Request for leave - [email protected]

[Dihale]

I have been messaging a person who says he is a soldier on a peacekeeping mission in Syria. He said he was overlooked for leave & sent me this email address [email protected] to contact with a request for leave. They sent an official looking form to fill out & asked for my passport details.
I was contacted to say the leave was granted but there was an insurance fee of $590 per month. $3540USD in total to be paid within 2 days to a Wells Fargo Bank account name of Lori Hanson. This feels like a scam to me. Can anyone help? Thanks

[Tim Atem]

It is a scam - do not send any money, drop all communication with the scammer.

Military do not pay for their leave. Only the military member can request leave, no one else can request leave for them. And leave would certainly not be requested through a free usa.com email address.

This thread explains how these scams work and how to avoid them: https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewt ... =13&t=6527

Could you post some of the emails between you and the fake soldier as well as any photos or phone numbers? Make sure to remove your personal information. Do no tell your scammer that you have come here.

[Dihale]

Thank you so much for the feedback. It felt dodgy when the request for money came through.
I can't follow the directions for sending pictures. Is this where I send the emails? Do I cut & paste them to here?
Thank you

[Bryon Williams]

Cut/copy and paste the emails here. Remove your name and email address.

[Dihale]

In regards to your leave application for your fiance; 2nd lieutenant Dave Bandow, having the recruit code USB427181. We have seen your leave request, we will signal the troops department in Syria, if they were aware of your vacation leave request. We have reviewed and considered your request. As such, we have attached the State Military leave application form, which you are required to pen fill and scan back to us.

All applicants are bound to fill up all the require information on the form and scan back for proper evaluation. Note, all applicants are required to scan his/her international passport, or government national citizenship card to update applicant citizenship status. We are looking forward to your respond, Thanks for your co-operation

Warm Regards,
Protocol officer, (Peter A. Selfridge)

Sent: Wednesday, October 21, 2015 at 9:14 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Request for leave
Dear Sir/Madam,

I am from Australia. I am writing on behalf of my fiancé 2nd lieutenant
Dave Bandow with military code number USB427181. He is currently on a peacekeeping
Mission in Syria. We have been in a relationship for some time and I want him to come over to meet with me & my family in Australia so that we can properly plan our marriage.
I will greatly appreciate it if his leave request is granted.

Yours Sincerely

In regards to your application, we are pleased to inform you that your fiance (Mr. Dave Bandow) recruit code USB427181 document is under review for leave and to be discharged out of the mission camp in Syria. But for every US State Military Officers on leave application, it is mandatory for the officer to be insured under the State Military Insurance, and this ordinance depends on the rank of the officer involve.

For insuring a higher rank officer such as 2nd lieutenant, (Mr. Dave Bandow). its insurance charges is $590 per month. Your application form was considered under six months of leave. So you are hereby required to make a payment of $3,540 USD, for the six months insurance fee. And the payment will be refund back to you, if the soldier return back safely to the camp.

You are to make the payment at a stipulated time within two working days, in other for the leave pass and insurance to be processed and approve. This payment will enhance the approval Mr. Dave Bandow vacation leave pass. The State Military Department await your responds towards payment of the stipulated fee in other to proceed with the issurance and approval pass.

This charges can be easily payed to the secretary deputy chief of mission (Mrs. Lori Hanson) in United States Of America. We are looking forward to your responds. Please do forward your payment slips to us for further clarification. Thanks for your co-operation. Below is the payment details:

BANK NAME: Wells Fargo bank
ACCOUNT NAME: Lori Hanson
ACCOUNT NUMBER: 3119235525
ROUTING NUMBER: 121000248
BANK ADRESS : 333 West Sioux Avenue Pierre, SD 57501
LORI Hanson : 720 West Dakota Avenue, Lot 20 Pierre, SD 57501
Mod Noted (BW)

Warm Regards,
Protocol officer, (Peter A. Selfridge)

Sent from my iPad
AC7DF5F9-5C7B-4381-9CD7-C73BE6CFA470

[Bryon Williams]

It is 100% a scam.

Military members do not pay for leave. They earn free leave each year. Also only the member can request leave through his chain of command. His wife, mother, children nor internet girlfriend can do this. Also they would never have contact with his chain of command.

