Consumer Alert
Faking it — scammers’ tricks to steal your heart and money
Not 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. They profess their love quickly. And they tug at your heartstrings with made-up stories about how they need money — for emergencies, hospital bills, or travel. Why all of the tricks? They’re looking to steal your money.
As if all that isn’t bad enough, romance scammers are now involving their victims in online bank fraud. Here’s how it works: The scammers set up dating profiles to meet potential victims. After they form a “relationship,” they come up with reasons to ask their love interest to set up a new bank account. The scammers transfer stolen money into the new account, and then tell their victims to wire the money out of the country. Victims think they’re just helping out their soulmate, never realizing they’re aiding and abetting a crime.
Here are some warning signs that an online love interest might be a fake. They ask you to:
- chat off of the dating site immediately, using personal email, text, or phone
- wire money using Western Union or Money Gram
- set up a new bank account
Did you know you can do an image search of your love interest’s photo in your favorite search engine? If you do an image search and the person’s photo appears under several different names, you’re probably dealing with a scammer. And if the person’s online profile disappears a few days after they meet you, that’s another tip-off.
Here’s the real deal: Don’t send money to someone you met online — for any reason. If your online sweetheart asks for money, you can expect it’s a scam.
Unfortunately, online dating scams are all too common. There may be tens of thousands of victims, and only a small fraction report it to the FTC. If this happens to you, please report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Search Terms
Topics
Scams
In reply to I met this guy name Jason by being used
If someone you never met asks you to open a bank account, or wants to use your bank account, don't do it. That is a sign of a scam.
If you met someone online and you don't want to talk to him again, you could block him or stop answerin his calls or texts. You could report him to the dating site where you found his profile. You could report him to the FTC at FTC.gov/complaint. When you report to the FTC, the information goes into a database that law enforcement uses for investigations.
In reply to I met this guy name Jason by being used
In reply to I met this guy name Jason by being used
Has anyone heard of Mohamed Khaled Whayeb Al Rawi from Dubai? I have a gut feeling this man has my sister in Fl. Brainwashed into thinking they madely in love. He sent her money for a passport & to send money for plane ticket for her to go to Dubai for a week. I feel he is not an honest person & may not allow her to come home. He says hes well educated by having a Masters degree and studyi now fir a Dr's degree. He suposedly is to be done in May 2017. I dont want my sister to go there. If he wants them to meet face to face so badly.....he can come to tbe US.
In reply to Has anyone heard of Mohamed by blackflorida
If you think your sister is talking with a scammer, you could show her this blog post, or ask her if she's seen any warning signs of a scam. Did the person ask her to:
Some scammers transfer stolen money into an account, then tell the victim to wire the money out of the country. Victims think they’re helping their soulmate, but really they're aiding and abetting a crime.
Your sister can also read the US State Department's warnings and information for people travelling to Dubai.
In reply to I think my mom is being by amanda
Scammers often use made-up names, and change names often. If your mom sends money to someone she met online, there's little chance she'll get it back.
You could show your mom this blog post, or some of the comments here. Ask her if the person she 'met' online has asked her to send money, or open a bank account. Scammers often say they're working outside the US and need money for themselves, their kids, their employees or work equipment.
A scammer may ask a victim to open a bank account. The scammer transfers stolen money into the new account and asks the victim to wire the money out of the country. A victim may she's helping someone and not realize she is aiding and abetting a crime.
There are warning signs that someone is a fake. He asks the victim to:
I've been scammed by Nathan Adams Other names to beware of is Roy Collins, David Luna, Jon latta all tried same scam tactics with me but after first time I knew to beware!!
In reply to I've been scammed by Nathan by tinan01
In reply to Ok, so here's one that is by flowergirl
I met a scammer Richard Hutchins POF dating site. Professed his love etc. I am reporting that I sent him 250 to Turkey because he as coming to see me and was in a car accident and broke his legs. I told him the pictures looked fake and why didn't he get treated in Florida. It was cheaper he said to get an operation in Turkey. If I didn't send 3000 he was going to die no treatment unless I help with the funding. I stopped communication. I was told I have no heart etc.
