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.
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
– Swiss cash domain Info
– Warning on swiss cash
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
I met this Charles L. Williams, supposedly from Peck, Kansas. He emailed me a really nice email with the pictures he used on his Our Time profile. After I gave him my email address, his account abruptly disappeared from Our Time. He sent me the first email that night telling me all about himself. Several points in the letter followed info used by scammers. I wrote back and received another email this morning, written by the same person, again supposedly. Bad grammar, no punctuation or capitalization, and very badly written. Multiple personality, schizophrenic, or scammer? I picked the third one. The email was full of BS and I immediately got suspicious. Stay away from this guy.
Warning to ALL- pureheartjoleena@gmail.com is a scammer too- fits the Nigerian profile. Same sob story- same rotten spelling and grammar.
Here’s the phone number she uses: 715-802-0669 says she sells antiques in Medford Wisconsin.
just got ripped off by a kim blakley. lol she sent me a yahoo address on zoosk. she said she a nurse with world heath org. stranded at a hotel. bla bla no family. scam
Hi
I just want to update this website that Jack Davidson ….is on Badoo once again under the profile name Dson 46 , Beverly Hills CA. and of course his profile picture is different from the one used in 2011. there are about seven pics of him and a boy thou …..his profile interest and what he is looking for is the very same description as he used back when he contacted myself and other woman .
P.S. to the woman that left a message on here MS ….sorry that you experiienced such a scammer .
I too was an almost a victim of John Sterner. He said he was originally from Germany and came to US on a visa bit now living in China on a contract with the Chinese government. The company paid all his expenses while there and was due to get his money any time so he could come back to the US to live. He had a son named Daniel and was widowed. He falls madly in love with me in about 3 days. He had no way to call or video chat with me and had no digital camera to give me more photos. Then he suddenly says his check is ready but needs my money to get some legal document so they will release his check. This was all too much so I did not mail the money. I did mess with him for awhile. Oh yes, he said he was from Berlin but could tell me very little about the wall and when it came down. It appeared he was copying from a book. He would send me poems via email, not yahoo messenger, his preferred way of communicating. Probably because so he could find the right one on file to send me. The English in theses poems was much better than the English in his texts. He called me sweetie. We would be talking on line in the middle of what would be his night and suddenly disappear for some time. Probably talking to someone else. After I called him on it, he brought up that his wife only died after his best friend slept with her and they stole everything he had,
Including credit cards and then she died. He never mentioned that before. I kept asking him to come clean with me, but he never gave in. Sent me a copy of his passport and it looks altered, then later asked me to never show it to anyone. He claimed that his identity was stolen only after I confronted him. Still says he is who he says his is after all of this. Women , be very aware. He is a good one, he knows what women want Comments (12)
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Linda · 1 day ago
I am a member of ourtime.com and luckily I saw this complaint about him. My better judgement told me not to sent him money and I almost did. He loved me forever yada yada. He kept having some lame excuse as to why we could not video chat or talk on the phone and some reason why he needed money to get his money was crazy. He said he lived in china on a work contract but was due to come the states when his contract was done and after he got paid some ridiculous amount of money. Thanks for the warning to you previous posters. He even sent some pictures and a copy of his German passport. He is a very good con man, almost had me fooled.
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Friend · 9 weeks ago
I would love to share information. I may know somone who may be talking with the same guy.
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Vicki · 2 weeks ago
Please do share with me. I’ve been in contact with him for the past several months.
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Cheryli · 2 weeks ago
Could you please send me a pic of this John Sterman. I believe I have been contacted by him. He has a profile a datehookup. Claims he is from Germany. Only now he lives in Alton, IL. Right now he says he is in China for a few weeks and will be coming back to the states. He says he wants to buy a house> He says he wants to find someone to “love as he has never loved before. He also says he has no family or friends. ” My email is cheryli_62@sbcglobal.net
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Vicki · 2 weeks ago
Same story here, I’ve been communicating with him for months, via phone, text, IM, and email. Got white roses, candy and a talking teddy bear. Claims he is in china with his son, Shawn and retired from Chevron with a 3.4 Million dollar check. Keep talking to him and let me know how it goes please. I invested some $ into him, and sick to my stomach!!!
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ann · 10 weeks ago
Same story all over again. From China, working for Chevron, needing money to get back to the states, aand so on. Women watch out.
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Cheryli · 2 weeks ago
Could you please send me a pic of this John Sterman. I believe I have been contacted by him. He has a profile a datehookup. Claims he is from Germany. Only now he lives in Alton, IL. Right now he says he is in China for a few weeks and will be coming back to the states. He says he wants to buy a house> He says he wants to find someone to “love as he has never loved before. He also says he has no family or friends. ” My email is cheryli_62@sbcglobal.net
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POMALESA · 10 weeks ago
JOHN STERMAN ASKED ME FOR MY ADDRESS TO SEND ROSES AND I GAVE HIM MY WORK ADDRESS INSTEAD. I AM NOT STUPID.TODAY IS 4/27/2013 AND HE CALLED ME FROM CHINA AND SENT ME A COPY OF CONTRACT WITH CHEVRON IN CHINA WHERE HE SAYS HE IS NOW AND COMING TO THE USA IN A WEEK. WHAT GAVE NE A DEFINITE CLUE WAS THAT HE ASKED ME NOT TO “SHARE” HIS LIFE WITH ANYBODY…GIVE ME A BREAK!!
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susan · 15 weeks ago
this us a scammer and he will steal from you with false documents and such
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carol · 4 weeks ago
Yes Susan you are so right. This man is no good and will lie to get what he wants from you. He should be in jail and never be allowed out.
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Army Donald · 14 weeks ago
THIS JOHN STERMAN IS A NICE MAN , I HOPE THIS Eugrdhd WHAT TO SPOIL HIS NAME, THIS IS VERY BAD TO HEAR …I CAN’T BELIEVE THIS …JOHN IS A VERY NICE MAN .
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DOROTHY CERVI · 14 weeks ago
I ALSO HAVE A COMPLAINT ABOUT JOHN STERMAN. THE EXACT THING HAPPEN TO ME, EVEN DOWN TO THE RED ROSES. I AM A MEMBER OF MATCH BY THE NAME WESTCHESTER 8241. THIS IS HAPPENING AS I SPEAK. I WILL NOT ACCEPT HIS E=MAILS OR PHONE CALLS. ALSO WILL NOT DEAL WITH MATCH EVER AGAINto hear. The kid part is a good touch.
mbaileys10@yahoo.com is still scamming – I met “Him??” on Christian Mingle – suspected things were not as they seemed – have numerous saved texts and yahoo msgr exchanges with this guy – quite the charmer!! Definitely a scam artist pretty good at his craft – when he was supposedly having issues transferring funds from his Bahamas bank to his BOA account he asked me to cash in my 401K to send him funds….when I said I wasn’t going to do any such thing and suffer major penalties, he quit talking to me, he had even sent me flowers and a necklace via the red envelope internet shopping site!! Claimed to have been born and raised in the Bahamas trying to explain why he sounded like an african-american when his photo showed him to be a white man…..jerk!!! Beware – he does not live at 1520 E 22nd St in Brooklyn, NY nor does he live in Grand Junction, CO!! He is not Mike Brian Bailey either!!!! I was also directed to his “bank” account info in the Bahamas to show me how much money he supposedly has and prove his couldn’t access it – what a liar this person his!!!
I am receiving emails from a supposed lady in South Africa, responded to a Craigslist ad in Vancouver Canada. S/he hasn’t asked me for money (yet), seems to want to tell me her/his life story though. I have not given much information about myself, and asked for today’s date in the subject line and a new photo. To be honest the photos are of a very attractive middle aged lady, and s/he gave a phone number from South Africa. Well to be honest I don’t need to meet someone from the other side of the world when there are plenty of single women in Vancouver! In general, many (not all!) women from North America have attitude. It might be partly due to these scammers (local and not-so-much) giving honest people a bad name. It is my experience that women from other cultures are friendlier and less demanding. So to close, this lady from South Africa? 10% chance she is genuinely looking for a North American relationship. 90% she is looking for North American currency. Doubt if I will ever find out.
Also not so sure all scams are Nigerian in origin. There are plenty of scammers locally.
A footnote: I recently met a woman who is nearly perfect for me and only lives five kilometers away. That is 3 miles for those keeping score at home.
Jack Davidson from los angeles also is using the names John howard from los angeles working in the uk and is sick right now in a india hospital apollo hospital….lol this scammer is using a doctor name Dr. chinmayee Ratha to verify that he is sick …..this is a real doctor at this hospital that is a victim of these scammers or scammer.
Also this scammer is also going under the name of Tim Jacobs from toronto also a lie ….is working out of the phillpines ……met all these scammers from Badoo.
Please people beware of people telling you that they love you after your first email or im , asking for money …..what business man goes to another country especially un prepared
Just want people to know that not everyone on badoo is bad or scammers but please just becareful.
He calls himself Alexander Xavier and provides this email address: alexanderxavier36@yahoo.com He has stolen the photos of a man in his 50’s and his two grown daughters and is targeting women in their 50’s and 60’s with these photos, stating that his is a widow. I saw the same photos on another site, but he was listed as single and living in a different U.S. state. The English is fairly good but there are grammar errors and it looks like a cut and paste job. His second contact included questions about my birthdate, where I was born, where I worked and where I lived. He targeted me on Singlesnet.com (now kiss.com) and I just notified them of the scam.
soldier calling himself jack wilson looking to.get aa package out if afruca but needed large.sum iif monery.fir this many love letterrs there
im looking for some help, im trying to do some research on a guy who goes by the name of “andy frank” he also uses the name, “don adams”
my girlfriend’s mother has been in contact with this man for apparently quite some time now (more then 2 years) apparently, when they first met (via yahoo messenger) he was living with his mother, then a bit latter his mom started to get sick and he claimed not to have the money to take care of her, so this woman sent him some money to help out, she did this 3 or 4 times. this man, “andy/don” claimed that when his mother got better she would get paid back, but then ofc she didnt get better, she got worse and passed away, and supposedly with the loss of his mother he lost any chance to get her paid back, but wait! “andy/don” had a friend who was a business man, and doing good and if she was to send this man some money to help him out, he would then in turn pay her back along with interest, so once again, my girlfriend’s mother sent more money over seas, and once again something bad happened, the business man was supposedly hit by a bus!
if anyone knows anything about a scam like this or maybe know of some real names please contact me @ kavuwolf@hotmail.com
<— this is his fb, sadly he has no pics of himself
also another name linked to this scam of his is Richard
Ladies,
Beware of Daniel Coffman (Danielcoffman2002@gmail.com) claims to be a Phd. pharmacist working independently from brooklyn New York. Has daughter Melissa “Mel” living in Aberdeen Scotland with her grandmother. He will tell you his former girlfriend Courtney was a drug addict and the relationship fell through. HE IS A FRAUD WORKING WITH NIGERIANS.
Shirley, that same man John Sterman played the same song to my mother he has been telling her this same crap for a year now and keeps telling her he has booked his flight to come be with her and then sends a text message saying he cannot leave the country because he owes his company money for room and board he is a real bottom feeder. I just splashed him out on facebook. did you try to file any charges we are thinking about submitting all of his information to the FBI to see if they can stop his vicious activities!!!
Yahoo scammer is Mike Brian Balleys
mbaileys10@yahoo.com
He sent me an e-mail from Christian Mingle Be careful. He will play on womens emotions, especially ones who are divorced or widowed. Ages starting at 45 and above. He likes to use IM alot. He claims to be a US citizen, christian-other, hometown is Grand Junction, CO. He says he is divorced. Don’t believe a word he says. As soon as he asked me to send money to his “agent” in Beijing because he ordered containers that were too small, I knew he was a scam. He is a charmer and he brought his son into the mix by having someone sent me instant messages. Beware.
Commandant Tom Lasger from senior people meet. Just like above… Money needed for jewelry and a phone do he can communicate all day and night lol
He’s stationed in some part of Kuwait. Can’t access his money. He’s widowed. Son is Bryan. Mom and son lives in Arizona.
Then there’s a capt. Steve mark. Needs money for secured line. Met on match.
Recent one is Andy Gate … It’s bad out there girls ! Whew!
Also another one ,Donald L. Edward,a Surgeon with the U.S. Army supposedly from Cove City,N.C.sent me pictures of his son,Mark and his girlfriend,Mom and Dad and their homes.He was supposed to be coming home soon and wanted to meet someone and he liked my picture.He supposedly had worked at Walter Reed Hosp.,was Chief of Research Laboratory,Chief Parasitic Drug Discovery,Chief Department Parasitlogist and Deputy Director,Division of Experimental Theraputics.Got a B.A. from Univerity of New Mexico at Albuque,P.H.D. from Clemson.postdoctoral from Univ. of New Mexico.Supposed to serve several positions for the World Health Organizations,etc.Currently working in Sudaymang,Iraq for the United Nations Peace Keeping Missions as a General Surgeon.Supposedly had a 15yr old son whose mom died when he was 5yrs.He had no picture and a couple messages over 2 days,he took all the information down before I could save them.His site listed him as “cooljojo 234” from Cove City,N.C.
I had the same problem as Shirley above with John Sterman.In 2 days I received about 15 or 20 messages,received 2 doz. red roses,teddy bear, and a small box of candy.The last message I sent was”Thanks for the roses,bear and candy and you are a Nigerian,so don’t send anymore messages.You can’t spell and you are a SCAMMER,SCAMMER,SCAMMER.” He sent me a message saying”Why do you call me a scammer?I don’t call you names and you don’t get in touch with me again.” Why would I want too?I never gave him a chance to ask for money.
My sister met her scammer on FaceBook but they decided to correspond on Yahoo email. His email address is: elmer_philip@yahoo.co.uk. He told her that he is an architect engineer and owns his business in London. He has an 8 yr-old daughter in Canada who is under the care of his handicapped older sister. He sounded as though money was not an object to him. After a few weeks of emailing and calling (4 times/day) he sent her flowers and chocolate and proposed marriage. He wanted to meet her in person the following month when he would present the ring and then discuss their wedding plans. But before their meeting, he had to go to Malaysia on business. When he presumably had arrived in Malaysia, he called my sister informing her that he could not get his check cleared by the bank and would like for her to wire him $38,000 ASAP or he would not get paid for his transactions. My sister refused.
Does this sound familiar?
Hi, myname is Larissa,
I have just been scammed for the last 5 weeks by a guy named Brian Smith…brnsmth.yahoo.com. Met him on christian mingle and right away lead me to his personal website. He sent me floweres from bloomex…said he lived in Miami Florida. Texts, and emails daily, and my heart fell for it! He is a vet, and travelled to Malaysia to get vaccines. First his computer blew up with the different voltage, so I was to send him a new mac pro….then was in the hospital and needed 1000 to pay the bill.Number he used is from Florida…17863847192, feel free to phone it! I am thankful to my Heavenly Father for protecting me and revealing to me the truth. I didnt lose any money, just a piece of my heart. Learned a valuable lesson on internet dating! Hope this truly helps someone!
Beware of somone posing as “Jessy Barry” from the United Kingdom who supposedly went to Nigeria to work a contract job and that’s when all of the problems began. He was using Jessy Barry on Facebook and I know he has at least 2 FB accounts, probably many more. He was also using an email name of Jessy_Barry01@yahoo.com but I know for a fact he has another account and may not be using either of these accounts anymore, plus we did not communicate through his email accounts. Only thru FB and telephone calls. Unfortunately, he is very good at his scam game. I have reported him thru a government agency that deals in this sort of thing but unfortunately, nothing may ever happen to him due to jurisdiction problems. Just wanted to get his name out to other potential women victimes that he may try to target. Also, apparently the government is overwhelmed by complaints such as mine. I hope something can be done to this scum bag!
A few weeks ago I met a person via a dating site and we started talking, American citizen with 1 daughter and living in Belgium (Aartselaar). We had some nice conversations and he was staying in Nigeria for his work (antiques). He did send me his itinerary and was supposed to come back to Belgium on June 4. When he told me that his flight was delayed I checked his itinerary and there was no reservation on his and his daughters name. Today he mailed me that he needed money to pay his taxes otherwise he could not leave Nigeria. I told him that I did not gave him any money and then suddenly no sign of him anymore. I don’t know if this is the correct institution to send this, but I’m pretty sure that I’m dealing with a crook and there for I’m giving you this information.
He even sent flowers and chocolat’s yesterday and just a few moments ago a text. They just don’t stop!
