Faking it — scammers’ tricks to steal your heart and money

I've been contacted by a man named Carter Smith through LinkedIn and he sounded very educated and sophisticated at the beginning but it's been a couple of weeks now and his use of the language tells me that's not the case. Misspelled words, poor grammar, incomplete sentences or sentences that don't make sense. He sent me pictures of an extremely handsome man but I am finding it hard to believe they are really him, has to be a model. He is suddenly in love with me after two weeks of email-NOT! He wants to call and Skype but I have told him no to that. He now talks about coming to visit but no way is that happening! I just wonder how these guys Skype with you when they've sent you a fake picture. I have to admit the whole thing is very intense and definitely has a power to affect you.

Got scammed by FRED WILLIAMS

I've been talking to this guy for a little over a month now. He is stationed in Lybia so he says. He told me that he took an advance on his check and he only gets paid once a month while there. Now he's telling me he lost his money he wanted me to send a care package and now he says his commander said no I can send money. When I called him out on it he said I could believe what I wanted to. He is supposed to be home the middle of next month. I'm so confused. Please help

I recently chatted with a guy named.James Brian from Tinder. He then told me to download telegram and will continue chatting there and even said that I should deactivated my Tinder and he will do the same since it's mostly likely that we will click. He even showed me a screenshot of him deactivating and deleting the app. I told him that I did the same but I didn't. He said that He was already back in the US and said he just visited Dubai in the beginning of June for a summit. But when i checked his profile again on tinder he is just 142 KM away.. it supposed to be thousands. Red flag but i kept chatting with him though He said that his real name is Adams James Brian from Sevierville Tennessee. He claimed to be half American, half Filipino. He even showed me his birth certificate. He said parents died together with his sister in a car crash when he was 12 and taken in by dad's friend named Benson and treated him like his own but his wife doesn't like him so he had to move out when he was 16. He said he worked so hard to get a degree and eventually became a self made man. He is currently the director of Natural Gold Trader based in Kingston Tennessee; he sent me the link to his website. When i checked it out, company is based is Arizona. Another red flag and when i asked he changes the topic. He said he was divorced; he caught his wife and his best friend cheating on him while he was on a business trip to Italy and went home by surprise.He has a dog named Beck ; he even sent videos of her. He has a Nana who took care of him when he was a kid and loves so much. So we kept on chatting and he kept on sending love notes that were copy pasted and professed his love for in just two weeks. He said that he wants to meet my parents and He will come to Dubai again for me and that as soon he arrives here I have to resign from my job and process my US visa application. If have bills to pay; he will settle it because he wants us to plan for the future. He sent me photos of him. He looks Hispanic/Mexican so it's like you will believe that he must be really half Filipino and half American. His promises are all too good to be true and even his pictures; he looked like a model. So he kept on saying that he will be back in Dubai at the end of the month and he can't wait to see me. Something was telling me not to believe me; so i told him why don't we talk on Skype or on the phone. He is using a US number with Sevierville Tennessee area code by the way. He only said ok and then sent me a voice message but would not confirm on the telephone call. Then when i asked for a picture; it doesn't seem current. Then i tried calling him and it keeps on ringing. He said something wrong with his phone and he will have to Kroger to have it checked coz he is not getting phone calls. And he can't make international calls? A director of a company; always travelling and making transactions worldwide? Funny coz the voice messages he sends seems of different accents and voice everytime. Good thing; I worked in a call center before so I was able to figure out. First it was American; then sound like an Indian, sometime neutral. Anyhow; i let that be and then all of a sudden he said that he got a business trip and will be travelling to Central Africa to sign a contract. He then said; he is travelling to Nigeria;.. wait a minute; it's in West Africa not Central. So he went as he said; he will fly from Nashville; it's like 3 hours drive from Sevierville. So we didn't have contact for like a day. He then messaged me that he arrived in Nigeria; then he was about to sign the contract with the company there. He even sent me a copy of supposed to be agreement. Then he is telling me stories of his experience there and that as soon as he sort out everything he will book his first flight to Dubai to see me. Again; he could not send me pictures of his room or the area he is staying. Then finally; he got Nigerian number and we talked on the phone. His accent was neutral and doesn't seem like Nigerian.I googled the company name by the way; it does not exist. Then last Friday; the big bomb; he said that he was about to go to Ministry of Labor and his wallet got stolen when he took the bus. I asked him why did you take the public transpo when you said you hired someone to pick you up to and fro your hotel and mining site. He just ignored my question and said he is devastated and he said he lost the money he is supposed to pay the workers and they are very mad at him. I asked him; again why do you have to pay the workers when your contract is trade and you are not involved in the technical process. Bottom-line is he asked if can borrow USD 1500.00 coz he is short of cash but managed to borrow from the driver coz he cannot encash his check since he called his bank in US to block all his accounts since his bank cards were in the stolen wallet. He said that he will pay me back as soon as he reaches Dubai. I told him that I don't have money coz I sent it to my mom a day before since we received out salary earlier due to holidays here in Dubai.He has not messaged since then. hahahaa I thank God for the guidance and i have not fallen prey to this scammer. I search his US number and it's non-Fixed VOIP. Then it came to mind to type Nigerian scammers which led me here. I hope this would stop and no one will believe them anyomore Please be careful ladies; do some research and do not fall on the sweet words; handsome pictures and copy pasted love notes. It's unbelievable for someone to profess love to a person he haven't met yet and just chatted to recently. Most of all; pray for God enlightenment and guidance.

