I'm being scammed by [email protected]

Hello everyone!

Some time ago I registered on one of Polish dating sites. I forgot about it because I was busy with real life and all of a sudden, two weeks ago, a handsome man whose alleged name is Raul, sent me a message through that dating site saying that he wanted to meet me, that no one had made his heart beat that way for a long time and so on.

He declared himself as a 48-year old vet from New York, Dr. Raul Frank Raul, who is now on contract in London. He lost hiss father at the age of 10 and then moved with his mum to her hometown, which is London. He went back to the USA to study and work and after some time collected enough money to go to university again and graduated from it with the title of veterinary surgeon. He set up his own vet clinic and now he's on contract in London, where he's working at a farm and takes care of horses.

He got married but after 12 years his wife died of cancer (what a surprise!). And now he has finally found me.

Well, I was flattered, we started exchanging emails, chatting on Yahoo Messenger (my webcam was on only during two conversations, but I read posts here and I know that he probably recorded it and will use it to scam another person), he called me several times using number +447042061134. He called me "Baby", "hun", "my love" and "dear" all the time. He declared love really fast, he asked me if I wanted to be with him and he was sulking when I told him it was too early for me to tell such things. I saw him once on cam (now I know it was a recording, not him), then his cam was bad or it didn't want to work because the network was of poor quality in the hotel where he stayed.

I asked him about his strange accent and he said he had been working with many people and he had to adjust his accent so that everybody understands him. And that he tad taken some habits from these people and that's why his accent was not typically American.


When I was getting suspicious, he would always make up more lies. He pretended to be insulted when I told him he was not telling the truth. He wanted to meet me as soon as possible, and I even suggested a city where we could meet in May (there is a long weekend at the beginning of May in Poland - two bank holidays) and started looking for accommodation, booked rooms and paid for one night (because that is what they demanded in this hostel) - he was supposed to send me money to cover for the costs. Fortunately, I can cancell the booking or I can go there with a friend and have a good time. I think I will choose the second option - why not go and spend a few days in a beautiful city?

Two days ago he asked me to send him some money. He told me that his mum was very ill in hospital, and that she has access to his bank account and the horses he is looking for are very unwell, they need medicines and vaccines. He ordered them in Spain, but has no money to pay because he can't withdraw money without his mum's consent, and he had already spent all the money he had on his private account. I didn't agree and he started blackmailing me emotionally, he said he would do anything to help me, asked me how much money I had, promised to give it back as soon as his mum is discharged from hospital. He kept begging, he told me I didn't like animals and I didn't trust him, and how I could say such things and so on. I didn't agree and wanted to go to sleep and he asked me to call him in the morning to tell if I changed my mind. He wanted me to send him 320 or at least 200 euros to Madrid, Spain, via Western Union, and he said the receiver would be a DHL postman who will send him the vaccines for the horses. The receiver's name is Izuchukwu Bathelomew. I didn't agree, I went to a Western Union office and there they warned me. I told him that I wasn't going to send him the money, he said that it was a misunderstanding, that Western Union apologized to that guy, I mean the postman, and it was all about racism in Spain, and the man was harassed only because he was black. Then he said that I could send the money to the manager of Western Union in Lagos, Nigeria, Mr. Steven Taylor or Mr. Nmeka Chukwuma. He claimed that they will send the money to Spain and he would get the vaccines sent to him.

I didn't send him the money, he told me he understood and he would do anything to be with me, even let horses die. That was yesterday. I think that he will try to contact me today again. Now, thanks to this site, I know what to do. I'm not going to answer his phone calls, instant messages (I have a problem with deleting my yahoo account which I got to chat with him) and emails. Unfortunately, he has got my photos and personal details, such as telephone number, address and email address. He also knows some things about my family.

I know from this forum that he won't make use of my personal details or information he got from me, because all that he wants is money, but I am still concerned if he could for example send something to my address and that DHL or any company of that kind will want me to pay for the parcel. Is it possible? I know that he will use my photos and recording on Yahoo Messenger, I will follow your advice to check my name on google, yahoo and bing from time to time and that's all I can do. I really feel relieved that he isn't likely to do any harm, but obviously I'm worried.

I found this forum late and night and I was reading your stories and advice till 4 am, that was a long night. At least I know I'm not the only one. And thanks God I didn't fall for it totally, and I used my brain more than my heart. But I must confess that if I switched my brain off, I would probably send him the money.

I reported him to the admins of that dating site where we had met and I can see now that his profile has just been blocked. I know that he will create a new account and he will use other dating sites (he even asked me if I was on any other site), but I'm happy that maybe other women will be saved.


