Image Gallery for Internet Dating fake profile photos
March 31, 2010 by Linda Lee
Filed under Internet Dating Scams, Recent Posts, Rip Off Scams Target Personal Ads, Scams
Since I wrote my article on scammers and online dating, many of you have sent me images being used in the profiles on the dating sites. I said I would start a gallery so here it is.
I sure wish I had saved the images of the “widowed with a small child” guy that was used when I first discovered this scam going on.
If you have any images you would like added to this gallery to help alert others, please submit them to:
scammerphotos _@_askmepc.com (without the spaces)
If you happen to be one of the people in this gallery, let us know.
Fake Door to Door Magazine Sales- Don’t get scammed!
Scam Mentoring Programs, Work Programs, Training Programs that bus people from town to town.
I live in a small town in California and on a quiet court where all the neighbors know each other for decades and we look out for each other too.
We all have dogs that bark and no set schedules either so it feels fairly safe. That said we still get the occasional magazine scammers that are brought in from other towns to make illegal bucks off of you!
In my case two blonde girls came up to the door and started pitching some program for “Urban Development Solutions” while they were talking, I saw the web address on this piece of paper they were holding, urbans.com and made a note of it.
They said this is a mentoring program and that “we be from a bad background”, ( they both looked perfectly fine and actually attractive, well fed and not poor old girls from a bad background) It reeked of BS to me, and they would not shut up, the older one (looked around early 20’s and the other one looked 19 or so) was aggressive and a real scammer type.
She would not let you get a word in edgewise and kept asking me my name, (I hate it when scammers do that-it is so fake and creepy)
They told me they could not take any money or donations. They needed real work they said, and showed me this big block sentence on the form that said “no donations accepted”.
I finally shut the door on them, but I had a bad feeling in my gut about these two, so I looked up the website and it looked pretty rinky dink, so I called the cops.
People are not suppose to solicit around here anyway.
In the meantime they went next door and my neighbor gave them 20.00 just to go away! He said they would not shut up and he did not know what to do.
So there went the supposed “we don’t take donations line.”
He said they were asking for 120.00 for magazine subscriptions!! ( he was so funny, he said please don’t tell my wife.)
So now I was really mad.
They had my other neighbors trapped in the doorway, so I went over and interrupted them and told them I had called the cops and they were scammers.
I asked them why they took money from my neighbor.
Of course they got really pissed. ( I moved my cars into the garage to avoid damages later)
I googled the name of the company and found a complaint website that had the supposed owners name of the business, who they had also mentioned was their boss, ,when I told them I was going to look up the website. His name is
Rodney Rankins and he can be reached at 313-320-3335. I found that number on a complaint website here.
Rodney actually answered the phone with just a hello and I told him my story and then the line went dead.
I wasn’t really surprised. I was surprised I even reached someone who admitted they ran the company.
I thought he had hung up on me because it was definitely on his end, but then he did call me back, (checking on me?)
He asked me if the girls were African American or Caucasian, I told him Caucasian and he said they have no Caucasians working for them at all. (hmmm, really, the website says people are independent contractors in each town so they could hire whomever they want, how would he know?)
Then I asked him if they had anyone in my town and he said no.
I don’t know if that is true, but he said he was glad I called the cops.
By this point the police had arrived and I gave them all this info.
Do not fall victim to these types of scams and people.
Please people beware and be careful.
Update: This is great, the cops caught up with the girls and they came back in a white van being driven by somebody and they gave my neighbor his $20.00 back!
She still claimed to be working with Rodney and said he is her boss. That is what she told my neighbor so that is a bit dicey.
My neighbor was very grateful that I pursued this. He was embarrassed that he gave them money, but they were very aggressive verbally and so pushy.
I dread to think how many people are just like my wonderful sweet neighbor and will just pay them to go away!
Please people get pro-active, don’t just let people get away with this kind of stuff.
You can make a difference in your neighborhood by being careful and busting people like this.
I did a little more research and here is the whois info on that domain.
Registrant:
Urban Development Solutions
18530 Mack Ave #530
Grosse Pointe, Michigan 48236
United States
Registered through: Tell Vision Networks
Domain Name: URBANDS.COM
Created on: 09-Sep-04
Expires on: 09-Sep-15
Last Updated on: 24-Sep-09
Administrative Contact:
McClain, Maurice jlkyles@gmail.com
Urban Development Solutions
18530 Mack Ave #530
Grosse Pointe, Michigan 48236
United States
+1.3135952360 Fax — +1.5865329207
Technical Contact:
McClain, Maurice jlkyles@gmail.com
Urban Development Solutions
18530 Mack Ave #530
Grosse Pointe, Michigan 48236
United States
+1.3135952360 Fax — +1.5865329207
How to not get ripped off by so called online “experts”, don’t get scammed online!