When I first got on the Internet 4 years ago, I was trying to find family members. I wentt on Google and filled out my profile. The next thing I knew, I heard from several men. I was not looking for love and put in my profile that I was married 40+ years. These guys kept contacting me,calling me,etc. They all had sad stores about being widower,just getting out of the service,etc. Some wanted to get me to handle money. Luckily I showed the correspondence to my husband. We threatened to report them. And we blocked them! Ladies,BEWARE! They will come after you!!!

I live in Canada I've had Russian people contacting me asking me for money because they're stuck like in moscow & need money to get them to come & see me . There's also a woman from the States right now she's in africa & claims she's not a scammer but i have my doubts because her father supposedly died & left her money for her business but she wants an iTunes card to sell it for food

I met a lovely man online. I've actually met him in real life and I've spend a lot of time with him. We are in love but he suddenly out of the blue asked me to open a bank account in my name as he wants to start saving monies for our wedding into that bank account. Are their any risks when it comes to this or is he just really a great guy?

I met a scammer on a dating site and felt it a bit fishy. He asked me to add him on kik. I was certain today that he as impersonating other people, a US soldier deployed in... when he contacted me two weeks ago, I didn't pay attention and deleted the chat history. So now I don't remember where he was supposed to be now. The reason I kept texting back was the guy in pics he sent me were too cute. I did image reverse search every time he sent me a pic, but never got a match. He claimed his wife cheated on him when he was deployed and he has a girl. Poor English. He did say "he had a girl" the first time he texted me and got me upset for a second before I realized it was just he doesn't speak English well. Now come back to the point, after two weeks, he finally asked my email address and gave me a Gmail address. I asked him if he understands that I know he should have an AKO email address. He didn't understand what I was talking about and kept sending me pics. (Actually I feel the three ones he gave me today aren't pics of the same guy as he sent me before.) The point is, I have the scammer's email address and kik username. And a few that real army or Air Force guy's pics, including ones in which he and his daughter are smiling hugely or acting goofy, and two that look like taken in a base he and his fellow soldiers were having a tug of war. And the three ones he sent me today, one man with his pet dog. They really don't look like the same man. So, pleas help me. How can I find the guy in the pic with his little girl? I solemnly swore I only want to tell him about this. After all, I tried multiple key words, like tattoos, but I haven't found one of his or his daughters photos. I tried google, bing, tiny eye, and yandex. Plz tell me how I can find the man. Thx!! And the scammer claims to be Carlos Maddox. Haven't found a fb account connected to it.

