Real Stories of Online Scam Victims

Online dating can be a lot of fun. However, there are scammers who make the experience traumatic. Here are real stories of scam victims that you can learn from.

Russian Bride

Stan talked to a Russian girl for over two months. She was ready to come to the US and be with him. She told Stan that she loved him with all her heart and that they were soul mates. She got her visa and was very excited until she found out she didn’t have enough money to buy her plane ticket.

The Russian girl sent Stan copies of her visa and flight plans and instructions how he could send her $900 to help pay for the plane ticket. She gave him a list of information to send back to her so she could get the money and pay for the ticket; she said specifically that she needed the transfer control number. Stan did as she asked, and she got the money. She said she’d be in Missouri soon.

Two days later, she wrote to Stan with bad news. The airline would not let her on the plane without insurance. She was crying and very disappointed and scared. She said they needed $500 for insurance before they would allow her on the plane. She was stuck at the airport with no money for lodging or meals, so Stan sent her money again.

Stan had become suspicious. He told himself he wouldn’t give her any more money if she asked for it. He called an airline and asked about insurance, but they didn’t know much.

The next day, she wrote to Stan again. She was in customs control. She said an American who worked there asked her how much money she was taking with her to the US. One hundred American dollars, she said. He told her that wasn’t enough. She had to have at least $1000 to be allowed to travel to the US, but she assured me that I’d get the money back when she arrived and we’d be together forever. Stan knew then he had been scammed.

He called customs control, and sure enough, there was no American customs worker in Moscow. Stan had developed strong feelings for the girl, and he was both hurt and angry. His ordeal was another lesson learned, and he knew this wouldn’t happen to him again. Stan still got e-mail messages from whoever it was, but he didn’t write back. He wanted to see if the FBI could do anything about it first.

Nigerian Romance

Justin was the victim of an international scam because of a relationship he had with Dani, a girl who claimed that she lived in Nigeria. She said that she was a US citizen (yet could never spell certain words like an American would) and she worked overseas as a sales representative for a large US retail company.

She also claimed that she had been robbed in that country and was staying in a hotel at the time Justin met her. They communicated through Yahoo IM, and Dani quickly got into Justin’s good graces, convincing him that she loved him very much and wanted to marry him.

Even though Justin did have a number of suspicions about Dani, he eventually sent her almost $500 over two months. Needless to say, Dani still wanted more money from Justin, but by that time, he was already onto her and stopped responding to her on IM.

Later on, Justin was contacted by another woman, whose name was Kim. They started talking, and he never suspected her because she didn’t ask for money. She just talked to him. After about a month, she asked if Justin would “clear” some money for her.

He fell prey to Kim because she offered to send him money orders that he thought were legitimate. Justin thought he should’ve known she was a fake because she was from Nigeria too but under different circumstances.

Kim sent Justin five money orders, which he found to be counterfeit after they stopped talking. The total cost of the scam came to $3,400.

Theresa’s Story

In January, Theresa received a message from Rich asking if she wanted to chat. She was flattered and thought he was cute. They started exchanging messages through e-mail, and these were friendly at first but quickly became more intense.

On Valentine’s Day, Theresa received chocolates, a stuffed toy, and a balloon with “I love you” on it. Theresa was hooked, even though she and Rich had never met in person. Rich said he was from Massachusetts but was in Nigeria on a big construction job. He promised to visit Theresa as soon as he got back to the States.

Their e-mail romance continued for another two months, then Rich said to Theresa that his boss paid him in postal money orders, which he had trouble cashing. He asked her to cash the money orders for him and to wire the money to Nigeria. Theresa agreed to do so. Over the next two weeks, she cashed two $900 money orders and sent him the money.

When Rich was ready to leave Nigeria, he needed money to deal with his visa problem. Theresa cashed another money order for him. Then, Theresa’s bank called her. The first two money orders had been tampered with; they were purchased for $20 but doctored to read $900. Theresa still held out hope, but after a friend referred her to a Web site about Nigerian scams, she felt like her whole world fell apart.

The bank informed her that she was responsible for the money. She had to pay nearly $3,000 to the bank, and she used all the money she had.

Scammed Big Time

I am a victim of a dating scammer, who duped me out of almost $4,245 and broke my heart. I want to share my emotionally painful and heartbreaking experience with a very attractive woman, who I met in a matchmaking site. You will notice in my story that there was a very short span of time between “Hello” and “How Much.” I am sharing this so others may learn from my sad experience and hopefully not be victimized by heartless scammers.

I am 43 years old, divorced, and have one daughter. On September 28, 2001, I received a private e-mail from a woman named Jhasmine through an online dating site that I signed up. She told me she was 31 years old and works as a secretary at a family-owned business. Her letter was short but straight to the point.

Needless to say, we started exchanging e-mails constantly and I was fooled by her touching and warm words. We talked about sensible things and agreed that trust is very important. She shared her positive view of the world as having more good people than bad and told me that she couldn’t wait until she’ll live with me in Australia. If there’s a minor difference in her scamming technique compared to other scammers, it is that she answers your questions in detail.

I challenged her even before she could ask me for money. I told her that her communication style perfectly fits a “scammer’s pattern.” She then tried to send me a photo of her childhood pictures and a picture of herself with her whole family. She even went as far as to call me in the middle of the night just to prove to me that she was genuine. I really felt sorry for her and we recommenced our communication.

My feelings for her grew deeper and soon I wanted her to be with me. On October 26, 2001, she asked me for money to process all the needed documents (visa, air ticket, passport, insurance, etc.), which amounted to a total of $2,245. She then gave me the details of her itinerary on November 10, 2001.

A week later, I received an urgent e-mail from her, requesting for $2,000 AUD to prove to the Embassy of her financial capacity to stay in Australia during the one month period. She called me and begged me to wire the amount. I decided to check with the immigration policy first and learned that a security bond is indeed needed. I wired the money on November 18, 2001.

I waited for her at the airport with a bunch of flowers that same day. No Jhasmine ever appeared. The airline later confirmed that her original booking was cancelled by her agent and that she didn’t rebook her flight. I haven’t heard from her since then.

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