A few weeks ago I met a person via a dating site and we started talking, American citizen with 1 daughter (Laurie Lynn Glass) and living in Belgium (Aartselaar). We had some nice conversations and he was staying in Nigeria for his work (antiques). He did send me his itinerary and was supposed to come back to Belgium on June 4. When he told me that his flight was delayed I checked his itinerary and there was no reservation on his and his daughters name. Today he mailed me that he needed money to pay his taxes otherwise he could not leave Nigeria. I told him that I did not gave him any money and then suddenly no sign of him anymore. I’m pretty sure that I’m dealing with a crook and there for I’m giving you this information.
(his phone number: +234 803 948 1212)
his email: andrewglass12@hotmail.com
if someone wants the fake photo feel free to ask, he even send a copy of his American passport…
His name is Jack Davidson. He met me in Badoo. HE is civil engeneer, living in Los Angeles California. He has a 10 yrs son by the name Spencer. He ask me for money for his son that was at the hospital and need medical treatment. He said he travels alot and he was in Malaysia for work. He claims he brought the wrong travelers check and the bank don’t want to cash them. He asked me for $2500 and that he will double when he gets back to Los Angeles. I told him I don’t have the money . THen he said they are taking him to court because he hasn’t pay and he has no money to pay. He told me that he went to court and they took his passsport until he pays.His phone number is 60103239615 and his email es DSON900@hotmail.com
Hi
Just got suspisious after he told me he had been mugged in Bangkok. Sent a picture of passport, Work documents and a very bad bank draft for 350,000. Really.
Have pics if anyone wants to see them, goes by the Name “Robin”, “Robertson Millert” or “Robinson Miller Taylor”
I am in Houston, Texas and he said he was from Richmond, Texas.
Asked me to send money as needed to pay guest house and had lost all credit card etc etc…BS
hi. all
he, tolll me he is from ohio. but he went najeria some work and when i ask him what did he do he said, he is constaction, engeneer bulding, orvanege kids. some house i did not know in the begining. and he keeb telling me fake story and never ended, untill i ended up scamming me.
i hopo they all dead scammers
this guy name james morrison is an scammer
Ladies, stay away from the following scammers who use genuine names and genuine photographs to match: Kenneth Barnes and Robert Steve Troxell.
Their emails: kennethbarnes@yahoo.com
trobertsteveus@yahoo.com
These guys had their identities hijacked!
Stay away from scammers by the name of Holly Carling. They are based in various states across the USA, primarily, Houston, Texas.
Just a word of advice if you are using online dating sites run a google check on the name and email to see if it comes up as a nigerian scammer.
Carla, How about a Andrew Curtis with an 11 year old son. Caught wife in bed with best friend.
Watch out for Andrew Curtis from Winston Salem, NC.He was in OUR TIME .COM dating site for 50’s and older. But he has been on a business trip in Malaysia. I even was stupid enough to take in some packages and re ship them for him. I checked for drugs, nothing. Anyway, He is dovoted to me, loves me, can’t wait to meet me. It has been 2 months and guess what..He’s at the airport right now and customs wants $500.00 for duties and asked me for the money. GOOD FOR NOTHING PIECE OF SH__T. GOD will get him in the end. But I needed to tell all so no other lady gets charmed by this one.
Hi
well just been scammed since Oct 2011. This person that took me for adventure goes by to different names. Jack Davidson lives in Los Angeles, Self Employed , son is 10 yrs old name Spencer …email address is dson300@hotmail.com … also has profiles on facebook goes under Jack Davidson and Reyna Lincoln his profile picture is the same for both these profiles except with the second profile he lives in Poland Warsaw . His cell number he is using right now is +60103239615 but I am sure that will change……..And I always thought I was street smart what an eye opener.
The first one I met was John Kidd from Ghana. He wanted to give me money to help the homeless people in my town… I said no and never heard from him again. Jhnkid@gmail.com Started doing research and learned about these scams.
The second was “Francis Doe”, a classic scamster. Met on a Christian dating site, he instantly fell in love, said I had lovely brown hair when my picture was blond– I pointed that out and he said “they told me brown”.. UM They?? I played along until he asked for money for DVDs. Told him to go to Hulu.com and I never heard from him again.
Eventually I did meet a legit Nigerian guy studying abroad, so not everyone is bad 🙂 Just gotta be cautious. Never let your heart think for your brain.
watch out for this guy called smith moore84@yahoo.com . He sent me pictures of himself ,love letters,said’s he is a soccer agent and he is in nigeria to get players, that he is a widower with a small child. mades alot of money has nice cars that he show me online that i don’t believe. only talking to him for a week and half. and he started to ask me for money $1250 for the flight back. I told him he was low to ask a woman for money I told him I had none to give him that he was liaring about everything. that he was a scam im going to report him to the fbi. he was on website zoosk.com. his # in nigeria is 234 8169682554
The guy that’s scamming on Facebook is Peter Sean Henderson. He is a real charmer and says he is a geologist and a widow, dads is dead, mom lives with aunt and he supports them along with his 5 yr old son. He gets you to believe he is a millionaire and starts havering issues with his business and needs help financially and says he will pay it back, but he has no intentions on paying anything back. after investigation I found many women that have been scammened by him and his crew. His Facebook page has been shut down several times but he gets back on under new renditions of his name ie; Sean Henderson; Henderson Peter ;Henderson Sean. BEWARE!
Please don’t trust this phone number 1-321-541-2870 the guy called himself Marcos. How could his mother that just pass away but he is still in some foreign country????
hi all,
i stumbled on your site while surfing and after going through the various comments decided to leave a few comments of my own:
I am a Nigerian guy and i am very proud of my background and will not sell my country for no-one!, i don’t deny the fact that we have scammers or what you will call (419 ) originating from my country but you should equally know that Nigeria is not the only country where these scams take place. You might also be wrong to believe that Nigerian scammers can’t write or spell perfectly….if you go by that you might be swindled! My take is this, being scammed means you were not smart enough; the signs are always there for you to see if only you are cautious enough.
Nigeria is just like any other country where scams take place and like the saying goes “out of every twelve there will be a Judas”, Nigeria is made up of good and bad folks but that doesn’t make us all bad!
I remain proud of my country regardless of what anyone says i don’t support scams but then you shouldn’t place yourself in a position to get scammed!
I met “Stephen Mayers” on Match.com…said he was from Melrose,MN,but was working in Nigeria import and export of computer accessories…after chatting a couple days on yahoo,said he missed me, loved me.Said he was born in MN his parents had won an American Visa Lottery, but was raised in Germany. Before he worked with computer accessories, he was into import/export of jewelry….he then needed $200 to pay for some kind of certificate so he could be paid for his work. Asked me to go to Western Union and send it to Randy Josh in Nigeria….when I wouldn’t do it, he pleaded and begged then since it would be late he then would need $300….so BEWARE of Stephen Mayers and or Randy Josh. His profile name on Match was Justin something…his email is Smayers@yahoo.com his telephone number 234-708-8766243
Beware of this man WILSON KEVIN BROWN
His YM ID is wilson.brown43@yahoo.com
He lived in Aberdeen Scotland, UK
He is a scammer.
I was contacted on Match.com with similar letters and questions. Was asked to set up gmail account. Ashley Warrington was the name of the mans account on match.com. Didn’t ask for money but found out through this information page from a friend. Picture was on Match.com, but obviously was of someone picked randomly. Same cenario, Father was Briton and mother raised him and no brothers or sisters…
Hi,
I almost fell for a guy that named himself Frank Whitebell from Texas.
He wrote me on Facebook and he looked very good on his pictures and I already startet to have butterflies in my stomach when we talked.
He used those *am* (instead of I am) and *cos* instead of because and he called me honey and babe but never by my name.
He told me that he buys and sells gold and that he had to go on a trip to West Africa.
After being in West Africa for one day he asked me if I could help him out with 2000 Dollars. He said he would pay it back to me as soon as he comes to Germany (thats where I come from).
He wanted to live here with me and my daughter and told me that i am the only woman in his life,….
Oh well….
I got suspicious when he asked me for money and I remembered something about the Nigerian Connection I saw on german TV. So I googled and I found this side here.
And now I am very sure that he is a fake.
His email adress is: white.frank15@yahoo.com
Plus…..5 other women on Facebook wrote me that he also wrote them and asked for money and told them that he loves them.
Hes Facebook account is still open and I dont know what do do know. Should I report him?
I already postet a link to the Nigerian Connection on his wall to warn the other women.
I would like to report a guy I was talking to named Benjamin A.Y. Alimi Samuels he told me he was born in Benin West Africa and moved to England where he got his degree in Forestry. His email address is alimi.ay@gmail.com. He said I could call him Ben or A.Y. he also said he was a widower with a little girl named Mary who is 12 years old and lived with his mother in England since she was 7yrs old. He said his wife passed away from a lung disease. Ben also claimed to have his own business in Nigeria, Africa Importing African wood to the US and when I asked him for the name of his business he just told me its timberwood … not Timberwood, LLC or any official business name. I always had in my mind that he was a scammer but I didn’t want to believe it because he seemed like he cared so much for me, but when the time came for him to return to the states of course a very terrible customs issue came up… I haven’t talked to him since he informed me of the issue so I don’t know what the issue actually was but I wasn’t going to stick around to find out. I deleted my yahoo IM account and my online dating profile at http://www.faithmate.com … I just prefer to take my chances meeting someone in person rather than online.
This is really a lame site that has contacted me about 15 times with fake pictures of girls that look like they came off the S.I. swimsuit edition, while I am trying to figure out what a hot little slice like this is interested in a 40 year old guy, I start receiving these lame ass e-mails from those black turds over in Africa claiming to be some kind of Barrister or something and just like sme of these comments said, you can always tell when they give their self away by misspelled words, one was a lottery winning that I was to receive, it went something like this, “You are owed a whopping 10 million dollars US” come on “whopping” I am sure there are success stories for dating and relationships on the web, but for every one true one there has to be 10,000 that are scams, I suggest going to a library or Borders and hanging out until the perfect woman shows up….
Yahoo scamer is Vincent Balleys
vballeys1966@yahoo.com
He sent me an e-mail from Facebook. Be careful. He will play on womens emotions, especially ones who are divorce or widow. Ages starting at 50 and above. He likes to use IM alot, he is also on myspace. He claims to be a US citizen, christian-other, hometown is Apple Valley CA. he also says he is divorce. Don’t believe a word he says. I found out too late. He wanted me to send him more money, when I refused he got very upset. He was trying to tell me that he had a contract with Chevron Unlimited in Lago Nigeria wanted me to help him pay for import fees on his goods as he calls it. This was suppose to be a 7 million dollar contract. If you receive an e-mail from this person, run. WATCH OUT.
Was on match.com and came across this lady,i spoke with her for 3wks knowing all along she was scamming me..These people dont give up,and they are good at trying to make you feel guilty,,why isnt the services of yahoo and the like acting upon these fruedent people there are a lot of innocent people in this wourld that like there services but are alwaysed subject to scammers,,,i wrote an email to match.com but they just dont want to know about,,it would be a different story if they w ere taken for a row and lost faith in love and all there all there money,, This the ladys name that tried scamming me…Maria stevens goes under the yahoo account as mariastevens@ymail.com…if you know her email me as i have pics of her for you verification,,,,Kindest Regards Emil Maresch
anybody know anything about a Tony Timmy?
Dear Sir:
Hi, and how are you doing. My name is Arif and i am the victim of this scam and
fraudaulent casualties. I have been allured into something that i knew what i
was leading to but because i had a tragedy in the past and i was try to get over
my past tragedy ordeal. I met someone who has seen my profile on the internet
and she said she really liked my profile and kept on asking me for the money and
some extent i fell for it and not only for her but for the second one also but i was really
testing her how far and how much she is willingly to go. Finally, i put the stop to her and
i told her that i have reported to you to the fbi and she said i am not a scam and if i was
i would have done more unjustice to you. She goes by the name serah corner@gmail .com
Her email has deleted and she is no longer with that name. Her real name is terezsilberer@yahoo.com and she resides in Nigeria. Please see if you can do something about it and i know i will never recover my money back and i will reassure myself that i have given to a charity cause if you can recover the money. The other person name is violet patrick and she said she is in Nigeria but came back and saying she is going to see me. Look into her also. Thanks for your cooperation in this matter. Arif
Match.com “Capt. Guy Maness” -real, but had his id stolen; scumbags are using fake photos of another solider. “Cpt Maness” claims to be from TN, father dead, mother in Europe. “Divorced with no kid” Looking for Blackberry device because his “crashed”
BOTLO No one from the military “needs blackberry, or any other device” to communicate. The more info. to protect people the better; thanks for such a website!
Beware of John Sterman using email accounts johnsterman01@yahoo.com & johnsterman01@gmail.com. Has multiple facebook pages. Targets dating sites. Uses yahoo messenger. Uses story that he is a German contractor working in China. Professes love and just wants to retire and stop traveling and will relocate to your city. Says he is divorced and has a son Daniel. Says his wife cheated on him with his best friend, left when Daniel was a baby and took all of his money. He says he needs money to get to Beijing to get his documents so that he can get paid $2.4 million. He will ask for a credit card and if that doesn’t work will ask you to let him have his client mail a check to you to cash and wire to him through Western Union. He sent 2 dozen roses, a teddy bear and chocolates to me. Don’t let your guard down. He is a scammer. BEWARE!
Have been contacted by someone calling himself Walter Bruston, claiming to be a US soldier stationed in Nigeria. Asking for money to retire early from the Army . Also tried to get my signature on a phony form.I was contacted by him on Facebook. I have three pictures of what looks like an American soldier. Would like feedback on this one if anyone has been contacted. I found a warning posted where he tried to get someone’s paypal info. just this month.
Quoting you Dee, because what is really pitiful, is making fun of someone just because they don’t speak, write or are not as smart as you. If you wanted to make a valid argument about the scam site that would be fine. However, you chose to go the trashy, filthy ,ugly bitch route.
“Yes. Take notice to how they use “cos” instead of “because” and “am” instead of “I am”. Their grammar is horrendous. The scammers actually sound like little children when they are learning how to speak and write in 1st and 2nd grade. Isn’t it pitiful? They think they’re a big hit too.” What a snotty bitch.
On to why I actually arrived at this website. I was a member of Catholicmatch.com for a total of 6 months. I found one friend there and she invited me to her group meetings on every Wednesday and that turned out great. I made at least 15 more friends. There’s always a few bad apples. However, for the most part, they are all very sweet to me.
So, anyhow, immediately after my account expired, I started receiving numerous emails from girls that I don’t even know and that are way too anxious to meet me. Usually scam sites like that would actually send a bot out to do their dirty work. Only this time it was not a bot. Her name was Katya and she would type something different every time hoping to get my attention. In her picture, she was very beautiful. So far she has sent me 14 emails and I responded to one out of curiosity. From experience though, I know that it was a bunch of bollocks. No women are that interested in men. Plus, they are usually from some foreign country that I will never go to, like something as extreme as Russia, or something as common as the Philippines. That’s how places like Catholicmatch.com get most of their business. They lure you in with women that you will never meet. My favorite is women from Hong Kong viewing my profile once or twice a day and then expecting me to chat with them. We have nothing common. Totally different customs and then again there’s the over anxiousness to meet me. It’s probably just because I was American and they think we have money or something. It’s kind of funny. Some American women are the same way. Bunch of leeches they are.
I hate to break it you ladies. Women are not smarter than computers. I get around 50 calls a month from women that need their computer to be fixed. If women were so smart, they would do it themselves like men and save some money.
hey i forgot my guys name was COOLJAMESCE@YAHOO.COM ALSO ON FACEBOOK, HE SAID HE WAS A CAPTAIN IN THE ARMY. HAS A 15 YEAR OLD SON WHO IS IN HIS FRIENDS CARE A MIKE CRUCE FROM NEW YORK ALSO A KELVIN DAVIDS AND MARY DAVIDS THEY ARE ALL A GROUP OF SCAMMERS
WELL IT HAPPENED AFTER i READ EVERYTHING ON HERE ABOUT A CERTAIN MAN HIS SUPPOSED NAME IS JAMES PATRICK WAGNER HE IS A SCAMMER HE GOT 8000.00 FROM ME COS I BELEIVED HE LOVED ME…LOL HOW STUPID CAN I BE . HE SAID HES AN IRISH MAN WHO RAN FROM THE ARMY IN AFGHANISTAN AND GOT STUCK IN LONDON… LADIES BE CAREFUL HE NEEDS TO BE LOCKED UP
Thank goodness you knew about the scam. Check out this poor guy who gave over 200k to a fake person online.
(but really come on people, this is just stupid.)