Military members have access to their money. They also do not pay for phones, internet or medical.

Please stop all contact with the scammer. If you confront him he will continue to lie.

Please post the fake Lt Dave Bandow email address and a couple of his initial emails to you. Remove your name prior to submitting.

This is a warning from the Army about this scam.
http://www.army.mil/article/130861/Army ... nce_scams/

QUANTICO, Va. (July 30, 2014) -- Special Agents from the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, commonly known as CID, are once again warning internet users worldwide about cyber criminals involved in an online crime that CID has dubbed "the Romance Scam."

CID special agents continue to receive numerous reports from victims located around the world regarding various scams of persons impersonating U.S. Soldiers online. Victims are usually unsuspecting women, 30 to 55 years old, who believe they are romantically involved with an American Soldier, yet are being exploited and ultimately robbed, by perpetrators who strike from thousands of miles away.

"We cannot stress enough that people need to stop sending money to persons they meet on the internet and claim to be in the U.S. military," said Chris Grey, Army CID's spokesman.

"It is very troubling to hear these stories over and over again of people who have sent thousands of dollars to someone they have never met and sometimes have never even spoken to on the phone," Grey said.

The majority of the "romance scams," are being perpetrated on social media and dating-type websites where unsuspecting females are the main target.

The criminals are pretending to be U.S. servicemen, routinely serving in a combat zone. The perpetrators will often take the true rank and name of a U.S. Soldier who is honorably serving his country somewhere in the world, or has previously served and been honorably discharged, then marry that up with some photographs of a Soldier off the internet, and then build a false identity to begin prowling the internet for victims.

The scams often involve carefully worded romantic requests for money from the victim to purchase special laptop computers, international telephones, military leave papers, and transportation fees to be used by the fictitious "deployed Soldier" so their false relationship can continue. The scams include asking the victim to send money, often thousands of dollars at a time, to a third party address.

Once victims are hooked, the criminals continue their ruse.

"We've even seen instances where the perpetrators are asking the victims for money to purchase "leave papers" from the Army, help pay for medical expenses from combat wounds or help pay for their flight home so they can leave the war zone," said Grey.

These scams are outright theft and are a grave misrepresentation of the U.S. Army and the tremendous amount of support programs and mechanisms that exist for Soldiers today, especially those serving overseas, said Grey.

Along with the romance-type scams, CID has been receiving complaints from citizens worldwide that they have been the victims of other types of scams -- once again where a cyber crook is impersonating a U.S. service member. One version usually involves the sale of a vehicle; where the service member claims to be living overseas and has to quickly sell their vehicle because they are being sent to another duty station. After sending bogus information regarding the vehicle, the seller requests the buyer do a wire transfer to a third party to complete the purchase. When in reality, the entire exchange is a ruse for the crook to get the wire transfer and leave the buyer high and dry, with no vehicle.

Army CID continues to warn people to be very suspicious if they begin a relationship on the internet with someone claiming to be an American Soldier and within a matter of weeks, the alleged Soldier is asking for money, as well as discussing marriage.

The majority of these scams have a distinct pattern to them, explained Grey.

The perpetrators often tell the victims that their units do not have telephones or they are not allowed to make calls or they need money to "help keep the Army internet running." They often say they are widowers and raising a young child on their own to pull on the heartstrings of their victims.

"We've even seen where the criminals said that the Army won't allow the Soldier to access their personal bank accounts or credit cards," said Grey.

All lies, according to CID officials.

"These perpetrators, often from other countries, most notably from West African countries, are good at what they do and quite familiar with American culture, but the claims about the Army and its regulations are ridiculous," said Grey.

The Army reports that numerous very senior officers and enlisted Soldiers throughout the Army have had their identities stolen to be used in these scams.

To date, there have been no reports to Army CID indicating any U.S. service members have suffered any financial loss as a result of these attacks. Photographs and actual names of U.S. service members have been the only thing utilized. On the contrary, the victims have lost thousands.

One victim revealed that she had sent more than $60,000 to the scammer. Another victim from Great Britain told CID officials that over the course of a year, she had sent more than $75,000 to the con artists.

