possible.
Feel free to contact the owner or Peer Counselors:
Barb: sluppick@suddenlink.net
Founder\Holder of RomanceScams 2005 – 3/2018
Libélula: flame.skimmer@yahoo.com
Associate\Administrator
Note:
RomanceScams.org new contact links are as follows:
https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/romancescams/info
https://www.facebook.com/RomanceScams/
Look for our 2-heart Logo ID on our FB website, yahoo.group, and WordPress Blog.
Videos:
Reporting Resources:
- https://anyscam.com/
- http://www.fraudaid.com/
- https://www.nextwebsecurity.com/
- https://alertanaredescammers.blogspot.com/2014/07/perfis-masculinos-falsos-no-facebook.html – (U N Fraud, Impostors, Peacekeepers, etc.)
- http://www.cid.army.mil/cciu-advisories.html
- http://marriedtothearmy.com/are-you-dating-an-army-soldier-or-a-fake/comment-page-15/
Advertisements
I totally agree with you. In the last month I have been in a couple of dating websites and have been approached by three SCAMMERS since I was scammed twice previously I have become very angry towards this thieves and cowards and now I lead them on and play with them as they do to us. One of the three guys had approached me last year through another website and this time when he sent me an invitation to chat through this new website I had just joined I immediately knew who he was cause he had sent me pictures last year when he first started to chat so i immediately reported him I’m determined to fight these thieves and cowards since it’s like you said all of these websites don’t take the time to check on anyone they just care about getting your money and we the victims that pay them have to be the ones to identify them and in top notify the websites of these cowards existence.
How sad. I will continue fighting them further more reporting them as well. Our government including our FBI agents should be more involved trying to catch these MF
X, please do not lead on anyone you think may be a scammer. This is called scam baiting an it is a dangerous practice. You are not dealing with someone pulling a prank on you. You are dealing with oraganized, professional criminals who will not hesitate, if they catch on to what you are doing, to infect your devices with malware and undetectable viruses. We have had many members with equipment damaged beyond repair or with expensive repairs. Some have had their computers taken over by the scammers who turned them into a bot in their network. They also can install a mirroring software that captures your keystrokes, allowing them to see much of your personal information. The can steal all of your contact information and set those people up to be their victims. Here is some further information on what they can and will do:
“Why do scambers want to infect personal computers with some type of virus or malware?
Because it makes them superior to their comrades, it is fun for them to do this harmful activity and they rack in the money selling what is stolen from the victim’s computer.
What malware does are typically two things.
1. Information theft
They install software that somehow captures your information through keystroke loggers or activity loggers to steal your identity, steal your banking information, steal contact information, to get information the scam cell can then turn around and sell.
2. Spread botnets
Scammers install software onto your computer that you do not notice is in the background. You do not know your computer is already infected. It becomes part of a botnet, allowing the scammer access to send spam email, infringe on copyrighted material, movies, music, literature, pornographic material until you are notified by your ISP that your service will be disconnected for violating internet laws. Your ISP can then file a lawsuit against you for violating Term & Agreement Policies (remember clicking AGREE when you registered with your ISP?).”
And from our website, http://www.romancescams.org. (Safe link)
We were informed of a scam that was for big bucks, the victim was backing down and the threats escalated in the form of an itinerary of all of the person’s loved ones daily activities. This person’s family was being watched and common sense will tell you that can not happen unless someone are physically there watching them.
This is not fun and games. This is a war and they are not doing well, so they are escalating their efforts in a different manner. For the most part if you lost a few thousand dollars to them and then you cut off all connections you are pretty safe. But those who for revenge or just for sport continue to talk to them, the danger level will escalate.
Whether you want to realize it or not you are playing with people who have terrorist connections. The FBI admits that a portion of all money scammed is funneled into terrorism. These scams pull in over 20 billion dollars a year into Nigeria.
I have fell victim to a scam and am nke being blacmailed. Got tricked into sending a provocative video and photo and the person is now threatening to send it to my facebook friends and emplyer…
I refused to give in, but have deactivated my facebook account and blocked the nr from whatsapp.
This happened on a saturday and they said i had 1 hour to pay them,
It is now sunday night and havent heard anithing new yet,
But i am so scared cause if they send it to my employer i can lose my job
I am terrified at the moment
Dear Scamvictim, your worry is understandable. However, the scammers are way too busy with their scamming work to be sending out provocative videos to a victim’s family, friends and place of work. Plus, if they expose this video, they lose their leverage over you. They will push and threaten unless you block them from all means of contact and ignore them. They may give you a cooling off period of weeks or even months and try again, or as is commonly done, sell your contact information to other scammers. Just keep ignoring and blocking. You can and should file a report at http://www.ic3.gov. (Safe link) This is the Internet Crime Complaint Center Center. In the meantime, take some deep breaths and try to relax. I have not heard any stories from our members that these threats have ever been carried out. As far as the video goes, it is very common for victims to do this for the “love of their life” as is phone sex and sexting.