Hey, my guy is Donald Cornell … donaldcornell91@yahoo.com. He said he was an Italian national living in Slingerlands, NY. I tracked down the address used which is a vacant lot. When supposed to meet for Christmas, all of a sudden he had to go to Malaysia. He was stranded with 300 cars impounded in customs. Called customs – no cars. He lost his passport – called Italian embassy in Malaysia and foreign minister in Italy, no passport issued in the name of Donald Cornell. This guy has been persistent in trying to get $3,500 out of me. I’ve been playing along and now he’s getting nasty. Then he’s allegedly in Abuju Nigeria trying to sell his impounded cars. He gives me a phone number of 2348083001819 which is a number posted by a bunch of different people on the romance scan website. I told “Donald” that the number was an Airtel number listed in Lagos. Confronted with the other info above. I was then told that I am a very dangerous woman to them. Oh yeah, I’m scared … I prosecute drug cases for heaven’s sake … and a bunch of Nigerian lover wanna-be’s are supposed to frighten me … The sad part is that out of 10 guys I started talking to, 9 of them were scammers. I had one legitimate guy that I am still friends with six months later. After a month of scams, I’m so finished with the dating scene …
Wow..
I was just a new member of match.com for one hour and made the mistake of having IM’s enabled. One person without a photo got to me and wanted immediately to go to yahoo messenger. I was so annoyed by the dozens of Im’s I said ok. HAHA jokes on me! He was the only child of parents that were deceased
and had one son 9 years old, and his wife died.
He was in Iraq and an Army Captain? But his son was in Ghana…which was my first red flag….
his son was in a friends orphanage a pastor friends of his. This guys name was Mike Murdock, he was 49 years old, dell4u2003@yahoo.com is his email.
I figured out he was a fake and gave him a blistering email…..
He never asked for money because I only talked to him 2 times… but he was supposedly coming home in April, and then going to Ghana to get his son, so I am sure the money scam would have involved getting his son back to the US.
His letters started out
hi dear…..bad grammer, I told him he was a Nigerian scammer. and a few other things I cant mention 🙂
The scammer that got me went by the name Leo Morgan (leo.morgan54@yahoo.com). He would frequently ask questions like ‘what did you have for breakfast?’ and ‘what time is it there?’ and would also use ‘opps’ instead of ‘oops’. He and his ‘sister’ just happen to come online at the same time both asking for money. I asked him why the sister had to also ask for the money and he came up with ‘to speak on my behalf’. This was close to the end of our online ‘relationship’ and I asked him if he did not have the balls to speak for himself. I had had it with him and his BS. I basically sent him e-mail with a long list of why we were ‘done’.
Guy who scammed me-his name is Leo Morgan. His ‘sister’s’ name is Deborah Peterson. Any other name associated with the scammer who got me-Anyanwu Kingsley, Milagros Webb, Barrister Robert Fernandez. I was going through a divorce when I met Leo. These guys quickly earn your trust by promising to repay you as soon as they get ‘back home’, then your trust is betrayed just as quickly. Anything I can do to help stop this-I’m all for it, even if its posting names, etc on every website I can. These people need to be stopped.
I am disappointed to report Theresa Lopez as a FAKE….
On personals I started talking to this one girl. Everything was going fine until she made up this story about how she got robbed for her money and couldn’t buy a plane ticket or pay for her hotel room so requested I send her assistance funds.
She got all mad when i told her i wasn’t gonna help.
I was pretty disappointed to find it was a scam cuz this fake person was sending me some incredible photos of a woman I still to this day want to meet. She was gorgeous… But it was all fake… obviously the woman exists somewhere in the world, I just wish I knew where.
But this theresalopez46@yahoo.com was the scammer… be aware.
Yes. Take notice to how they use “cos” instead of “because” and “am” instead of “I am”. Their grammar is horrendous. The scammers actually sound like little children when they are learning how to speak and write in 1st and 2nd grade. Isn’t it pitiful? They think they’re a big hit too.
Does anybody know Curtis Winston? Little daughter 8 years,…seperated from his wife!?I wonder ,because when I tried to find something about him,…he showed up on this side here!?
beware of betty donald this is one nutty guy posing as a girl in need for money to help her and her mom buy food
curtis winston is a scammer
Wow….i have been reading all of these posts. Beware of Frank Andrew (frankcares45@yahoo.com) I believe his name on match was Handsomememwants,,,now his profile is off site. The number he is using is 011 2348073715500…he was really good until he told me that he needed 2000 us dollard to buy food in Nigeria until his project was finished in 2 weeks. He claims to own a company that builds hotels and that he would be getting paid 800k at the end of the job. Ya right !!!! he was calling me baby, saying he loves me and wanted to buy me a house…..be careful of this guy ladies !!!!!!! He has many pictures that make him look loke a normal guy. he claims he is a widower and that he was born and raisd in Sweeden….blah blah blah…..feel free t last him with nasty emails too…he wont get money out of me and I will do aything to make sure that i get his name out there so this doesnt happen again
gals. or guys, beware of a guy named blake justin email justin blake97@yahoo.com..he is a smooth one.. 10 days, of talking to him.. knew something was up on 3rd day but played with it…:)
I just got scammed last week from a guy I met on match.com. User name is good_m4u4763, says his name is Michael Fields, 47, email is m.sfieldsyahoo.com. Said he lives in Houston, TX, widowed with kids (Mike 11 and Jessica 8)and is a self-employed contractor working in Nigeria on a road project right now. Wife died of breast cancer 5 years ago, and parents died in an accident 8 years ago. Only child, how very convenient. Said he was born in Spain and moved here when he was 10. Very bad grammer and spelling, but laid on the charm thick. I questioned his last name, Fields is not Spanish, and he said his grandparents were native american and moved to Spain, that’s where his dad was born, mother was a Texan. Goes to church, quoted scriptures to me. Even when I told him I wasn’t religious and didn’t like to discuss religion, he said didn’t care, he was in love with me. After the first email…Sent me an email through Match and when I responded he immediately wanted to go to yahoo, and took his profile on Match down. Spoke with him on the phone and he had an accent (which I was surprised by since he had claimed to live in the US for 37 years), and with the bad connection it could have passed for a messed up latin/texan accent. But he always would want to go back to IM’ing instead of talking. Then after a few weeks he asked me one morning for $700. Although I fell for it, I ignored all the warning bells. Trust your instincts everyone! When I got home from work and started googling him and Nigeria all these scam sights popped up in the search results, so I read, and read, and read… I called Western Union and luckily for me the money hadn’t been picked up, so I was able to have it returned. I sent him an email asking him to cease all contact with me because I knew all about it. He kept trying to contact me after that, but has stopped. He was not happy that I got my money back. A hard lesson learned, but now I know what to look out for. I am going to send the picture he is using. I feel bad for the person whos pictures were highjacked, he is good looking.
I actually got two contacts in one weekend from scammers using the same photos but different details. I too like to mess with them. I generally tell them fairly early on that I don’t work because I have inherited a large sum of money and am busy fixing up my dream house. I play along to see how far they will carry it. My favorites are the ones who try to convince me they grew up in this area but don’t even know “what” Shakespeare is. I always ask questions that will help tell me if they are who they claim to be but I’ve gotten to the point where I recognize a scammer in the first three or four sentences.
Ask questions people, they will trip themselves up!
I just wanted to share some of the hilarious attempts that scammers have tried to pull on me. I am by nature a suspicious and cynical person by nature and that is probably what has saved my butt on several occasions.
One thing I want to throw out here: About 7 years ago, I moved from California to Montana, and changed my Yahoo profile and Yahoo personal ad to reflect this. When I lived in CA, I never had anyone chat me up and try to mislead or scam me. After I changed my location to MT, they started coming out of the woodwork. Is this because they are assuming that people from certain areas are more ignorant and gullible than others? I have always wondered about this. All of the following stories are about men who contacted through yahoo and yahoo personals and any pics they showed me looked like professional modeling shots.
A man from the U.K.(allegedly)who chatted me up one day, and told me I was THE MOST BEAUTIFUL WOMAN HE HAD EVER SEEN! He was very charming and charismatic. (They all seem to be.) And by the end of the convo, he had fallen hopelessly in love with me and simply had to fly out here so we could start our lives together. I played along with it and we kept our communication going. A few days before he was planning on leaving I got an email from him. Tragedy had struck! On his way to purchase the airline ticket, he was robbed! He was heartbroken at not being able to afford the ticket to come see me and could I help out? I told him that I really didn’t have access to this kind of money. He vanished into thin air after that.
Another man also from the U.K.(allegedly) chatted me up. This one claimed to be an art dealer. Similar story (he had fallen in love with me, wanted to fly to me, etc) A few days later, he was going to sell some of this art, and was robbed! All his valuable works of art has been stolen! I told him that was horrible, etc. And he proceeded to tell me that the worst part was that he was going to use the money earned from this transaction to cover his travel expenses to see me. Could I please help him out so we could start our lives together? I told him I didn’t have that kind of money. He kept begging me to try to borrow the money from family and friends. I told him I would try my best, then put him on iggy and never communicated with him again.
A man who claimed to be a life-long resident of the same state I was in, Montana! I noticed during our conversation that he misspelled common words wrong and used “weird” phrases. I talked of the small town I lived in and how I had to travel to the capitol, Billings to do all of my “big” shopping. The convo continued as if nothing was “off”. If he were really a resident of MT, he would’ve known that the capitol is Helena, not Billings.
A man who claimed to be in Boston, born and raised. He also used weird phrases that you wouldn’t expect from an American. By the end of our first talk, he too was madly in love with me. I told him that I desperately wanted him to call me, just so I could hear his sexy voice! After much coaxing, he called me and had a very thick(african?) accent. I mentioned this and he replied that he’s from Boston! Of course he would have an accent! WTF?? I would have expected a man from Boston to sound more like JFK, not Idi Amin!!
A man who claimed to be from Dallas and had lived in TX all his life. He also used a lot of “un-american” wording. I asked him what kind of car he drove. He told me he drove a cardillac. No, that is not a typo. A CARDILLAC!!
I even repeated it back to him to be sure it wasn’t a typo on his part. I proceeded to tell him about my car. It went something like this: “I have a Ford Bronco and I love it! When we have good weather here, I put the top down and just zoom through the countryside! I am limited on the number of people I can fit in my little sportscar, but it’s worth it!” He didn’t seem to notice anything wrong with this, although a real american would have known that a bronco is an SUV, not a convertable little sportscar!
A man who claimed to be an american working in west africa (red flag!!) He claimed to be a foreman at a construction site, something like that. He said he would be coming back to US soon and wanted to pursue a relationship with me when he returns. A few days later, we were chatting and he told me that someone had stolen his work shoes. His boss wanted to send him another pair from the US, but wouldn’t be able to send them directly to him. Could the boss send them to me and then I could send them to my beloved? Sure, I said. Sure enough, a few few days later I got a box shipped from Banana Republic. I opened the box and they were shoes alright. Deck shoes! Like Van’s! Proper work shoes for a man working at a construction site?? I don’t think so! He gave me detailed instructions on how to ship them to him, but I played stupid and told him I didn’t understand, and could he call me to explain over the phone? He called me and had a very thick african accent. I asked him about his accent and he said that he had worked in africa so often that he must have picked-up some of the accent there. Needless to say, I cut-off communication, and the shoes never got sent to him.
This next one is very similar, an american who was working in west africa. After a few days he told me of how he had gotten robbed and his boss needed to send him some clothing. Again, for some reason the package could not be sent to him directly and could I receive it and send it to him? I said sure. This one even emailed me a pre-paid (allegedly) shipping label. A few days later, I got a box of clothing from the Gap. I opened it. In it were clothing of various sizes. No way one man could make an outfit from these clothes. XL pants, S shirt, etc. I let him know the package had arrived, but damn, my printer had gone on the fritz and as soon as it was fixed I would print the documents and sent him his package. I cut-off communication and tossed the clothing away. Nothing in there was the style or sizes that my sons would have worn. To this day, I still haven’t been able to figure out what this man’s ulterior motive was regarding this package. Any ideas?
A man who claimed to be in Washington, chatted me up in was madly in love with me by the time our first talk ended, and wanted to send me flowers. I said sure, and 2 days later I got 2 dozen red roses, a plant, eater lilies, and a bunny. I insisted we talk on the phone so I could thank him properly. He had a very thick foreign accent. I asked why he he has such a thick accent if he has been a life-long resident of America. He said that when he was a small child, he and his family moved overseas briefly and he must have picked up the foreign accent there. I don’t think so. I could barely understand the guy.
A message to other potential “victims” out there: If a person on here seems to be too good to be true, then they probably are. I know the attention makes you feel really good, but think of it this way: What kind of loser has such a meaningless life that they would be willing to drop everything to come here and move in with somebody they barely know? And when someone sends you a pic and this person is DROP-DEAD-GORGEOUS, consider this: (and this may sound shallow) why would someone this GORGEOUS have such a hard time hooking-up in real life?
And finally…a message for all the wannabe “scammers” out there. Give it a rest! We are on to you! We are now sharing our stories with each other. In these stories we mock and ridicule you. We laugh at your unbelievable gall and ignorance! You may have seen a couple of words there that you don’t understand. Hey, you have a computer! LOOK IT UP!
I was scammed too bad… i had to learn my lesson the hard way fell for the biggest game on earth mine as well been a hooker gettin pimped… i was stupid and fell for the game cost me my hard earned money, all this lookin for LOVE my dumb self knew better knowing good and well if he needed my money he didnt need to be with me in the first place lost a lot i was so conned i was so blind and keep asking myself why what was wrong with me? I swear i was under a dumbspell learned the hard way only thing right now that eases my hurt i say at least i am not in a casket behind this scam.BPM site name was Kenneth Robert THomas claimed to be a system analyst i was so stupid…
Sylvia- I am so sorry for the heartache, but so glad you did a little research and found my website.
Every time someone like you tells us their story it helps others not get scammed. There are some cruel and evil people out there and these Nigerian scammers are the lowest of the low. Playing with peoples hearts. Congratulations on finding this out before you lost any money!
Yesterday..I felt desperate and almost in tears,I met a man on divorce people meet .com 4weeks ago his name is Mark Santana he is originally from Italy but the last time we spoke he sounded African , he is doing some art project
for the Nigeria Government FOR 7months his project is now finished and he would be returning back to the US 8/5/2010 he cant wait to see me so much in love
we are going to have the best life ever he even called me MRS SANTANA LOL
Suddenly I got this email..the Nigerian Gov wants 100.000 for taxes before they give him his check..BABE i am so sorry to drag you in to this but i know that you have a kind heart and i promise to pay you back as soon as i get to NY can you send me 2000.00 RED flag ..after reading about the scams in your Nigeria column ..I decided to play with him’ so I told him to send me all the information as to where he wants me to send that money.. Immediately he sends me his friends address and asked me to
send money via western union and email him the ref number .. ladies I almost got caught up in this Nigerian garbage.. I am now laughing to myself and saying that old crook would be waiting forever ”’ thank you so much for your website.
Out of twelve there must be a Judas Iscariot. not all Nigerians are scammers.you sending money to someone you don’t know or even see you are the biggest fool on earth.if those scammers come out clean and soliciting to you for money or relationship you will took to your heel without looking back because they are Nigerians and they have nothing to offer.for you not to run away they will turn the table round by faking them self.one thing i know for sure is that most ladies fall for lies. by the time you start telling them the truth they will run away.there is this saying that goes use what you have to get what you want.some Nigerians are real for sure.so stop condemning my country.i registered with eharmony with my real profile. everything about me there is real but up still now i get no respond to those sent mail just because i’m from Nigeria.it’s been up to 3yrs now. if i had put the fake profile i will get uncountable mails within the weeks.
that is for the dating stuff but for other fraudulent act i don’t know.
some people are just evil in this world and i wonder what they derive from it
WARNING!!! LADIES PLEASE BE CAREFUL OF THESE SCAMMERS. FOLLOW YOUR GUT! If I can prevent one person from being scammed than justice is served. He goes by the name JOHNNY MCKAY, NICK MCKAY, FEMSON AYINDE. If he ask you for money for anything…REFUSE. He will claim his undying love for you, then ask you for money to come visit you. Once you give him a few dollars for a plane ticket, he disappears. Please keep your hard earned money and save yourself heartache. If he contacts you, run. Remember you do not really know who this person is. Do not fall for his lies or love letters. Keep your money Ladies. Another person wrote about him below as well. Again, BEWARE OF THE NAME JOHNNY MCKAY, NICK MCKAY, FEMSON AYINDE. HE IS A SCAMMER.
WARNING!!!! LADIES PLEASE BE CAREFUL. If I can prevent one person from being scammed than justice will be served. He uses the name JOHNNY MCKAY, NICK MCKAY, FEMSON AYINDE.
Man, I think I was really scammed. The name is Johnny Mckay.
