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

I have never been to dating sites but one day I received a friend request from a man named Philip Gabriel on Instagram so I accepted it. This guy later on started writing to me through Instagram. I didn't want to be rude so I answered him back and he wanted to start chatting through Hangouts so I did and we became close through the chats to the point I fell for him. He says he lives in Jacksonville Florida. He says he is a Sgt. in the Army And works on the base there. He told me he is originally from Sweden but him and his mom moved to the states when he was just a little bit after his dad passed away. He says his wife passed away during child birth. He has 2 children. He has not asked for money. He wants me to come and visit him in Jacksonville. He sent me photos of himself and his children and photos of him, with donald trump and a photo of himself in Washington dc. And also a video of himself at one of the emergency conference on hurricane Harvey he was very convincing. I have talked to him twice and he talks very good English but he does have an accent. But we did get into an argument and we haven't wrote to each other since. I miss him so much! I want to write him and check to make sure he and his children are ok since hurricane Irma came through Florida but haven't yet. HAS ANYONE EVER SPOKE TO SOMEONE BY THE NAME PHILIP GABRIEL THROUGH INSTAGRAM AND GOTTEN A SIMILAR STORY?

My story isn't about a man but is about 5 women who found me in Facebook Messenger. They show up with a message reading HI. It's an accept or decline add me request When you accept a message window pops up with the woman talking about herself then within 2 hours of talk she tells you she is happy to have met you and she thinks you are the man of her dreams and she thinks she is in love. For the next 3 to 5 days she writes about her love for me. The storyline is so close to every message that it seems they are copy and paste situations. Most of their messages are 4 to 5 words many of which don't make sense to my talking points. On the 3 to 5 day mark they ask for a gift. They want an ITunes activation code card in the amount of $50. One woman even asked for an ITunes card in the amount of $250 for a program she needed for her gem buying business. She was in Asia and the cost of the card is more where she is located and of course she would repay me when she returned to the states in 3 days. I got rid of her by telling her that the software for her business would be a business expense that she could use at tax time. I then told her that if she went to sites like Walmart online she could buy it cheaper than either her or me bought it at a store Of course every woman had some issue as to why their cell phones had problems and they couldn't talk or video chat with the mark. The last one found ways to increase the amount of the $50 card to $200 card. I've been playing games with her for a month now and stretching it to 2 months. I got the woman's profile page and downloaded the three photos that she had on the site that she claimed was her. I was given more photos and they were all the same woman. About a week ago I did an image scan of a couple of the photos on google search. I found search pages for the same woman along with photo pages of the woman. Many photos were the same photos that the "woman" sent me. It turned out that the information and photos belong to a Columbian Model Porn Star along with links of her porn movies. I showed the information and some photos that I downloaded from the photo page to the person in a messenger chat window. Did the person freak out. They are so fun to play with because they aren't very smart.

This guy sends photos and says he has a house in New Brighton New Zealand.

I was recently scammed by someone named Greg Daniel Sylvester. Supposedly from New Zealand and his wife and daughter were killed in a car accident five years ago. I met him on Zoosk where he gave me his phone number and asked me to text him. His profile and pictures look good for me so I did. We started talking on the phone every day. About two weeks and he wrote me a love poem. I thought it was suspicious but he was so sweet. He told me at the beginning that he had a contract in Cyprus. He was an architect and interior designer and was going to be doing a shopping mall in October. A week before we were supposed to meet he called me visit very upset and said that his contract had been moved up and he had to fly to Cypress that night. he promised to call me every day from Cyprus until he could come back. For three weeks he called every day. He then needed to order some equipment but because his computer and never made it from the airport asked me to log into his bank account to wire money to pay for the equipment from Turkey. With him on the phone I logged into his bank account and set the suppose it wire he promised to call me every day from Cyprus until he could come back. For three weeks he called every day. He then needed to order some equipment but because his computer and never made it from the airport asked me to log into his bank account to wire money to pay for the equipment from Turkey. With him on the phone I logged into his bank account and sent the wire. He then asked if I could send him a MacBook and iPad since his suitcase never arrived and he needed them for the job. He said his credit card had been held because he was in a foreign country. Let's make this a test he said. I foolishly sent to Cyprus the MacBook and iPad. About a week before the job is to finish he told me there was an accident accident at the construction site With the equipment he had purchased. Two men died and three were injured. He was now in a prison I needed to pay off the families. Asked me to log into his bank account again and send a wire for him. When I tried to send a wire it would not go through and said his bank account has been frozen. He started to sob on the phone why is this happening to me? The next day his attorney called me to tell me the dire news That if he did not get the money he would go to High Court and because he was not a Muslim he would go to jail for the rest of his life. He then asked if I could send the money? I told him I did not have that much money. He then asked for $25,000. I said I did not have that either. The next day he ended up spending the night in jail and told me that he had not slept and not eaten and was weak and tired. He then said for $10,000 they would let him go back to his hotel until his bank account was on frozen. I foolishly sent the money via wire to a bank in Texas to his attorneys suppose it friend who was going to money gram it directly to him. It was later that day I started researching much more than I already had. I realized I have been scammed. I waited and the next day he was supposed to be getting out of the country. Instead at the end of the day I got a text asking for $5000 to bribe the border guards so he could leave the country. I told him there's no more money. He then called me I did not answer. He called again I pretended to be very upset that I didn't have the money and would send it if I could. He started to sob on the phone and said he did not know what he was going to do. He still continue to tell me he was for real. I did some research into the bank site. It was SBS and see online.com. I looked at the account settings and the name on the account was Darius Wojcik. So I am putting both of these names out there to see if anyone else has had a similar experience. He still insists he's not lying and that when he gets back to the states he will meet me. I know that he is mine but it still incredibly hard.

