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

Hey---- Aditi Jhaveri your Image of Cupid and heartNot everyone using online dating sites is looking for love. Scammers create fake online profiles using photos of other people — even stolen pictures of real military personnel. it is really a truth . Thanks for share with us, details.

I do believe that im being scammed as well...

A friend of mine is talking with some guy dave, who is supposed to be importing jewels from spain. Story is customs in spain messed up his papers, and bank won't release his cc for some reason. A lot more detail but I don't recall all of it. Just wondering if anyone has heard a similar story. This guy is supposedly from Texas and planning to go on a cruise with my friend in May. They are both guys by the way.

Hey everybody, i think i am fooled by a scammer. Met him on facebook, his Name there was Erik Hill, widowed with a young daughter who is called jenny. He's good looking with very blue eyes. He is in the us army, now in syria. After a week we began to write over whatsapp and 2 days later his facebook profile was deleted. He gave me his Adress in beverly hills but on google i can only find a shoe repair Shop. Like always- he cannot do a video call or an actual photo. He sended me several photos of him and jenny. Please help me, i have to know if he is real. Till today he haven't ask for money.

Anyone know a Michael Salzberg?? From Germany and stationed in Arizona but going to Yemen. Says his partner was killed in Afghanistan and was also in the army. Met thru instagram and then google hangouts. Imposter preys on gay men and keeps wanting gift cards sent as early birthday present— also has Nigerian phone number !!

I too just found out I am being scammed by someone named Chris Bernard. Said he was stuck on a ship working for Exxom Mobile. Needed money to get out of his contract and money for his daughter Belinda at boarding school in London. And asked repeatedly for iTunes gift cards which I was smart enough never to give. I feel so stupid. Wont let myself be taken advantage of again.

I have been talking WhatsApp with this guy from Denmark who lives in Florida and has been in the Mediterranean Sea working in a submarine for a year. He tells me he is 47 and a Mechanical Engineer. All his money was on set funds waiting for him to finish his contract when he will be paid $455,000. He tells he got divorced because his ex-wife got pregnant from another man. He got sole custody of his child, who is 7. To make the story, he has gotten a lot of money from me with his sad stories. I still have my doubts. He has sent me a few pictures of his sons and coworkers. I wonder if anyone else has a similar story. I have more details that I can share.

Same thing for me on Match. Charlie Cranford., or whoever he is

Hallo everybody, i think i'm scammed- Met him on facebook with the profile Name "erik hill", widowed with a daugther called jenny. He is in the us army- actually in syria. His facebook profile was deleted after one week. But before we added on whatsapp. Video calls an actual photos are not possible.... Today i got a voice Mail and it Sounds very like an African man. I really like the photos he has send to me, i would like to know the real name from the men of the photos. Has anyone also contact with erik hill? Best regards

Does anyone know of a Kirk Meyers Deries Meyers or Niles Basil? Met Kirk on POF. I have contacted a women in Cali and we think he is the same guy.

I was recently scammed by a man I met on Facebook. We were involved for almost a year before he started asking for any kind of money. I didn't send him any BUT he did put money into a bank account I have and wanted me to buy iPhones for his sister in Ohio; 2 days later the deposit was no good and the bank took it back out of my account. He would always get angry if I questioned him in any way and then when I confronted him 2 weeks ago about everything, he stopped speaking to me. I found 2 other women he was selling the same story to. I'm the only one that he scammed financially but the emotional toll is hard to deal with. I was very much in love with this person. His name, pictures, everything was fake; his FB profile has been deleted since we reported it. I have found and been in contact with the man in the pictures he was using as well so he is aware of what's going on. The name he was using is Leonard Collins, lives in Springfield, IL - so if anyone has had contact with this person, now you know.

Can anyone let me know if they have heard of a James Borzillrei Walker, says he is US Army but I am doubtful, sounds like a scam to me

Anyone talked w a guy Russell Alston? Says US army, widowed w a child, professe love quickly and cannot spell and writes in broken English. Insist using hangouts to chat says he is front line so cannot speak on the phone not video

help me ive been scammed and its been going on since nov and still being harassed help please.