I, too am being scammed by a man with very mixed accent who is now in Malaysia doing his last job. In 2 months, he wants to come marry me, never having met me, of course. OMG how dumb do these people think we are. But when he got to Malaysia, he finds he needs more money and cant get help from his bank or lawyer here in the states. He wanted $12,400 to get more supplies for his job. Only for 2 weeks with promissory note, lol back to me. Well now he is soooo sad because I do not love him enough to trust him and send him the money.Now even $2,000 will help him out, lol, imagine that. He will find out how smart I am, one of these days. I also met him on POF, dating site. They should be more careful and his pix disappeared immediately after he first wrote me, also. Anyone who goes on these sites are aware of such things happening, I hope. Never send anything to anyone that you do not personally know. I was smart about it; the rest of you women need to be also. This guy says he has a grandson living with him and lost his wife and daughter within a few years. ahhhhhhhhhhh wants your pity first, then your money. Glad I knew better. Take care ladies,
There’s a guy by the name Ramsey Itan he claims he is a contract engineer working in Malaysia doing a Dom be careful he is a scammer he uses the excuse of pretax payments according to Malaysia policy. He takes a while to ask you for the money and texts you all the time every day and texts you beautiful songs with beautiful lyrics and promise you marriage he also always tells you how much he loves you how much he wants to come over back to his home land of USA he first started to ask if I was able to help him with $6000.00 then he said he was able to get out of Malaysia with $3600.00 I believed him and sent him $2000.00 he is a liar he uses Rakemayes@gmail.com he has different emails and uses different names as well like Ramsey Itanry. He uses different pictures and also tells you he has an adopted son name Al that has problems with his vocal chords. He is very charming and also likes to play dumb so ladies be careful with this character if you hear a similar story like this that is him
I was scammed by a name Oscar Morgani.he told me he is a mixed Dutch/British and a project manager in a construction company.widowed lost his wife from a breast cancer and no kids. met him in one of the dating sites and in less than a month he promises me to come and visit me in our country but need to go to Malaysia first to finish some business dealings.he told me he will stay in Malaysia for 3-4 days and we will meet after and discuss our wedding(I got a hint that something is wrong imagine we never met and he wants to get married).so we just exchanging mails from time to time because he asked me to delete my profile in dating site and start communicating through emails.when he arrives in Kuala Lumpur he sent me his Malaysian number he told me that I can contact him to that number.And one night he sent me an SMS and asking to check my mail so I read his mail and when I see there’s a lot of figures of money and asking me if I can support him a $3000 USD for tax payment before they release his cheque worth millions.(what you have millions but a $3000usd you will asked it to a person you barely know)…so I messaged him immediately if you are a scammer stop this.I’ll pray for your soul…thank God I did not hooked to his words.
Just want to share this and beware to this man.
I was scammed by a German guy on Instagram. Says he’s from Geneva, calls himself Rob Carrick at the moment. Says he has a 2 yr old son named Max, wife died etc. He speaks typical scammer language– calls you Dear and wifey and uses ‘Am’ not I’m…
Beware he’s very clever and charming. He will ROB you blind!
He may have told you he was German but he is really west African, hiding behind a stolen picture of someone else. The name is not real and everything he told you was a lie. You need to delete, remove, block and ignore and be consistent about doing so as they will sell your info to every other scammer out there and right now, there is estimated to be approximately 8 million of them world wide.
We have a friend said he is the c.eo of wilson construction company and he send me job acceptance letter..i send the photocopy of my passport and cv..we send 2500$ for the processing of papers..until now he is asking me another payment for work permit of 500$ ..i dont know if i will continue this.he said he already paid the lawyer who process the papers.the lawyers name is jane ekpeyong from united kingdom,london and the travelling agent is brown williams,work in us embassy and the name of our friend is kelly omawumi eden,the c.e.o of the company..please help me and reply if they are real and i will going to continue this..thank you
Anton, do not send any more money. There are so many of these types of scams out there. There is no job, just the paying of the fees.
I want to say thank you to everyone who help me expose my scammer! She is listed under the name sandra luv, but her real name is sandra Conny. Her and her cohorts are running the scam from ac CRA, Ghana. the picture on the site is a girl named Aliana. I feel so stupid for letting these crooks scam me out of my money.
Does anyone know a woman 35 years old who claims to be in Ghana. she goes by the name sandra luv, but told me her real name is sandra Conny! She has gotten $700 from me so far, supposedly for airfare. When it came time for her to fly out, she told me that they would not allow her to fly without for or $500 in her pocket possible expenses.. We have been talking about a month. She tells me that she loves me and wants to be with me. I am 61 years old and she is 35 she says. She has sent me pictures of her, 3 of her topless. I sent her pictures of me shirtless! I do not know if she is a scammer or not. Does anyone know this girl. Please notify me ASAP if you know anything! Thank you PS I cannot afford to send her any more money, especially if she is a scammer! Your help is greatly appreciated. Being a college educated man I feel like a an idiot!
Hi, I want to share my story… (please understand my broken English..English is my second language, but I really really want to share my story..)
About a month ago..I got a friend request on my Facebook. I usually do not accept unknown’s request, but I don’t know why I accepted that. I was very emotional that day. Anyway, as soon as I accepted his friend request, he sent me a message on Facebook. I recently broke up with my boyfriend and moved to another city for job, I am alone, so lonely and did overtime everyday. But there’s no one I could talk. So, I was glad someone talked to me. and sometime you feel better when you talk with random people,, you know.. you don’t have think about anything just talking and you can talk anything that sometimes you can’t talk to your family or friends.
So.. we were talking about my ex and his ex blah blah blah. He said, he is originally from California, but not lives in Austrailia. He is an engineer and a contractor. We talked a couple of days, and he said he is so into me. One day, he said he is going to Malaysia to finish his on going project. I told him safe trip, and he asked my phone number. At first, I didn’t want to give my number, I asked him it is safe? and I think he didn’t get what that mean. Anyway, at the end I gave my number to him. Next day, I got a phone call from random number. I answered, and it was him. We had a little conversation. He said he was originally from US and lived in UK for 5yrs, but had some accent. His English is good, but def not from US or UK. Later night, he left message on my Facebook. Later he send me some message through the mobile app, which is called Kakao Talk.(it’s a Korean App, most Korean use this app. I am Korean) It was very surprised he sent me some messages through that. I asked him how did you know about this, and he siad he googled it. Everyday, we sent messages and used voice talk.
I wasn’t really into him because I’d never met him in person, but he seemed like he was so into me.
One day, he told me he decided come to NY to meet me. He said he is so in love with me. But, I was so skeptical when he talked about love, our relationship and our future. I told him that’s too early, I really don’t want to talk about that until we meet in person.
Everyday, he said he loves me so much, can’t wait to meet me blah blah blah. I didn’t believe everything, but if you are woman someone tells you everyday like admire my appearance and care every single things about me. I bet you will get into that person little by little. That day he was supposed to come he said he had to stay one more week to finish his work.