August 2, 2009 by Linda Lee
Filed under Articles, Helpful Resources, Internet Safety for Kids, Online Safety, Recent Posts, Recent Topics, Scams, Social Media, Tips and Tricks, Websites/Blogs
I have been working online since 1999. I got started by doing public speaking on how to not get “scammed” online.
I have a special loathing for online scammers.
Online anyone can say they are an “expert”, they can make all kinds of claims of what they have done, and what they earn, and how do you know the difference?
I am going to give you a few tips and tools you can use to find out if the person you are considering hiring to help you is for real.
Recently I have had several clients who paid for SEO services from so called “experts” and they got burned.
If they had just done a little checking first, this would not have happened.
The first thing to check with any SEO expert or anyone promising you high traffic and instant profits, is to check their websites page ranking.
If they are a ZERO, then you just saved yourself from being scammed. If the site is a zero-3 and they say they are an expert, they obviously are not.
Here is a page rank checker you can bookmark and use.
http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php
Next find out what other websites they run.
Here you will often discover much interesting information about your potential scammer.
Things like fake testimonials and the same faces and same lies on all their scammy sites.
To find this information out,
All you need to do is go to Yahoo search and enter this:
linkdomain:abc.com -site:abc.com
of course changing the abc.com to whatever persons website you are researching.
This will show you all the domains associated with that persons business and IP, and you will also pull up any comments they left on blogs using that IP, and it really gives you a overview of the person you are considering investing your money with. They may have some things on a different IP, but you will still learn a huge amount about the person by doing this.
Be sure to start clicking on websites that you see listed, and you will soon spot the fakes and the scammers as you will start to see the same sales pitch and the same fake testimonials on various websites. You may see the same website design used over and over for various sites.
As you do this be sure to check the page ranking for some of the sites the so called SEO or Web Expert has worked on, and you will see if they can deliver the goods for you. Especially check out their own domain and page ranking that they have given you as their main business website. Also check their traffic, if it is a ZERO, you know they are scamming.
Don’t forget to Google their name! I suggest when you Google you add the words ,scam, rip off , fake, fraud after their name, why?, because anyone who has complained about them online will pop up for you in the results.
This itself can be a real eye opener.
I learned this the hard way after I bought a scooter online,(X-Treme Scooters) I checked out reviews, I checked out the manufacturer, and I thought I did due diligence, then when the scooter fell apart in the box and the company refused to refund me, I did a new search using the words “scam, fake, rip off and fraud” with the scooter name and there were hundreds of people who got ripped of just like me! I learned my lesson.
Look for the negative words first when checking something out online.
I actually helped other people not get ripped off by writing about this long and horrible scooter story ( it turned into a 4 month battle with the company.)
I wrote about it on eBay guides and a few other places online. Finally my credit card refunded me under the fraud category for this purchase.
Lesson learned.
Taking 30 minutes to do some checking can save you lots of heartache and the loss of your money down the road.
Finally I suggest you download a great tool I use called SEO toolbar. It has all the things built in I have mentioned above and you can just click the various things like page rank, traffic and whois and the yahoo link domain and see it all there.
You can download this tool here
http://tools.seobook.com/seo-toolbar/
Also SEOBOOK is a great blog, packed with very helpful information.
Don’t forget to ask for “proof” from the experts.
Honest people have honest testimonials with people you can actually contact, not made up people or friends that you will see on all thier scammy websites over and over.
Honest people have real websites with real numbers and proof that you can check out for yourself.
These days everyone and their brother has decided to become an “Internet” expert, either Seo or Social Media or something else. Buyer beware, don’t get scammed and taken in by the rip off artists and frauds.
I hope I have stopped some of you from getting burned online.
Please share your stories and leave a comment!
Jeff Paul’s Shortcut to Internet Millions-REVIEW THE SCAM
February 24, 2009 by Linda Lee
Filed under Internet Safety for Kids, Scams
Do Not Buy
I despise scams. I get phone calls from people who know me asking me how to make money online.
Some of them are so sweet and innocent. They are struggling right now and want to work from home and they get bombarded with these scammy emails and now on T.V with this atrocity “Jeff Paul’s Shortcut to Internet Millions.”
OMG! What the heck is this trash? This bozo promises you riches with no computer knowledge, and no computer?
( how you gonna make millions on the internet with no computer?) Please people run like the wind. This is a fraud, a MLM scheme.