Beware of Peter Bowen from Alpharetta GA-grew up in Spain has a 3 year old daughter-Lilian. He is in Nicaragua on business-self employed contractor and is a scammer!! Got hurt while working in Nicaragua and wanted $ to pay for internet connection. He didn’t get me though-but another almost did…..Wayne Zambruther from Bangor Pa-same story as a few above-just moved here from CA-wife and parents died in a car accident a few years ago-has a 6year old son-Paulo. “Wayne” has only been in PA for a week, but is in FL on business looking for “arts” to open his own Gallery-had to leave to go to the Phillipines to get the arts he wanted for his gallery—scum bag! Oh-and he wrote hmmm i c all the time-weirdo’s!! It’s a shame that good people get sucked into this crap and then give up on the online dating-sad. Good luck to you all out there!
Beware of Lwilliamson89 on Yahoo Personals. The first two e-mails were written by someone that knew how to write english. All subsequest e-mails were full of sweet romantic stuff that almost made me gag. I questioned alot of things that didn’t make sense and he never addressed them. Yes, he was a widower and had a 6 year old named tess. I checked this morning and he took down his profile. All of a sudden he had to go to Nigeria to see his sick father. I knew from the beginning he was a scammer. I guess he figured out I was on to him. Pastyies, please don’t send ANY money! He is a scammer!!!!!
Report him to Yahoo! May not do any good but do it anyway.
Hey all you ladies…I aswell recieved a bunch of emails form a 42 beautiful man form Wisconsin with a 8 yeard old daugheter..his dad was sick went to Nigera to be with his sick dad…wife past away..has asked for NOTHING yet!! anyone want to share photos of this loser??
jetcitywoman22@yahoo.com
theresalopez46@yahoo.com scammer goes by “theresa lopez” please mess with this scammer i was gonna enter her/his? e mail into those “win a free laptop” spam sites but i think it will be better if people waste there time to keep then from scamming others.
what i read on this site saved me from being scammed! she talked to me for a week before writing about a story of getting robbed and stuck in nigeria while there to buy “suitable” artworks to market in US. she even sent a fake police report, which i looked up and the station didnt exist. thanks people who posted all this helpful info. she was very convincing but there where way too many grammar errors and alot of repetitiveness, and also a weird old british type of english.
Oh boy, I have one like this on the line right now! He took down his yahoo ad right after I responded to his inquiry. He is a good looking white American guy, widowed, with a small daughter, with a sick father in Nigeria. He goes by the name of Larry Williamson. The photo in the ad is not the same as the ones he sent afterward. The wording, misspellings, everything is the same! He has not asked for money yet, and there is no way in hell I would send any. The initial photo shows him, in a red snuggie, holding a cat on his lap. The second batch shows him holding a birthday cake with a number ‘8’ candle, one of him and his daughter Tess, one of him in a chair with red slippers on, and a head shot. He looks russian or eastern european. I have all the photos and email exchanges for comparison.
He gave me a cell phone number with a nigerian exchange, and let me know he has a heavy accent. If someone was born here in the USA and spent most of their life here why would they have a heavy foreign accent? I never even came close to falling for this, by now it is almost amusing and I am curious to see where it will go..LOL
Kim, Please realize this person is fake. Watch my video where I discuss this with the hosts of a local talk show, and your story is almost textbook.
The good news is you discovered it before you sent any large amounts of money.
Many people do not realize it until they have lost thousands of dollars.
Warn your friends and follow my advice next time on how to avoid these situation online. My tips are listed here.
I believe that I am being scammed by one of these people. He is supposed to be a petroleum engineer working a contract in Lagos Nigeria. Drop dead gorgeous – has a 10 year old daughter, wife was killed 5 years ago in a car accident. Is madly in love with me – has called several times, needs money to pay his expenses because his money is tied up… Found me on Yahoo personal ad – deleted his account as soon as we started chatting. Has been very attentive…chats all the time – avoids direct questions. I would like to share the photos that I have and also see the photos that yu have if you believe we have the same guy. I did break dwon and send him a little bit of money… now he wants more and says that I do not trust him if I don’t sent him the money and that maybe our laptops are the ones in love. Has written poetry to me always calls me baby. Please e-mail me if you think you know who this guy is… and also send pictures so that we can track him down since he is breaking girls hearts!!
OMG I think i was contacted by one threw personal Yahoo goes by the name Johnny Mckay he was a missionary in Nigeria .he email me with a message about how he was looking to settle down and start a family he want to have 2 kids .and that he didn’t care about my being older he seem to say all the right things about how important love was .i added him to my contact and forward my cell number. the following day he email more about himself it quite long in detail he also stated that he would take his profile out of personal because he did not want to be distracted by other women . on the day that we finally chatted on line he contact threw a different email address, i wonder and ask he said it was the name he went by he was really working the i go to church and god stuff said he was very into faith.i fell for his lies at the end of our chat he told me that he had to ask me something but was not sure now i would take it .i ask to tell me and i did expect what he ask he ask me to borrow 370.00 because he had no groceries and had to pay rent and internet i fell upset and bad for him he said he would pay me back that he was not able to cash his check in Nigeria he would pay me back when he move back to the states were he want me to tell him a kind of to start when he came back he also call me babe and that made me feel weird i didn’t really know him that well i ask hem to stop.i was upset and he kept saying he was sorry but he really need the money to for groceries i felt so bad and agree to send it the following day . well i just didn’t trust him so the next day he text me asking me if i was going to send the money threw western union . i decided not to send a complete stranger my hard earn cash i told him this and ask him not email back that was 4 hours ago has not bug me .
hello would you tell me how I would go about contacting the US ARMY about this scammer
I had the same experience, except it was a woman who stated she was an antique dealer in west africa….she kept copying and pasting the same thing over and over from her profile. Kept referring to me as “sweetie” but did send additional pictures…grammer was bad, and the woman’s whose identity she did us lives in Texas, will contact her and let her know. She even game me her phone number in Africa. I have however made one real connection that is real, but overall this has not been a good experience, I wouldn’t continue with Yahoo in the future.
Yahoo personals…..bad….I just deleted my profile…I got a hit from a guy in Austin tx who sais he is an International soccer agent…guess what he is in nigeria……first week all lovey…romantic….then bam needs 10k for his soccer kids…..then he comes up with 8k and only needs 2k….no way….same sob story he is from Hungary found his wife in bed with another guy…..his life is over…….Wants to marry me….blah….blah …
Hi, I’m back with a little more information. I called the guy whose name Stephen used. It was his name, his town & state…but not Stephen’s picture, or profile. He is talking to a couple girls from Nigeria, but says he has not given them his name or town & state, and they haven’t asked for money, yet.
But now he is warned, which is why I looked him up.
I think everyone should look up the name, city & state of the profile, that the Nigerian scam people are using, and warn them. This guy had no clue. We can probably save a lot of people, if we all do it. From what I’m reading, and finding out…nobody else is doing much about it.
I just knew there was something wrong with him. He only knew me less then a month and was falling in love with me. Yet had never met me. Oh, his email and it does still work is jamesbrown4ray@yahoo.com. I have decided personals are not for me. Too many crazy people out there in person much less meeting them online.
I kept getting emails from yahoo personals, and one day decided to check it out. I found him…. I wish I had found you first…last talked to this guy about 1 1/2 hrs ago. I would like to give you some of the emails, and his pictures. He also called himself, a widower. His parents had died when he was young…but he forgot that last night told me he was 37 when they died. Said lived in Melrose, MN, and been married 6 years to wonderful woman, was devastated the last 6 yrs because of her death. Didn’t want to talk about it because the pain of looking back at the past. Had 2 profiles up. Very similar, but each had a different picture, and one said that he was 6’1 and the other said 5’7. May have had a few different interests too. But told me he was a Building Contractor, supervisor/owner…that he is coming back in 6 weeks time, and wants to talk to me on Y Messenger. He tells me that he goes to a different country every month for work contracts. Now today he asks me for money to pay his motel bill. I will see how much I can copy into this message of the emails from him…I have pictures too…please contact for those if I can’t get them into this. Thanks for your information..misery loves company…uhg
Thank you for the email it is really nice to hear from you, i am so Glad to receive a wonderful email from you, And you seems like a very nice and humble woman i will like to know more and i am interested in you and see as thing goes for us, i am originally from Germany But i live in Minnesota melrose and i am into Building Construction Field and due to My Job i am presently out of the country now and i will be coming back to the state very soon
Thank You so Very Much for the nice Note and you seems Like a very nice woman and i can feel that we have allot of Things in common and i will like you to know i am presently in Nigeria Now doing Some construction and i will be coming back to state in 6 weeks time i am originally from Germany and i have lived here in the state for about 12 years now i was married for Six Years and also became a widower six years back and since then Things has really been Hard for me and right now i am Just ready to Move On with My life and find that someone special i can be with and also spend time with i don’t smoke neither do i drink i am just a simple man Looking for someone i can spend the whole and rest of My life with, i am the Only child of My parent i lost My parent very Long time ago in a Car Accident and since then Things has really been hard for me so i had to come back to the state and start Up My life Again Cause at this Present Moment i really want to Forget the past and Try and Face the Future Cause Looking At the past will never bring anything Good i just really want to move on with my life, i like swimming, Hiking, Bowling and Hanging Out with friends and also i am 5.7 tall with black Hair and also with Blues eyes, i like all Kind of Music i like Hip Hop Blues R and
Thank you so much for the nice compliment once again i am just really so happy to receive your email again you re such a wonderful woman i am so Glad to hear that, Tell me do you have a yahoo id so we can chat online and get to know each other more
it is the middle of the day and I was thinking about you, as usual. I want you to know how much I sincerely love the countless hours we spend talking. It means so much to me. It truly seems like I’ve known you forever and I honestly can’t imagine life without you now,miss you. I’m just here thinking about you,The thought of you in my arms right now sounds so good to me. I just want you to know how much i care about you and how much i want to know you more,I miss you every second of my life. I knew I found someone special.I still don’t know what I did to be so lucky to have you in my life, my dream come true… I am so thankful though. In this short time that we’ve been together, we have grown so much and I can’t wait to see what the future holds for us and i want to see as Things goes
i Care about You so much
Stephen Mayers
Thank you so much My heart i really Enjoyed reading Your poem and i am so Glad to hear such a Beautiful words from You And i will really Like you to know You mean allot to me and My feelings for You Keep On getting Stronger Everyday and i am so Glad to have met You and i will Like to know you more My heart You are such a very Loving and romantic Woman i have ever set My eyes on
Thank You so much Sweetie you are such a nice woman and i am so Glad and i really Appreciate you Trust me, So tell me how are you doing This wonderful morning i really miss you so much and i have been Thinking about you, i really want you to know you have my heart and also You have been On my mind and i am so Glad baby and i can’t imagine How it is gonna be when we meet in person Cause i really feel inside me that you are that special someone for me
Thank You Honey for informing me, Actually i don’t work Saturdays and sundays i usually stay at Home and also Relax Myself So i am going to be Online so we can talk Okay
One day without you is like one moment without air, like one day without food and a week without water.,One day without you is like a month without sunshine or shelter.Hey, Honey. I’m missing you so much that you’ve been on my mind all day and night. I awoke hurriedly this morning when the alarm went off,What magic you’ve done, Darling, but I guess my feelings have made their way to you in the form of dreams. Dileep, you are my happiness, Dear, and my adorable darling. I care about you so deeply there are no words to explain the tremendous tidal wave of emotions flowing through me just from the sound of your smile , the mention of your name, the vision of your smile or thoughts of you. i do Care about you so much and you are my heart and you mean allot to me sweetie
Hope to hear from you
Stephen
i miss you more and more every day. I think about the times we had together and the happy days you and I shared, which are all now memories. But, just remember one thing: I will always care for you cause you do own my heart
And you will always remain in My heart Cause i do Care
Hope to hear from you Stephen
Below are my rememberances of a Yahoo Messenger conversation:
Note: We talked on y mess in my mail box. He said that he felt we had a special connection that, seldom comes along and that he was still interested in getting to know me more, and that he thought about me all the time, and couldn’t get me out of his head. That we are only here for a time, and life was short, so we need to make the best of the time that we have. He said that he wants to get to know me more, and that he wants a special life long relationship, and he thinks that God brought us together, and he loves me, and wants me, and that he wants me to love myself, and he would help me. He is still wanting to get to know me more. He thinks we have something special that doesn’t come along very often. He sent me M kisses. And wanted to know my middle name…I told him that my mother had named me, _______because it is French, because she was half French. He asked if I knew how to speak French. Asked me if I would like him to teach me German. I said yes. And told him that my daughter had learned German in school, and that my other daughter was engaged to a boy from a German family. He thought that was good. He wanted to know how old my children were, and who was the oldest. I told him their names, and ages. He wanted to know if my children lived close by. I told him He wants me to get a calling card, said that probably $20 card would give us about an hour to talk, and that he would get one too. I told him that money is tight for me right now, and I had just spent 154. On dog at vet, To get his email address from Y Personals, and 20 for college admission. He asked if I was looking for work…I said yes, but would rather go to school, He asked why I didn‘t go to work day, and take night classes..I told him it would take me forever to get thru school, and I hated my old job, and wanted to change careers, and needed to make enough money when out to pay the bills. He said okay. Also, said that I was glad I hadn’t spent as much as I could have on a house. He just waited, til I responded, saying that maybe I could take 20 from the money to visit , then he asked me if I was going to….I said yes, think it is important that we talk on the phone..good for relationship.
I did not get the phone card, but did end up talking to him briefly on the phone this morning…he wanted me to get off phone (my dime), and go to Y Messenger…that’s when he asked for money…because I told him I wanted to meet him, not talk anymore until then…he was trying to persuade me..called me, I ignored and started to look on internet for scam info. and found this site.
This is what his profiles said:
“Me and My Ideal Match”
i am a Very easy going, good sense of humour, considerate.Looking for a lady that is loyal, honest, loving, not deceiving, caring, who has good family values also, cares for her personal appearance and the hygiene for a serious relationship.Someone who fills the missing parts of me.simple and happy people are my favorite. Someone should be content at the symphony or walking in the woods. A person who is able to enjoy and share life with someone else.I’m very honest, communicative, hardworking, very cheerful character, I live life with great joy, I am an independent person, very positive in my life, with conservative family values, I think that the family is very important, much respect to The woman, I am very romantic, a faithful person, I like to travel and difrutar of life in a healthy way.It’s kind of hard to describe my self with out using the same old cliché’s that every one else uses. But I’ll start off by saying clearly that I am a good man. No man is ever perfect. But I strive to be a good man, and to improve myself. I am fiercely loyal to my loved ones and friends. I take pride in the fact that I am an honest man. I also take pride in being a faithful man. In this day and age way too many men dishonor themselves by cheating. So I take pride in the fact that I have never cheated in my life. I am a strong man both physically and mentally. But I also know when to be soft and demure. I am very well educated and successful. But that is not to say that my career comes before any thing else. It’s quite the opposite, family and love ones come before any thing else (including myself). I work to live NOT, live to work.
The other profile…almost the same, that he had up:
More about me:i am a Very easy going, good sense of humour, considerate.Looking for a lady that is loyal, honest, loving, not deceiving, caring, who has good family values also, cares for her personal appearance and the hygiene for a serious relationship.Someone who fills the missing parts of me.simple and happy people are my favorite. Someone should be content at the symphony or walking in the woods. A person who is able to enjoy and share life with someone else.I’m very honest, communicative, hardworking, very cheerful character, I live life with great joy, I am an independent person, very positive in my life, with conservative family values, I think that the family is very important, much respect to The woman, I am very romantic, a faithful person, I like to travel and difrutar of life in a healthy way.It’s kind of hard to describe my self with out using the same old cliché’s that every one else uses. But I’ll start off by saying clearly that I am a good man. No man is ever perfect. But I strive to be a good man, and to improve myself. I am fiercely loyal to my loved ones and friends. I take pride in the fact that I am an honest man. I also take pride in being a faithful man. In this day and age way too many men dishonor themselves by cheating. So I take pride in the fact that I have never cheated in my life. I am a strong man both physically and mentally. But I also know when to be soft and demure. I am very well educated and successful. But that is not to say that my career comes before any thing else. It’s quite the opposite, family and love ones come before any thing else (including myself). I work to live NOT, live to work.
This is the part of the email that I sent Y Personals that doesn’t give out all personal information, just so you can see a sample response from them. Afer I sent the report, I talked to him, and then emailed later that night to have it come back as failed, and undeliveralble. He contacted me this morning and gave me a new email address: His 1st email was: stephendm101@yahoo.com and his second was: stephendm01…His phone Nigeria International number, (and it works, because I called it and got him…same voice as when he called me) is: 011-234-806-796-8632
Thank you for writing to Yahoo! Personals.