Last Tuesday,, November 10th. I woke up and check my phone, he left some messages and with his paycheck image. He said finally he got his paycheck and he is coming here soon. I will go to the bank next day, deposit his check and do some shopping and fly to NY. His paycheck was 265,00usd. I ddin’t understand why he sent me his check image. I didn’t really care how much he makes. As soon as I saw the image.. I could feel something bad. But I just told him get some rest, at the same time, somehow I was really looking foward seeing him. He was very nice and so sweet to me. I really wanted to see him in person. But on Wednesday, it was about 4am, I got so many messages from him. I was right. He tried to deposit his check, but he couldn’t. He had to pay the tax first then the bank could release his money to his account. When he came to Malaysia he brought 14000usd in cash now he had only 5000. The tax is appx. 7500 and he was short 2500. He was shouting and yelled all day at the bank to deposit his check, but the bank would’t let him do it. I checked message and text him back, and he called me. He almost cried and sobbed. I told him can you called your bank or credit card company? and he said he always uses cash when he travel and never acesse his bank account while he’s in abroad. Which I could never understand. I traveled a lot, and I have so many friends who travels and works in abroad. Also, I always prepare for the worst case when I travel abroad. I am not saying I know everything, but at least I know when I have any problem in oversea I know what I have to do in practical way like call to the company where he worked for, go back to your home and come back to Malaysia with the money, call to your accountant, go find a lawyer who is non-Malaysian or call to the embassy etc… I gave him many suggestions, and he said he can’t, he said, you don’t understand me. He said I am the only close person to me….How? we just met in Facebook and never met
Later he told me to help him 2500 dollars. If I send the money to him he will wire the money before he leaves Malaysia. I am the person help people very often when people need help, but I barely help people in financially unless I donate to Unicef. Even sometimes, my parents ask for money I rarely give them. So, I told him, I am so sorry I can’t help you. I feel so bad now, but I can’t. He said it’s okay he will find the way that he can get the money. I really wanted to help him in other ways, so I googled about tax law in Malaysia. and I sent some links to him. He said he was doing it too. Whenever I googled and read something, everything didn’t make sense to me. The amount of Tax and.. just everything. This morning, he text me again, he talked to the bank manager and he offered him, he could give him 1000 usd for 5000. So, now he need 1500 usd more. I told him you gave him more than half of the tax and only got 1000? and then, he wanted me to find any person can help him 1500 dollars. I didn’t want to ask any of my friends about this. So I told him which city he was staying now, so I could talk to any Asian friends or Malaysian friends who can help him better. I kept googling about this situation,, and I found here..
After I read many stories.. I text him.
“Hey, I guess you’re still sleeping. I really sorry but I have to tell you this. I feel so stupid now. But good thing is I’ve through so many things in my life and today I’ve learnt one more thing. Ever since we started talking.. And past 3days there are so many things doesn’t make sense to me. But I didn’t ask every single things to you because I didn’t want to. I’ve never met you, so there was no point for that. I just tried to understand you but I couldn’t. And when you sent me your check image I had a bad feeling and I was right. Everything went as my scenario as I imagined. I don’t want to waste my time and energy on this. If you want to do something internationally, you need to be smarter and prepare more. If you can’t do it better please go find another job.
If I am completely wrong, I’m so sorry I don’t mean to hurt your feeling. But I have to do this. If I hurt your feeling I will apologize when we have a chance to meet in person.”
honestly.. this..little bit hurt my feeling.. somehow.. past a month, I wasn’t in love him, but I felt that I am not alone. Now I feel.. I am alone again.. I do believe it will go away soon. At the same time, I really appreciate to my ex. He always worried about me that I was so nice to everyone and very naive( in his point of view). He always told me that I need to think back whenever people say something. Do not believe everyhing they say. When you hear about a story you have to keep asking yourself how and why. then, you can find that the person is lying or not. Also, he said anything I am not sure about then find a right answer by myself. I’ve learnt from today, learnd from the past a month. Life is never ending learning process.
This whole week, I could not focus on my work… so as soon as I got back home. I am writing my story to here. Hopefully, tomorrow, I can focus on my work.. and not giving up to find a right person for my life.
Thank you.
oh by the way, FYI his name is Raynold Douglas Hudson.
sjb, you were dealing with a man from west Africa. This is why his accent did not match where he said he was from. You will never meet him or get the truth from him. just delete, remove, block and ignore and move on with your life. Report im to the site you met him on.
SJB your story it’s very familiar to me during the time you posted this story I believe the same guy had contact me through a dating website call OurTime the name he used with me was Ramsey Itan. It took him from November of last year to June of this year when he told me the same story look for details if you like in Pigbusters you can become a member for free and search under rakemayes@gmail.com he and also under the name I gave you just look in Google and write his name after his name put pictures in Selangor Malaysia then read where it’s said who scammed you he uses different names Sergio Jivin, Maxwell Yas. He constantly text me and called me he also had a check sent to my house for $8,600.000 fake check from a company based in Canada. I have pictures of him they all look different and he would constantly text me beautiful songs with a lot of beautiful lyrics very loving and it would match according to either our conversations and the right timing of whatever conversation took place. He would text me at all weird hours since he was in Selangor, Malaysia. We might not be talking about the same guy but your story it’s very similar to what I experienced and I noticed when you wrote this and it was just the same time we got to start to talk. He is very charming his accent it sounds like Philippines. I believe he lives in Florida in Key West he has been scamming since 2012 and when I confronted him about it he made vowed to him not to talk about it. He is very evil just read the info I gave you and trust me it matches with yours I wrote and left three posts I felt that I need to aware other women from being victims he has done enough damage. He played me bad emotionally it’s taking me time to recuperate he would be texting me or calling me all the time. Good luck
To xshust,
Many times it does seem as if we have been scammed by the same man that fooled another person. But consider this: it is estimated that there are 8 million scammers out there. These are almost entirely young men who work in groups of 4-10 men. They are in touch with several victims at one time, so it is possible that you encountered the same group as someone else who has told their story here. But when you consider 8 million men scamming men and women all over the world, it does seem unlikely. This is true even if the stolen photos match, or they use the same name. This is because they often sell their false information and the victims’ information with other scammers when the scam ends. The scammers use a basic script that they they add to and change to better fool their victim. They are experts at understanding that person’s needs and then creating a story that is just right for that person. Certainly, when you think about it, the scammers knew much more about you than you ever learned about “him”. They tell us that their spouse or girlfriend has died or left them alone and lonely, that they have a child, that they are self employed as engineers, off shore drilling workers, gem and gold dealers, and other professions that could require them to leave home temporarily to work in a different country. The details, the troubles that befall them may be different, but the basic story is the same. Not only are dating sites full of these criminals, so are almost every kind of Internet site from Facebook to Linked in, to a special interest groups,to skype.
