The number of victims of online dating scams is increasing, and every year the total amount of monetary losses amounts to millions of dollars. Deception schemes are also improving, and now, instead of simply sending phishing emails, attackers are increasingly implementing long-term scenarios.
If you are a regular on online dating services, and suddenly your interlocutor begins to meet one or more of the criteria discussed later in this article, you should at least be wary. We'll also look at how to avoid these types of scams in general.
Tips on how to spot a swindler
More and more people are registering on dating sites in search of a soul mate. Mostly women over 30 are looking for a husband, and they do not rule out the possibility of meeting a foreigner for further moving to his country. But, unfortunately, fraud on dating sites is not uncommon. Foreign swindlers from America and other countries choose precisely such “future wives” for the reason that they are almost desperate to start a family and are ready for the most daring and rash actions.
The team of specialists developing our online resource creates a blacklist of scammers on dating sites so that gullible women can bypass all the tricks used by male scammers. Also here are photos of “woe-husbands” and their usual rules of communication when corresponding.
Youtube scam
Youtube scammers usually try to steal data from different users. This was reported by the Californian company Proofpoint, which specializes in data protection.
YouTube scammers periodically create channels and train people in phishing attacks. That is, Internet fraud, the purpose of which is to gain access to confidential user data. They are actually making a trap. Below the video there are links to create phishing pages. If a person follows this link and enters the scammer’s website, then his data is sent to the author of the scam.
Black list of scammers
Online scammers are very calculating and will do anything to get what they want. Their main goal is to obtain material benefits. But there are cases when women are subjected to sexual violence or moral persecution. To avoid such cases, we created a portal where those who suffered at the hands of swindlers can tell their stories, and also publish a photo in the photo gallery of the “failed husband.”
Basically, to make an impression, attackers tell heart-warming stories about their hard lot. In the end, they always attribute that as soon as they saw you, they immediately fell in love. Photos of scammers on dating sites look like real ones, so it’s easy to fall into a trap. These men followed the same path.
Mark Collins Ehresman is another American military swindler who is pictured wearing many awards.
But if you look closely, you will notice that his outfit has nothing to do with the uniform of the American army, and the order is a dummy. It is possible that he decided to use this approach to interest his “chosen one.”
During the first correspondence, he talks about how he is a widower and is raising a child alone, and the gender of the child is constantly changing. After his story, he begins to write about how he is tired of being alone and wants to find a real family. And the US hero is even ready to give up the fight against terrorism and retire.
Mark Collins Ehresman can even contact you several times using Skype, constantly write compliments, etc. But then suddenly he needs money, naturally for good intentions. After getting what you want, it simply evaporates. The William G. Boykin blacklist of scammers continues. He also appears to be an American military man who is ready to end his career. He meets older women and says that he is close to Barack Obama. His goal is financial gain, so he will tell everything his “companion” wants to hear.
Next on the list of scammers is Celvny Holly, USA. Ekaterina shared her story. I didn’t fall for the tricks, but decided to warn my friends in misfortune.
All these scammers are from the USA, since this is where many representatives of the fairer sex want to move.
AND WHERE SUDDENLY THIS LOVE COME FROM?!
Now women are constantly being told that life after 50, as well as after 60 and 70, is just beginning. And that her prince, who logically should have become a king long ago, grow old and die in the arms of his grandchildren, is about to appear at her “house” on social networks.
And what? In the morning, alas, the prince did not knock on the window, but in the evening some elderly military man knocked on the “pm”. Such an impressive man, not even a colonel, but a general! He allegedly found the woman of his dreams and fell in love at first sight. And my heart beat as sweetly and anxiously as in my youth. But this, they say, is not a problem - Valocordin is always at hand.
And the admirer writes so beautifully and sensually in Russian that the lady then cannot sleep for three days. How, one might ask, does a foreign military man know Russian (even with a slightly noticeable accent)? Yes, everything is elementary! In his youth, he studied at a military school in the USSR!
This is the case if the general introduces himself as a citizen of some eastern or even African countries. Well, if a general serves in the US army or, for example, the UK, then he offers to communicate through an interpreter who is supposedly sitting next to him. The general dictates - the translator writes.