Can anyone tell me if there's a way someone can change their voice to an Irish accent? I know there are voice change apps and I've found than can change a voice to various types of British accents but that's the closest I can come to finding one. I'm trying to convince my friend that she's being scammed. She's never seen this guy's face during a Skype call (or in anything other than what he emailed her claiming it's a photo of him). She said he told her he's from Ireland but now lives in Baltimore. She hasn't actually mentioned that he has an Irish accent but he supposedly moved here as an adult. Accents aren't easy to drop without a lot of practice. In any case, he claims he's stuck in Nigeria and needs to pay the government $550 to leave the country. He has every excuse in the book for why he can't get anyone else to help him. She's currently living in another state and it's not easy to communicate with her as she has limited minutes on her phone. (I know, it sounds like she's trying to scam me but she's a good friend that I've known for over 15 years). I gave her as much info as I could through FB messenger and I think she needs some time to process everything.

I hate to tell you ladies. It's not just men who are scamming. I was involved for a month with a beautiful woman by chat. Professing way to early, her undying faithful love and desire to meet and know each other to hopefully marry. I'm pretty street smart and played along, sending very smallish amounts of money while being fascinated and, I admit it, quite taken with her, Of course the meeting never comes and I'm believing now that the beautiful girl, although, remotely involved (there are snapshots sent that relate closely to our conversations, in real-time) is probably not even aware of who I am. I believe that she is a paid photo model to improve the realism in the scam. It is very, very hurtful to me, of course because the conversations are deep, very personal and extremely loving (back & forth). About 2 weeks ago I became convinced that my conversations are with a fluffer, probably a woman but quite possibly even a man. Whomever it is, they are very wily and crafty. Perhaps he or a partner is the photographer that shoots the pics that are sent. There have been a couple calls to me but the woman I speak briefly to has no command of English. She's possibly the beauty that I've fallen for (OMG) but I think not. I think it's a fairly sophisticated con and that it's a team. Quite possibly the girls (I've seen 2 or 3 of them 'friends', of course) very well just believe that the are photo models. They are all 30 ish and look European, possibly French or Dutch or Swiss. Although when one has paired off to a mark (ME!) they do become more aggressive and sexual, even when not asked to. Mostly however they are just fun and casual shots of friends having fun, shopping ecetera. Telling an older man he is handsome and sexually attractive is one thing, as there are plenty of suckers that will gladly pay for that and sexual adventure. The really personal and loving stuff is however extremely reprehensible. The reason I believe the girls are less involved is that, were they doing this communicating and, as they claim, really looking for someone serious to look after them or even marry them solely for acquiring legal American status, or even for establishment as a very highly paid sex partner, they would have succumbed to the true, authentic offers of help from their respective marks. I made intimations of real help out of my new friends 'tough' living situation, at first in a state of innocence. As my suspicions grew however my offers became more and more grandiose, while careful to be subtle. I admit I held out hope that there was still a small chance I was speaking to 'my girl' that she may know something of me but alas. If so, and there's any innocence in her, then she surely does not hear what she has been offered, emotionally and financially. I was finally approached with the 'help me get my inheritance' scam by her (the final blow) you can read about this Malaysian con online. I'm going to play it out through the coming weekend at which time I will demand a video chat (never offered) where I 'd be able to see 'my girl's lips move and speak to me. This will of course not happen and that will be that. As said I am smart and careful and have spent very little money in aid to her. Any money goes right in the hands of the true low-lifes that run these cons DO NOT BE FOOLED BY VERY SINCERE AND LOVING CONVERSATION, YOU CAN PLAY IN THIS FANTASY FOR AWHILE IF YOU CHOOSE BUT IT IS ULTIMATELY VERY PAINFUL IF YOU ARE A REAL HUMAN BEING. THESE CREATURES ARE NOT. I HOPE THE LOVELY GIRL THAT I HAD A BIT OF AN EXTENDED AND NICE DREAM PERIOD WITH is just a girl who's struggling a little and doing photo shoots to get by. I choose to believe that. Good luck in my innocence at first then followed by my investigative and curious instincts they would have