I am not familiar with pigbusters, but you do need to know that there are many sites that encourage victims to stay in contact with the scammers, to try to get back at them in some way. This is called scambaiting and it is extremely dangerous to do. These are lifetime criminals, dedicated only to taking money from their victims. They have the technology to do a lot of harm and understand it very well. This means that they can destroy the electronic equipment you use to communicate with them, they can steal your list of contacts and your personal information, they can capture your keystrokes and get your passwords and financial information. These scammers also have ties to the major terrorist groups and money flows back and forth between them. So, please avoid these web sites and people who tell you to play with these scammers. The best way to beat them is to block and ignore them and report them to the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
If you would like to learn more about where and how to report, or if you would like to share your story with other scam survivors to help you heal, please join our Yahoo email group at http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/RomanceScams (safe link)
Be sure to report the photos and scammer information to Romance Scams. This is how to do it:
REPORT SCAMMER PHOTOS:
SEND SCAMMER PHOTOS as attachment in jpeg format to;
tammilee13@yahoo.com (safe link)
In the subject line type “SCAMMER PHOTO”
(if the photo is a soldier please type Military Impostor).
In the text message box include thescammer name and the website you met.
Please allow 2 weeks for the photos to be posted in the RS Scammer Album, our volunteer receives hundreds of reported scammer photos per week.
Members will not be notified when the photos are added to the album.
If in 3 weeks the scammer photo does not appear please resend the photo as yahoo might lose your email before reaching delivery point.
——————————————-
REPORT SCAMMER CONTACT DATA;Include Accomplices contact data also.
SEND SCAMMER PERSONAL CONTACT INFORMATION to,
scam_data@yahoo.com (underscore between scam_data)
Include:
scammer alias “user ID” name,
email address,
phone numbers,
physical mailing address,
city, state/providence, and country.
Passport number and information with picture
Include all Accomplices Contact Information also.
Include all accomplices contact information; children, doctor, barrister, lawyer, aunt, uncle, hotel manager, driver, etc.
—————————–
I think someone is trying to use a scam on me right now, I’ve been talking to him for a little over a week he says he’s Italian and has only been here for seven years, very deep accent doesn’t really sound Italian to me, but I haven’t talk to a lot of Italians.he says he loves me he’s fallen in love with me he will commit suicide if I leave him he has now traveled to see his sick mother because I made an appointment with him Friday to meet him but all the sudden he had to leave. So not sure how to go about this but I’m going to go with it I don’t trust him so if I can get any help out there I would really appreciate it. I want to expose him and whoever he works with
Carla, what you have is a west African scammer and you will never expose him. He has no sick mother and the money requests will start when he
”gets to his destination”. What you need to do is delete, remove, block and ignore and move on. He will not commit suicide, he has somewhere between 10 and 20 more victims he is working the same time he is working you. But he is hiding behind a stolen photo and a fake name and everything he tells you is a lie so he is not who he says he is and not from where he says he is from. Delte, remove, block and ignore.
Does anyone know of a man named Jason Matthews? German? Met him on oKcupid but haven’t met him in person yet. SAid he was out of town on business. Then compliations with the job (oil and gas) have delayed him. Needs unexpected $ for a part of the job, and just asked me for $10,000. I don’t have that kind of $ so told him I can’t help. Interested if I will hear from him again.
Sarah, this is a Nigerian romance scammer. You don’t really want to hear from him again. What you need to do it delete, remove, block and ignore him without another word. He is not the man in the picture and he is not from Germany and his name is not Jason Matthews? Delete, remove, block and ignore.
Sarah, I have so much to offer you.. this is the worst thing anyone has done to me. I would be very interested in trading stories. He thinks he is getting money from me, but I have finally come to my senses. How long had you been chatting? The pictures he used on Cupid under 2 different profile names, Ama50 & Ama500 those pictures are of an Ivan Massow, a politician from England. Look forward to hearing back from you
Lynda, the pictures are of an innocent victim just like you. They were used by the scammers to deceive you and make you believe they were someone they were not. It will not do you any good to try to relive the story through someone elses story. Even if the pictures are the same the scammers are different. There are approximately 8 million of these scammers out there world wide and they all draw their pictures from the same picture pool. They also work in groups of 5 to 6 men and will step in for each other and so there is a very high chance that you dealt with more than one scammer during the time of your scam. To heal and move forward, it is best to just delete, remove, block and ignore and move on with your life.
I have been financially scammed by Robert Mendoza and he used USAID documents to prove he was in the program. He used military pictures and individual pictures of him being on military bases. His email address is fm196550@gmail.com. Robert found me on Our Time dating site I responded to his messeges. Within a week he convinced me to get off the site and we began texting and emailing each other. He uses romantic statements and refuses to say anything personal about his life with the exception that his father passed away. Because his father’s death Robert said that he needed to be in Mexico to negotiate with the Mexican Government to receive his dad’s inheritance.
it wasnt a landline it was a mobile
i also forgot to say that ive checked the number he uses and it is regisitared in texas and he did phone me from a number in the country he said he was going to
i have been talking to a guy who says hes from texas and had big contract to sort out etc i did confront him about thinking he might be scamming me and went into complete denial didnt get agressive or anything i have check all the pictures that he send me and only the first one could i find on google for a youtube thing bout how to make money quickly obviouly the name was different but the voice is the same one that i heard on the phone when he has called me in the past so i dont know what to believe just as he was about to catch his flight to try and win the contract he sent me pictures taken from the airport now i just dont know what to believe or what to do
Jan, I am going to answer both of your notes with just this one. This is a scam. 100% guaranteed. The scammer is not from Texas and the land line belongs to VOIP. The scammers use this technique to make the victims believe they are where they want the victim to believe they are. The voice sounding the same is not used as often but many of the scammers are lingquists and can mimic what they hear. The guy on Youtube is probably the real guy in the picture with his real name rather than the name the scammer applied to the picture. The youtube guy may have been a previous victim which is why the scammer could mimic the voice and had the different pictures.
When a scammer gets a victim whose picture they like and think will work on other victims, they will ask that victim for more pictures. The victim is flattered because it gives them a sense of being loved.