Being weak he contacted me again wanting to marry me. I have been alone for 25 years. I fell for it again. he sent me 600 wanting me to send it to his friend because he was going to kill him if I didn't pay. I sent the money to his friend. Now they want more. I sent 400 and now I realize it doesn't matter how much I send he is still being threatened to be killed if I don't help him. My brain just woke up tonight. I will block him and his friend, unless it is the same person. Last week my son claims he was attacked by one of these scammers boys. Unfortunately he had my address when I sent the money2 weeks ago. I am worried about my safety. My son filed a police report . Two arab looking men were arrested, because my son got the plate number in Va. If I end up dead will you post my story. Carolyn . Hopefully the FBI will get Richard Hutchins. He claims he lives in Jacksonville Fl. That is where I sent money once. The rest of the money was sent to Turkey and Nigeria. Not much, but it is enough from my account. The king pin claims he has killed before and if I don't pay 450 dollars tomorrow to his wife in Nigeria Richard will be dead. The name for the sent money is Ruth Oluwole. No money will be sent. I will add this information to the other police report my son filed.I will contact the FTC and FBI. I am nervous he might kill Richard, but I am starting to think this is the same person. I am usually smarter than this, but I got caught up in the magic words etc. Two weeks ago I was so nervous of me being killed I was going to send $00, but moneygram denied me, so I got smart and kept my money. The csammer man stated I was lying. I took pictures where the machine declined me. He still threatened to kill Richard and I was a liar. I told him the truth. Richard was not killed so I guess this is a big time scam. I was so worried they would kill Richard. I better worry about myself instead.I sent him pictures where the machine declined me sending him money. All I could think of was someone was going to die. I should of known. As soon as I joined the dating site, this scammer zoned right in on me. I no longer will join a dating site. Thanks for listening.
In reply to I met a scammer Richard by burtonck
In reply to I think the guy I am in love by 5280weysaw
I have been talking to a man since the end of June. His story is mom died and now his dad has died and left a will that he has won as the beneficiary in TX courts. The attorney needs $5000 dollars to take care of the stocks/dividend and re-invest in a company that is going to give great returns of $500,000 a year. He needs help getting this money together.
First, wants to borrow with the attorney saying if I am going to help finance it he would advise he write me a deed of agreement. so if this man leaves me I will get my money back. REALLY. I don't know this man and only have been texting for a little over a month. I played along with love, and the promise of marriage. But I said sorry I can't get to my money it is locked up in investments.
Then the amount changed to only needing 2400. That he had sold a lot of his belonging to pay this attorney. Sorry I can't help you! Get's mad and then says it is ok, he shouldn't have involved me in his business. just this last week now all communication has stopped!! 1 hummmm??? oh also his picture on the dating site must of been when he was younger, because when he sent me a picture of his passport he was much older looking but still cute in my eyes. Another weird thing is I only talked to him a couple of times on the phone and his accent doesn't sound from Austraila which is what his passport says. And when I try to call him it says this google user can not answer the call at this time hummmm oh
His name is John A. Kewell I need to know from anyone if this guy has tried to scam you as well!! Things just don't add up, but would like to believe he is for real but who knows these days!! Right
I am not sure if this chick is a fraud/scammer but she is an US Army deployed in Bahrain. Her surname is Chisholm and be in the army for 5yrs. She has a kid (female 8yr old) lives in America with her close family friend while shes in the army. We have been chatting for about 3mths now and she did asked for a phone so that we can keep in contact while she is deployed to Djibouti base.
So she got the phone and called me briefly. She sound very deep southern accent (american). So I thought yeah she geniune. Her photos on FB are geniune with her army uniforms matches her surname and pictures of her friends and duaghter. Two nights ago she mentioned her kid had an accident hit by a van and the drive got away. Her close friend's insurance expired and she doesnt know what to do but requested me for 2000USD but I refused as one I dont have the money to give her that and she said she will have to sell the phone but that wont cover it well.
I dont know if she is telling the truth or not, it sounds so fishy to me. Before this kid got hurt, everything was ok and it was fine geniune conversation for the past 3mths. I am very cautious about scams etc and this is the first time she asked me for money. I said to her if she can afford a trip to spain and accommodation etc then why ask me for money to cover the insurance etc. she says my flight fares will be taking care of and before i Leave too, I will be taking care of my somewhat, but my daughters own is survival. If her friends insurance expired she should contact chisholm to to get insurance updated etc. I dont know its sounds something is not right? Please advise as I dont know if she is genuine or what. This is a lesbian relationship.