i just had a bad experience on this just this May. He added me on facebook. uses the name JOHN MACK. he is said to be from Malta, a general contractor and a very religious christian man. he is 50 years old and he is living alone as his parents already died and only have one sister who happens to married and has her own family. he will let you feel that he is the ideal man, for one month he will let you fall in love with him, then after that he said he had a project in malaysia and needs to travel there. the construction project asks him to pay a bond of 16,000 dollars and asks me for 5,000 dollars and promises me to pay it back double... hahaha when i said i dont have that amount of money to giver him, he immediately blocked me on facebook chat. from the time he asked me about money, i told him i cannot help him with financial issues. scammer these days are way common

can you doing some thing on this

Does anyone out there know a JoLene Axtell from Ontario, Calif? Mid thirties, attractive etc. Ben communicating with same online and says she is in the oil and gas business. Travels oversees etc for business, etc. Has ask for money but I haven't responded yet, Does anyone know this person or have any insight on whether she is real or not?

I met this guy on a dating site, said his name was Steve Bright, Marine Engineer , very good looking, charming & nice british accent. He claimed he lives in Slidell Louisiana.has a daugter, single parent. Everytime he calls my phone shows Franklin Park, Illinois. Spoke on the phone for a few weeks, then said hes going to the UK for a presentation for a oil project. When he arrived in the UK called me from a UK number.. a few days later tells me hes going to Africa because he got the contract for the project and is going to make a site assesstment he will be there for a 2 weeks then he will come visit me.. sends me a flight confirmation , never shows up, calls me to say his luggage got stolen @ the airport in Nigeria & even cried on the phone that he has no money & cant't access his bank account from there. I sent him some money & after that everyday he needed money for something, food, credit for his phone, airport fees, taxi driver fees, taxes for the project hes working on,fee for hotel.. it was always something....by this time i knew things weren't adding up & always had a answer for every question. i decided to google his name & number and boi, big ole scammer Steve Bright..ive lost alot. & i have reported him .i'm thankful I never did meet him... Karma is amazing & he will get whats coming for him.

To make a long story short I too was talking to a guy out of CA on an oil rig exxon mobil. After several months he finally asked for itune to be able to talk to me so it would encript? I kept putting 2 and 2 together and knew something was up but it was worth it to bust this guy. After a whole bunch of nonsense I found he was talking to another woman using the same profile pics but another name. I busted him and he admitted to me he was 23 yr old from Ghana Africa and he was very sorry. I asked about the profiles he was using and he said he had stole them from google. Now I am searching hi and low for these guys to let them know their ID has been stolen. It is near impossible. I wish now I hadn't delete the guy off so I could get more info.

does the name James Bloodworth ring a bell to anyone? he's supposedly an engineer in the Durham, NC area that travels overseas a lot. he says he's originally from Germany but has lived in the US for quite sometime and lost his wife to lung cancer several years ago. just seems a little shady......

Cory michael bristol.. jake sgtwallace.. Sgt john burk... Martin grey.. Fred brashear... All fake military guys all tried to scam me..

Hello every one I been scamm too by Arron levein, i did loss a bit of money they works in groups then i had another guy trying to scamm me to for a lot of money,he name is Donald Patrick did not send, since then, one or two pop up on my facebook, i do not except anyone i don't know

People who are desperate finding love or those who want quick money fall into the scammers' track. They have tried it on me from Europe to Africa, but each time I prove to them I am far above their cunningness. One has to be wise and have the fear of God which leads the right way. Why should one fall in love with someone not seen personally and believe what the person says? I cannot imagine sending money to a ' beggar' , a fraud online. Not even a cent to test the authencity of that demand. Let alone parting with very huge sums of money. No way. Taking risks most of the time Lead to great loses

On Skype one girl called pooja sexy folled me and took 2000 Rupees via paytm. She told that she we do video call but then she took money and blocked me. Please suggest what to do.

