Internet romance scam

[ramee]

Or a very sad and cautionary tale of how lonely and vulnerable many people are.

And trusting. I can’t imagine getting involved in any of these scenarios.

But then if you go too far the other way to be completely untrusting and cut yourself off from any new possible relationships, the end result is still loneliness. One would hope there’s a balance and shouldn’t be afraid to take a chance, but also understand when something isn’t right.

Sad there’s so many cautionary tales.

 

[china mom]

I am so suspicious in general that I scrutinize everything. A few minutes before opening this thread, I was checking my email and saw I had one from Christine.xxxxxx@gmail.com. Except my cousin's name is Christina xxxxxxx. She did sign it Christina though.

Hi xxxxxx,
I hope all is well with the family and that you had a nice Thanksgiving
Will you send me your street address?
Enjoy the holidays
Hope we can get together soon
Take care,

Christina

The "hope we can get together soon" was also suspicious since she lives five hours away and the last time we saw each other in person was 1991.

Turns out, I am just nuts. It was a legit email. I am guessing she is sending Christmas cards But it shows you that the scammers have made us all crazy.

 

[Karin1984]

And trusting. I can’t imagine getting involved in any of these scenarios.

It is probably the same as with ending up in a cult. You think "I would never fall for that," but so many people do.

 

[DeeBee3]

Scam from the 1st 2 paragraphs. Never give out personal information - can lead to anything, password hacking, or worse.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Im rewatching the Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 2 Episode 2 full episode. She asks a group of romance scammers from Ghana do they feel remorse about stealing the money.
This is what they say, this is their justification for the romance scams. I'm transcribing their words

The white people came to Africa when it was like gold coasts, made us slaves, and killed a whole load of people. So we feel like you guys (white Americans) owe us a lot. We need to survive, Africa needs to survive. Mariana Van Zeller asks at the expense of other peoples suffering? Yes

 

[ramee]

Im rewatching the Trafficked with Mariana Van Zeller Season 2 Episode 2 full episode. She asks a group of romance scammers from Ghana do they feel remorse about stealing the money.
This is what they say, this is their justification for the romance scams. I'm transcribing their words

The white people came to Africa when it was like gold coasts, made us slaves, and killed a whole load of people. So we feel like you guys (white Americans) owe us a lot. We need to survive, Africa needs to survive. Mariana Van Zeller asks at the expense of other peoples suffering? Yes

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

That’s a weird way to justify their crimes. There are no other ways in good conscience to survive? It all comes down to money. Do they spread the wealth to help their fellow man from these schemes? Or do anything else to try to live as a decent person? That’s a lot of anger, resentment and hate being kept alive from generation to generation if that’s their excuse.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Two wrongs don’t make a right.

That’s a weird way to justify their crimes. There are no other ways in good conscience to survive? It all comes down to money. Do they spread the wealth to help their fellow man from these schemes? Or do anything else to try to live as a decent person? That’s a lot of anger, resentment and hate being kept alive from generation to generation if that’s their excuse.

The ones Mariana Van Zeller talked to did open up about their background. Many come from very poor areas where there are not a lot of legitimate job opportunities. The scamming is seen as a way out of poverty. She asks one of the men who is expert at the digital image and video manipulations if he would like to be a professional graphic designer and he said that was his dream, but there are no job opportunities like that and he has a family to support.

One of the scammers brings her to a village nearby and they talk to locals he knows. The standard of living they have is far below what we have in Europe and America. They dont have the education opportunities and other than fishing, there is very little other sources of legitimate work.

 

[ramee]

The ones Mariana Van Zeller talked to did open up about their background. Many come from very poor areas where there are not a lot of legitimate job opportunities. The scamming is seen as a way out of poverty. She asks one of the men who is expert at the digital image and video manipulations if he would like to be a professional graphic designer and he said that was his dream, but there are no job opportunities like that and he has a family to support.

One of the scammers brings her to a village nearby and they talk to locals he knows. The standard of living they have is far below what we have in Europe and America. They dont have the education opportunities and other than fishing, there is very little other sources of legitimate work.