I think I am being scammed, as well. Oddly , though, my story is a bit different. Does this story sound like a scam to you? We met on an online gamer site 10 months ago. We both are still playing the game. We just started to chat and we hit it off immediately. It was very fast, but no real declarations of love and/or marriage. Just an acknowledgement of how much we really enjoyed each other. Talked about if (some day) we met. He refers to me as his girlfriend and considers that we are dating. He was open about being Nigerian, but living and working in Senegal. We text almost daily on LINE app as well as in the game. We also voice chat on LINE APP and video occasionally. He sends me pics and videos of him and also family members. I have spoken to a sister and a cousin. We were not on Facebook together until just a few weeks ago. He isn't always sweet and romantic. Never to the point of too much too fast and fake. He can be a handful at times and gets angry or annoyed as I can, also. Seems normal/real enough. When I discussed my skepticism and used the word scam after hearing of his hardships in his country, he got very indignant especially since he had never asked for anything, yet. Here's where I get suspicious: He is 28 and I am 55. What on earth is someone his age going to see in someone my age..He cant possibly be attracted with out ulterior motives. He says he doesn't care about that. He had discussed the fact that he is struggling. He would talk about how difficult it was to make ends meet. I had been upfront and clarified that I live paycheck to paycheck and was not rich either, both to empathize and to let him know I had nothing to give him. I bought him a tablet for his birthday, and was planning to send it ( he gave me his address and his phone number which was truly a Senegal # where he was living.) but I didn't realize how expensive shipping would be and didn't send it. A month later he got very ill and was in the hospital.(was he really??) I found out through a cousin who had come to live with him and I had never spoken with until then. (was it really the cousin texting or my bf pretending?) I got the impression that he was hinting at needing money but I didn't bite. Then he basically disappeared for about 2 months. I figured he was gone. He reappeared and started up almost as if we were never apart. He had moved back to Nigeria with his family and now was not working. Very soon after, he persuaded me to send money to purchase something in the online game, from another player for him, in lieu of the tablet gift which he never received.. I did send the money for the purchase to the seller and my "bf" does have the item and uses it. After hearing about his need for cash to get thru Christmas with his family, I sent him $100.00 as an early Christmas gift. Just the other day, he was once again, lamenting about his financial situation. I didn't bite. Only empathized. Suddenly, next day or so, he texts me that he is at the Clinic being diagnosed with typhoid and malaria and needed any help I can give. (supposedly, his mother is a doctor and his parents have money. Why would the help need to come from me?) My Scammer alarms are going off BIG time. I waited to respond and acted like I didn't understand his text. Then, last night he sent me a text after chatting on voice for over an hour, and specifically asked me for money. That was the first time he ever came right out and asked for anything. I was shocked and I told him I didn't have anything right now since Christmas. He said it was fine. He is still talking to me, but we will see if he gets distant. It isn't like I am sending him thousands of dollars.. or ever would. He isn't getting rich from me. What I worry about is, what if he isn't scamming me, and I could really help a genuine person I care about? We have only talked about a visa to come here, once, and he knows I couldn't afford to pay any of those fees, so it cant be about a green card, could it? Tell me what you think, Please!

I was scammed by korean guy( Jeremy Kim Taehoon, whom i met in a dating app. It was really a fast pace, i just chat on him that day and we met thay day as well. He told me he cannot withdraw money in the Ph, because the card didn't go through. He asked me to meet him and go gor lunch. You know what, since he doesn't have money i insist to pay for our lunch. And after that i lend him 3k. But the worst part is, he told me he will be needing 4.5k for the delivery of his card from korean because they will be sending the money through DHL PARCEL. I sent him a money. He promised me he will be giving me the money on January 21. But he never contact me after January 21.

Meet a guy name Jeff miller who said he was in afganstisan ready to retire was coming for me to.marry me had a daughter 12 yrs.old wife got killed no family really stole my heart until he started asking for money indent him 70.00 was supposed to be for his daughter but stopped was stupid but has a scammer I've pictures will send if anyone who have met him

Anyone ever chat with Adam Ace a Marine. I think he is trying to scam me. I've noticed little things.

Anybody being scammed by a girl named Sharon Afful ? Claimed she's from Texas and a US citizen who's stuck in South Africa area? Says she has a big inheritance of 2 trunks containing hundreds of millions of dollars that she won't leave behind. This person is scamming my friend who's lonely and he's sent more than $ 50,000 trying to get her and her trunks of money to the united states to get married. She told him she's late 20s send pictures of a brunette with fake breasts very pretty. First request for money was to pay a storage company for past due rent and late fees. It was urgent because people running the storage company figured out what was in her trunks and are illegally raising the amount due. After he sent that money she needed money to charter a plane and have a police escort to the airport to deter other criminals now hunting her to try and take her money. After that she claimed she was removed from the plane before take off and arrested for fake charges so they could take her trunks. But the trunks are safe they made it put on the plane. Then the trunks are being held at customs in New York because she owes taxes of $20,000. And she gives a website address to a freight forwarding company with a tracking number that shows my friends name and address and the trunks held in New York. I found you can put in any number and get the same result. The telephone number for the company goes to a cell phone with a baby in the background but they claim to be customs agents. Then the girl needs bail to get out of jail. When you ask what jail and offer to post bail she says you can't. Its a bush jail. She explains a bush jail is where criminals posing as law agents illegally hold people for random and they torture victims until paid. She claimed they are burning her feet and allow her to talk on her cell thru a messenger app on the internet . the bail price goes up daily and the torture goes from her feet to her ankles. By the time you wire the money to get her out she's in need of medical help and can't walk. Then she needs travel money and plane ticket. Then she refuses to go any further towards his state in the US until she's sure her trunks are coming too at the same time. It goes on and on