We appreciate you informing us about possible abuse in Yahoo! Personals.
Unfortunately, abuse by various third parties can come in a variety of
forms. Yahoo!’s Terms of Service and Guidelines prevents many of these
methods, and Yahoo! implements several measures to help identify,
reduce, and prevent such abuses by third parties.
Notification by customers like you is vital to our efforts and can
assist us to identify potentially abusive profiles, emails and other
methods by which third parties attempt to abuse the system. Yahoo!
welcomes as much specific information as you can recall or forward
regarding your complaint of abuse. Yahoo! will investigate the
profile/email you informed us above, and will take appropriate action if
warranted.
As you know, certain laws, regulations and policies restrict and govern
Yahoo!’s ability to provide you with information about other Yahoo!
users. If you have additional questions we urge you to review Yahoo!’s
privacy policy.
Please continue to notify us about any conduct you find questionable in
Yahoo! Personals. Yahoo! is concerned about preventing abuse, and will
continue to evaluate any material that violates the Yahoo! Terms of
Service.
Thank you again for contacting Yahoo! Personals.
Regards,
I hope this helps others. I don’t regard myself as stupid, but am a fool for love, as so many others. This time, I was Stupid though…gave way to much personal information..it was the past, and similarities in dead parent, etc. I honestly don’t know if I am going to ever try to find anyone again. I was content. But like everyone else..would love to find a true connection, and love with the right person.
Faye Barnes
A deleated profile on yahoo personals is most definitly a scam. she, A Nigerian woman of 26 wasn’t sure if I was ok with a younger woman. Me being 27 since the first of april was a little tickled that someone would ask that question. This was the first clue to her being a scam artist. the following clues would have to be the excessive gramatical and spelling errors. I’m no english proffesor myself, but if you can’t even have one sentense written so that I’m not having to guess what your trying to say there is something wrong. Things I have noticed the questions they ask. they are copy/pasted from another text.
1)What do you seek for in a relationship?
2)What are the basic qualities you seek for in a lady?
3)What sort of relationship you seek for?
4)What interests you?
5)What do you do for fun?
6)Do you Like Intimate In public?
7)How long have you been single?
8)What’s being single like?
90Do you know I’m 26years old..Does age matters to you??
10)How do you treat your lady?
11)Why do you need a lady?
12)Can you love this lady?
13)What is love to you?
14)Would you hit your lady for any reasons?
15)Do you have a Kids?
16)When do you Start this Online Dating Atmosphere??
17?How Old are you?
18?What do you do for a Living?
If you get any of the following type of emails your probably have a scammer. I feal like such an idiot for actually answering these questions. It took a lot of time and thought.
good luck. never send any body money that you haven’t known for a long time.
I was contacted by a major in the US Army – stationed in Fort Irwin CA. He stated that he was retiring in June and would be returning to my state. I could not figure out why he had a residence in my state if he was stationed in CA and had been in the army for 23 years.
I have found so many similarities! I questioned his grammar once or twice, a major in the army has to be intelligent, right? Well, he was allegedly in Iraq, 7 hours ahead of me, so blamed this on being tired or not looking at his typos.
After 3 weeks, he emailed me a picture of an engagement ring, purchased while on patrols outside of Bagdad and he said he intended to give it to me when he returned to retire and marry me. Freaked me out, but I have never been in Iraq for a year and thought maybe he was just trying to hold onto something from home and he would settle down after he returned.
Well, then a week ago he told me he would not be in touch for a few days while he was away on a mission. In the mission, they saved 8 people, Iraqi diplomats. He was to go to an award ceremony. After the day of the ceremony, he told me that they gave him a medal and he shared a photo of a bag full of US money. I questioned the legality of this, how can a soldier accept this kind of money? He asked me to accept a package from an Iraqi diplomat with the money, my ring, and photos of him. He did send me close to 10 photos at different times. When I questioned why my cousin was unable to find him in the army database (he’s stationed in Kuwait), he sent me photos the next day of “him” in uniform from his younger years, name on uniform. All photos were of the same person. I compared smile lines, a POW bracelet, nose, lips, you name it.
I couldn’t see where the scam was. I contacted investigators from the US Army, thinking this was an embezzlement scam – they took information, researched and called me back to say this is a scam and if this person shows up, to call local authorities. Great.
I refused to go to my local airport and pick up the package.
Then, I got email from a person claiming to be a diplomat from Iraq stating my package had left Bagdad International Airport and would arrive 2 days later in my local airport and the diplomat would be there to hand deliver it to me. I watch 24… I had all sorts of ideas flowing through my brain.
Then it came… the diplomat was in Guam, stuck at the airport because he needed to pay his “stamps” to finish his flight to me. He needed $3,000.00.
Hmmm… no! I refused.
My lovely little army major tried every guilt trip in the book – this money was our security, our future – my ring was with the bag, etc.
Finally I told him – there’s cash IN the bag. Have this guy open it up, take the money needed, and put it in a new bag. I knew, of course, that there was no bag of money or package… just the need for my own money.
I read the example emails above – oh goodness –
so so many similarities. Cos, bad grammar, Dear, referencing his son calling me Mommy and my children calling him Daddy (immediately I corrected this.. you never call anyone Mommy or Daddy unless that is who they are!)…
So, I guess now I’ll go on over to my yahoo account and blast the guy and tell him not to contact me again. I have known it was a scam for a week or so… prior to that, I felt so guilt ridden that if I was going to hurt this man who is so proudly serving our country overseas… wow, what a great angle to go with !
Thanks for the info !!
After one of my best friends married the man of her dreams she met online, I decided to give online dating a try. What struck me as odd after I started communicating with this guy who emailed me on Yahoo was that his last name was Smith, but supposedly his father was Nigerian…how many “Smiths” do you know in Nigeria? I even questioned him about it and he said it was his name. The wife dying in the car accident was my next hint that something was not right. But the final clue was the sick father who stayed in the hospital for weeks then suddenly needed an “urgent surgery” to save his life…shouldn’t that have been done weeks ago when he went in the hospital? After he asked me for money and I told him I was referring him to the FBI and CIA and they would track down his sorry ass thru his URL and shoot him his cohorts for trying to scam American citizens (I even referred him to what happened when pirates tried to take over a US cargo ship), I never heard from him again!
Got to be more careful!!! I work in a business where people lie to me all the time but even I was caught off guard at first with this fool! The letter that was published from the author was almost VERBATIM the letter I received from the Nigerian scammer…I mean they did not even take the time to change the story or even the grammer or punctuation! He did add one new twist…his wife died in a car accident on June 16, 2008 and left him to take care of his daughter Stella. He has been SO heartbroken and this is his first time trying to date anyone since that time. Then of course the story he tried to use to reel me into the scam (My father is sick in Nigeria and my flight leaves in 9 hours… bullshit, bullshit, bullshit!!!) I continued to communicate with him just to see how far he would take this, then BAM!!! This morning, I got an email saying that the “father” needs a heart operation and he does not have enough to pay for it (by now he’s “fallen madly in love with me”…over email no less!) but his father needs my help (in the form of cash!) to survive. Looks like he better start planning his Dad’s funeral if he’s depending on me to save him!!!
Why do people fall for these idiots? It is so obvious they are full of crap. Their sentences don’t have punctuation or if it does they don’t capitalize the next letter at the beginning of the next sentence. They are all over match.com too, at least there are tons of men. I get the messages, winks, etc. from them on a DAILY basis..sometimes 5 or more a day. My response to these obvious scammers is always the same. Where do you live? Nigeria, South Africa or Malaysia? Those are the countries that these guys work out of. They are currently changing their routing of their computers so if you do a ping it does sometimes come back to the City or at least the State they say they are in. If you take a close look you will see that it does not originate from there.
It’s sad because online dating, or finding someone who would truly care for you is so hard to start with, and then you have to constantly be on guard if the person sending you a message is real or not. Can nothing be done to catch these people and punish them? Why can yahoo and match not send a ping to the people who sign up to see if they are being honest about their locations? Is that too much to ask? I guess they are just too busy taking our money for nothing. 🙁
I have run across a couple of scam sites. C-Date and CDate. The first was sending me letters from women who quickly professed their love for me. Then a couple of profile matches mentioned Nigeria. Either doing business there or family there. The one that caught my suspisioun was a letter writer who had suddenly become stuck in Nigeria and asked for $1000 to get her out of her delema. I pressed her to give me an avenue to check out where I could send the money and questions about her location, hotel address (the hotel was the scorce of her problems)and names and places I would need to help her myself directly. Sheasked for money sent through Western Union and played up the damsel in distress stuff and told me what she was going to do with me when I picked her up at O’Hare in Chicago. I’ll try to post some of the e-mails here:
Thanks for your interest in me ( I’m a Photographer for a living) I have no kids. I am a very personable person and I like to be involved in a lot of things. I have a problem at the moment which is just a minor setback for me. I don’t have anyone in my life (friend or family) at this time and I do get lonely. I am not looking for love, just a companion. If love should find me then I’m open to it, but you must understand I am a package deal. I will like to hook up sometimes but at the moment I am having a big problem Thats is making things hard for me dont know if you care to know what my problems are i am a very outgoing, open minded person. I would love to find friendship first and possibly love? I am a very good girl, but not at all innocent. I love to have fun no matter what the situation be. I’m a very positive person with a good spirit. I really like someone who’s open minded. I don’t like fake people, drugs, or couch potatoes. I love diversity and I enjoy people that are down to earth. I desire to become a better person inside and out.. I’m a music fanatic. I have a hunger to learn new things. One of my hobbies is Traveling. I like positive people and I try to surround myself with people who have an open mind. My interests are camping, swimming, volleyball, having fun. I am seeking mature, stable, focused, monogamous gentlemen to sweep me off my feet, spoil me rotten and embark on a brand shiny new relationship. Don’t be shy, come on down i’m not being the idealistic woman who looks for prince charming but i like real people who knows how to respect their partner. i really like adventurous guys who knows how to please women not just to get into their pants. I have some feelings that something might work out between us. I am mostly lovers not haters at all. dislike people that lie, cheaters. I am a woman of my words and I expect to find the same in the right man.I have a very big heart and I would love to share a part of my life with someone special…
Nancy.
Dear Bob,
Thanks for showing interest in me . I liked everything i have read here about you and I’ve got a feeling that you have the qualities that I am looking for. I want you to know some few details about me. But I must tell you that I am looking for the right man that I am going to spend the rest of life with. I need someone I could trust and get the same unconditional love and trust in return. I have some family issues that I needed to take care of. As I am the only child of my parent, they have loved me unconditionally when I was a kid and till now that death took my mom and my dad missing somewhere in Africa. I have promised to return the same favor and I hope you can understand what I am trying to say at the end of this letter. I lost my mother when I was 12 since then my father was busy taking care of me and his business. He supported me through everything that I needed support with( My Photography career, etc) 2yrs ago he spoke to me that he’s leaving for Africa to sell is coal factory. About 3 months ago he told me the agent that was going to sell it has sold the factory and he had to travel down to the Africa to get his money. and its allot of money. I have not heard from him for over 2month and I had no Idea what happened to him. So that’s why I had to come down here and file a missing person report as I don’t know what might have happened to him. ever since then nothing form the police, and I get stranded to the point that I end up owing the hotel that I am staying at.. Now the hotel am staying seized my return ticket cuz i don’t have money to pay for the bills I owe, and i don’t have no one to help me out. The only person who would have helped me is missing. I hope you can understand what I am going through here. I don’t know if you could help me out of this. I promise if you can help me out that I am going to do everything to pay you back. You have my words.. I do hope you can now understand me allot more better.
Nancy…
Nancy,
You sound like your in a hell of a jam. I don’t know what I can do for you at this time. I may be able to guide you through this but I need some basic information. Please don’t think I’m prying. I’ll list the information I need:
1) What is your citizenship and do you have a passport in your possession?
2) What is your exact location and the name of the hotel you are/were staying at?
Addresses and phone numbers are important.
3) Your fathers name and country of citizenship.
4) The name of the factory and any information on the real estate agent. Who bought it?
Again, names, addresses and phone numbers are important.
5) Where is the closest consult of the country on your passport? Have you contacted them
yet?
6) I need your airline information. Carrier, flight number, itinarary, date of return flight, etc.
7) Where can you be contacted by phone or in person?
OK, now some numbers; what is the amount owed the hotel? And who is the point of contact?Assuming that they still return your ticket and that the ticket is still good do you have a place to stay until the flight date? I’m trying to think of all the avenues of “escape” possible to get you home.
I know a former Marine who has done a few communication contracts in Afrrica and may be able to give me some ideas on the best direction to take getting you home. Time is of the essance so please get the information back to me as soon as possible.
Your father carrying around a large amount of money in Africa is asking for problems. Not a wise move. Life is cheap there and money is power. His dissapearance for so long doesn’t give me a good feeling. A wire transmital to transfer funds should have been used……..
Dear Bob,
Thanks for your message and concern about me . i will be happy to meet the right man at last as I have also lived a very rough past, I have mixed up with wrong people thinking they are are good friends. But this is not the best place to explain myself, its something that we will talk about in person when we are together on maybe our first date or later on depends on how this leads us. everything I told you about myself is for real and nothing is secret as I don’t know how to keep secret. If there is anything that you would like to ask me feel free to ask I am very open minded, and down to earth. i really do need your help right now at the moment am really going through hell over here in Nigeria where i am presently since i have been hanging here alone and i have lose a lot money down here for my dad investigation and still yet no good news finding him and now i need you help to come back home because staying here is not helping but getting life worst for me been alone and stuck I will i will need you help with the sum of ($1000.00 USD) to come back home I really feel very uncomfortable asking you since I am a total stranger now and i will be very glad if you can do give me a supporting hand with this and i promise you i will never fail you or make you regret of meeting me because am sure you will like meeting me in person too as i like meeting a kinda of man like you in person too and we can spend somedays together if you can do help me send this money real soon let me know what you feel about this .
Sincerely Nancy…XXXXXXXXX
Dear Bob
Am very happy to see you still keep talking with me despite with the mess i have got myself into you have been surprising me since we start written each other and i believe you and want to believe you more and more till we meet in person as i believe that is happening real soon only if you keep your promise and not changing your word this time it very easy to help me come back home this time as i already have my return plane ticket to fly out of this place back to Illinois if you want to buy me new ticket i dont mind please i dont want this issue to be more than this ok everything is working fine already and about my missing dad now i known and confirm i cant do anything about it until am back to the state to get the investigator more document they will need to trace where he is or the money for the coal factory he came to sold please i will be so glad if you can help me once to come home with money i need i will write you back shortly soon with details and info to send me this money i also added you on my yahoo list if you chat on yahoo messenger i cant wait to meet you…
Nancy…xxxxxxxxxxx
Dear Bob
Am very happy to see you still keep talking with me despite with the mess i have got myself into you have been surprising me since we start written each other and i believe you and want to believe you more and more till we meet in person as i believe that is happening real soon only if you keep your promise and not changing your word this time it very easy to help me come back home this time as i already have my return plane ticket to fly out of this place back to Illinois if you want to buy me new ticket i dont mind please i dont want this issue to be more than this ok everything is working fine already and about my missing dad now i known and confirm i cant do anything about it until am back to the state to get the investigator more document they will need to trace where he is or the money for the coal factory he came to sold please i will be so glad if you can help me once to come home with money i need i will write you back shortly soon with details and info to send me this money i also added you on my yahoo list if you chat on yahoo messenger i cant wait to meet you…
Nancy…xxxxxxxxxxx
Dea Bob,
Thanks so much for your caring and concern about me again i talk to hotel management when i get your previews message and i was told that as soon as the money is paid i will give it to them then the hotel manager will give me back my document then drive me down to the Airport here with their hotel shuttle so i can tender my document at the Airport so then i can get in plane i will be flying Via British Airways and i will be coming down into O’HARE AIRPORT so i can call you as soon as i get there so you can come and pick me up at the Airport don’t know if this can work out for you let me know so i can send you my flight schedule info before i fly out of here for how to get the Money to the Hotel the hotel manager told me that you send the money in my name so i can cash it myself and give it to them the hotel said you can send the money through Western Union Money Transfer Agent Location near you to send the Money because there is also (Western Union ) agent at the hotel premises here where i can use my ID to pick money up and as soon as it sent just E-mail me the Confirmation Receipt i will need to pick money here is My Info to send money.