In reply to I am not sure if this chick by Scotti
The US Army warns people about scammers who pretend to be soldiers. Military members have an email address that end in ".mil." If the person you are speaking with cannot sent you at least one email that ends in ".mil" with no other letters after that, the person is probably not in the US military.
Someone you met online can tell you a name, rank, duty station or even show a military ID card, but that doesn’t mean that this is a real person. When you 'meet' someone online, you can't be sure who they really are.
It's common for scammers to ask for money for themselves or for their 'family,' and to say they need money to help someone who was in an accident.
In reply to The US Army warns people by FTC Staff
In reply to The US Army warns people by FTC Staff
I am still chatting to her Chisholm Vera, and I was sucked in and I think I have been scammed. She says she will pay me back. She even got me accessed to her account and shows how much she got in her account. it shows 2.3Million USD. It came from her salaries of Military in last 2yrs she said that she hasn't tempered with it .
The bank is Pan Access Pinnacle and she says it's a private bank. I told her all banks are private. I think she created the website. Because when she gave the link it shows under construction. and she says oh it needs your IP address cos I lived in Austraila and she deployed in Isreali till the end of this month before go back to Bahrain. So she gave the link whoer.net that is where the correct IP address where I am. So I gave her that and bingo I access to the bank page. She provided me her username and password and security code which sent to her email to give the security code to enter etc. Then bang comes the page of her account info, balance and it's in DORMANT. She told me few times that she can't access her account because it is in Dormant. She says she need go to States to reactivate in person. But I am sure you can do online or ring them or email them to reactivate the bank account. There's no way she can earn that kind of monthly wages for the last 2yrs to that balance.
Yeah, I agreed with you, she needs to be stopped and Bahrain Naval Base is not helping me out because of confidential policy they have in their personnel department. Its all bullshit with US Military is not doing anything about it. They all need to look up the name and photos matches in their databases etc to confirm it. Simple as that. At the moment I am playing a game with her as she still thinks I have not suspect anything like I know she is a scammer and I have kept a transcript of our messenger conversation, Western Union receipts, civilian people who helped on her behalf as she is not allowed to get out of the base, so she used civilians to do the work for her, so I have contact details, plus one in Wisconsin who is looking after her daughter. So I have her address details and name. Plus Vera Chisholm gave me her SAT phone numbers one in Bahrain and other in Isreali. The area code and number fit into the country and area. Regardless if they have Miltary email address, they won't give it to you, so they give a Gmail or other email address but not mil email address as they say it for military only and security reasons.
They take advantage of miltary policies to their gain, that's why they can manipulate and very clever to make us believed and sucked in. I have messaged to two of her friends on her FB list and asked them if they have met her in person and she is real to the photo and they said yes she is. Both of them are Bahrain Naval Base. Vera told me she is not a pervert or will not do a runner but promise me to pay it back. So, I am just playing the game and see what happens next. But we need strong authority to stop these scammers immediately while they are in deployed so that Military Police can arrested them and question them and investigate them.
Donald Field from Dyn Corp contacted me through a dating site. (OK Cupid) His user was cupid_s. I have a few pictures of the ex-military guy he says he is and now works for Dyn Corp in Turkey. He uses the word "my love" and "my dear" and said he had an ID from India and many other lies about his family and from where he got his Technology Engineering degree. He's on Kik messenger Donald_ , also has an e-mail address donald_field2 . He made me send money twice through Western Union to Evelyn Webb in VA. This person showed her ID and picked up the money in two occassions.
In reply to Donald Field from Dyn Corp by I'm So Stupid
You can help law enforcement by reporting these details to the FTC at FTC.gov/complaint. The information you give will go into a database that law enforcement uses for investigations.
You can also report the scammer's name and contact information to the wire transfer company you used.
In reply to Donald Field from Dyn Corp by I'm So Stupid
Has anyone ever heard of a "woman" named "Anastasiya" from Russia? She claims to be a 29 year old teacher who just lost her teaching job. She "LOVES" (after 3 weeks) a friend of mine who has decision making issues after two strokes. He is 58. Any help would be appreciated. thanks!