This is his first email to me:
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Dr Raul Raul <[email protected]>

Hi Beautiful,

hello how is your day going? I am feeling so good today because am thinking about you. Thank you so much I believe we have all the time to know ourselves, I most tell you baby, the way I am falling for you, I don't mind telling you very day how special you are to me, because I care a lot about you and wish we can have a honest relationship.

This morning in the office I just can't stop thinking about you, I promises myself that I will never fall for a woman again, but you make me feel something so peaceful inside my heart, I was going to work, I thought about you, am in the office right now am still thinking about you.

I would like to share a little of what I have done with my life for the last 25 years. I was born in my country home, New York City spent part of my childhood days there, till when I was about 10 we lost my dad, I and Mum had to move back to London My Mums Place, after high school I lived in Virginia, working there in a grocery store for a few months I got married in June 1983 which lasted for 12 year when she had cancer. Next we moved to Colorado and worked there in a wall house, I was transfer to Texas were I worked for a few months also.

we moved back to London and after a couple years of working in an office thought " had to get out of here again" so off I went to Arizona and worked at a guest ranch for the winter, next I lived in Door Country Wisconsin and worked at a resort for the summer and next I moved out to Grand Teton National Park and worked at a resort there for the summer. All of these were seasonal jobs...

By this point I was ready to return to school because I had raised some money, I first earned my Associates degree in Environment and Health management. No money in that though so next I earned my degree as a Vet Doctor, I worked in a social ability home while I studied because I was been paid I continued on and completed my Masters degree in May 1996...

The main theme to all I have done over the years is I have always followed my heart and worked hard to accomplish everything while truly enjoying everything I did...

when my schooling was completed my mum needed some company, so she ask that I came to stay closer for some time I moved over to Manchester, England so we all can be together again after a long while visited her in London most weekends, that was till 2002 when I had raised a lot of money to start up with my own Vet Clinic now I knew I needed to move back to New York were I have my vet Clinic now which is doing well, but this time I did not leave mum behind she stays with one of her cousin even though I foot the bills,I do love what am doing so much working with these creatures that has no one to speak for them is so fulfilling ...

To change the subject a little, I love the water. Growing up near Lake I went to the beach in the summers all the time. We always had a swimming pool at our home when I was growing up. I feel so good and free in the water...

Another thing I just love is amusement parks. I get such a thrill of going on those rides, am funny right? I also love to dance. I love to sing. I would say singing is one talent I have I have always been told that and took part in many performing groups growing up...

I addition to these adventurous things I also love taking warm baths, reading good books when ever am less busy, cuddling with my dogs, just being quiet sometimes. I enjoy going hiking because it feels good physically yet feel so peaceful to be on a quiet trail with only the sunshine and trees and fresh earth under my feet. I love bed and breakfasts and wildflowers...

I think am an excellent cook, because I stayed on my own for long. I can follow a recipe but I also love to create my own dishes and I get such joy when someone is able to eat a meal I have prepared and feel satisfied... My whole life I have had to do these things alone because my wife travels a lot and now she is no more it is worst. I do not want it to be that way anymore... this is why I need you, I hope you are comfortable with everything I have shared with you? I just wanted you to know more about who I am. I am going to watch a football match after work my love. While I wait your response, this is a good step for us to get to know each other very well, I want to know almost everything about you, I need to be very close to you, because I have never felt this way before in my life time, I want to be happy in life and I promise you again that am going to do all that I can to make you very happy with me, you are very special to me.

Am really looking forward to hear from you baby, my dear take good care of you for me okay.

Thanks


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I made a screen shot of his profile and I will publish it later on together with the photos he sent me as his. I just have to figure out how to do it.


Thanks for reading,

Polishgirl

That's the screen shot of his account on http://www.dopasowani.pl



Oh, I forgot, his first message on this site said he had been in Poland for three days. After a week he sent me exactly the same message and when I got suspicious, he said he was jealous and was trying to check if I would contact another men (well, how could I not know that it was him who wrote to me for a second time? He used the same profile...)

And here are the photos he sent me as his. The guy in the photos who's wearing black jacket and a bow tie is a model and that little photo is of the man I saw on cam one time when we talked.

When I told him that he had sent me pictures of two completely different guys, he replied that it was a mistake, he just sent me pictures he had on his computer and that that model was a star.

Welcome Polishgirl,

I'm glad you caught on to this scam before you lost any money.