Receiver Name: Nancy Cole
City: Lagos
Country: Nigeria
Text Question: My Pet
Text Answer: Bird
Amount: $1000 USD
Please i hope you can send the money as you promise helping me and as soon as the money is sent the hotel manager told me to ask you to get me the confirmation receipt you use sending money like the
Senders Info’s Like:
Senders Name:
Senders Address:
(MTCN#) Money Transfer Confirmation Number:
Because i will need that to pick up the money at the (WesternUnion) over here and don’t forget to email me a Phone# to reach you when i arrived am going to email you my flight info so you can know time i will arrive at the airport only if you can come and pick me let me know i will really love to meet you in person after helping me out from this mess and send me airport i can change my destination to fly into i will be flying down straight to you if you like i hope you don’t mind and maybe spend some few days with you before going back to my place because i don’t want to fly home direct from here, and then we will see each other in person face to face and see if things can work out fine for us thanks for your caring waiting to hear a good news back from you sooner than later.
Sincerely
Nancy…XXXXXXX
Scam City if you ask me.
The other site appears to be CDATE, not to be confused with C-DATE.
CDATE has you sign up using your credit card and tells you that you have automatic entry into their sight with your user ID and the Password that they give you through the e-mail. Once you sign up the sight keeps sending you back to the sign up page or tells you that due to inactivity the log on has been closed and to reenter the site through the log on page. It was an endless cycle. There was no response to help inquiries.
Watch of both these sites.
This is excellent info. Too bad most of us didn’t have knowledge or insight
of scammers before getting involved. I guess we thought yahoo was legit!
Got hit from Yahoo Personals – I know something was up after the 1st email, because the email was as if it was pre-written for anyone. Not a response to the email I sent and my 2nd and 3rd responses were one liner want to see when the scam came. When he state he was going to Nigera I didn’t need to know anymore that it was scam. Thing is I sent the information below to yahoo.personals all I got was general reply that without select information there was nothing they could do, funny all that information was in my email. So I total deduct myself from yahoo.personals.
Ethnicity Caucasian (white) Any
Height 6′ 0″ Any
Smoking Doesn’t smoke Any
Has Kids Yes – at home part-time Any
Michael
His Ideal Woman
Age 44 years old 30 to 59
Ethnicity Caucasian (white) Any
Height 6′ 0″ Any
Body Type Average Any
Eye Color Black Any
Hair Color Black Any
Michael
His Ideal Woman
Smoking Doesn’t smoke Any
Alcohol Doesn’t drink Any
Education Some College Any
Employment Status Self-employed Any
Occupation Computer related / Hardware Any
Income Level More than $150,000 Any
Michael
His Ideal Woman
Location Modesto, California Within 50 miles of Modesto, California
Marital Status Widowed Any
Living Situation Alone Any
Has Kids Yes – at home part-time Any
Wants (more) Kids Yes Any
Religion Christian / Catholic Any
Attends Services Weekly Any
Languages Spoken English Any
Michael
His Ideal Woman
Interests Arts, Dancing, Dining, Family, Movies, Listening to Music, Outdoor Activities, Photography, Reading, Watching Sports, Travel, Cooking, Computers / Internet, Television, Gardening, Playing Music, Playing Sports, Health/Fitness Any
Astrological Sign Gemini (May 21 – June 21) Any
Political Views Conservative Any
Sense of Humor Friendly Any
Social Setting Shy at first, but warm up quickly Any
TV Watching Habits News Junkie, Sports Nut, Dramas, Movies, Documentaries Any
1st email:
On 03/24/2010 06:41 pm PDT, Michael wrote:
Hello Jo,How are you doing there and how is life treating you? I am new to this on line dating thing, but I’m giving a try in hopes to finding someone special. So would you like to know about me? I work Monday – Friday (1pm – 10 pm) so I hardly get on the computer during the week, but i try to read my mail at night at home so please kindly mail me on my personal E-mail on ( michael44dunlap (at) y a h o o dot com ).. i believe that we make us get to know each other better cos am on here frequently. So tell me about you and what you looking for ?( I love kids)? Hope to hear from you.
Smile Always,
Michael.
2nd
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
“Michael Dunlap”
Add sender to Contacts
Hi,
Am really great to get your mail today ……How are you doing there ?? Am kinda cool here .i would like to thank you for your interest in my profile..So I enjoyed reading your profile as well. It looks like you are into a lot of pretty cool things , i would like to say what a beautiful woman you are . I am ready to start the next chapter in my life with someone who is ready for a serious relationship..I dont Like to IM cos at times I do Busy alot and I prefer you email me through my regular email here ..So here I am just one little fish in this big pond seeing what else is swimming around. Could be that you know exactly what this little fish is looking for…. if so you may just cast your line and get a bite…… I am not only looking for my life partner but also my best friend. I believe that every relationship starts with a great friendship.I am an honest and caring person and I hope you would be too. I believe honesty is the best policy. I like to experience new things. I am willing to try anything once.I am here because I am ready to find true love. I am well educated, well traveled, and financially secure; however, I feel like something is missing, and that something is having a relationship with a great woman with whom I can love and be loved…. unconditionally, romantically, intimately.I believe in the old golden rule .. I am not really into the bar/club scene to meet someone for a lasting relationship. They usually never work out. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy going out to have a good time but not every weekend. I am not looking for someone who plays mind games or is not interested in being in a committed relationship.I enjoy the simplest things in life. I love the outdoors and feel fortunate to be able to experience all four seasons. I like to go camping, gaze at the stars on a clear night, take walks just to enzoy nature and scenic drives to nowhere. I tend to take the road less traveled. I bmlieve that you can have fu~ doing almost anything as long as you0enjoy tle people that you aru with. Life is too short not to enjoy it! i would Like to know what your likms and dislikes are,and more importantly what you are wanting from your future partner,you sound very sincere on your intentions,it would be an$ideal world if everything you want came so easy to get,i know thats wishful thinking,but we all live in hope/.i don’t know what to say. i want to get to know you better . believe it or not,it’s not that easy to be a single dad in the dating scene. i really look forward to meeting you ..i am a single father that is very devoted to my kid,but there is room for another love in my life. i like to do things out, but i also like to be at home. cooking is one of Major thing i like …. i always would rather talk out a problem than hold it in. you will find out that i am much more interested in how your day went. i want to know everything that happened. …I am a self employed ( Computer Sales and Programming ) … I’ve been a mom and dad for 2 years now. I’m not tired of it, but it does get a little old.i guess i am a tad more caring than the average man because of having to be a little more emotional for my Daughter when she needs it. you sound like a very loving and caring person. i understand that you need to know more, Don’t be afraid to ask me anything.I would always welcome you to my Life . i want you to know I’m not doing this dating business to get a cheap frill or a one night stand,I’m a very genuine person and i want to find someone i can share my life with,someone i can love,someone i can trust, someone i can be a friend for,and someone who will accept me for who i am,i can be very romantic,I’m honest, trusting,good listener, caring, healthy,funny at times,and i can sing for my supper if need be and I love to play Guitar and at my Leisure time , I love to play Golf , Bowling and billiard Pool . So dear you have a perfect human being,no seriously I’m not perfect but i want to make someone very happy and i have so much love pent up inside me,it needs to be exposed gently to that special someone.i hope I’ve given you an inkling of my thoughts and needs.–i hope you will reply to this letter,i will send a photo of me and my daughter to you soon .–so for now Dear,i bid you farewell.
Smile Always,
Michael.
3rd
From:
This sender is DomainKeys verified
“Michael Dunlap”
Add sender to Contacts
Hi,
Am really great to get your mail today ……How are you doing there ?? Am kinda cool here .i would like to thank you for your interest in my profile..So I enjoyed reading your profile as well. It looks like you are into a lot of pretty cool things , i would like to say what a beautiful woman you are . I am ready to start the next chapter in my life with someone who is ready for a serious relationship..I dont Like to IM cos at times I do Busy alot and I prefer you email me through my regular email here ..So here I am just one little fish in this big pond seeing what else is swimming around. Could be that you know exactly what this little fish is looking for…. if so you may just cast your line and get a bite…… I am not only looking for my life partner but also my best friend. I believe that every relationship starts with a great friendship.I am an honest and caring person and I hope you would be too. I believe honesty is the best policy. I like to experience new things. I am willing to try anything once.I am here because I am ready to find true love. I am well educated, well traveled, and financially secure; however, I feel like something is missing, and that something is having a relationship with a great woman with whom I can love and be loved…. unconditionally, romantically, intimately.I believe in the old golden rule .. I am not really into the bar/club scene to meet someone for a lasting relationship. They usually never work out. Don’t get me wrong I do enjoy going out to have a good time but not every weekend. I am not looking for someone who plays mind games or is not interested in being in a committed relationship.I enjoy the simplest things in life. I love the outdoors and feel fortunate to be able to experience all four seasons. I like to go camping, gaze at the stars on a clear night, take walks just to enzoy nature and scenic drives to nowhere. I tend to take the road less traveled. I bmlieve that you can have fu~ doing almost anything as long as you0enjoy tle people that you aru with. Life is too short not to enjoy it! i would Like to know what your likms and dislikes are,and more importantly what you are wanting from your future partner,you sound very sincere on your intentions,it would be an$ideal world if everything you want came so easy to get,i know thats wishful thinking,but we all live in hope/.i don’t know what to say. i want to get to know you better . believe it or not,it’s not that easy to be a single dad in the dating scene. i really look forward to meeting you ..i am a single father that is very devoted to my kid,but there is room for another love in my life. i like to do things out, but i also like to be at home. cooking is one of Major thing i like …. i always would rather talk out a problem than hold it in. you will find out that i am much more interested in how your day went. i want to know everything that happened. …I am a self employed ( Computer Sales and Programming ) … I’ve been a mom and dad for 2 years now. I’m not tired of it, but it does get a little old.i guess i am a tad more caring than the average man because of having to be a little more emotional for my Daughter when she needs it. you sound like a very loving and caring person. i understand that you need to know more, Don’t be afraid to ask me anything.I would always welcome you to my Life . i want you to know I’m not doing this dating business to get a cheap frill or a one night stand,I’m a very genuine person and i want to find someone i can share my life with,someone i can love,someone i can trust, someone i can be a friend for,and someone who will accept me for who i am,i can be very romantic,I’m honest, trusting,good listener, caring, healthy,funny at times,and i can sing for my supper if need be and I love to play Guitar and at my Leisure time , I love to play Golf , Bowling and billiard Pool . So dear you have a perfect human being,no seriously I’m not perfect but i want to make someone very happy and i have so much love pent up inside me,it needs to be exposed gently to that special someone.i hope I’ve given you an inkling of my thoughts and needs.–i hope you will reply to this letter,i will send a photo of me and my daughter to you soon .–so for now Dear,i bid you farewell.
Smile Always,
Michael.
Here’s a real smooth Yahoo Personals guy: johnniejake1@yahoo.com says his name is JOHN OLYMPIO JACOB…..he and I have been emailing and IM’ing for 3 weeks now. First he said he was on “The East Side” of the city I live in….which is a really bad area.(??) Strange for a guy that’s a self employed IT person who makes 150k per year. and drives a BMW, a Mercedes, and a pickup truck. Says he moved here because he was here on a job and likes it. His Yahoo profile showed a different day/month for his birthday than he told me…hmm I thought. We exchanged photos, he did send me three that weren’t on the profile of the same guy. This guy is super smooth, very romantic and even wrote me (bad) romantic poetry. We chatted about cars, what we did each day (or what I did and what he supposedly did). We discussed our likes in real estate (he offered to buy this over million dollar dream house I showed him a link to so I could “visit” and maybe someday live in it with him.) Huh, I thought. I know I’m cute, but not THAT cute when all he’s seen are pictures.
I went along with him when he said he was in London on business, supposedly getting an inheritance of 1.8 million pounds from his deceased Father’s estate. And “Mum” lives in Spain. Ok….benefit of the doubt here. THEN he’s saying the British Government took his passport because they wanted him to pay taxes on the inheritance and he can’t get out to fly home to me unless “someone” comes up with a miracle $4000 to pay them off. After some subtle hinting around from him to me, eventually he flat out asked me for the money. And after I told him I just “couldn’t” do it….and he kept asking me probing questions about how I might be able to access the money (it’s only for 2 days, when he gets back to my bank in the States his mother lode of money will be transferred!) I used every logical step to suggest to him: The US Embassy was my biggest suggestion. Or having someone proxy for him here in the States…he shut all those down by saying he’s already did that and it wouldn’t work.
Bottom line: This guy had me going for a bit there, until he started getting really affectionate and then started talking about his desperate financial plight. I FEEL DUMB HE ALMOST HAD ME THERE…JUST LOST ME WHEN THE DOLLAR QUESTIONS CAME INTO PLAY. BEWARE! I HAVE PHOTOS IF ANYONE WANTS THEM TO COMPARE!
I got hit with the same damn thing mike did, a girl named olla smithson from madrid, been sending me long letters about how hse wants to be with me and all that nonsense. I am an untrusting person by nature and am new to this online dating thing so I got suspicious. In my life when anything sounds to good to be true it tends to be be untrue. She hasnt asked me for money yet but did make a comment in the last letter she sent me me about helping out at the airport. Same story to the letter as mikes, parents dead, moved to the states to live with her aunt, working as a nurse with unicef,was drop dead gorgeous in her pics, I knew it was to good to be true. Well lesson learned.
well this sucks really bad, i’ve been talkin to this drop dead gorgeous girl from myspace, just joined, we exchange letters everyday.her name is Olla Demilio..everything sounded great…from madrid,spain both parents dead, in nigeria on business, a nurse with UNICEF, ready to come back to states.talkin about meeting and being together when she comes back, long term, everythings goin good, last night she said that she would be going to airport today to book her flight to be with me, then today i noticed her online on yahoo messanger so i said hey is that you,and she asked who i was..i said its mike, it took probably 10-15 minutes after i said is this olla for her to come…we were talkin about her coming, she asked me for money for the cab, told me she loved me, as we were supposedly getting really close.i told her i couldn’t help, she played it real good. she replied asking that i didn’t wanna speak to her anymore cuz she asked for money. i said that i just didn’t wanna get scammed and she like flipped out, sayin forget about it…if my dad were still alive i wouldn’t need your money, and so on.i got her calmed down, and within a few sentances as we were talking good again she asked me for the money,if i was gonna help again, i replied yes again. then she asked when she would get the money like a 3rd time within minutes,i asked why she kept askin as this was starting to scare me.she said just to make sure..she gave me a number to call her but number didn’t work, although she stated earlier that she didn’t have money or a calling card, she said that she will call me when she wakes up at 6-7 am their time, which was 9-10 here in sacramento, like now no call…but i looked up her name and all this popped up…thanks everybody for your knowledge of this scam and bringing it to everybody’s attention…i was gonna risk sending the money in exchange for love, so it looks like i woulda been screwed big time!i will try to post her pic on here for everybody to see,thanks guys-mike
well, actually i figured this out in like 1 hour.first i received the message from these 2 girls
http://dating.personals.yahoo.com/personals-1266022925-352574
http://mbox.personals.yahoo.com/us/mbox/convs?cid=1124593037&view=1
but when i clicked on “who viewed your profile” in my yahoo personal, i had no views!then i realized there is something fishy going on.i tried to search their e-mails on face-book and i ended up here lol.although they’d never be able to even get a penny from me,and i’m not a type of guy who would be hurt or anything,i still think this is cruel to play with other people’s feeling for money.btw here are their e-mails: passiontiffany01@yahoo.com
and anitabecks39@yahoo.com
i hope this helps:)
I placed my profile on yahoo 1/15/2010 and it appears that I am having the same issues, I already have had 2 scams going on at the same time and both are in Nigeria. Both men are good looking and appears to be educated but both within a couple of emails have asked me for money. The first one finally stopped contacting me and the second keeps tying to contact me but I do not respond. I am now on my 3 contact and after 12 days he has has traveled to Nigeria on business and was attacked and lost everything…. Ok…here we go again… The sad part about this is the first profile was local…. I did delete my profile about a week ago because after 3 scams, I had it..
ive been talking to a man he calls his self LAKE MOON, EMAIL LAKEMOON_4YOU@YAHOO.COM I CAUGHT ON RIGHT AWAY HE IS WORKING IN AFRICA ON A JOB HE IS A PROFESSIONAL ROAD CONSTRUCTOR HE HAS A 7 YR OLD DAAUGHTER , I WAS STUPID GAVE HIM MY # AFTER AWHILE HE CALLED ME AT 4:30 AM CRYING STATED MARY FELL DOWN THE STAIRS AND NEEDED MONEY FOR A OPERATION 350.00 I TOLD HIM NO GOT IN A FIGHT TOLD THEM SCAMMERS OFF HERES THE FUNNY PART . I WROTE HIM A LOVE LETTER TELLING HIM HOW SORRY I DIDNT BELIEVE HIM. IVE BEEN PLAYING HIM NOW ITS UP TO 1000.00 BUT NOW I TOLD HIM I WAS IN THE HOSPITAL . THEY ARE SO STUPID. LONG EMAILS EVERYDAY LOVE LETTERS WE ARE GETTING MARRIED LOLOL KINDA RELIGIOUS, HE HAS HIS DAUGHTER CALLING ME MUMMY ALREADY NOW I READY TO EXLODE ON HIM AGAIN BUT I FIGURE THE LONGER I TALK WITH HIM . HES LEAVING SOME ONE ELSE ALONE ….VERY CUTE MUSCULAR, SENT PICTURES OF DAUGHTER WITH LATE WIFE . NOW HE HAS IN PHONE # AND PICTURE POSTED ON MY MESSENGER OF COURSE HE WANTS THE 1000. BECAREFUL OUT THEIR IM SO GLAD I CAUGHT ON BECAUSE WOW HE WAS DROP DEAD GORGEOUS LOLOL.
oh yeh its on yahoo it just hit me i am woman but i was helpin my brother with talking to girls and one tried that scam on me look out for passiontiffany01@yahoo.com
Got hit with the same crap this week. This time it was a Patric Gracious Zambruther and it was the California story. He is from Italy, came here when he was 10. Married his high school sweetheart. They were married for 16 years. He has a 12 year old named Bob. His wife and parents died in an accident together many years ago. He has dated a few times since then including to a woman that cheated on him with his best friend that he took as a brother. He moved here to Bangor, Pa and has only been here a week. He is currently in Florida on a business trip where he is looking for Arts and “status.” He was quick to answer any question I had of him but never really asked me anything about myself or if he did then he asked me the same question later on as well. His spelling was atrocious for someone interested in the “Arts” and he had no sense of humor whatsoever. I said to him after 2 days of him searching for “status” and him not finding what he was looking for in Florida that I would have to get my kids to sculpt him something out of play-doh. His reply “Hmmm, ok” I got alot of those responses and “hmmm ic” as well. Never any LOL or any jokes back. Not sure what got my hackles up but after 2 days of chatting, including emails back and forth from work, I asked him his last name and googled him. Found the website for the art gallery and then this site. Confronted him with the info and no response back. Will be letting Yahoo personals know as well.
