Information on romance scams and scammers.
#41538 by special55 Wed Dec 01, 2010 7:55 pm
[email protected]

new e-mail address given to me by someone claiming to be in the USA army, requesting that i send a e-mail requesting that i request leave for him, I dare say this is a scam. He stated he had not had any leave for 20months. I have not sent a e-mail nor am I going to.

goes under the name of Lee Blake

Ladies out there if you are looking for a dating site please do not go on Maturedating, as most of the men on there are stating they are in the Usa army and living in england/USA. Lucky for me I could see that what they were saying was not true, most of them state they were married but their wife died in car accident/cancer/robbery and they usually have a child.
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#43148 by wendybee Mon Dec 27, 2010 1:50 am
I almost fell into the hands of a scammer. This "Romeo" wasted no time in asking me for money as his "accounts were frozen while he was serving in Afghanistan". Phony documents were sent to me telling me to fill them out as the one requesting leave, scan them, and send them back.....at which point they would be reviewed and approved. Indeed I did this. Luckily I have a close girlfriend who did some investigating on her own....thanks to this site. She called me while I was enroute to my sister's to ask for the needed money. The email that I was to send the information is/was: [email protected] The name of the "soldier" is Captain Edward Strommen. From all that I've read I understand that scammers steal photos and pose as this individual. I am not devastated. I do feel very foolish as I've always prided myself on being level-headed and sensible when it comes to being conned. I do, however, wonder who the person in the pictures are that were sent to me. I'm not sure whether I should go to my local authorities. Advice? I'm seriously thinking of going to my local media to raise awareness to unsuspecting women. Comments most welcome!
#43149 by Bubbles Mon Dec 27, 2010 2:57 am
Welcome to ScamWarners Wendybee. We are glad you found us to tell your story of nearly being scammed. Good for your girlfriend to do some researching too.

Yes, do let the media know about what nearly happened to you. We support raising awareness of scams in as many ways as possible. I hope you take some time to read the various areas of our site and will take the step of raising awareness about scams.

:D

Thank you Special55 for starting this thread too.

Bubbles, former Scamwarners moderator.

Rest in Peace 24 June 2015.

Gone, but never forgotten.
#43236 by special55 Tue Dec 28, 2010 11:37 am
You are welcome.

I was also asked if I had a scanner, when I stated that I did not have one, was asked if I had access to one. He kept asking me why I had not sent the e-mail, I told him I was having problems with my e-mail and would try in a few days time. As soon as he was off line I blocked him form contacting me.
#43463 by laragumbrill Sat Jan 01, 2011 7:44 am
i was scammed for 2100.00 buy a greg carson jordan who am aware now is a scammer i wish i knew before this exsisted i feel so sick knowing i was scammed thank you
#43492 by wendybee Sat Jan 01, 2011 5:25 pm
lara, i know how you feel, I was physically ill when I found out that my "guy in Afghanistan" was nothing but a cyberRomeo. It's better now, I just keep telling myself that the guy in the picture is not actually the guy that was behind the scam. Somehow it makes it easier for me. On a positive note, you now know what to look for in a scammer......knowledge is indeed power. Keep blogging and researching, in time it will help you.

Take care,
Wendy
#43546 by wendybee Sun Jan 02, 2011 11:09 pm
Update: I was interviewed by my local TV media today and my story should air sometime Monday or Tuesday. I will be discussing with them the possibility of it going national for additional exposure. I am very excited about this and only did it to raise awareness for other women and men. I urge everyone who has been scammed or almost scammed (as I was) to go to your local media and share your story. The media is powerful but more exposure in the U.S. is what is needed. I'm doing what I can in Canada. Good luck to all!
#43717 by gypsieanne Wed Jan 05, 2011 12:41 am
Image


Hi just letting everyone know there is a scammer on face book claiming to be sgt John Preston. I will give you an example of introduction letter.
Heres a link to his facebook account: http://www.facebook.com/#!/profile.php? ... 1542205480
And heres one of emails: [email protected]

Hi Name

How are you?I am very happy to have your e-mail on AYI I will like to tell you more about myself .Some of my hobbies are listening to country music, Singing, Playing tennis, Cooking, Dancing and i also love watching movies when ever i am free.The main thing i look for in a woman is trust ,love, care and i want to trust her even if she's 1 million miles away and vice verse Here are some questions for you ( smiles ) , i need to know when your birthday is ? how many friends do you call your best ? , are you a fast food type or eat at home ? , whats your favorite spot on Holidays ? , how often do you travel ? Due to your work circumstances , how many hours does it keep you away from your lover in a day ? Are you single or have been married before? Do you live alone ? in a house or an apartment ? For how long have you been into the online dating system ? I'll wrap it up here

My Birthday is August 20 i am 45 year of age my favorite color is Green my best friend are Jesus and God because they never fail me i am a widowed i am still in US ARMY and i am deployed to Kabul Afghanistan war zone for a peace keeping operation. my daughter name is Diana she is 7 years .