It would seem, well, what does it cost a 55-year-old girl (that’s what their fans call them!) to look at herself in the mirror at least once? What do we see in photos on social networks? These are, as a rule, plump aunts with decent shapes (in the kitchen with their grandson and in a colored robe!) or the same aunts, but they only look like retired prostitutes - in fishnet stockings and over the knee boots. In their youth, decent men didn’t look at them, but suddenly there was such love.
Military scammers
Marriage scammers on dating sites often present themselves as people with military specialties. This is due to the fact that the military, on a subconscious level, guarantees peace and protection. Therefore, it is not surprising that the question arises: “How to recognize a military fraudster?” They often work according to the same scenario:
- Most of the service takes place in Syria or Afghanistan. The hero of the novel may take a direct part in military operations or be a medic;
- widower or divorced, single father;
- the contract is coming to an end soon or he has a vacation planned. In general, the military man will convince you that the meeting will definitely take place;
- There is a photo in the form.
All correspondence will be conducted in a romantic style, a lot of compliments and a desire to meet and live the rest of my life only with you. But the day will come when the chosen one will need help financially. Do not transfer money or give your contact information under any circumstances. You need to do the following:
- State firmly and categorically that he will not receive the money.
- Do not answer letters and calls, although there will be many of them. As soon as he is faced with being ignored, he will leave.
- Ask for his passport details and payment details for verification purposes. If the documents are genuine, then you will send the required amount.
No matter how painful and offensive it may be, it is better to find out everything right away than to lose a large sum in the future.
So, how to recognize a scammer and not waste time, effort and money.
General signs:
- a respectable profession - military, doctor, oil worker, builder of bridges and tunnels in the harsh conditions of Africa or Northern Canada. The geography is not necessarily the same, but the living and working conditions are definitely harsh. It's either insanely hot or unbearably cold.
– hard and risky work “plus” a personal story that evokes tears and instant empathy,
– mandatory attributes – early loss of parents (or one parent), loss of a wife or a difficult divorce, raising children without the support and participation of a woman and other similar stories,
- approaching maturity, the end of an agreement or contract, and the decision made, having met a wonderful woman (why was she YOU!?), to settle down in your declining years in a calm country, investing incredible money earned through hard work or sleepless service into your common bright future:
– the photographs are amazingly good – normal height, sweet smile, not handsome, but such a sweetheart. Photos of children at a “cute” age are often used.
Basic tricks of scammers
Marriage scammers often operate on dating sites. The photo gallery of such “heroes” is large, but still women do not have time to add new photos to the blacklist, so you need to know their main tricks so as not to fall for them.
Such attackers are ready to waste their time on you, bombard you with letters, calls and compliments, but only for the reason that they are waiting for a big jackpot. To do this they use the following methods:
- A citizen of another state is crazy about his chosen one and is ready to meet her and invites her to visit. To do this, she needs to go to the website and book a plane ticket. But the portal may be fake, and the “husband” will receive the money.
- The man has already left and is on his way, but a small incident happened and he urgently needs money.
- The future husband is ready to come, but he has no funds. Therefore, he asks you for a money transfer with which he can get to you. You can offer to buy him a ticket yourself. If there is a refusal, then you have a scammer in front of you.
- A new acquaintance asks for money for treatment for himself or his close relatives. Everyone knows about the gullibility and compassion of Russian women, so it doesn’t cost a swindler anything to come up with a heart-warming story.
- A friend has decided to send you a gift, but you will only need to pay for shipping to the provided bank account.
MARINES FROM THE AMERICAN DESERT GO ON THE ATTACK
What's next? The spoon is abandoned, the line is tense, it’s time to pull out the fish. And then the general begins to write all sorts of nonsense, which, it would seem, should strain a normal woman, however.
A brave warrior writes that he wants to get married, but due to a military contract in his country, he cannot do this, and there are, say, 8 years left until the end of the contract. Or more. There is only one way out: he secretly flies to Russia, but for this he needs to transfer 30 thousand bucks! But you cannot withdraw your money from your account - this will be immediately detected by the security service!
Moreover, according to the law of the genre, money must be transferred urgently, within a few days, so the victim has no time to “think.” And what? They are translating! They borrow money from friends, take out loans. And the generals immediately disappear.
True, the amount mentioned still forces some women to slow down a little and seek advice not from their girlfriends, but from a person who understands at least something about military affairs. For example, one lady said that the commander of a US Marine brigade (number such and such) from the city N wanted to come visit her for marriage.