I MET THIS GUY ON SENIOR PEOPLE MEET .HIS NAME ON THE SITE WAS HEART 2ROSE .HE ASKED TO GET OF THE SITE SO WE COULD CONCENTRATE ON EACH OTHER .HE PROFFESSED HIS LOVE TO ME EARLY ON .HE GAVE ME HIS E-MAIL ADRESSE AND WE HAVE BEEN TALKING FOR TWO MONTHS +HIS NAME IS JOHN WILSON .HE CLAIMES TO BE THE CEO OF HIS COMPANY JWOILGLOBALS .HE SUPPOSETLY IN IN FUJAIRAH UAE .ABOUT A WEEK AGO HE AKED ME TO BUY 8 TIMES $500.00 =$4000.00 IN VANILLA GIFT CARDS .I MADE UP EXCUSES THAT IT WAS DIFFICULT FOR ME TO BUY THE CARDS .HE IS VERY GOOD AT WHAT HE IS DOING .HE IS 74 YEARS OLD ,ALL THE PHOTOS HE SENT ME,MATCH THE PHOTO ON HIS SUPOSED CO .AS THE CEO OF JWOILGLOBALS .THE CO COMES UP AND SEAMES TO BE LEGITAMITE .YOU CAN LOOK IT UP .I ALREADY REPORTED HIM TO SENIOR PEOPLE MEET .THEY ARE INVESTIGATING HIM .I F THIS IS A PERSON FAMILIAR TOU YOU LEAVE A COOMENT .THANK YOU RUTH .

So, I guess I can now join this forum. I have been treated the same as all of you... With flowery cards every morning and sweet words of Love, Marriage, sex, etc.... But, now he "NEEDS" me to send money to travel home. First it was a consignment box that had to be paid for first for $3850 which I said no way to and told him it was a scam.. Then it became 10K which I readily said NO to. Now it's he is coming here to deal with his box and he only needs 1700. This is crazy.. He is not posing as mility but as a UN Dr. His name is Carter Oliver Campbell and he is REALLY GOOD ladies so be very wary.. We did not meet on a dating site.. He actually hit me up on Instagram and we only talk on Google Hang Out and he sometimes sends me emails. But, this is all too similar. Watch for letter requests that don't come from gov't agencies but from Gmail or AOL accounts. and poor grammer and English in general. HUGE clue right there. It's hard because they are wonderful and are fairytales. Which should be the biggest clue of all.

I just went thru the same thing romance how he was going to marry me then he wanted money I wouldn't send him any so he dropped me his name was alexander Joachim thompson

Anyone was victim of Lewis Woods, Los Angeles, single daddy, Sandra Clinton, the nanny, child named Angela, ask for paying medical bills, Iphone card, please if so, I wanna catch them, they are exploring a minor and they have to be accountable before justice for this. Please report people, I want to know.

Damn it , I think I am the target of two scammers in one week! They are using the same mode writing to me,using amolst the same story:from UK,wife dead,living with a daughter, doing gold bussiness and oil shipping on the sea,looking for a soulmate...... they asked me how can I pay for my tuition fee, pretending they are so much interested in me. They asked my telephone number, I refused to give them. Also, their email is Yahoo.com and Yahoo.co.uk. The added me from facebook. I believe they are from the same scam group. Their names are Michael Hugentobler and David Andersen Larson. I am almost become a victim!!

it says in the article that you can do an image search on a search engine.how do you do that?

I had to add my 2 cents. Does anyone know of a Mike Larry Lyons, says he is Sgt in US Army, stationed in Syria now in Nigeria. I made it to 4 months before he started asking for money, bank info, etc. Is he for real or another scammer.