"The criminals are preying on the emotions and patriotism of their victims," added Grey.

The U.S. has established numerous task force organizations to deal with this and other growing issues; unfortunately, the people committing these scams are using untraceable email addresses on Gmail, Yahoo, Hotmail, etc., routing accounts through numerous locations around the world, and utilizing pay-per-hour Internet cyber cafes, which often times maintain no accountability of use. The ability of law enforcement to identify these perpetrators is very limited, so individuals must stay on the alert and be personally responsible to protect themselves.

"Another critical issue is we don't want victims who do not report this crime walking away and thinking that a U.S. serviceman has ripped them off when in fact that serviceman is honorably serving his country and often not even aware that his pictures or identity have been stolen," said Grey.

What to look for:

DON'T EVER SEND MONEY! Be extremely suspicious if you are asked for money for transportation costs, communication fees or marriage processing and medical fees.

Carefully check out the stories you are being told. If it sounds suspicious, there is a reason, it's routinely false -- trust your instincts.

If you do start an internet-based relationship with someone, check them out, research what they are telling you with someone who would know, such as a current or former service member.

Be very suspicious if you never get to actually speak with the person on the phone or are told you cannot write or receive letters in the mail. Servicemen and women serving overseas will often have an APO or FPO mailing address. Internet or not, service members always appreciate a letter in the mail.

Military members have an email address that end in ".mil." If the person you are speaking with cannot sent you at least one email from a ".mil" (that will be the very LAST part of the address and nothing after), then there is a high probability they are not in the military.

Many of the negative claims made about the military and the supposed lack of support and services provided to troops overseas are far from reality -- check the facts.

Be very suspicious if you are asked to send money or ship property to a third party or company. Often times the company exists, but has no idea or is not a part of the scam.

Be aware of common spelling, grammatical or language errors in the emails.

Be cognizant of foreign and regional accents that do not match the person's story.

WHERE TO GO FOR HELP

Report the theft to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (FBI-NW3C Partnership) at http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.

Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission at http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft.

Your report helps law enforcement officials across the United States in their investigations.

Report the theft by phone at 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) or TTY, 1-866-653-4261.

Report the theft by mail at the following address:

Identity Theft Clearinghouse
Federal Trade Commission
Washington, DC 20580

Report the fraud by email to the Federal Trade Commission on Nigerian Scams via at [email protected].

For more information on CID, visit http://www.cid.army.mil.

[Dihale]

I appreciate the information. Thank you.
This is the fake soldier's email address
[email protected]

[Bryon Williams]

^^^^ Thank you.

Your warning will help other women avoid his scams. We can also help the bank account holder out of whatever type of scam she is involved in. She is most likely a victim of the same scammer.

[Bryon Williams]

facebook.com/profile.php?id=100010401180824

Works at U.S. Army
No schools/universities to show
Lives in Aleppo, Syria
From New York, New York
No relationship info to show

[Dihale]

I am trying to paste the form I was sent to complete. This is what came through. Does this make sense?
{\rtf1\ansi\ansicpg1252
{\fonttbl\f0\fnil\fcharset0 .SFUIText-Regular;}
{\colortbl;\red255\green255\blue255;\red88\green86\blue214;}
\deftab720
\pard\pardeftab720\partightenfactor0

\f0\fs34 \cf2 \expnd0\expndtw0\kerning0
\outl0\strokewidth0 \strokec2 }

[Dihale]

Thanks Bryon for posting the Facebook profile, being used by the scammer, of said soldier Dave Bandow

[Bryon Williams]

[Dihale]

I found another site for Dave Bandow (Wilmington, North Carolina) on Facebook. Some of the same pictures with some extra ones. He has an airman's uniform on in the profile pic. He has 28 friends, all women. I think it could possibly be the same scammer.

[Traemar]

He's on Facebook as Paul Bandow. Trying to tune us Aussie girls lol we are a bit smarter than that, I knew straight up something about his message wasn't right, did the image check and led me to this page!! Thankfully!!

This page has been really helpful x

[Mike Wilson]

He is now claiming to be Paul Fox

Still using [email protected] for the fake leave processing