The only guy getting really rich is Jeff Paul, ( I seriously doubt that is his real name even.) I will check on that.
There are various versions of what you pay and get but it all involves buying or paying more. At the end of the day you end up with this kind of money out of pocket. This is from ripoffreports.com
On the 28th of January I purchased the Millions With Memberships program on offer by these gentlemen, Jim Fleck, Jeff Paul and Shawn Casey's because it looked like a good offer. The payment was for just 5 easy payments of $899 = $4.495 plus $75.00 for orders outside the United States, making a total payment of $4,570 which equates to $5,918.12 Australian, or I could go for 1 payment of $3,999 plus $75 shipping =$4074US which equates to $5,276.95 Australian! So to save a few dollars, I plunked for the single payment plan!
Yipes, here is another guys payment situation. ( click here to read his entire story, it is quite informative.)
"You start with a small purchase price of the initial material, $54.95 with shipping included. What you receive in the mail is useless and they give you a number to call so they can upsell a larger package based on what 'you' want to make per month. Of course, what you 'invest' is related to how much you can sink into it. They try to upsell anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000."
Please do not fall for this so called "Internet Millions Program". I have been online since 1999. I have had success on Ebay, I use Yelp, Amazon, Craigslist, Clickbank and Social Networking sites and I write ebooks. ( You can do this too and actually have your own product to sell online)
It is just like any other business, there is no fast way to make money online. Certainly no fast way to "millions."
You need a website and a computer for sure. There are many ways to make money online but
you have to get started with the basics.
Don't fall for these schemes where they throw you into their network and
they control the websites and keep taking money from you? How do you make money? You don't, they do!
I help people set up new websites and blogs, I teach people how to go from step one to actually having a legitimate website with something to either sell or something to offer where people will visit your website and you can make some money off of ads. I am a real person with real Whois information and a phone number. If you hire me, we actually talk about what you want and need on the phone. Wow how much more legit can you get then that?
Jeff Paul's product page offers you basic ebooks and cd's that you can find for 99 cents on ebay or even free all over the Internet. I can direct you to much better and real products that will actually help you succeed online.
I am very picky and you don't see many ads or products on my websites because I check everything out first.
If you happen to buy any of these from Jeff Paul, hello spam for life! They will bombard you with "upsell" emails.
The internet world is loaded with these guys.
It is like the black hole once you have anything to do with this kind of organization. In my 10 years I have seen so many scammers rise and fall. Some actually ended up in jail, but it took a very long time.
When you get scammed online, there is no police dept to run to, there is no one there to get your money back.
You are alone and you are out of pocket. Before you drop up to 5-15k on this ridiculous program, contact me and I will discuss some honest and real life opportunities for you where you can use your own talent, your own interests and create something you can be proud of for a fraction of the price you are looking at with this scam.
Good luck and be careful out there!
Acai Berry Diet Scam, Lipaphen-RX and FWM Labs
February 21, 2009 by Linda Lee
Filed under Flat Stomach Ad Scam, Scams
FWM Laboratories
Lipaphen-RX
2495 Stirling Rd #20
Fort Lauderdale, FL 33312
Tel: 954-699-081
Do not buy acai berry of the internet!
This just gets deeper and deeper as I research it. I have a real thing against scams. I hate people who rip off innocent unaware consumers. You may say, “well they deserve it, they should pay better attention.”
I work with many older folks who do not really know how much they are the target of these sleazy dirtbags.
They get phone calls from rip off artists who prey on their loneliness, they get these “free” offers and innocently sign up, losing control of their credit card numbers and getting charged for nothing each month.
Stories just like this are all over the internet.
Taken off of the website www.ripoffreports.com
I do not understand why this company and others like it are not getting shut down.
After I used my visa to pay the $3.95 shipping and handling for my ‘free trial bottle’ of Acie Berry Power 500, I discovered a consumer complaint online about how the company kept billing her credit card $89.31 a month after the shipping charge, and they would not refund her for returning unopened packages either.
Then, I opened the ‘Terms & Conditions’ link at the Acai Berry Power 500 website and saw with my own eyes what is about to happen to my credit card. You can bet I’ll be on the phone tomorrow during business hours to cancel, but the line will probably be busy or keep me on hold for two hours – there go those peak cell minutes in a hurry!
Here is a pasted copy of the Terms & Conditions:
…by ordering Extreme Acai Berry, I am agreeing to receive Extreme Acai Berry for a free 14-day trial period (days of availability for actual usage could be less depending on shipping time) beginning on date of order. $3.95 (non-refundable) for S&P. I understand that unless I cancel by calling 1-801-208-7485 within this 14-day period, beginning on the 14th day my credit card will automatically be charged $89.31 (Free Shipping) for a 31 day supply of Extreme Acai Berry to be shipped at that time to my door.
