Romance Scammers are very clever with their words and the crises they encounter. These are just some of the scenarios. If any of these sound familiar you are dealing with a scammer.
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Scam Scenarios:
- Counterfeit money orders and checks sent in the mail from the scammer to be deposited in the victim bank account and send back the cash by Western Union or Money Gram.
- Asked to open a checking account to deposit checks form scammer.
- Scammer claims they’ve been mugged, shot, in an auto accident, arrested or their money, passport, and id was stolen.
- Need money for hotel/motel bill and manager has their ID and passport.
- Hookup Id Bage Scams where a website asks you for your indentity documents and money, usually to verify the online dating platform of your choice.
- Lost the company money and cannot pay his employees.
- Needs money to cover payroll or cash payroll checks.
- Blank checks sent in the mail for victim to fill out and send out to scammer “clients” which in reality are other victims.
- Scammer arranges for you to come to their country to meet and marry, you risk theft, rape, identify theft, and murder.
- Scammer confesses what they are doing, claims to have “truly” fallen in love with you, but they continue to ask for money.
- Scammer plans to come to your country to marry, but has an accident or other tragedy on the way to the airport.
- Need money for plane ticket BTA (Basic Travel Allowance) this does not exists.
- Scammer is on the way to the states to visit you but is held up in Customs and need money for his/her release.
- Shipping packages to victim home to have them mailed to scammer.
- Scammer sending counterfeit money through the mail to the victim.
- Sending money to Canada or New Mexico.
- Scammer sending a package filled with envelopes to victim to have the envelopes mailed to other victims. Checks or Money Orders are in the envelopes.
- Doctor contacts victim to inform the scammer was in an accident but survived and needs his medical bills paid as the victim is the only one who can help.
- Scammer or relative sick in the hospital needs money for the operation medication, and Dr. fees (Even when they are in the hospital they can IM with you because the doctor has a laptop and is so very generous to let them use it).
- Catalogs sent to victim’s home with scammers name on them.
- Shipping packages to victim home to have them mailed to scammer.
- Scammer is located in the States or UK, and is traveling to Nigeria for business.
- Scammer has a business, but needs to have merchandise shipped to victim’s house, and then have victim ship the merchandise to scammer.
- Scammer needs money because doesn’t have enough of her/his own money to get her/his newly acquired “merchandise” out of the country.
- Scammer needs money because they can not cash a check at a Nigerian bank or use credit cards.
- Scammer asks for money to give to her/his family as a promise to the family. They claim this is a “tradition” or a “wedding custom”.
- Scammer has a vision that he/she and the victim has to obey where God wants them to donate ½ of their monthly income for a month. The scammer went on a fast for 3 days and during that time God revealed to him/her where they would donate this money (sending it by WU) to some needy community Nigeria.
- Working as a missionary in Nigeria and is shot, needs money for surgery, and medication.
- Need money for child in an orphanage for his/her life saving operation or adoption of a child.
- Business opportunities for victim.
- Investment opportunities for victim.
- Inheritance opportunities for victim.
- Plans for the real estate business after they (the victim and scammer) receive the money in the trunks in the securities company in Holland, including legal looking documents.
- In order to obtain funds, you are told to pay fees for attorneys, certificates, storage, bank transfers, bank releases, money laundering clearance, anti-terrorist clearances, courier services, storage (demurrage), etc.
- Scammer claim to be buying a business. The business belonged to a “friend” of his who wanted to retire. This business was currently netting 30-40K each month in revenue claimed by the scammer. The scammer needed funds to complete the purchase of the business. Papers (fake papers) were provided for the purchase agreement which had the victim name on them included as the scammer’s wife.
- Scammer has 200 bars of 24K Ghanaian gold, left behind from her/his deceased Grandmother, each bar with a value of $16,000 dollars in the U.S. but had no value in Ghana. He/she (scammer) was to fly to the states with the gold and then the Immigration Customs Department at the Ghana airport called the victim. The (scammer) was arrested for trying to get out the country with undocumented gold. The victim was told the (scammer) would go to prison for life if the police came and the victim contact information would be forwarded over to Interpol and be traced to the local authorities here in the U.S.