If you have not done so already, you need to, without another word to him, delete, remove, block and ignore him. Please consider joining our support group so you can learn all about these scams and the criminals that perpetrate them. https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/romancescams/info
can you tell me how I can put a picture in and find out who the person real name is
Ann, we do not recommend that you look for the real person in the picture. He is a victim too and to search him out and confront him is only victimizing him more. The only reason we suggest searching the picture is to prove to victims the person they are dealing with is a scammer. I can indeed tell you how to search out a picture but I won’t do that if your intentions is to search out the real party in the picture because that is just wrong.
Sorry…typo: Sociopath
Please beware of a google profiler, Wellskent2@gmail.com. He contacted me through facebook messenger as I am not registered to any dating sites. He began communication with me by needing prayer and exclaiming “it is destiny that we met” and asked me if I believed in “destiny”??? He goes by the name Scott Wells, he took down his fake facebook profile and asked that I talk with him on Google Hangouts. He continued to keep me engaged by talking about his depression and loneliness during his deployment in Africa. Ha!! The photos he presented were from a real soldier’s facebook account, his name is Kenneth Reffitt, such a shame to disgrace our military members!! He has tried numerous ways to extract money from me and I have kept him engaged to keep him from going after another victim. I have recently discontinuted my communication with him as it has interfered with other life obligations I now have, therefore, I am sure he is on the prowl for someone to victimize!! These people are only after one thing, money!! They are criminals and have no remorse whatsoever in perpetrating for their own personal gain. I have reported the profile to Google many times….please be very careful and vigilant!!!!
Elizabeth, Never keep one of these criminals engaged. It does not prevent them from getting someone else. They work 10 to 20 people at a time. You are just one on a string. And if they think you are playing them, they can trash your computer in a heart beat. Many of them have gone to college and are IT tech experts. Many of them are terrorists earning money for their causes. These are NOT criminals you want to play with. You need to delete, remove, block and ignore him. You need to report him to facebook. Take a screen shot of his profile page at facebook and put together some of his messages where he is pushing you for money and include that in your report to them. Hugs
Thank you for the advice. Unfortunately the Facebook profile was taken down. However the Google profile remains. I will follow your suggestions!!!
Sent from my iPhone
>
Their is allso a man called on message on face book a scammer believe me his name is William Davis he is saying he is a general he has scammed me
Ikemefuna Temi Abasili my scammer. I only maybe momentarly enjoyed, but never was happy, content or felt anything that could sustain me in the 1 1/2 year long “romance”. Instead only a nightmare that got darker and darker. I kept asking myself how can I care about somebody who only drags me down? Never feeling there was anything worth believing in for the future. Finally he ended it…he made the decision that I couldn’t make because I cared too much. Please note though…the only reason he made the decision was because he knew I had nothing more left to give. He knew he had drained me dry of everything…not just money. </3 😦
Ikemefuna Temi Abasili calls himself Ik. He is from Lagos, Nigeria. The alias he used was Cross Rizzo; white with European origins. There is a Cross Rizzo on Facebook, I don't know if that's his plant or if its a real person. He uses various dating websites, such as match.com, followed by yahoo messenger to woo his victims. Their MO is to get their victims off dating websites as quickly as possible to isolate them. Yes to all you skeptical in-human critics….I use the word victims, because these preditor parasites seek people very much in touch with their humanity and they find ways to take advantage of that humanity and ability to care, be sympathetic, or to feel empathy for another's need. The scammer knows how to hold it all for ransome until he has sucked dry like the lowly parasites they are.
Anyhow, this parasite used my humanity, inexperience, sympathy and empathy to come clean and confess that he was a black African man. I didn't want to seem racist or cruel so I talked to him. That was a fatal mistake that he manipulated & used to romance me and tell me that he loved me and cared about me and wanted to be with me. His first story was that he hadn't eaten in two days and he was hungry so I sent him a $100 for food. Then there was this need and that need. Then there was the money for the visas and passports that were never approved. Finally, about a year and a half before the end there was the fatal illness. Supposedly a parasite which would eventually kill him unless he had treatments that weren't the cure but that would keep him alive….approximately $500 per month.
Since he has cut all communication off saying he was going to die and not take any more money from me, I have seen him on Twitter & Instagram. Recently he praised on his 31st birthday his comment "…on this amazing day…I am… grateful for what an amazing man I… have become…." I know nothing of amazing regarding scammers, nor this one in particular, since I have lost my job, been diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis, & been paralyzed emotionally, financially and physically for what he has done to me & does to others.
I WAS SCAMMED BY A MAN NAMED FRANK ANDERSON WHO I MET ON OK CUPID. CLAIMS HE’S IN THE ARMY AS A SGT. MAJOR. ALWAYS ASKING ME FOR MONEY AND FOR ME TO SEND HIM STUFF. DOESNT THE MILITARY PROVIDE THAT STUFF?? HE CLAIMS TO BE FROM CA BUT IS IN NIGERIA WITH THE MILITARY. CLAIMS HE LOVES ME WANTS TO MARRY ME WHEN HE COMES HOME. HE OF COURSE IS A WIDOWER AND HAS A KID. TO MANY RED FLAGS WITH THIS MAN. LOTS OF EMPTY PROMISES. HE ALSO WANTS ME TO PROVIDE HIM WITH A VPN ACCESS FOR HIS PHONE. NOW AGAIN I ASK THE MILITARY SHOULD PROVIDE THAT FOR HIM RIGHT?? I COULD GO ON AND ON ABOUT THIS MAN. JUST BE AWARE OF THIS MAN.
Dear Barb,
You invite people to share their stories, so I will share mine. There is a website called Asiandate.com, which used to be Asianbeauties.com, and you can see their advertising on almost every website you go to. I went on there but soon realized it is all a scam. The website has these Chinese women, most of whom are in their 20s, send you letters every single day. It costs 10 credits to open each letter (the equivalent of $7), and these are form letters sent out to mass men.
From my experience, there was one notorious scammer who goes by the name of Jiaolei, Laura, Leilei, and Lala. She sent close to 20 letters a day – and if you were to open all of them, you would have spent $140 ! What’s surprising is that Asiandate.com’s ads are always seen on sites like Google as well, but anyway, for guys who are not careful, they put in a credit card number and buys some credits, they will run out pretty quickly!