Thereafter, until and unless I cancel, my credit card will automatically be charged an additional $89.31 every 31 days for a new supply of Extreme Acai Berry. I understand that I may cancel any future shipments Monday through Friday by calling 1-801-208-7485. Our hours of operation are from 8am to 5pm MST.
We do not accept returns on any products that have been shipped.
Extreme Acai Berry
4650 SW 51st Street
Suite 711
Davie, FL 33314
I feel so stupid! I’ve been dieting and reading about the benefits of the Acai berry from Brazil. Oprah endorses the Acai berry, so how can it be bad?? Dishonest marketing and misleading sales of the product is how. Oprah, you should warn your audiences!
If I have any trouble canceling this order, I’m filing my next complaint with the Consumer Protection Agency and filing a dispute with my visa credit card too.
ohiofreebird
Cleveland, Ohio
U.S.A.
Just visit
and do a search for acai berry.
My biggest complaint right now is still all the fake diet blogs and fake ads that are on every single website right now, even Drudge! ( and he hardly lets any ads on there!) and all the ugly fat stomach and stretch marks ads. I have now noticed more of the exact same ads for various other products popping up.
Someone is doing this, some company is putting all this together. WHO IS IT?
Who pays google to run these ads. Come on someone , leave me a comment and lets get the name out there who is the mastermind behind this sick acai berry, and other completely fake products out there.
Someone is paying the people at the lab, and running all the fake diet blogs and paying the fake people in the photos.
WHO IS IT??
Here is what I got off the BBB.
FWM Labs, Acai Berry Scammers
File your complaint with the BBB here.
F rating Acai Berry FWM Labs Florida BBB
Does not get much lower then this. These guys just don’t sell rip off Acai Berry, they sell other fake products.
Stop the “Flat Stomach” Fat stomach ads already!!! Enough
February 8, 2009 by Linda Lee
Filed under Email, Flat Stomach Ad Scam, Internet Safety for Kids, Promotion/Marketing, Scams, Websites/Blogs
Who is behind those ugly disgusting fat stomach ads?
These “flat stomach rule” weight loss ads are making me furious!
I decided to do a little sleuthing and find out.
I hate these ads, they are so ugly and they are on every website I visit!
I am not kidding, websites I have previously found easy to use and on the more
shall we say classy side are being ruined by these ads. While I am reading world news
there on the side is a big horrible distorted photo of stomachs and it is gross!
Really gross.
Here is another FAKE MODEL who is on http://beverlysdietblog.com/?p=8&cpage=7#comment-317
-
About Me
Just a catalog model who does not own the rights to her photo.
- My name is Beverly Long and I was born and raised in California. I tried every diet out there before finally finding the perfect one!
I Shed 34 Pounds In 40 Days With a 2-Step Diet
My FAKE Struggle- Nice job of ad writing by scammers!
Hi! I’m Beverly Long ( fake unknown model photos) from California (NOT) and I am a full-time mom with 2 amazing kids. If I would have known how hard two kids were, I may have stopped at 1!! I love my kids, but miss the body I used to have before them. I don’t have much time for myself, but the time I do have, I eat
I am always on the move so eating healthy is difficult. I try to organize my life around my health, but you know as well as I how hard this can be. Needless to say I don’t have any time to work out. I have a gym membership that I use about twice a month, (who am I kidding, im lucky to go once) what a waste of money. bla bla bla, fake fake fake. If you google any part of this fake testiimony ad, you will pull up all the fake “Sue, Karen, Jenny, Becky and more FAKE blogs.”
Then they say “as seen on Rachel Ray” . Oh really when was this on Rachel Ray?
You mean you bought a spot on her T.V show? I somehow seriously doubt Rachael Ray endorses this
disgusting ad. Of course I still have no idea who owns this company and what exactly do they sell?
Since I never click the ad, and I try not to look at it.
After being assaulted by these ads for months now I am furious.
I use an ad blocker, but these are not pop up’s so they are still there.
When I googled “I hate these fat stomach ads” I got an interesting assortment of results.
Many diet forums had people complaining that these ads upset them.
I had not even considered that possibility. Various forms of the ads say ” ARE YOU FAT?”
Which is rude and offensive. Then to have to stare at that butt ugly photo while you are in
a support forum could be upsetting.
For me these photos are like a day at Great America, where I
avert my eyes from the women that should never be wearing crop tops and stretch pants,
who have their rolls hanging over their pants.
