by Ansy
I met a man online. We chatted for sometime. He said he was from Dallas Texas and had a company in Belgium which he had inherited from his father. He also gave me the website of the company: http://gtcoengineering.com
He also said that his son had to attend a course in the UK but he could not access his account as he was on a ship in the Mediterranean with limited internet access. I refused to send money. He then asked me to access his bank account and to transfer the money. Initially I refused to do this but eventually gave in. I accessed a "Bank of America" account but was not able to do the transfer. He said I should transfer US$600,00.00 to my account. I tried to transfer US$2000.00 which is what his son required.
I then got a message from him stating that the bank had blocked his account due to "unauthorised" access to his account and that they were planning to report me to the local police and have me arrested. I am living in the Middle East and sitting in jail is not an option for a single mother.
He said that in order to have his account activated he needed US$32,500.00 which I had to pay otherwise he would send the authorities after me. I eventually managed to get the money together having sold my car and not paying my children's schooling. He said that he would return the money as soon as his account was active. Once I had sent the money he said his attorney needed money for air ticket and hotel fees and I have now paid US$40,500.00. Apparently now his attorney needs another US$5,500.00
Can anyone help me, is this for real. I contacted the Bank of America and asked if they could assist. I wanted to send them the letter that he forwarded to me from the bank. All I required from them was to see if the letter was a fake or real but they refused to even consider my plea, all I got from the agent on the phone was "in my opinion" and she did not want me to send her the letter. If we are to stop the scammers we really need people on board.
Everything that I received from him I checked out and everything seemed legit. I have many photographs, his bank log in details as well as the letter from the bank.
He is apparently stuck in Turkey as he had signed a contract with the Turkish Petroleum company and because his account is deactivated he cannot complete the job and the company have taken away his passport as well as keeping him under "house arrest"
I traced his phone numbers to the areas he said he was in in the US. I traced his IP address. I searched his IP address as well as that of his "son". Everything that I have searched seems to be legit which is why I sent the money. It has now been going on for too long and I need closure.
Was I scammed or not?
I feel really stupid now. The good thing about this site is we get to talk about this. Having been scammed leaves you in a very lonely place as there is no one to talk to. People generally say things like "you're so stupid to have fallen for that" so we tend to keep quiet and bottle it up and it is constantly brewing in our minds.
I cannot get away from this. I am reminded every minute of every day of my stupidity as I have to look at myself in the mirror and know that I have failed my children, my parents and most importantly I have failed myself.
How does one move on from being scammed? There is now a pile of debt and I feel like I'm drowning under all this pressure of debt and having to keep quiet.
PLEASE HELP!!!
He also said that his son had to attend a course in the UK but he could not access his account as he was on a ship in the Mediterranean with limited internet access. I refused to send money. He then asked me to access his bank account and to transfer the money. Initially I refused to do this but eventually gave in. I accessed a "Bank of America" account but was not able to do the transfer. He said I should transfer US$600,00.00 to my account. I tried to transfer US$2000.00 which is what his son required.
I then got a message from him stating that the bank had blocked his account due to "unauthorised" access to his account and that they were planning to report me to the local police and have me arrested. I am living in the Middle East and sitting in jail is not an option for a single mother.
He said that in order to have his account activated he needed US$32,500.00 which I had to pay otherwise he would send the authorities after me. I eventually managed to get the money together having sold my car and not paying my children's schooling. He said that he would return the money as soon as his account was active. Once I had sent the money he said his attorney needed money for air ticket and hotel fees and I have now paid US$40,500.00. Apparently now his attorney needs another US$5,500.00
Can anyone help me, is this for real. I contacted the Bank of America and asked if they could assist. I wanted to send them the letter that he forwarded to me from the bank. All I required from them was to see if the letter was a fake or real but they refused to even consider my plea, all I got from the agent on the phone was "in my opinion" and she did not want me to send her the letter. If we are to stop the scammers we really need people on board.
Everything that I received from him I checked out and everything seemed legit. I have many photographs, his bank log in details as well as the letter from the bank.
He is apparently stuck in Turkey as he had signed a contract with the Turkish Petroleum company and because his account is deactivated he cannot complete the job and the company have taken away his passport as well as keeping him under "house arrest"
I traced his phone numbers to the areas he said he was in in the US. I traced his IP address. I searched his IP address as well as that of his "son". Everything that I have searched seems to be legit which is why I sent the money. It has now been going on for too long and I need closure.
Was I scammed or not?
I feel really stupid now. The good thing about this site is we get to talk about this. Having been scammed leaves you in a very lonely place as there is no one to talk to. People generally say things like "you're so stupid to have fallen for that" so we tend to keep quiet and bottle it up and it is constantly brewing in our minds.
I cannot get away from this. I am reminded every minute of every day of my stupidity as I have to look at myself in the mirror and know that I have failed my children, my parents and most importantly I have failed myself.
How does one move on from being scammed? There is now a pile of debt and I feel like I'm drowning under all this pressure of debt and having to keep quiet.
PLEASE HELP!!!



