Philip Michael Clement - [email protected]

I've been corresponding with a guy for several months who says he's a soldier in the US Army and is stationed in Syria. His name is Philip Michael Clement, but he goes by Michael. His email address is [email protected]. He has had me send him $200 per month for internet service, as well as other money for coffee and toiletries. He claims he will be receiving a large deployment bonus, which will be sent to me if I complete the paperwork. He asked me to go to Washington, DC to complete paperwork, which I couldn't do. He then said he had a friend who could help. I received an email from this friend, after I sent $630. The friend was Lieutenant Cooper [email protected]. The email just confirmed my name and address and phone number. It was full of grammar and spelling errors. Michael claims his bonus will be $50,000 to $60,000 , but that I will need to pay 10% up front. There is no way that will happen.

He sent me a link to a facebook account last for carl thacker (thacker_carl). It appears to be his FB account, but he claims that this individual stole pictures from his phone. It has his actual birthday on it, so I am highly suspicious. It shows that he is married and living in VA and not deployed to Syria.

Please help me determine if this is a scam or not. Thanks!

Hello Suechef123,
I am sorry to have to tell you this, but you are in contact with a lying scammer and not a soldier. Soldiers have access to their money anywhere in the world. His "friend" is probably the same person playing another role.
DO NOT send anymore money to this criminal for any reason. Ignore or block all emails and telephone calls without responding in any manner. Just go silent and let him wonder what went wrong.
These fake soldiers often steal the content from real soldiers. Please do not attempt to contact the real person as he is probably aware that a scammer is using his photos and does not want to be contacted by strangers.
Please post the full email that asked for the money to be sent and any additional contact information that you may have.