This is something I have never understood. First it looks so uncomfortable and second
do they really think this is attractive?
I digress. These ads also make me lose my appetite. (maybe that would could be a diet aid?)
I won’t even watch plastic surgery on the T.V, it makes me sick.
I think society today reveals way too much.
What happened to the mystery of the human body?
I don’t want to see all this, really I don’t.
Now I see this company (who may behind all of these ads, since FL is listed as the place in many whois)
Natural Source Store. LLC
6565 Taft Street, Suite 204
Hollywood, FL 33024
Is also behind these gross “removemystretchmarks.com” product.
I looked up who owned that website and it was a guy in Canada
ADMINISTRATIVE CONTACT INFO
Credit-Assist
Drew Marcin
1285 Northgate st.
Oshawa
Ontario
L1G 7M7
CA
Phone: +1.9054553235
Email Address: andrew_x_@hotmail.com
He is just another shill for this companies MLM scheme.
Do not buy these products! Nothing but plastic surgery can get rid of stretched and damage skin. I hate seeing so many people falling for all these scams. This product cosmetyn is no good.
It should be illegal for companies that buy a crappy ad is the BACK of major magazines to be able to say
“see us in Lucky or Glamor or Redbook” yeah see them in the back in the paid classifieds.
So I looked up MonicasDietBlog.com. on whois and of course it has paid privacy settings.
Administrative Contact [1625376]:
Moniker, Privacy Services MONICASDIETBLOG.COM@domainservice.com
Moniker Privacy Services
20 SW 27th Ave.
Suite 201
Pompano Beach
FL
33069
US
Phone: +1.9549848445
Fax: +1.9549699155
Then I noticed that is says Monica Conrad under one place and Monica Coyle right next to that!!
Hello, get your name right, but no why do that since it is FAKE anyway!
Next I did a search on some images and guess what I found, why I found Monica Coyle/Conrad turned into
Becky! Yes Becky Edwards and she has the exact same blog? Wow. Then Jenny Conrad, and then I found
http://danasdietdiary.com/, same set up, well you get the picture. Here is a sample for you.
Now it was getting interesting, guess what popped up next the same template for the blog but this one is called
megansdatingblog.com, now I am thinking who is running this entire thing, templates and multiple products?
This is driving me crazy now. I must find out who is behind these blog templates and more.
Anyone out there know?
http://www.namecheap.com/
Back to the acai scam….
I looked up the stuff they are trying to sell you which if you do not know by now is all a big scam! Avoid at all costs, this is just anoher MLM, (multi level marketing) scam.
It is a MLM scheme (as usual) and guess what when you click
the recommended products on “MonicasDietBlog” you get this www.life-cleanse.com,
who also seem to share the same whois privacy information!
Registrant [1571984]:
Moniker, Privacy Services LIFE-CLEANSE.COM@domainservice.com
Moniker Privacy Services
20 SW 27th Ave.
Suite 201
Pompano Beach
FL
33069
US
And gee big surprise the Acai berry trial domain also has this…
Billing Contact [1433856]:
Moniker, Privacy Services ACAIBERRYDETOX.COM@domainservice.com
Moniker Privacy Services
20 SW 27th Ave.
Suite 201
Pompano Beach
FL
33069
US
Phone: +1.9549848445
Fax: +1.9549699155
Now interestingly as I continued to dig, I found on the terms and conditions page a web address buried in there where you could email to discontinue getting emails from them.
This looks like where they must manufacture the bogus scam product Acai Berry diet extract aid whatever they call it.
Yet again, you really can’t contact anyone or discover WHO OWNS THIS and who is running this scam.
Because when this much secretive cover goes into a product, you can bet it is a total SCAM!
I called one of the 800 numbers and got these guys, fwm.labs adn they are located in , you guessed it, FL!
fwmlabs.net fwmlabs.org
Administrative Contact:
WhoisGuard
WhoisGuard Protected (032b8abdb93d4af89fb058aa5ce690e4.protect@whoisguard.com)
+1.6613102107
Fax: +1.6613102107
8939 S. Sepulveda Blvd. #110 – 732
Westchester, CA 90045
US
trynaturesbestacai.com, more buried information
Registrant:
XStreamHost.com
Registered through: GoDaddy.com, Inc. (http://www.godaddy.com)
Domain Name: TRYNATURESBESTACAI.COM
Anyway, it just got bigger and deeper so I found this guys blog about it and he has really got some great stuff on there,
all the fake photos, and names and it is great, go and check him out.
http://wafflesatnoon.com/2009/01/29/acai-cleanse-scams-update/
He also compiled a fantastic “The Fake Diet Girls” photo album. I love it! The photos I posted have many other fake names.