i met a guy in Instagram 2 weeks ago from a friend of mine. his name is michael smith. He is polite and kind, he said he is U.S officer currently deployed in Kandahar afghan. his wife died because of car accident, and he has son that now live in UK. He said he had a bad communication with his son because his son wants him to buy a phone for him. He then asked me if i can lend him some money to buy the phone & i say i cant help him. few days after, he ask when is my salary day and i said that i don't want to discuss about it. every day he send me beautiful sweet words & tell me that he loves me. he ask me to use google hangout rather than IG chat and kept asking me to use hangout but i refuse it. he told me that after his deployment over, he will go to my country and propose me to be his wife. today a confront him about he asks to lend money & ask about my salary. he was quite angry. i don't know if he is for real or not. what should i do then? if someone ever met a man with same name or same story please contact me.

I am dealing with a con man now Harry Ferguson (middle name Ivan) who claims to be from NZ and living in Toronto. He says his wife died of ALS and his mother is raising his son, Nick back in NZ. He needed some money for his Exxonmobile contract in Belgium and claimed his friend, Kelvin as being someone who helped him out. He just needed me to chip in the rest of the money...Very confident liar

Mine is Oven Chen. Anyone encountered this guy claimed he's from UK

After reading all these comments, I am afraid I got sucked in, too. I met a Travis Scott on Scrabble. He started a conversation and got me to join Hangouts which I did. He said he was a Orthopedic Surgeon for the USA Army working in Yenem. Fortunately, I have only been chatting with him for one day and he was asking too many questions reguarding my life. So I started asking him about his work in Yenem, but it was very vague. He told me how beautiful and intelligent I was etc etc and then said he could buy a home near me and we could live together.....lol I then realised how stupid am I to believe this guy. I must admit his photos were of a very handsome man. Even one with his white doctors coat on and stethoscope around his neck. I want to thank everyone in this forum for their contributions on letting this old lady not loose any money or making a larger fool of myself

Has anyone heard of Gilbert Anthony, suppose to be Lebanese, living in NZ so he says, fiber optic installer, well educated .In Dubai at the moment awaiting profile for a completed job, a widow wife died 15yrs ago he has been bringing up his son and working , now lonely as son left home to go to fashion school in France, have been chatting on viber for nearly a year and phone convos weekly.Iv found all photos he has sent are of someone else a Salvo Nicosia, I got an email last week saying I had been scammed but unable to contact the sender, he seems like a fake to so really confused. Broken Hearted iam and what an idiot I feel b This one seemed so much different to the military scam that I had back in 2008 Well im an idiot, gave several itune cards , as well as 4k, and have set a business account up. I feel an idiot as this is my 2nd scam last was

Joshua Young messaged me on Instagram. USArmy, wife died, two kids are with his sister in TN. Going to build a house in CA. Left today for Russia then accused me of being a terrorist or a man lol. Told me to please delete his pictures so he didn’t get in trouble. I told him I knew he was fake and then he blocked me on that Hangouts App lol...no money or personal info from me, I knew better.

One other thing to add about this David Ruch, is the phone number he uses is (678) 671-7633. It's a landline and a VoIP number but is registered to a woman in Concord, Ga.

i have olso a problem

I am going thru same thing i met this man at the end of november he asked for friend request on facebook then within 2 days asked to move to chat on hangout. This man goes by the name of jones rogers says he is in adfgsnistan after a week he said he loved me so right away he told me he needed a favor as for itunes card so stupid me didnt think anything at the time we kept chattingon hangout little by little i started liking him then he wanted another card because itunes completed only 50% so fidntvthink anything. One day i asked if married said he was devorced cause wife cheated. I asked about family he said his parents died in a car accident and had no family. He kept saying how much he loved me and he be coming back from afghanastan in march and wants to be with me. I am still chatting but the weirdest thing hsppen he saif he needed to tell me something but couldnt not st the time cause was celebrating victory because they had confrentation with taliban. So cohple of days went by then he finally told me that him and his unit hot attack bu taliban and they recovered alot of money and gold. He said he is a business man and makes jewlery with gems. Said they all agree and he would take gold but wanted me to send money to bring back. Thats where it click that something not right he then asked for another itune card stupid me sent it. Today his asking for another one cause only completed 80%. I saw that someone posted the business on the gems and its weird cause he told me je wanted me to do it together. He igot very upset cause i told him dont like the idea do if u have my story want to know if its same man. If you look him up unfer sargent jones rogers and open his profile he has alot of profiles but you know its him cause some have same picture or you can tell its him. Pleaes let me know if its same man