I met a man on a dating site in May. I'm not sure if he is a scammer or not. He hasn't asked me for ANYTHING but a few "red flags" went up and I'm suspicious. He said he's a widower with a 12 year old son. Said his wife died in a car crash 5 years ago. He said he lives in CA and I'm in AZ.
He gave me the name of the company he works for in LA but when I called there, they said no one with his name worked there. I asked him about it and he said he is a "contractor" for that company and they wouldn't have his name?? He also said he lived in Sun City, CA and then a few weeks later said he was tired because he had to "travel" to Sun City for a biz meeting. I questioned him about it and he gave me an address in Sun City saying that is where he lives. Still not sure about that...never really figured that out.
He told me he was coming to AZ to meet me about a month ago but the day he was to arrive he said his sister passed away and he had to go to London to be with his family. He also never calls me by my name. It's always baby, beautiful, etc. He told me he was originally from France but has been living in the states for 18 years. He doesn't tell me loves me but has sent one "love" email about a month ago. We talk on the phone/text every day and he does have a French accent, but I feel like he is putting off meeting me and I'm not sure why. He always seems to have an excuse whenever I ask him to set up a meeting with me. He isn't all "lovey dovey" with me and he never asked me for anything but I just feel like there a few "red flags" and I'm becoming suspicious. He wasn't on Facebook until about a week ago. We became friends but I can't see his "friends" list. It's blocked for some reason. Do you think he is going to scam me even though I called him out on it?? Not sure what to think. Any feedback is appreciated.
In reply to I met a man on a dating site by getting suspicious
In reply to There is a man claiming to by johanpret48
In reply to Did he use 604-265-6577? by rain777
In reply to There is a man claiming to by johanpret48
In reply to Does anyone know a guy named by Cheryl
In reply to My mother has been scammed by MercuryNgo
You can report a scammer to Western Union consumer fraud hotline at 1-800-448-1492. Ask if they can block the scammer from getting money through Western Union. You can report fraud to MoneyGram at 1-800-926-9400. I
if the scammer is using a dating website or social media site, you can report him to the companies that own the sites.
If your mother is making frequent withdrawals from a bank, you could ask the bank staff how they talk with people who are being scammed.
In reply to I was recently scammed. I met by myrrham
You can report the person to the website where you found his profile, and explain what happened. If you sent money with a wire transfer company, you can report him to the wire transfer company. If you told him your bank account number, contact your bank and ask how to protect your account. When you tell someone your bank account number, they can take your money.
In reply to I was recently scammed. I met by myrrham
I met a guy from asiandating , he send me message and we start to exchange email and end up communicate via Whatsapp . His name is Mark P (fake name), 42 years old and single. He email me few photos with his US ARMY uniform with P name on it. This is his email address marp @ and contact no +17738006231 He said that his father from USA and mother from Romania, his mother passed away when he was 2 years old and father passed away when he was 18 yo. He has nobody so join the army and been deploy to Afghanistan for 4 years now.
He ask me to marry him and I say yes to him but after we meet each other for real and I want a proper proposal. I ask him for skype, he said in the camp they not allow to do so, internet usage is very strict so he unable to talk on the phone nor video call. He said will submit retire from us army and come to my country to be with me and set a business for our future. 2 days after that he said his retirement was approved by US Army, he sent me all the retirement certificate and payment from government for his 4 years dedication in Afghanistan for $610k and give him a supply project of $900k, he needs to pay deposit 70% which $630k for first payment to get the profit from project and his money $610k before he leave the camp.
He ask me to open bank account, I said no. Few days after he said his money for deposit is not enough and ask me to send 10k to him. I told him that I dont have money on hand because I just paid my medical treatment and he try to convince me that he will pay me back with interest and my medical bill and sponsor the trip to see my parents. We are still in touch till now because I said I will try to get some money for him but actually I wanna know what he will do once he realize I will not send him even 1cent.
Btw, from the photos he sent me with "P " name on it, I take my time to search on facebook and finally find the real photos owner. I manage to contact the real P and his wife. He is happily married with 4 cute kids. I told him to put all his photos on private setting. He has a good look and definitely girls will fall for him. This real photos owner inform the dating site about his fake profile using his photos on it too.
For all the woman out there , please .... Never ever send money to the man that you not even see them in person. I understand this is emotionally involve, I fall for him because he sounds so caring and promising. But in real life everything need to be real too. Have a great day everyone :)