Just to let you know, this is a huge scam, do not buy anything from these sites and these are not real people
they are paid models or actors and please please be careful out there. The internet is rife with criminals who have blossomed online.
Many of these scams are run from Russia and Nigeria and Belgium.
They aren’t even in the U.S and if you get taken the authorities here can’t do anything for you.
I will post more later after I do more investigation.
Read some more reports on people RIPPED off by this whole acai berry scam.
http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/372/RipOff0372878.htm
Here is a sample from all the complaints.
Nubodi Inc., Acai berry 500, and Wellness Watchers MD – all crooks.
The complaint I filed with the Better Business Bureau in Florida attempted to negotiate with Nubodi, and imagine this – Nubodi reported they had never done business with me, they say they did not share my information with Wellness Watchers MD, and if I would just ’send them my personal information and credit card numbers again’ then they will try to find me in their system. Ha! What a laugh!
The BBB should be ashamed to even negotiate such scandalous requests when they know what kind of people they’re dealing with (BBB gave this company a grade of ‘F’ on their website).
I also alerted the Chamber of Commerce in Davie, Florida to the scandalous activities of Nubodi and Wellness Watchers, and the Davie Chamber of Commerce was kind enough to call me. The gentleman there informed me that the telephone number for Nubodi: 801-208-7485 is NOT even a Florida telephone number, but the address they are using: 4650 SW 51st Street, Suite 711, Davie, Florida 33314 – IS an actual address.
Soon after my conversation with the helpful gentleman at the Davie Chamber of Commerce, a woman from Oregon called me to say that the she was given my number by the Davie Chamber of Commerce as another person who had been scammed by Nubodi’s Acai berry scam, and I told this lady to beware of Wellness Watchers MD too. Unfortunately for this lady in Oregon, she purchased the products with her debit card, so the money is gone from her bank account forever, and I doubt that she’ll see it back again. I encouraged her to close her account so that they can’t get at any more of her hard earned cash.
I sincerely wish that someone out there would go after these people – Nubodi and Wellness Watchers MD – and put them behind bars. They are getting rich off of a lot of unsuspecting health conscious people.
The thing that is driving me crazy is who owns these companies. Who is the guy in charge.
I have done all kinds of business related searches and I can not find the a-hole who runs this entire operation. That is worrying to me. NO names no accountability.
Check out this disclaimer from one of the many fake acai berry sites.
Copyright © 2009 Pure Acai Berry Pro. All Rights Reserved. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. *As with any weight loss program, proper diet and exercise are an integral part of achieving results. Pure Acai Berry Pro is not affiliated in any way with Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Rachel Ray, The Rachel Ray Show, ABC, CBS, CNN news, Fitness Magazine and WSJ.com. Oprah Winfrey, The Oprah Winfrey Show, Rachel Ray, The Rachel Ray Show, ABC, CBS, CNN news, Fitness Magazine and WSJ.com are registered trademarks of their respective owners. The individuals and testimonials shown are paid models, and not necessarily Pure Acai Berry Pro customers. These statements have not been reviewed by the
Food and Drug Administration.
You would think Rachel Ray and Oprah Winfrey’s people would force them to stop using their names like this.
That has to be illigal, and they use their images too.
Nigera Scam moves to Dating Websites and Personal Ads
January 23, 2009 by Linda Lee
Filed under Articles, Internet Dating Scams, Online Safety, Recent Posts, Recent Topics, Rip Off Scams Target Personal Ads, Scams
I was able to experience this firsthand. I recently put my profile up on Yahoo Personals and I had a few people who contacted me. One person sent me his email and I emailed him at r.hall@yahoo.com ( if any of you want to send nasty emails to this scammer, feel free.) I was very suspicious when the profile of this so called guy named “Randy Hall” was suddenly removed from Yahoo. He said he had a daughter and was widowed.
I got an email back later that seemed a bit weird, especially when the guy did not talk about anything in his profile and
was calling me “dear”. That is weird, my hackles were up and I was highly suspicious.
Note to all women, that is so Nigerian scammer lingo. In all their scammy emails (you won the lotto, bank fake email in dire need, I am a solicitor…etc..) they talk like some British Baron from the 19th Century!
I sent him a curt and very short reply back asking for more details like where he lived and what did he do for a living and why did he take his profile down in only 2 days, and OMG, check out the phony idiotic email that came back.