In addition to letters, there is also a chat option to this site where you can chat with the ladies at 1 credit per minute. This Jiaolei (Laura)’s profile page says her nickname is Lala. When I chatted with her, I commented “Lala is a nice name.” Her response was “Lala? What is that? Is that the same as Laura?”
When I replied that “Lala” was what she had written on her profile, she responded, “Oh, I thought you meant Laura and Lala are the same thing, hehe.” That shows that this Laura or Jiaolei or whatever you want to call her, is a fake person or some sort of scammer.
This website and these women prey on men, I would assume particularly those who are lonely, and rip them off.
It is a sad day indeed when we encounter all kinds of fraud like this.
Yes, Kevin, it is sad to encounter the amount of romance scams there are on some dating sites but don’t give up. If your preference is Asian women, try one the sites based in the country where you live. With everything you have now learned, you will have no problem spotting a scammer and reporting her to the site. Before joining any dating site, read their “About” page. It usually states what the real name & address of the owner(s) of the dating site are as well as gives contact email addresses for canceling your account, reporting abuse, etc.
Again, thank you for sharing your experience.
Thanks for creating this site for us all. This will be helpful and therapeutic for us as we try to heal from this type of damage that we go through.
A friend recently came across Brian McMullen. When we checked out his company & clicked on Google Street View, the location is a cemetry!
I am another victim of scammer Brian McMullen and not yet sure where or who to report it too. However I feel fortunate in checking out my suspiicions and only loosing £50 bad enough as I do not have. Excess funded too loose, but it could have been much worse had others not shared their experiences, my thanks to you for your sttrrength and courage to share your story. Many thanks
I have just met a Brian McMullen on a dating website in the UK.(over Forties)
Says he is CEO of a construction company of the the same name McMullen Construction.He also says he is Swedish! With a name like McMullen alarm bells rang.Also he word for word wrote what another poster from the USA said he wrote and same story.He doesn’t know I know he is a scammer.
He is also mentioned if you google Scammer Brian McMullen.
The construction company is real as far as I know,I wonder if there is a real Brian McMullen ? Amazingly this man has given me the company email to contact him,as I questioned some his story….is the company fake,surely not?His picures are the same as the pictures of the CEO of the company.
The company may be real but this criminal is using the information to scam you and probably others. There is also probably a real Brian McMullen but, again, this scammer has stolen or made up information and details and is using all to take advantage of his victims.
If you haven’t already, the safest actions you can take for you and your computer is to quietly disappear. Block all ways he has communicated with you and block him.
I have just become yet another victim of this horrendous crime. Mine called himself Brian Mcmullen and the photos were of a very handsome man and at first I had no reason to not believe him. This was my first (and only!) time replying to someone on a dating site. The question I can’t get away from is why me??? He said he was from Hawaii and had his own construction company. Just before we were meant to meet he had to fly to Malaysia to bid for a job which he got but then the problems started. By this time I was well and truly hooked and he managed to get lots of money from me. I have never felt so stupid, idiotic or so embarrassed in my life. I will never get over this and want to do everything I can to make people aware of what is going on. I also think my computer has been hacked by him – getting someone to look at it tomorrow.
Cynthia,
He did not choose you necessarily. He and his group of fellow criminals place thousands of profile on various dating sites and then send out winks or other contacts to thousands of potential victims. Those who have never been educated in this particular crime often make contact and then the seduction begins. Questions are asked but rarely answered. The more information one gives a scammer the better able the scammer is to become the perfect potential mate.
I am sorry that you fell victim. Please don’t hesitate to contact any one of us at Romancescams if you need support. You will never see your money again but you may be able to claim the deduction as a theft loss on your income tax return next year. Visit our group at http://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/romancescams/info for assistance. Take a look at the files.
I can understand how you feel, I have also been duped by Brian McMullen only I have been more fortunate in that it has only cost me £50.00 before becoming suspicious and doing some research. I must say these people are experts in what they do and prey on trusting people like you and I and thousands of others like us. Like you I think he is hacking into my computer this has only just become apparent this weekend. I hope that you do not feel in anyway responsible. My sympathy and regards Sharon
Beware of Mark Bradley Brown. We wrote and called for 16 months. I sent him almost $7,000. He is the best I have seen and I get approached all the time. But when he first contacted me, supposedly from Utah, I had only been on Match for one week and was unaware of these scams. His phone is 233-572-282-592. He is in Accra, Ghana and is using 9 photos of a handsome Scandinavian man. He has told me I am ruining his career as an engineer with these blogs. Got the final proof when another woman blogged about him on Topix. For all these months I had not been able to find anything conclusive except for a photoshopped photo of him at the work site which was actually of a geologist in the Congo. I gave up a trip to Europe to help him and loved him more intensely than anyone in my life. He tries to get you to reship, buy a computer and an iPhone, VPN, help pay fines from lawsuits, help replace broken equipment, pay rent, etc. He takes months to set up a situation. He’s obviously back on Match even though I had him kicked off 14 months ago.
Dear Martha,
Accra Ghana must be a hotbed for these scammers! I was taken for $700 from these Crooks! Her screen name was Sandra Luv. I was fed All the bull from her through email and text , but I could never get her to talk on the phone. When I received the pictures of this beautiful girl, I fell in love! We immediately made plans for her to come to America. It turned out she was $350 short on airplane ticket. So like a fool I sent her the money. Then she made up another story about paying off the airport officials and she needed another $300 and $50 for pocket money! She showed me a fake ticket and I fell for it and sent her the money! I found out her name was Sandra Conny I finally put two and two together and found out I was being scammed. So I went online and learned about scammers and their methods. Now it’s my turn to play with them! I lead them on until they ask for money and then I asked for a selfie of them holding a piece of paper with my name on it and the date! It’s amazing how fast they fall off the planet. When you ask for that selfie and a phone call,
Robert, I have seen where you have written 3 or 4 times. The person in the picture is NOT the person you have been taken buy. The scammer is a west African male, somewhere between the ages of 14 and 35. He is hiding behind a stolen picture and using a fake name. Your request for a selfie is not always going to serve you well because many of these scammers are university graduates with degree’s in IT tech stuff and are experts with manipulation of digital products. Many of those pictures have been made and sucked victims into the scam even further because they then believe the scammer is real. Playing with them is not safe, for the same reason. Many of them are masters of the computer and can destroy yours before you can shut it down. The best thing to do is delete, remove, block and ignore and be consistent about doing just that.