That photo was stolen off the web. None of these images are real. Please people do not fall for the images.
Everything is fake, they steal images and other things. I am so sorry for your situation.
These criminals are cruel and hurting people.
Yes I was scamed by a woman named Joleena she said she lived in England and her father died five years ago she was going to Nigeria to take care of her fathers propertys there , and needed 150.00 for pocket change after she arrived. after she arrived there she said that I was supposed to get ahold of the Barrister and that her father had 4.9 million in a sealed trunk and needed to send it to me and to send her a small portion and that after she would come and live with me in the states. After all this I looked to the town and there I found the news of Ophra and the scammers,
I played sorta sceptical and then she told me to F.O. and she was so hurt and so saddened by all this she was going to hurt herself………………. Bla Bla bla. be carefull not to get scammed and the picture’s were very professional taken of her now I am out of her life and she is GONE
Thanks for your Site
I did receive one from a Tiffany and another, Linda. I exchanged emails with Tiffany I have a hunch this is too good to be true. After a few emails – she has not gone to the stage where she wanted money – the last one she wrote about my mother and she spelt mom, ‘mum’. I realized this right away because I have not mentioned my mother. She died three years ago. Probably this guy gotten mixed up with so many exchanges of email. The word ‘mum’ is not an American word. It is British and most commonwealth countries, and are formerly British colonies. Be careful of scams from Eastern European countries. They produced fake H1B visa pasted on the passport.
My brother was contacted by a scammer and it was really sad. Because even though he didn’t give “her” any money he did get hurt. He has never really done much dating and so he was really trying hard and putting himself out there, just to have the first person he really clicked with turn out to be a scammer. We were able to look up the IP address from her e-mail by using this web site: http://aruljohn.com/info/howtofindipaddress/ and discovered that it was out of Nigeria.
It was the same kind of MO that has been listed by other people here. Both her parents were dead, she was from Spain, but moved to the US when her parents died, but was currently living in the UK working with UNICEF. When suddenly she needed money and had no one else to turn to. She was going by the name Olla Demilio Smithson but her e-mail came through as Olla Own (ollasmith28@yahoo.com – feel free to send her all the junk mail you want). T
My mom has been using Yahoo! Personals and seems to get one new scammer every other day! My favorite thing to do is screw around with them using her profile. I even documented a couple of cases here: I linked to your post in my article since you have more serious information about how to spot these guys.
Iwas contacted by this Keith Anderson from Los Angeles too, at the same time
as the person above…same story everything….I unfortunately sent him money
and have submitted a fraud report to my local police department, Western Union and the FBI…am going to contact the Nigerian Economic and financial
Crimes Commission on Monday to see if they can do something………
howdy! I was contacted by a person on AFF. Their email is sarah.hunts@yahoo.com and on yahoo messenger, sarah.hunts, I hope you’ll say hi to them! I figured, as long as their talking to me they can’t scam anyone else. She claimed to be a sociologist paying her own way in nigeria. She said she lived in Houston, and here’s the address she gave.
16514 royal mile lane(bearcreek,hwy 6 and clay rd)houston tx 77084
This is owned by someone else, and they’re not renting to her.
Here’s the phone number she gave me, that she called me from
+2347084042101
She also gave me a reservation number on british airways for a ticket she never paid for to come back to houston. English is so bad. Said she has sister in UK. All lies!
Hi Linda,
Thank you for posting this. I am currently having a conversation with Brad Hall. He suddenly had to go to Nigeria to see his sick father who is in the hospital. His 8 year old daughter Brenda is there with him as well. But reading your email it is the same guy, same 101 questions. So now I just wait for the ball to drop and him ask for money. He is slick, I have to give him that.
I’ve been in contact with a woman from the Ukraine for a couple of months. Everything sounded legitimate for awhile. She would send pictures, including (family) pictures. I’ll admit, she is the most beautiful woman that I’ve ever seen. The thing that I found really funny was how could she possibly want me, when she has never seen me. I sent her roses for her birthday and she sent a picture with her and the roses. Then things started to become suspicious. She wouldn’t answer my questions and then the BIG one came. She wanted to fly to the U.S., to meet me, but her airline tickets cost $1450 and she was $400 short. She told me the fastest way for her to receive it was through Western Union. I was told to send it ASAP, because she had to make arrangements through work to take off. I didn’t send any money and I haven’t heard from her as often like before. Just remember “NEVER SEND MONEY” to anyone that you contact on line.
Ladies, B-E-W-A-R-E! Like April from 8/19/09, I, too, “supposedly” met Ronald Zambruther this month after signing up on Yahoo Personals. Sent many emails (mindsonminds@yahoo.com) trying to woo me & insisted on always talking on IM…never the phone. Gave the identical life story. Only exception is he claimed he moved from California to Bartlett, TN. Emails were always lengthy professing his love for me, etc. within only a week’s time of conversing with him. Emails usually were full of simple grammar mistakes. Even called me Diane in one of these sappy messages. No doubt, cut & paste. Even possible that the person I spoke to online was not even the same person writing these letters. Seemed to have a British way of writing words more so than Italian/American. Never revealed much about himself more interested in trying to convince me that we were meant to be together, etc. Just too much, too fast. Lots of RED flags!!!!
Unfortunately, the scammer, got a reality check thanks to doing my own investigative work. No reply back. Imagine that. I just wanted to share this & warn other women to be careful. It is sad that people play with each other’s emotions like this with total disregard. These people need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.
I’ve been contacted by humblekeith14@yahoo.com. Contacted through singlesaints.com. Said his name was Keith Anderson from Los Angeles. He sent 4 different pictures of the same guy. He was 46 and a widow with a 9 year old son. Said his wife died when his son was born. Died from cancer and kidney stones….seriously? kidney stones? His parents died tragically in a car accident when he was a small child. I kept talking with him anyways. He said he was an IT analysts and programmer. Self-employed in UK on business. Then said he had to go to Nigeria to get the parts he needed. Got an email the day after he was supposed to “travel” about how he & his son had been attacked by robbers on the way from the airport. He needed money for doctor bills, hotel and food. He couldn’t get to his money until he got back.
My reply: Contact the US Embassy. I’m sure they would help.
Come on…I’m a single mom with 2 kids. How much money do these fools really think I would have to share with a person I don’t know and have only talked to for a week.
ugh….they’re scum.
Antoniol3@yahoo.com used the same everything, story, and picture. How can we post that picture of the man and his little girl, so they can know their image is being used.
I too fell prey to antoniol3@yahoo.com from Windsor, CT. The profile has been deleted in the past few days. I was given the same story about his mother and grandmother passing away and then suddenly he had to go to Nigeria to see his ailing father. Never got to the money part or the meeting part, but he had fallen madly in love with me, over a few emails and pictures. Flags went up! However, he did answer my questions but asked the same questions to me again and again. I think it is sick that someone has even thought about doing this. I really do feel sorry for the very handsome guy whose photo is being used.
I had the same one as AlmostBelieved. Except antoniol3@yahoo.com.
Same exact details. I’m finally thinking this is too good to be true.
So I look up for signs that you’re being scammed. Read the example letter, just like it. And scrolled down and actual read about the same exact guy
with the description of same exact picture. Unbelievable! Live and learn
I guess. I’m just glad I caught it now before it was too late.
I’ve been geeting emails from a Brad Hall of Fargo, ND. It is the same email tha was posted on the front page. Again conctacted through yahoo personals. He has yet to ask for money, but you can see where his “story” is going. Poor writing, cut an pasting, very choppy and crazy spelling with random capital letters. Good eye everyone and thanks for spreading the word. Although I thought this guy was a bit odd, I was greatful to find this information when I googled his email address: brad.hall33@yahoo.com. Good luck to everyone looking for something real.
Girls, attention !! there is a scammer around under the name Johnnie Walker, saying 48, looks older on the photo. Pretends to be a widower who lost his wife and the baby some years ago. Says to be an international constuctor for hotels etc. First alarm signal was for me when he said too fast to love me and wants to marry, always suspicious. Then he said he would be in the UK and lost his credit card… you know the story… big second alarm signal.
Ok, I played the game and asked him, please to understand that I need some proof, if he wants money to pay his hotel. I offered him to that the hotel will send me the bill and I can take care of it. No….he said its not possible, the manager would not be in town. Huh? Then I said, ok, give me the hotel number, I will call them. No… but he mentioned the name. Ok, I called them and of course, as I expected, they didn’t know any Johnnie Walker. I confronted him with this and he said, he instructed the hotel no one to tell something… sure…he was still begging for money. Then I asked him to send me his passport copy. OMG is all I can say. This guy had the guts to send a faked passport copy. have you ever seen an US passport with a photo with landscape in the background and no stars on the photo?
When I told him this he got rude and the “love” turned into “go to hell”….
So, ladies, take a Johnnie Walker whiskey instead of this guy and NEVER sent any money to people you don’t know in person.
I was contacted by a scammer the 1st week I joined BBPeople. He said he was a widow from Italy with 10 year old son living in FL. His parents died within 2 years of each other and then his wife got sick and died too. I was suspicious right away because his name did not sound Italian. After asking him about this a couple of times he told me his middle name which was Italian – ha! His grammar was atrocious and you could tell that some stuff was cut and pasted. He loved me the day after we IM’d, I mean come on! We emailed/chatted a few times and the moment he told me he was going to Africa to deliver cars I knew he was a scammer! I asked what part of Africa he was going to and he said he didnt know! Are you kidding me – who leaves the country without knowing where you are going?! I asked who was going to watch his son and he said since he had no one to watch his son he would be take him with – who in their right mind takes a 10 year old out of school to the African continent when they dont know where they are going? Come on! I immediately told him to make sure you have enough money to cover your return ticket or you’ll be stuck over there LOL. He replied why do you say that. Anyhow, it was fun to screw around with him once I realized he was a scammer. I told him to have a good trip then blocked him from my account!. Ladies and gents beware of these losers! I’ve since blocked him from my profile/email accts.
These jackals prey on men, too. Yahoo is not doing a good job. I have seen same exact profile with different pictures. They have no shame. Ladies be careful. After they sucked in couple of people, then they would delete their profiles and go somewhere else. First sign to be alarmed…..whenever they ask for money.
These jackals prey on men as well. Yahoo is not doing a good job! I have seen eaxact same profile with different pictures. After they sucked in couple of people….then they would delete their profile and go somewhere else . they have no shame.
I have been in contact with Matt Rachlin and he is slick! He did the same thing with me, smooth talking at first, sent me the same email twice, deleted his profile, gave home and cell me phone numbers (that weren’t registered to him. One wasn’t even in the state he claimed to be from.) But, when I researched him and confronted him I got some sob story that he needed money to get home from Malaysia. He turned it around and said I was self-centered and that I needed to make things right with him. I don’t think so! In the meantime, Alex (or ganderson066) has contacted me. I immediately blocked him and I have reported Matt Rachlin on yahoo. Cindy is right, Matt is now using rachlinmt@yahoo.com. Be careful ladies and make sure to do your research once you have a name.
I would like to add that the freddy.dahl@yahoo.com also claimed to be the son of famous writer Rauld Dahl (Charley and the Chocolate factory) with alittle research I did find he does have a son but the age and the details that he did give me didnt match a thing I looked up…… dont jump the gun do the home work…………….
another attempt to scam nice/lonely people for money
2 attempts in one week from 2 different i ds….. allendevries1@yahoo.com and his title is playboy the other is freddy dahl freddy.dahl @yahoo.com Freddys phone number is 0112348037378762 demanded I send him money to help him out? I have photos too of both so called men/ these boys were using both state they are there for business and both sent me the same poem with in days of each other I almost fell for it with one…. my gut instinct was right …………. let me know where to post their photos they used for a personals ad so others dont fall as the one guy his looks alone caught my eye.. to bad I couldnt find the real guy in the one photo I would tell him what has been going on with his photo on yahoo personals
another attempt to scam nice/lonely people for money
2 attempts in one week from 2 different i ds….. allendevries1@yahoo.com and his title is playboy the other is freddy dahl freddy.dahl @yahoo.com Freddys phone number is 0112348037378762 demanded I send him money to help him out? I have photos too of both so called men/ these boys were using both state they are there for business and both sent me the same poem with in days of each other I almost fell for it with one…. my gut instinct was right …………. let me know where to post there photos they used for a personals ad so others dont fall as the one guy his looks alone caught my eye.. to bad I couldnt find the real guy in the one photo I would tell him what has been going on with his photo on yahoo personals
I too was contacted apparently by the same guy as April…. exact same story, etc.. These guys are unbelievable… We definitely need Internet police to “catch” these guys…
OMG!!!!! I didn’t want to think this was real… but then after reading this i’m freaking out… i have been talking to this guy for weeks now… has sent me pictures the whole nine… i gave him my number the other day and he has called me but i could not answer the phone. THEN we talked on the web cam…. granted it was kinda dark on the screen but he seemed like the same guy that was in the pics… then TODAY something in my gut told me something was wrong…. he called me yet again and i answered it… WELL his voice didn’t sound like the guy that was on the web cam… so i came back to my desk at work and was telling the girls about it… and then someone told me about this money thing that is going on in africa. now here is the info he has given me… i hope it helps someone out like this has helped me…..
he claims his name is charles…. he is 31… that he lives in texas but is in AFRICA seeing his step-mother b/c she is ill. and that he would be flying home to texas. we have even made up out minds that he was going to fly to cincinnati. Well after i talked to him today i e-mailed him and said Look… i know that something is up…. first of all you dont sound like you are from the US…. he then sends me an e-mail and tells me that he was raised in UK b/c his dad was in the army. and after his father passed he moved back to texas… now remember he told me his dad just passed about a year. so something is not adding up!!!!! i’m having a cop friend check into this whole thing. b/c ever since i sent him a reply back telling him im just have a few questions, before he comes here and we meet… he has not e-mailed me back and has not been back on yahoo messanger…. MAN THINGS THAT MAKE YOU GO HMMMMMM…….
I would say 95% of the emails I get from Yahoo Personals are from various sorts of scams. They are so obvious, with their lengthly emails (WHAT NORMAL GUY TALKS LIKE THIS!!!!). That is number 1 a true give away that something is not right. Another is that they never really want to meet. The latest guy – his yahoo personal profile says he was born in Wisconsin and raised with 2 older sisters. Then he sends me an email thru Yahoo personals and says he was born in South Africa and moved to US. What story is it buddy???
Next, his profile claims he is from CT and when he gives me a phone number to call – the phone lookup tool on the internet says its a land line in Albany NY!!. I’m so disgusted that I wasted my $ on yahoo personals seriously thinking I would meet an eligible man. shame on me!!!