I started laughing when I read it and immediately knew my instincts were correct-SCAMMER!- I will post his scam email here so hopefully when other 13 year olds or disgusting old crooks sitting in a room in Nigeria try to pull this crap on another person , they will know they are being set up by one of the oldest scams in the book.
Read the letter and I will then explain to you how the old Nigeria scam works.
Hi Linda
Wow, what a letter! I wasn’t sure if I’d hear from you. I’m so glad I did. First, thank you for the compliments. I really appreciate all the nice things you said and the fact that you’re still willing to give me a try.It’s really hard to find a person that is interested in a possible long term relationship and not just a one night stand. I am looking for a best friend and partner. I don’t hang out in bars or date just anyone. I never thought I’d try online dating but here I am. ..Linda , I already let you know that you’re a truly genuine and open person…I am very open, honest and caring….My late Mom was from Kansas and My dad was from, West Africa cos he was brought up from Nigeria … they both meet in Rome , ITALY , where i grow up and they instilled many wonderful values in me.My Late mom raised me to be fighter and always come out on top and that is what i plan on doing.I would be 39 years by Jan 28th . My Dear Linda , am still having Difficult with my laptop for me to send more Pictures of me to you , hope this wont stop us from talking here and carrying the conversation to High level ..I am also a happy, outgoing person..I love to laugh and spend time with friends..Can you tell me how your day went?? what do you normally do at your Leisure time ??? .my favorite activities are basically anything to do with being outdoors..camping is one of my favorite things to do and also trying my hand at new things and I want you to know more about me ..first of all,I have now lost my mother and only have my father. my Late mother and father were married for 43 years and I think that is truly wonderful thing and I want to let you Know that i relocate from Elsmore ,Kansas to Powell St, San Francisco anytime from now which I let you know that i just got a 1story 10 home yesterday .I want this also very much..although my life is full of love , there is the most important element of life that is missing from mine..my life companion.this person must be sincere, honest, understanding and family oriented.I also want someone that is always serious all the time…that is able to just “have fun” and balance this with responsibility..someone that is adventurous,loves the outdoors and laughing…I want someone that can appreciate quality in life but also the most simplistic things in life., but I want to share my life with someone..I do not date a lot because I do not enjoy going out with so many different people….when I do go out on a date it is only because I am quite attracted to that person (in all aspects…not just physically), I think it is of extreme importance to be on the same levels with someone you are to share your life with.i.e intellect, sense of humor and also similar goals in life.these things all add up to admiration, loyalty and friendship..I would like to find this so that I may begin the second journey of my life in which i let you know i my profile so please ask me whatever you would like…I think you are someone that is seeking the same as I and so I would love to pursue this friendship with you to see what happens…only if, at the very least, we would both have gained a great love.of course, hopefully more…;-)..Linda , Let’s I forget , I wanna let you Know That I would be Living the state for Now cos i heard a Called from The Dr that’s in charge of My dad sickness from The Hospital there In Nigeria That My dad is not really good that he want to see me ..I was so shock when I heard That My dad is not good and Been The Only child of My dad i think i need to see Him cos he’s the one left for me now ..To cut this short ,I am On My way to Nigeria Probably In the next 8 – 12hrs cos I have book my plane . so don’t hesitate to mail me and I will reply you back …..But Most especially i will soon be back to state soon I look forward to hearing from you again soon..Please feel free to say anything and I would Like to know know thing about you like :
What are you doing for Living ??
What do you seek for in a relationship?
What sort of relationship you seek for?
What are the basic qualities you seek for in a man?
What interests you to me ?
What do you do for fun?
Do you like public intimacy?
How long have you been single?
What’s being single like?
How do you treat your man?
Why do you need a man?
Can you love this me even though you continue talking to me ???
What is love to you?Would you hit your man for any reasons?
Got to go now and Hope to read from you soon
Randy
YUCK!!! Here are the people who are talking to you.
Nigerian Romeo Boiler Room Rip Off Scam
There are tons of “tells” in this email.
Bad grammar and spelling are usually the first giveaway in all scammer emails.
For instance the scammers often misspell stupid words. A good example of this is the fake bank alerts email I recently got that had in the subject line this, ” your accuont will be locked.”
I delete about at least 10 fake Paypal, eBay and bank alerts a day. A popular one recently has been “buyer dispute” from eBay, since I have not used eBay in about 3 years that was an obvious one for me to catch.
Here is the Nigerian Scam in a nutshell. It is called 419 or Advanced Fee Fraud.
I have included some information about some other common online scams for your protection.
Please never send any money to strangers, never login to any place through an email, always find the real bank online or login to eBay or Paypal at their own websites.