His accent explanation makes absolutely no sense. Veterinarians do not spend their time learning accents and changing them based on who they talk to. Not to mention the fact that if he was deliberately changing his accent as he claimed, then he should have changed it to something that was more clear to you! Of course his accent is really Nigerian (He wouldn't have you send money to Nigeria if he wasn't actually there--the first receiver was probably the only mule he had available, so after that failed he just tried to have you send the money where he could pick it up himself.)

Looking at his introductory email, he is all over the place. He mixes up British and American terms and makes bizarrely contradictory statements all over the place (for example, how do you have a country home in New York City? The name should be a clue that it's a city!) Then he claims to have gone to "high school" in Britain (Britain doesn't have high schools.) I have absolutely no idea what a "social ability home" is supposed to be. There are many other things too, but you get the idea. It's sad that we live in a world where you need to look for these things, but in reality, to protect yourself, it is best to look at the stories for errors and inconsistencies like these.

As far as sending you packages goes--it's nothing to worry about. Even if he wanted to waste his time trying to order things (unlikely, because it isn't going to make them money) there are not very many companies that will even send items C.O.D. these days--and you are not liable if you didn't order it.

As far as using your photos goes--while it is possible that they could be used for some types of scams, it is much less likely that they will be used for romance scams. When romance scammers are targeting women, they typically use a romantic approach, but when they are targeting men, they more often use sex. When romance scammers are posing as females and targeting males, they typically use photos of women of college age or in their late 20's, most often porn actresses or models with "sexy" photos that can be used when they are asking for money.

He seems to be working in two places as well. It includes a farm in London. Probably similar to Warsaw with cows and sheep roaming the streets, as well as horses of course and lots of farms . He didn't mention this sports competition he took part in Autumn 2011? http://www.mhsurvival.co.uk/index.html
Odd but I guess he didn't know, it just looked good to send a picture of a stranger that he stole while posing as a woman on a dating site.
I found some Facebook profiles in spite of the misspelt name, Izuchukwu Bartholomew. All from Nigeria .

Hello again,
I'm really grateful for your replies, I feel much better now that I know I'm safe.

After being warned by Western Union, I told him that they reported it to the police and that the police knows my name and address. So he instructed me that next time I should tell that it's my money and I know exactly what I'm doing. He kept begging me, making me feel guilty, and so on.

I was suspicious because when I studied English at university, I met many foreign students, and lecturers were Polish, British, American and since I graduated I have been communicating with so many native speakers that I felt that something was wrong.

I think that he must have a Polish accomplice because on Friday I got a text message saying that Mr. Steven Taylor (I checked it, he is a Western Union worker in Lagos) was not at work that day and I could send the money to Mr. Nmeka Chukwuma (I checked again, WU worker in Lagos, he is on Facebook). And what I'm trying to say is that the number which the text message was sent from was Polish.

He wanted to chat with me on Yahoo Messenger yesterday, he sent me an instant message while I was invisible. After an hour I tried to get rid of that Yahoo account and finally it was deactivated.

I must confess that this whole thing is outrageous and that I am really shocked. I knew that there are men who try to get money from women and they pretend love, but until Friday I hadn't realised that there is a whole mafia behind it!

What do you mean?

Probably similar to Warsaw with cows and sheep roaming the streets, as well as horses of course.

We don't have those in London either and he said he is on a farm there. As was pointed out by Dotti it's completely inconsistent with reality. Vets don't need medicines from overseas unless they are in Central Africa perhaps. A group of horses is unlikely to get sick as described they would get antibiotics and it wouldn't happen and the vet would be out of work. He hasn't stepped out of Africa and never will.
Could you update WU again. They have security people and might make some sense out of it. It could be a money mule and there may be a way to get at whoever it might be. Students and others get duped into such activities with fake jobs and end up getting stolen money into a bank account and forwarding it . We try to save such from being sucked unwillingly and unknowingly into a crime, however we do see some who are also doing it knowing full well they are carrying out criminal activity, and we like to catch those and do .

OK, I misunderstood something, I read it quickly, I get it now. Ha ha ha I must go to Warsaw and check if there are any cows, sheep and horses roaming the streets, maybe I will find my Prince Charming there

Yes, I'm going to go WU tomorrow and tell them the two names. I know they can't be stopped but the more names WU and police know the better.

I used to think that only stupid or naive people get scammed but now I know that it doesn't really take much to be deceived. They know exactly what to say and when to say it, they make you feel comfortable with them, and that is the key to their success.

The worst thing is that such experiences make women and men lose trust in others and cause a lot of emotional harm, especially if someone has been looking for true love for a long time.

Hahahahahahahaha