Matt Rachlin now goes by rachlinmt@yahoo.com
Antonioluis33@yahoo.com is also one of these scammers. He was on Yahoo Personals complete with pictures of him and his blonde daughter. My first red flag was that he said his mother was Italian and his father was from Nigeria. Yet, he had light brown hair as well and did not have a dark complection. He made the mistake of telling me he spent the first 27 years of his life in Italy. So I went to one of the online translation sites and sent my reply in Italian. His response was to send me more pictures. So I replied again in Italian. Moreso than his appearance, the thing that really sent up the warning signals was that he never answered any question I asked and asked me questions I just had asked him….like he was not paying attention or did not understand. The other big thing was that he was actually cutting and pasting out of online travel sites to describe Italy. I actually found the identical paragraph from the travel agency he mentioned. I just feel sorry for the guy and his daughter in the photographs. I’m sure they have no idea they are being used.
I just received another email on my Zoosk account, long letter, heart felt, same thing as on yahoo, this guy requests we email using lcapatusto@yahoo.com or larrycares01v@gmail.com – no way am I falling for this again. Just wanted to warn all that they are now on Zoosk as well.
I think Julie and must have spoke with the same individual. Almost the same story to a t, just a different profession. I was skeptical in the beginning also, but he said his parents were missionaries growing up, yada, yada, etc. The joke was on him because I have no money to send. I am gonna mess back with him and let him know I found him funding but they require proof. Julie I would love to compare photos. If anyone wants to share stories, my email is hemigurl1965@yahoo.com
Oh yeah he also has a website supposably for his gallery in Cali its called http://www.zambruther-arts.com All along I thought I was chatting with a good looking man american man. All along I wasnt talking to the man that was pictured. They say there is scams in Nigeria with pay pal and he has paypal on the website.
Yes I too almost got scammed. I got contacted by a Ron Zambruther yahoo name was mindsonminds01@yahoo.com . He claimed to be a widower from Cali with a 12 year old son he lost his parents and wife in a car accident 4 years ago. Wss into the Arts and sold his gallery in Cali and moved to Bangor Pa. When we first started talking he said he wasnt in town he and his son were in Florida looking for art so when he comes back to Pa he was going to be looking for a new Gallery. After several days of looking in Florida and not being able to find the Art he was supposed to be looking for he told me he was going to West Africa to look because thats where they were supposed to have the art he was looking for. Well after two days of not contacting me he finally sent me an email telling me as they were driving to the hotel they were in a serious accident and his son was in a coma. He also lost his wallet, credit cards and passport in the accident. Gave me a sob story on not having money to get his son medicine so he could come out of a coma. I continued telling him I had no money. He kept begging saying his son was going to die and he didnt know what to do because he had no other family and I was the only one he could turn too. I sat and cried thinking this guy is scamming me but on the other hand was wondering if I was doing the right thing by just ignoring him. He also told me he loved me after a few days chatting and even asked me my ring size. What a fool I was until I started doing research and realized there was no trace of a Ron Zambruther anywhere. Earlier I asked him his home address and he typed it pretty quick after mapquesting it and driving there to find no such house. I realized he was a big liar. I did contact yahoo and reported his username and email addy. There fraud dept sent me email saying the problem was being taken care of and that account was being terminated. It just really stinks that people can do this to others.
I was contacted from William Deavor through Yahoo Personals . His story was he lost his wallet with his money and credit cards and needed money to live on until someone named Lance ( his associate) came to his rescue . His mistake was telling me he lived in the neighborhood I grew up in . So of course I checked that out there was a family living where he said he lived who knew nothing about him. When i replied telling him this he got very nasty to me and I reported to the yahoo personals because he had been asking me for a great deal of money. I didn’t have it , couldn’t get it , wouldn’t get it. His profile is still up on the yahoo site. I sure hope he can’t contact anyone else.
Deb
It’s not just the women that are getting scammed. I got scammed on a similar singles website and was stupid enough to send the money. Does anyone know what we can do to report these criminals. My money is gone, but I just want these people to get what they deserve.
My scammer’s name is Maddi Haris and used the following email address, maddiharris@yahoo.com. The website I was using was catholicsingles.com, so they’re not just on Yahoo, they’re all over the place.
Julie,
That is very scary, that he used your son’s name! Please anyone who has actual information like this, report it to the FBI.
Your local police really cannot do much, but also in this case it can be reported to the credit card company as well.
I wish I could help more people not fall for this scam, but most people only read my post after they have been burned.
Just wanted to let everyone know I returned the ring to JCPenney because I was suspicous that there was another womans name on the shipping label right above mine. Discovered that it was purchased using a mastercard in her name. She is from Connecticut. No doubt her card info or identity was stolen. Got on yahoo only to spot another profile with the same header, profile details, and writing style as my mystery man. Only this time he was using my son’s name! I reported him and his profile disappeared the next day. Crazy!!!
Yup I got about 10 in my mailbox from yahoo personals right now. You can always tell they are over dramatic and always give there email on the first response. I talked to one of them just to see how far it would go. After about 2 weeks she wanted to come and see me from Africa on vacation from her job. She had almost enough money to get her ticket but 400.00 dollars she needed until she got here. I was like ok send me your money and i will pay for the rest for you. No reponse yet so I guess she is not coming. Her name was Olivia j rangel olivia edwards or rockwildersgirl who knows. I think its funny and they are getting more creative. Also it just goes to show if its to good to b true it probly is:-(
OMG! This just happened to me on yahoo personals! I initiated contact with a “Michael” who had recently moved to Columbus Oh from New York. Within 5 days he wrote back expressing such joy and enthusiasm that I had found him. He too requested that we communicate outside of the personals wedsight. His email is michhud@gmail.com or “Michael Hudson”. He too deleted his profile within 2 days telling me that he did so to “focus on getting to know me and only me”. He sent additional pictures of himself working in Africa. He was a very attractive white man. He needed me to get an IM address to we could communicate more readily. His IM is michhud01. As we chatted for 5 wks he told me he was in Lagos Nigeria working as an architect on a government project. Said he had to be there for 8 wks and this was his first international job and he was trying to start his own business. He too was a widower with a 15 yr old daughter who currently lived with his mother in London England. She was widowed too. He wrote numerous heartfelt love letters with a lot of choppy sentences and minor grammer mistakes. Sometimes his comments didn’t even make sense. He also claimed to be very spiritual/religous and often spoke about God and praying and how serious marriage committments and fidelity were, etc etc. Told me he loved me within 2 wks and asked me to marry him within 3 wks. By the 4th wk he was eluding to having financial troubles and worried about project overruns and being short on cash. By the 5th wk he sent to me a romantic ecard, a day later I received a dozen red roses (proflowers) and a promise ring via fed ex. The ring came from JCPennys (valued at $230 but on sale for $99). That night he asked if I could help raise some money for him so he could get this project finished and get back to the states to see me. He said he needed $15,000 and his mom was able to help with $9000 and so he wanted me to get him the other $6000. He became very angry and frustrated when I told him “no” several times and offered many other solutions for him to consider. He said he had exhausted all other options and I was his only hope. If I loved him I should do this. He assured me I would get my money back because the gov’t owed him $350,000 but refused to spot him $15,000 because they had already given him $700,000 to start the project and would not pay the balance until the project was finished. I had some suspicions along the way but when money came into the conversation that was a HUGE RED FLAG! I called him on his scamming and I have not heard from him since. I’ve also blocked all contact from him in everyway I could. I felt sad for awhile until I found this sight and felt compelled to share my story. The big question: What the heck am I going to do with this ring????
I received almost the same letter content from antonio.luis32@yahoo.com. Probably using picture picked up from somewhere. I was suspicious from the start, and i checked full headersfrom email he sent to get isp, and locate where emails were coming from.
Yahoo personals also has an online scammer Andrew (Andy) Groge
andmil001@yahoo.com
Says he is a civil engineer in Africam after about 5 weeks of emails says he is having trouble getting the money the government owes him over there and so wants to come back to the states and needs me to send him money.
well I almost fell into the same situation but caught on only after giving my phone number, I ask for his and it belonged to someone else and he said he made a mistake and gave me another. He too was a iron ore consultant from williamsport pa working in Nigeria and told me he would buy me a new car , he has a house in Dublin ireland and lost his wife in a tsunami and father in same yr. I told him he gave me a wrong number and goodbye. His personals name is William.Deavor@yahoo.com. He is still listed so im sure he is still scamming.
I ALMOST BECAME ANOTHER NUMBER ADDED TO MATT RACHLIN LIST OF VICTIMS.
ALMOST I SAY BECAUSE, FROM THE FIRST DAY HE CONTACTED ME ON YAHOO PERSONALS
I KNEW SOMETHING WAS FISHY.
MR RACHLIN STORY WAS TOO PERFECT, EXCEPT FOR THE DISCREPANCIES IN AGE, AND HOW HE WROTE ABOUT HIS DAUGHTER.
HE ALSO SENT PICTURES OF A LITTLE GIRL TOPLESS AND THAT WAS SOMETHING THAT CONCERNED ME LOTS. I TOLD HIM THAT HE WAS VERY BRAVE FOR SENDING THOSE PICTURES TO SOMEONE HE BARELY KNEW.
HE NEVER RESPONDED TO MY COMMENT.
HE WROTE VERY SCARCELY AND WOULD NEVER BE ON LINE WHEN HE SAID HE WOULD BE. TODAY HE EMAILED ME AND GAVE ME HIS NUMBER. I WAS VERY APPREHENSIVE BUT I CALLED HIM. HE ASKED TO CALL ME BACK BECAUSE THE RECEPTION WAS REALLY BAD.
I RECOGNIZED THE ACCENT IMMEDIATELY SINCE I HAVE MANY FRIENDS FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF AFRICA. I BECAME VERY SUSPICIOUS AND I HAVE CHECKED HIS NAME IN EVERY SITE KNOWN TO ME. I EVEN SPENT $80.00 ON INTELIUS. IT HAS BEEN WORTH EVERY PENNY. I WILL BE CONTACTING THE REAL MATTHEW RACHLIN TO LET HIM KNOW
HE HAS SOMEONE USING HIS NAME. EVEN THOUGH I THINK HE SHOULD HAVE A CLUE BY NOW.
THE MATT IN NIGERIA IS CALLING ME EVERY FEW HOURS. NEEDLESS TO SAY THAT I WILL ONLY ANSWER HIS CALL TO LET HIM KNOW NEVER TO CALL AGAIN, AND THAT I WILL BE REPORTING HIM TO THE AUTHORITIES AND POSTING ALERTS ON ALL THE SITES.
HOW DISAPPOINTING! YAHOO PERSONALS SHOULD BE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THESE IDIOTS.
I WILL BE PULLING MY NAME OFF THE SITE TODAY, I REALLY DON’T WANT MY INFO. OUT THERE ANYMORE THAN IT IS ALREADY.
MATT RACHLIN 40/41/43/44
A CANCER THAT LIVES IN THE UNITED KINGDOM, FLORIDA, NIGERIA, AND CANADA, FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED.
I AM SAD BUT PROUD OF MYSELF FOR NOT FALLING FOR THIS PERVERSE ANIMAL.
ladies i believe i have been contacted by some of these superfishual characters that you all speak of. i was contacted by one that claims to have been an only child of both deceased parents stuck in nigeria. she went down there with a friend that she met here in tennessee while going to school. they went to nigeria because her friends mother was in bad shape (medically). they were in a car accident and the friend that was visiting her mother died. the girl i communicated with was rushed to a hospital for loosing a lot of blood and was treated. she has been recovering and had no way to pay her doctor bill. they are supposed to be holding her passport and returning ticket until the bill gets paid. she had asked me to help her contact the doctor and get the $450.00 doctor paid so she can return. i did contact the doctor via email and got the doctor on the phone to talk about the bill. the doctor has been calling me ever since and this girl has been begging me to send the money so she can leave and come back to the states.this has been going on for about 1.5 months and i haven’t sent anything for the fear of it being a scam. she also got really personal and loving with me in such a way to obligate herself to bear my children and get married when she got back.her name is nora kelly jones and the email address is norajones23000@yahoo.com.
It is good to see people finding this post and alerting others.
Eric, thanks for letting us know that men are getting hit on for this scam as well.
BEWARE of the Nigerian scammer everyone!
Maureen, please contact me at sunnybunny@aol.com, I would like to find out what you have done to report Matt Rachlin as I would like to do the same. it looks as if he was speaking to us at the same time and telling the same story.
By the way, this is the profile I had
We meet on Plentyoffish.com and soon moved to Yahoo Messanger I don’t remember what his screen name was on Plentyoffish as he deleted it shortly after we started talking
Deanna
To Mareen Walker,
I too was contacted by Matt_Rachlin@yahoo.com and the story is exactly the same as yours. Only I was stupid and sent him money, now he sends me harrassing messages via e-mail almost taunting me for being a fool. I am a fool and I would love to bust this guy. He is partnering with a guy by the name of Anthony Egbogu, this is who I sent the money to. I tried to go to the police, but they said I willingly sent him money so they can’t help me and they wouldn’t even take a police report. I have no idea what I can do to stop this.
Deanna
Trust me, it’s not just the women. I just joined Yahoo! Personals a few weeks ago, and have already gotten at least 5 emails within the site from scammers. They all included an outside email address to continue the conversation and all had poor english. It’s fairly easy to spot them (especially if you have seen emails from Nigerian scammers in the past)…and I did try to initiate an email back and forth with one of the hits, and the story I was given was so sad, it was laughable (fiance beat her, and left her in Nigeria with no money and no passport…I thought it was kind of them to say they were in Nigeria, because that made it REALLY easy to spot).
PS: I happened across this site because I did a Google search on this subject…I didn’t realize it was as widespread as it is.
Thank you for sharing your story. This seems to be quite a popular scam right now.
I dread to think of all the women who have fallen for it.
I have not heard of any men falling for this scam. Hello Guys, have any of you had this happen to you? If so please share your story with us.
Yep…I met the same George Anderson on Yahoo Personals. His story: He’s working a contract job as a civil engineer in South Africa. He said he was a widower with a 16 year old son. He said he was French but inherited 2 homes in Auburndale, Florida. He even gave me the address of one of them. He was quite charming but I’m certainly no baby lamb. He said that he would be back in the US at the end of March. Then he started the “worried” thing and after pressing him he said that he couldn’t cash the check from his contract job until he got back to the US. He needed $10,000 to pay for the hotel and plane fare. Red flags abounding, I decided to throw out the bait and said that I “sure wish I could help him out but that would eat up almost all of my savings.” Of course he took the bait and I, obviously, cut off all contact. Look, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with meeting people online but it is absolutely imperative that one listens to their gut. Stay alert and stay smart.
I know just how you feel. Using those services is hard enough as it is, and then when you have scammers like these guys on there it really ruins it. I am always warning people to be much more careful online, and then this even happened to me.
OMG I had the same situation, the shame is that the guy they posted was so handsome. I really thought it was true. What threw me off a little was the fact that his mom was from a small town in South Africa, and he now lives in a small town called Castle Hill NY. Who the heck says a small town in the Bronx NY. Not us New Yorkers. This guy lasted almost one month emailing me and with phone conversations. This is why is so hard for us to trust any man. As for me this was the end of online personals. I prefer to stay single and not deal with this bull.
Thanks ladies for your info and good luck.
I too was contacted by a nigerian scammer through yahoo personals ID is Matt_rachlin@yahoo.com. It is exactly the same method that linda describes in this story, how they talk to you for about 2 weeks post picture of themselves and a child, say they are oil exporters from UK travel to nigeria to pick up merchandise, then get stuck for VAT tax ??? ask to have money sent via moneygram incorrect spelling on simple words and when you speak on the phone its a a british accent but different voice also never want to speak for long always want to IM I also figured something was wrong so played along to see where it would lead If there is a way to prosecute these people I would be more than happy to do it. Please don’t get caught up in this nonsense they only want the money.
Hi Linda,
Wow….I received almost the exact same letter as you did. We chatted for a few weeks and my gut always told me something was wrong, especially when he wouldn’t answer the questions that I had asked. Then all of a sudden, money how he need it to help pay for an operation for his dad in Nigeria. Yea right. What really bothers me is the fact that they can take a picture of a perfectly innocent man and make me even less trusting than I already am. I would give anything to find this man (in the picture) and with evidence maybe put these guys away, for a while anyway. Thank you for letting me vent!
Thank you for sharing. I hope every person that finds this post will leave any new information they have on any fake guys to help warn other people out there!
Yahoo personals has on online scammer GEORGE ANDERSON ganderson066@yahoo.com
Says he is on business in South Africa… needs money but has to have it sent to his “Friend” who is African AND only by moneygram!!!
watch out