Most companies now accept these fake emails by forwarding them to “spoof@—–” ebay, paypal, Citibank, whatever place you supposedly got the fake email from. This helps them keep track of them too.
Be careful out there. The internet is literally open to the entire world and there are many evil people waiting to prey on you and this latest personal scam is a new low of these disgusting crooks!
1. Nigerian Letter Scam
This is probably one of the best known online scams but it still manages to get people to part with their hard earned money. Invariably you receive an e-mail, usually written in capital letters and starts out like this:
“DEAR SIR/MADAM: I REPRESENT THE RECENTLY DEPOSED MINISTER OF AGRICULTURE FOR NIGERIA, WHO HAS EMBEZZLED 30 MILLION DOLLARS FROM HIS STARVING COUNTRYMEN AND NOW NEEDS TO GET IT OUT OF THE COUNTRY…”
The letter says the scammers are seeking an accomplice who will transfer the funds into their account for a cut of the total–usually around 30 percent. You will be asked to travel overseas to meet with the scammers and complete the necessary paperwork. But before the transaction can be finalized, you must pay thousands of dollars in “taxes,” “attorney costs,” “bribes,” or other advance fees.
However, there is no minister or money other than the money you paid in advance. Victims who travel overseas may find themselves physically threatened and not allowed to leave until they cough up the cash. This online scam is also referred as Nigerian 419 Letter, where the 419 stands for the section of Nigeria’s penal code that this online scam violates.
2. Lottery Scams
In this online scam you will receive an email informing you that you have won a lottery or that the XYZ lottery company went into a draw for the distribution of unclaimed money and your email address was selected. You will be asked to make a payment, often in cash, for the money to be released and sent to you. Unfortunately, there is no money and you never hear from the XYZ company again.
Remember, if you have not purchased a lottery ticket it is unlikely that you could have won anything specially if you need to pay to claim it. Lottery companies and agencies do not work that way.
3. Online Auctions
Unfortunately, as online auctions sites have increased in popularity so have the online scams associated with auction sites. Here the scammers place fictitious products for sale and once the auction is over, the highest bidder pays for the product which he/she never receives it. These online scammers are extremely difficult to trace. However, most auction sites have a strict rule and once a scammer is identified, they can no longer use the site.
Another form of this online scam is seek out potential buyers through auction sites. The scammers then send them an email informing them that they can offer them the product the buyer is trying to buy on the auction site for less money. If you fall prey to this online scam, you can say bye to your money and you will never see the product.
4. Online Investments
This is one of the most high risk, high return and popular scheme on the internet. Most of these are scam where you’ll have the operator running away with you investment before you knew it.
A lot of these schemes are also what is commonly known as “Ponzi scheme” where early investors are paid high returns to entice more funds to flow in. Basically, in this scheme investors are paid using the funds that it is attracting until such time it collapse under its out flow of funds. The victims are usually the later investors.
Click on “Ponzi scheme” for more info. One of the example of such scheme that is still operating is the Swiss Cash Fund (1948). Following are some related links:
- Malaysia Central Bank warning
One can still make some good returns in online investments as long as the pay out is not unbelievably high. Usually, a return of between 5% – 7% is a good measurement that it may be a legitimate concern.
The GOLDEN RULE to follow when hunting for opportunity on the internet is to be vigilent and always do your research and due diligence checks to ensure that the opportunity is a sustainable entity. If you are one of those high risk takers — do it with your extra, never, NEVER borrow to take a risk!
UPDATE 11-11-09
Since I wrote this article, so many people have contacted me about this problem.
Many people have fallen prey to these tactics.
This is not just on Yahoo Personals or Match.com or Catholic and Christian Dating Websites, this is happening on all kinds of personal dating ad websites everywhere.
Just read the comments and you can see how large this is.
Please remember, NEVER send money to someone you meet online, never.
This is one of the worst things you can fall for.
These people do not have phone numbers, you can never speak with them, and if you do, make sure you get a call back number, because they may hire someone to call you. This scam takes in MILLIONS of dollars every year.
This scam runs in so many forms it is hard to believe.
Tell your friends and please let the sites you have been betrayed on know what is happening.
Someone needs to guard the gates a bit more carefully. This is a tragic scam that hurts millions of people each year.
UPDATE 12-2-09
Many of you would like to have these bogus photos posted. Please right click and save the images to your desktop and then email them to me also if any of you would like to forward me these fake emails and letters I will post them on this blog. Many of you found me through the fake letter I posted, so lets help other people and bust these scumbags!
Email me at scammerphotos @ askmepc.com