Yes, RomanceScams is correct.
Don’t play with them. Ignore them, cut and block them from all connection. And don’t forget to check and set alert for your bank accounts, credit cards, just in case. Sincerely hope you can find your true love.
I was reading your story. I was taken for 15k total. I’m bankrupt and suicidal now. His email address is out of Ghana. He just asked for 15k.. I have put him on Pigbusters.com.among other sites. He claims his pictures were stolen. I think he is the actual person who stole the pictures. He is in Dubai on an oil contract. Sure!
Bobbie, this is one of the most difficult situations to deal with in life. When you realize what has happened you are in a state of shock. Then you experience so many emotions: anger, grief, depression, sadness, disconnection from others, rage…and so on. Many do feel suicidal, but please, please remember that suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem. I’m not saying it’s a small problem or that it isn’t life changing, but it is temporary. Please join our Yahoo email support group at https://groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/romancescams/info (safe link). We can help you get through this because we truly understand; we have all been scammed or have a scammed family member that we are trying to help. You will find instructions for staying safe (including your communication devices) by blocking the scammer, information on reporting this crime (which is very empowering) and support that will help you heal. If you live in the U.S. you can visit http://www.fraudaid.com (safe link )for additional help. Bankruptcy happens frequently as the result of a scam. You can find help for that.
Please, hang on, explore these options. We know you can survive because we have (and didn’t think we could either).
hay I’m talking to a Dennis Mole Murphy from Captain Cook Hawaii, But he hasn’t tried to scam me. I was honest with him, Don’t really have money right now to scam. What could he be pulling with me, and why would he bother me if he’s after money, Because I have none. My job consolidated and moved away and I don’t even get unemployment. So why is he hanging on if he’s a scammer? Got any Ideas.
He’s also on Something Called twoo.
Money isn’t the only way scammers take advantage. There are many other ways you can be used and abused. Please read the following:
http://romancescams.org/DealingwiththeDangers.html
Then cut off all contact immediately and quietly.
Hey. Be careful. I met a guy by the same name on a dating site with 2 young kids. We chatted for a while & then he disappeared for a while. After a few months he began contacting me again asking me for advice about his son who wasn’t eating or drinking well. As i’m a registered nurse & a mum myself I gave him the advice & all was well for a while but then a while later he said he was having problems with his dad’s lawyer & needed help (money) which I didn’t give him. Then he went quiet again for a while but a few months later he told me he went to Africa to Nigeria with the kids, both very young on an art buying trip. he said he was robbed & the kids had guns pointed at their heads so he needed money. He appealed to my maternal instinct but he didn’t count on me being very bright & on guard after being scammed a few years ago. He promised the money back within a week but I ended up blocking him after a couple of weeks of him putting on the biggest sob story…….Hope this helps add perspective. He was extremely good looking blonde guy with a young son about 3 & a daughter about 4 or 5, both gorgeous kids. Said he was a widower.
The picture may have been of an extremely handsome man but he was not the one trying to scam you and there were no children. That was a made up story to try to get your money. When you first start to suspect that you are talking to a scammer criminal, you need to delete, remove, block and ignore immediately without another word to them. These scammers are young, Black, West African men between the ages of 14 and 35 and they work in groups of 5 to 6 men. So even though you have the picture of one man, you are actually being scammed by a group. Hugs
Sue
I have just become the victim of a scam and am at this moment at 2 in the afternoon unable to get myself out of bed and function in a normal way. My life totally devastated and my self esteem non-existant. Cannot believe that as an intelligent woman I let myself fall for one of these unscrupulous b******s. Have no idea how I am going to pick myself up and get on with my life, just doesn’t seem worth it right at this moment
I know what you mean. I’ve been crying all day.
I just fell for a dating scam and they tried to blackmail me with it wanted $2000 or else they would release a video of me
Mike, I hope you know that the probability of the scammers releasing that video is next to nothing. They do not have time to do that because they are working several scams at a time. They are only interested in getting money. Once a victim pays the blackmail amount the threats will never stop because 1) it worked to get them money and 2) it shows you are afraid of what they will do. The best thing to do is block all means of contact, ignore the threats, and report the scam and the threat. If you need help to report this, please join our yahoo email group at http://www.groups.yahoo.com/group/RomanceScams.
D-
I have not been asked for money yet. But I fell for the attention and the intense courtship. I had no ideal that this was possible until a few days ago, I went online to do a Google search of my knight in shinning armor. Google took me straight to his pictures and name on romance scammers.com. Dennis Mole Murphy from Hawaii. He is using the information of a 63 year old man who actually lives in Hawaii on Captain Cook Island. My question is what’s to become of the poor man whose idenitiy is being used by this crook?
I am recent victim I realised pretty early on that it was a scam and luckily never sent money but it is the emotional pain is unbearable. I sat up most nights talking to this person. I was feeling so happy in my normal life I even changed myself for this person thinking they were going to be the one. i cant part with the photos even though I know they are probably some poor person who was scammed by these scumbags. I had everything emotionally wrapped up in these photos. I find it almost unbelieveable it was a scam.The emotional effort you put in these relationships are the painful things that linger.
Hi Tina, I also did not lose money because I don’t have much anyway. I guess I was scammed because I am a physician, but not all doctors are rich. I caught him the day he was wanting me to send money. I am terribly heartbroken but at least I still have my hard-earned money to put my son through school.
Just wandering was his name richard landon ? And how do you reverse search his photos? I think my friend is being scammed she is such a sweet person.and this guy is also on a business trip in malayasia and he is short 15 grand
To the sad doc, I understand this is an old post but very new to me. I hurts me to see you taken advantage of because it makes us real men trying to find just one ounce of love here in America lost and lonely forever. I’m not a doctor but I have raised two children alone and work hard every day. We men don’t get a chance because by the time we find you there is so much damage no one even tries. I am very sorry you were hurt…
Hey Tina. I know so well how you feel. I was also scammed by a person I fell heart and soul for. The photo’s he send me, was of the sweetest, most loving face of a man. I build my entire being around that photo. My family saw through the whole scam, but I desperatly cling to my dream of a married life with my soulmate. When I finally saw the light and told him I had him investigated by a P.I. he dissapear in a blink of an eye. My heart is shattered, but I’m better than this. I will survive!