His name is Gabriel Gonzalez Daniel he will tell you he's in the US Army. He is a scammer and going to take you for everything

My guy also works for Eni Oil & Gas. He’s Norwegian own a “small estate” in Sweden. Similar sad stories. Parents dead. Wife cheated. Killed herself and their son in a drunken car crash. I noticed that he seemed to be pulling his text from somewhere, because some of it was very poorly written, but he supposedly got his degree in Liverpool, so would have a better command of English in that case. But then some of it was well written. It was truly an odd mix of language skills! It seemed so obvious that the same guy wasn’t doing the writing And he never really responded properly to what I said. The name he used is Benjamin Walter. The photos he uses are actually of an American choreographer and actor. We corresponded for only four days, and I started questioning him on his weird writing skills. His response consisted of “I’m just trying to get to know you” He tried on more time yesterday with Good morning my Angel how are you?” I didn’t answer and he was gone. Yesterday he went on Twitter and stated “This is my first day on Twitter “ with the same photo and name again. Actually, he followed me on Twitter LAST WEEK. He started by saying “Compliment of the day....you have a beautiful smile. Blah blah blah.” There is also a fake Facebook page set up with a photo of this actor (in plays, so his face isn’t that familiar) the name used on Facebook is Marcelo Memoria. Says he live in Paris. BEWARE LADIES!

It is amazing how many scammers are around us! I use fb, insta, LinkedIn and Xing. I've got messages from scammers on all accounts. In the meantime I know it from the first contact if it is a scammer or not. Mostly they have a very young profile. They want to get to know you and want to change soon to Whatsapp, Hang Outs or other messenger services. They are very often widower, have one lovely daughter or a dog. One man was so stupid that he copied the same text (Hello ...., I want to get to know you bla, bla, bla..) twice in my message, but used 2 different names after the hello. Surely he wanted to copy the 2nd text to another woman in her account. I wished him to have fun with Anja. (second name). Some days later his account was away. By the way this happens also very often if you talk to scammer. Be careful ladies! Even if you like to talk to these guys. Of course it is fun to have nice conversations and to flirt a bit via internet but there are a lot of bad guys outside. If they want money or other gifts from you better stop.

Someone messaged me by the name Linda Vin on my phone. She messaged me through a same country number. Although I can't reach her because of some reason it says the call cannot be connected at the moment. So she gave me an email and I sent her an email, and she's telling me she is going to give me $2.6M to provide charity works here in our country. 15% will be mine the rest is for the charity... she says she have lung cancer and she's currently undergoing treatment. She didn't ask me money although I gave her my bank account number and swift code because she said the money will be transferred internationally. I don't know if I'm safe, I did a mistake I guess, this is the first time I deal with possible scams.

My mother matched with Shawn Salvatore Thompson Hallberg on OKCupid and he claims to be born in Sweden but has a very thick accent- very uncharacteristic of Swedes. Says his mother is Spanish. His wife and children died in a car crash and all his friends abandoned him after. Claims he moved to Canada at age 16 to Winnipeg and then worked in Dallas and Mississauga. Says he owns a construction company called Senlon Constructions he inherited from an uncle. Why would it have an 's' on the end? Sounded fake. Had to fly to Cyprus via Turkey to sign a $15 million dollar deal. Sent her a fake picture of the construction site and a fake contract... Who sends a confidential contract? Very quick to say he wants to spend his life with her after 2 weeks, sent red roses but refuses to have a video call. His website is a fake Wix website claiming to employ 9000 people. No company that large would have a $10 Wix website. The copy on the site makes no sense and is just filler (I worked in construction and architecture). The phone number goes to a dead line. His CEO picture is of him holding a cat... really? The URL was not set up properly and displayed his Wix username as stevelorenzo79. This is another scammer who scammed a woman for 3000 euros and she cited the bank transfer to Lithuania.Explains the thick foreign accent on the phone is because he's not Swedish, he's in Lithuania. He used a Canadian phone number but we learned this is a spoof number he rents for pennies to appear to be calling from canada. He has since changed the website URL since being accused of lying to his 'Shawn Hallberg' name. Beware.

James brooks348 @gmail. com and also claims military one is james brooks @hot- shot. com, has anyone ever heard of him?

been talking to a man that i found as a follower on someone elses instagram account. He is on this other womans account as DaveMatthews40030. said he is on an oil rig,while is 15yr old son is home with the nanny

Has anyone been scammed by someone using the name Kersey Andrews?