So, we simply check on the Internet where the headquarters of this brigade is located. It turns out that in a completely different city on the East Coast of the United States. And we point out to the potential victim the elementary miscalculation of the fraudster, who named the location of the marine brigade as a city that is located far from the sea, in a region of rocky deserts and cacti.
It must be said that cavalier generals do not strain themselves too much and create the most incredible positions for themselves.
— My beloved commands a contingent of UN troops in Libya! - another woman told me proudly. And I simply advised her to check whether there were UN troops in the country where various wild groups were fighting over an oil pipeline? There is a mission, but there are no soldiers in blue helmets.
With my help, grown girls began to see the light. But not everything was so simple, it took a long time to convince them: well, the dream is crumbling! In order to dispel the fog of doubt, he advised them to register on social networks under other names, put up new photos and ask to be friends with their fans.
Here the ladies went crazy for the second time - with indignation. Because the messages received from the handsome overseas men who were “in love” with them were written as if they were carbon copies. And really, why should scammers strain themselves once again, this is not a general’s business! Although they have nothing special to do, there is enough time in the zone.
How to check a pen pal?
There is a lot of fraud on the Internet, so the question remains relevant: “How to recognize a scammer?” Before you begin close communication with a man who you like and is quite persistent, you need to:
- check the photo for authenticity. To do this, you should study search engines. If a new friend is a swindler, then another name will definitely appear with his name. You can also ask to take a new photo, for example, in your hand with a certain object;
- check your future husband on blacklists, which are easy to find on the Internet - just use popular search engines;
- You can also check one or all letters for plagiarism. If a similar text has already been seen on the Internet, then you will immediately know about it;
- Try chatting with your interlocutor via video call. If he is a fraudster, then in 90% of cases there will be a refusal;
- always pay attention to details - liars can make mistakes in their testimony;
- if you often declare your love from the first letter or SMS, then you should turn on vigilance and intuition;
- the man immediately begins to talk about his wealthy life and prosperity. This topic is quite sensitive, so you need to be wary;
- if everything is fine, but your intuition tells you otherwise, then you can create another account and meet your chosen one. The swindler will tell a similar story or a very similar one.
Knowing the tricks of online scammers and ways to check new acquaintances, you can avoid emotional wounds and financial losses.
How dangerous is a marriage swindler, and who is he really?
Thinking that a marriage swindler only targets rich ladies is a common mistake. Some guys want free housing, food, clothes and some pocket money from a woman. For example, part-time students. True, they can still make a duplicate of the keys and rob their beloved. But this is a fairly easy option. Most often, women are left completely without a livelihood, lose apartments, cars, reputations, incur multimillion-dollar debts and get involved in dangerous games with the law.
For example, a girl becomes pregnant by a foreign scammer, issues a foreign passport for the child, and the new father takes it away for selfish purposes. These are real stories.
It's getting creepy, don't you agree?
The most common case, of course, is when a scammer scams you out of money. Most of the stories of the victims of the girls begin like this: “He asked me for a loan, promised that he would return everything with interest...” and further down the list. I have already written how to recognize that a guy only wants money from you, and here you will find a way to competently refuse a man’s request for financial help. However, those who extract money from you are not always the real swindlers. They could just be gigolos, lazy people, losers. Have you met anyone like this? Share your experience in the comments.
Who are these notorious marriage swindlers?
These are real scammers, slippery types, subtle psychologists and calculating professionals rolled into one. They often enter into a fictitious marriage or live with their victim for criminal purposes. In most cases, they have more than one episode of fraud behind them; foreign swindlers, for example, are experienced polygamists. They also often have partners who play the role of sister, mother, or fake friends. However, it is almost impossible to punish a marriage swindler under the law. After all, the woman herself voluntarily gives everything to him, signs the necessary papers in her right mind and sober memory, believes that he will improve and certainly truly loves her. And many are simply embarrassed to go to the police and advertise their love relationships.
Who usually easily falls for scammers?
Girls who are unsure of themselves, trusting, who are tired of loneliness and want simple family happiness. They can work in simple jobs and not have their own home and still get burned.
There are certain feminine traits that, like a magnet, attract losers, gigolos and scammers. The swindler will easily force such people to take out a large loan, will draw out small amounts, will ask them to pawn their last jewelry or something else. And women with income risk all their property and business. So, how can you tell if a guy is a real swindler?