Yes, thank you. Everyday I read the posts. I never feel the awfulness of the whole experience until I get a couple glasses of wine under my belt, seems like that dulls the pain but also adds to it. Actually, what helps me alot is the jokes that Paul posts. Specially loved the “inheritance ” one . I laughed so hard, it was great.
I am very afraid of when the brevity of I went through hits home. Right now I am numb to it, I was going to buy a facelift, now I will have the wrinkles to remind me forever!! If don’t laugh I’ll surely do something else.
Hello Mary,
Our Yahoo group, http://groups.yahoo.com/romancescams, has hundreds of active members who understand exactly what you are feeling and the process of grieving. Please take a look and join. You will find support and healing there.
Hi, I was almost the victim of a scam. I have been heartbroken so many times in my life, the last one a real relationship of two years. I am in my forties and have a young kid. This man I met through plentyoffish.com and now that I see this site, had all the classical signs: took down his profile after meeting me, always giving me excuses not to meet, and bam– has a trip to Malaysia. Well, the alarm went off when this supposed wealthy civil engineer (aren’t they all?) was short $11 grand. Well, I’m a physician but definitely not wealthy so that sparked suspicion. I reverse searched his pictures and I found the pics to belong to a Ukrainian politician…. Very handsome I might add. I confronted him on the phone, and he cried and begged and said that he did it because he was not very attractive. Anywho, I didn’t speak to him for hours, but I did drive to his supposed home thirty miles from mine, and lo and behold,… He does not live there. I almost lost $11 grand… I am relieved but heartbroken, because this man was smooth and sweet and sang to me on the phone…. And I was so ready to have my heart filled again. But I guess live and learn… And never trust again.
ladies, be aware of Daniel Coffman PH.D. I met Dr. Daniel Coffman on christianmingle.com and he intoduced himself as a PH.D pharmacist. Althout he is smart in his kprofession, he is also smart in scamming people. He scammed me out of thousands of dollars about his sad stories which at the time looked very real.
Pingback: 2010 in review « Romance Scams Blog
how do I get my name taken off the email list
My scammer did the usual (emoticons, lots of songs, quick to ask for phone #, lots of talk of what kind of love is wanted, tragedy of wife’s death and of course, out on business overseas).
My scammer did want me to call him in Nigeria at a number that was not his cell phone. I didn’t do it, knowing I would end up paying unthinkable amounts to an account for the international call.
Or set up for his use of unlimited international calling!
…another Nigerian scam.
My question: Can’t we make the dating sites take them off their service. If Dr. Phil is all that concerned about people’s well being, why would he keep them….unless he’s actually into the money. I did notify Match, they have a special abuse line and one of the requisites for using it was if you connected with a Nigerian scammer. But to think they won’t remove him is hard to swallow. Can’t we MAKE them do it?
i think it would be a great idea if they would have a show about this topic so it would be easier to weed out these scammers and it would be helpful if some talk show host like dr.phil or maury have this on their show.
Many many shows HAVE BEEN DONE on this subject. We at Romancescams has been involved in many of them. Oprah, Good morning America, Geraldo Live, Dr. Phil just to name a few. there is an article in Readers Digest this month that talks about these scams and they are not the first magazine to do so. There have been many and many news casts on tv and radio. The problem is that people hear them and think, oh that will never happen to me, I am too smart for that. so they ignore the warnings given in these broadcasts.
yes I know all about these subhumans, they have no conscience, truly, I’ve been scammed three times in the last four months. What does that tell you? To me it means there are many more than we even imagine. The first scammer enriched himself by $8000.00 compliments of me. The second and third used the exact same tactics as the first and I caught onto them. What really gets me is that the unknowing get scammed twice- first the dating site takes your money, second- the scammer that the site did not screen or screened poorly takes your money. My point is that all the sites care about is the money, not if their own customers get bowled over monetarily as well as emotionally. Case in point; two of the scammers’ pictures were easily compared to others in a databank and showed they both had a long history of cyber crime. One even used the same picture over and over many times, with different names. Seems to me the site could have done the same prior to allowing him to register and fork over MONEY. It was quick and very easy to do.
Forget about Dr Phil, TV, talk shows. This is a huge and dangerous problem that is being taken lightly. In the US the FCC, FBI, FTC and others should be on board to insist that good, solid screening processes are practiced by the sites, are enforced and made to be totally accountable. It’s time we unite to have our government interest in ridding us of this scum.
Yes, Rose, it would be wonderful if dating sites carried detailed warnings about scams and how to avoid them, or at least a reference to our Romance Scams group or the FBI to get information on how to recognize a scam. As you said, these are businesses and their main concern is making money. They usually have a statement saying things like “Do not take your communication off site, do not send money to anyone you don’t know, etc.” but it isn’t emphasized that much. One of the problems is that these scammera are everywhere, not just on dating sites. They approach potential victims on social media such as Facebook, special interest groups, LinkedIn, Skype, and of course, spam email. They find victims on those sites frequently. The FBI devotes a lot of staff time to dealing with cyber crimes that affect national security or large populations: they are tracking terrorists – groups and individuals, hackers who gather personal information from the databases of stores, banks and government. This is not to say that individual scams should be ignored or treated lightly. But the manpower to give each victim attention just isn’t there. So yes, an explicit warning to dating site members would save a lot of people if heeded. They don’t want to scare paying customers off, so they consult their lawyers and marketing people and come up with the minimal statements that we see but pay little attention to. The scammers excuses for communicating privately sound reasonable, plus we think we are being encouraged to stay on that site just so the company can charge us more money. If the scam is not realized by the victim until after communication has become private, the dating sites’ policies and rules have not been violated.
It is so important to report a scam to the appropriate law enforcement agencies even if it doesn’t lead to helping us as individuals because it increases awareness of how widespread this type of scamming has become.