- The victim was told they would lose their job and be arrested. The (scammer) could be released if ($3000) was sent for the gold consignment and immigration papers. Two days later the victim was told the gold was sold to the Ghana bank and was worth 3.3 million U.S. dollars. Then was asked to give personal bank account information so the funds would be transferred into the victim bank account immediately (it never happened).
- Scammer has funds belonging to Saddam Hussein’s family in a consignment registered as Government Diplomatic Package and insured by the International Guarantee bond (IGB). Amount is $21 Million us dollars. They want to move this money to “victim” because Iraq is a war zone, so that the victim may invest it for scammer.
- You are asked to help an orphan, banker, sick widow or widower, official, Zimbabwe farmer, minister, etc. transfer money out of the country – any country – to your account.
- A scammer with a terminal illness wants to make charitable contributions from a vast fortune.
Threats from the Scammer:
- Emails the victim with the victims Obituary.
- Scammer threatening to turn in victim to the FBI and/or Secret Service.
- Blackmail with “nude” photos of the victim.Harassing emails and phone calls.
- Threats are being made to you or to members of your family.
Negative Actions from the Scammer:
- Internet business opened in victim name.
- Merchandise ordered in victim name.
- Credit card opened in victim name.
- Scammer using victim name, profile, picture.
Top Common Online Dating Scams
Medical Scams
One of the most common online dating scams today are emergency scams, and this is usually coming from Ghana and Nigeria. This is the reason why a lot of people are not into these countries because of how notorious some people are there in scamming people online. They often pretend that they are from Canada, Australia, UK, and the USA or any other western country.
They have all the fake identities that they need to ensure that they will be able to fool the person that they’re chatting with. Their plan is to gain your trust by pretending that they are someone who has money or business. They will pretend that they are on a business trip in Ghana or Nigeria and pretend that they got into an accident. There will also be instances that they will pretend that a family member got diagnosed with a serious illness and would need your financial help.
Some of them will pretend that they are asking for donations that can be given to charities and such. Once you send them any amount of money, you will never hear from them again.
419 Nigerian Scams
419 Nigerian scams have been around for quite a while, wherein he promises you that he has a large amount of money but can’t access them because he is currently in prison. He will ask for your financial assistance so he can bribe the prison guards and let him be free. This is also similar to other types of scams, including the Spanish Prisoner and Nigerian money offer. The money that they will be talking about is millions of dollars, diamonds, and even gold bullion. Once you send them the needed amount, they will ask for more and come up with some excuses that something came up and more money will be required. After sending that money, you will never hear from them again.
Ticket Scams
Another online dating scam that you might come across is ticket scam. Once they gain your trust, they will talk about their plans to travel and how they already have tickets going there. The problem is that something related to their family or business came up and that they need to sell their ticket. They will even send you a photo of the ticket that they are talking about. The problem is that they don’t really have any ticket with them. Once you send the money, they will either disappear or send you a ticket, which you will later find out is fake.
It will already be too late once you realize that what you got is fake. The frustrating thing about this is that there is no way to get your money back.
Identity Theft
Another online dating scam is that they will try to steal your information. This is by sending you emails, asking you to click on them so you can check their photos. You may see pictures, but you will never know that they already got into your computer. Once they are in, they can steal every information that’s available there, including your complete name, credit card details, email and passwords, and even your photos.
Once all these are stolen, they will use it for different purposes. Some of the things where these scammers can use your information are by getting loans under your name, getting your emails, and packages, or even by gaining access to your home. Identity theft is really dangerous, so always be wary.
Could You Be A Victim Of A Romance Scam?!
If you are afraid of being scammed, it is extremely important to perform a quick background check on the person you are actually speaking to on the internet (you can do that here). The questions that come to mind are:
- Are they using a fake identity?
- Am I speaking to a real person from the U.S?
To help the users of RomanceScams.org, we have partnered with BeenVerified so you can check exactly that. This service reveals everything about this potential scammer and if they are a real person!
Helpful Information Available on BeenVerified:
- Phone Numbers
- Email Addresses
- Arrest Records
- Photos (Helps check if same photos are used for multiple profiles with different names)
- Social Profiles (IMPORTANT – Do they have a real social profile or multiple?)
- Addresses
- Relatives & Associates
- Sex Offenders Register (Be safe who you are meeting!)
If you have any doubt about who you are speaking to… Please make sure to use this service!