Do they have strict criteria of only scamming white people? Or do they make exceptions for whoever will give them money? Obviously it’s lucrative enough, or they’d have to move on to something else.

Maybe I’ll have to watch to answer my questions, but it seems it’s just an added bonus that they can say they’re sticking it to the white man to rationalize their behavior.

 

[gmi3804]

Apropos of nothing, I saw a segment on CBS Sunday Morning about where all our tech waste goes in Ghana. The place looked like hell on earth, with these poor people mining the junk for $3 worth of copper, or something like that, and it looked like hell on earth, like the "Colonies" in The Handmaid's Tale.

 

[Bad Pink Tink 2.0]

Do they have strict criteria of only scamming white people? Or do they make exceptions for whoever will give them money? Obviously it’s lucrative enough, or they’d have to move on to something else.

Maybe I’ll have to watch to answer my questions, but it seems it’s just an added bonus that they can say they’re sticking it to the white man to rationalize their behavior.

Yes they target specifically white Americans, both male and female. Once they start a conversation they ask specific questions and then depending on the answers they create a fake persona which matches the type of person the victim is seeking. Its organised gangs, and they buy and sell information, scripts, photos, videos etc between themselves.

 

[fla4fun]

And trusting. I can’t imagine getting involved in any of these scenarios.

But then if you go too far the other way to be completely untrusting and cut yourself off from any new possible relationships, the end result is still loneliness. One would hope there’s a balance and shouldn’t be afraid to take a chance, but also understand when something isn’t right.

Sad there’s so many cautionary tales.

I don’t cut myself off completely, although I will not use the internet for finding romance. I prefer the old fashioned way of having friends and family set me up. They know both parties, and basically do a lot of the vetting process in advance. It doesn’t mean all the dates go well, but at least I feel like I can carry on a conversation without having to give them side eye all evening.

There is no requirement to give out personal info right away no matter how you meet, and I certainly wouldn’t discuss assets or finances without knowing someone very well.

 

[Nora03]

Wow! Glad you were on your toes Karen! I frequently get nice looking older men following me on Instagram. My picture shows me dancing with my grandson at his graduation, so they know I’m an old lady. I block them or ignore them. My Facebook is private so I only interact with my friends and family. There are many weird people scamming others. Thanks for giving everyone a good reminder.

 

[Karin1984]

I was just thinking... this was not my first scammer. When I was in my late teens, maybe early twenties, I once had a guy in the online community I was a part of, who scammed others. He was a pathological liar, it turned out. He didn't scam me, but when the word was out, I remember having a really harsh and angry talk telling him he is an idiot. That was the last time I met him and spoke to him.

He sometimes made vague flirty remarks and I remember how angry I was, again for wanting to believe he was true.

I wish I could recall his name. Curious what he is up to now.

 

[kyton]

I’m way too suspicious in real life so this wouldn’t have made it past the friend request. My rule is if I don’t see you in real life then I’m not your friend on social media.

 

[JulieBeeRN]

I didn't fall prey to an internet scam but I did have my identify stolen twice by the SAME person 24 years ago. She had utilities in my name and credit cards. When I tried to shut them off; I couldn't because I didn't have the password.

Best Buy actually contacted me about a problem with my CC application and gave me her address/phone number. So I called, asked for myself and (much to my surprise) I wasn't home. Turned her into the local police. They called her in and she claimed that I gave her permission to use my social security number. Didn't charge her with anything and I even said that wouldn't it be illegal if I gave my SS number to someone to use?? And why wouldn't I want to go into debt for someone else....

So, she did it again the next year with no consequences.....again....

 

[kyton]

Be careful of people asking for your money or investment platforms promising huge returns. They lure victims into fake programs. I was scammed of 398,450 U S D. While researching on how to recover my funds, I came across several recommendations on Bitcoin Abuse Forum about RestoreChef. I contacted him via his email on restorechef@ gmail. com and he helped me recover my stolen funds. If you've also been a victim, don't hesitate to get in touch with him.

The sheer irony of this scammer is too too funny!