I am a military man, US Army is my regiment. I have been in the military for long. Am a man of good gesture very loving and caring... am new online it was my friend that introduce me to come over and meet responsible lady online, He met his new wife here and they are living happily together in the United State. I lost my wife in auto accident that really make me sad and depressed that i almost lost my life.Friendship is only lost once you have the courage to let it go

i hope to hear from you soon

Sgt John
Last edited by gypsieanne on Wed Jan 05, 2011 10:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
#43754 by special55 Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:32 pm
Oh what a surprise that his wife died in a Auto accident, that seems to be the common theme with them, they nearly always have one child.

I even had i who stated that his marriage went on the rocks when his wife and daughter died on a car crash, I am still trying work that one out, if anyone has got answer please let me know.
#43758 by Arnold Wed Jan 05, 2011 1:55 pm
It's possible that a scambaiter has de-educated him at some time. "Teaching" them colloquial English is a known scambaiting technique.

#43921 by Dora Fri Jan 07, 2011 7:45 am
Hi wendybee and sorry to hear what you have been going through. :(

Another thing we can do against this scammer is to get this email-only domain closed down by one of our site killers.

wendybee wrote: The email that I was to send the information is/was: [email protected]


This is a fake web domain, with a name that almost sounds legit, to help with the scam.

Domain Name:DODUSA.ORG
Created On:24-Nov-2010 18:15:45 UTC
Last Updated On:24-Nov-2010 18:19:39 UTC
Expiration Date:24-Nov-2011 18:15:45 UTC


As you can see, it was just recently created and the registrar is very cooperative in shutting down these scam domains, with a bit of proof.

Can you post up the email (with headers, if possible, and you can remove your email address from the information) where the scammer asked you to email the domain? Did you ever email the domain and get a response back from it? Anything you post up will be helpful and I will make sure one of our fake site killers will take care of it to help prevent other victims.

If you don't feel comfortable posting up the complete email, you can send it to me via the PM system and I will make sure it gets to the right people.

Thank you. :D
#44209 by laney Tue Jan 11, 2011 7:34 am
Hi everyone,

I too think I'm about to be scammed by person saying he is in the US Military, serving in Afghanistan. I met him on a dating site in the UK called Friends Reunited Dating. He says his name is Captain Walt Peter Smith and he has a 16yr old son called David, who is staying in Spain with his Grandma. He says he is divorced and relocated to Scotland before the break up of his marriage, due to his wife cheating, cos he was never home.
We have been communicating since the middle of December and just last night he asked if i would put in for a transit request for him so he can come home early, he says he is due to retire in May, when he told me it had to be someone close to him to apply i did ask why his mum or son could not and he said his boss said no it had to be me, that started alarm bells ringing and looked up transit leave and found this site, i would never have sent any money anyway. I can understand how they suck you into there hearts, mine did and has, i should have known it was to good to be true, his picture is lovely. The email address he gave me was [email protected] and the email addresses for the transit leave are [email protected] and also [email protected] neither are recognised. I am going to string him along now, for as long as possible, i wish he was genuine but i now have serious doubts. will keep you all posted.

Embarrassed Laney
#44211 by GomerPyle Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:10 am
wendybee - it might be useful if your interview gets aired to let us have details as we might be able to find it, as many TV stations keep items online for people to view.

The romance scam problem is much much bigger than it appears as so many instances go unreported. It's not just the financial harm that's done, and that itself can be massive, but the emotional damage too, and the scammers don't hold back, going as far as emotional blackmail and even straight out blackmail. Having that happen within weeks of believing you've found the love of your life is like slamming a flat out racing car in to reverse from top speed.

The first problem any victim has to get over is that they're not alone or unique in having this happen, so being able to listen to someone else's account can be the first step in healing. Most of us, if we live long enough, will experience tragedy but somehow damaging someone's self-esteem can be much worse. Don't get me started on mine :lol: but somehow damaging your self-belief is worse than anything.

... and laney, it's best if you drop this scammer as he will have your personal details, not that he can do much with them. If you want to inflict some mental damage back on scammers, visit 419eater.com where you'll meet others who do the same, and they can mention the simple methods to 'bait' scammers, as it's known, safely. I'm there, and it's evil fun for a good purpose. :D
Last edited by GomerPyle on Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:17 am, edited 1 time in total.

Non-EU citizens should go here to find out about obtaining a visa to work as an au pair in the UK
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/
Whenever payment is requested by Western Union you're dealing with a scammer
#44213 by Arnold Tue Jan 11, 2011 8:14 am
Welcome to Scamwarners Laney.
That is a typical example of this scam and I'm glad you spotted it for what is was.
laney wrote: I am going to string him along now, for as long as possible,

Don't do that. We don't advise baiting scammers who have your real life details. They are criminals after all.
That aspect of dealing with scammers is covered at our sister site http://www.419eater.com, with plenty of advice about how to do it safely.

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