Oh my god scammers are everywhere. Actually its my 4th time since i've been scammed by most US Army and The last one is Seaman. They're all asking to send money to them, but good thing i never tried sending money for them. The last one is that someone sent me a package with luxury gadgets, jewelries, louis vuitton bag and money contents inside and then before u can claim the package, u have to pay the Administrative Charge first and then it will deliver to ur home address. How will be so sure that ur package will deliver right away in ur home address if u settled the payment first without seeing the package itself. That's kinda scam right. Only the customs and postal office can hold package before sending it to ur home address. I hope i'd never encountered like this again or to every single ladies who looking someone for love. Pls be aware and dont be fooled by them. God bless to everyone.

There is a person who sent me pictures of a dating site, a doctor who sent photos posed with his children and some were with doctors scubs clothing. I skyped with him and he always had the same clothing on. He says shortly after we met that he was headed to Yemen with doctors without out borders..and skyped me from there..soon after he needed money saying it was his daugthers birthday and from Yemen he coudn't get into his account. Shortly after that, there was another sad story, he claimed to me his accounts were hacked and they shut his accounts down until an investigation was complete so he could not access his money and needed to pay his mothers bill to hospice who is back in the states in a nursing home. Both times I told him i didn't have funds to send him..after his second try and a lot of put downs from him how i am not a caring person...he vanishes. The guy on skype i chatted with, was the same guy in the pictures, but it's obvious to me, there is something very sketchy going on because he tried to get money out of me twice. I met him on mingle under the name i needgoodloe. I hear there is so much of this going on...beware..never give a penny, no matter how much u think this person is real...good men dont ask for money weeks or a month into chatting with you online...seriously..don't be stupid. Good and decent men would NEVER ask for money from you so face up to this point and get rid of that person your chatting with who is just a huge scammer.

By the way, it doesn't matter what name they use, the docto, who said he went to Yemen i just posted about, said his name was Bruno Diego...but they can always use a different name with a new person they are talking to..the email i have for him is gomez1990@ , his facebook page was diego bruno.

Need help pls.. my grandma has totally fallen for a man named mark anderson, wife died from a car accident, has 2 kids. He said he is very rich with properties in new york. An engineer for shell company, currently assigned in the gulf of mexico drilling oil. He has been sending pictures but has not done face time. He asked my grandma for money and sadly, she sent him $500 a couple of times. He claims he is wealthy. Both kids in boarding school but he is asking for money. Grandma can't see this as scam because she has fallen hard for this guy. Pls pls. Has anyone encountered this man?

anyone talk to a guy named John Meyer, says he lives in Miami Florida and wife killed in accident. Makes all the right lovey dovey messages and then says his son Mark is going to a musical camp in Africa.. Then few days later while son is there and say OMG my son's hotel was robbed and son lost all his money!! He supposedly works for an off shore drilling company in Scotland. Asks for 3000.00 to be wired over to his son!! He's sick about it. only one that can help him is me and when I say no I can't. he asks me to get it from friends or people at work. I just didn't fall off the turnip truck and I just play him and says oh no hun can't do that.. if this is the end of our "romance" then that's it. He says oh no honey but keeps pestering me for the $$$$. RED FLAGS all over the place.

I have been talking to Bryan Brochu who claimed to be a widower from California who has a Sony called Connor and a disabled sister named Trisha Giede Heeley made so many promises said his sister had lost her ID card so could I said some money as he was in Dubai trying to get a 7 million dollar contract he has several profiles using bbpacker bryan packer brochu using the same photos please be aware of him he is very good at manipulating women I had sent money via Western union to him he also asked me to take out a loan for him sell all my belongings my car he is a thief be aware of this man

A guy claims he's a sergeant for the US Army and he's deployed in Afghanistan but he wants me to send him money to a person in Nigeria. He said if I don't send it then the FBI will come and arrest me. I got 2 emails from somebody saying they are a FBI agent but the email is from gmail.

I am so close in getting scammed too but thank God I did not give in despite I'm so close to falling for him because of his kind words. This man name HARRIS JOHNSON, pretend to be a US soldier deployed in Syria, suspiciously pledging his love in a warp speed. He cannot send current pictures due to "security" reasons on his peace mission. Pretend to be a ranking officer. He had FB account and added me but taken down so fast. As he set me up at Whats up messenger so we can chat more. I got so many hints that its a scam like: - Fb acct closed so fast after adding me - pledging love and would marry me -getting info like my bday so he can send me a gift, my favorite movie, color ( which he might use it on password recovery) - studying my schedule at work; knowing exactly what I do or my routine -sweet talk and messages with cut and paste type. -cannot video or voice call due to security reasons - divorced to woman who cheated him; with a house and owned cars in Texas - Daughter died because of Asthma and negligence of her exwife -will not read my messages thoroughly; not keeping up with my stories; but its all about his feelings for me. I have to only TRUST and LOVE him and if its a true love, distance is not an issue - he's starving at Syria because the helicopter carrying their food was bombed. The girl friends of his colleague has sent money so they can buy food and necessities while government is figuring out the issue. So he wants me to send money - He gave the number 1-610-615-4665; showed pictures of the food left for them which is extremely running out and worried for number of days of starving---I checked the package lunch; the logo is CLean Eatz which is from N/S Carolina. How this military can send food out of take out packaging and coming from that area delivering to Syria??? With so much signs, I said that stop this scam! I asked how much he needs for the week supply, he wont say it but rather he asked me how much money I can afford to send as his salary goes to Texas and cannot hold or withdraw money from Syria. Then when I cursed him as this is a scam, he apologized and said will not bother me again.

A man by the name of Scott Flowers added me on Instagram, I didn't think anything of it. He then started sending me private messages. I thought he's just a lonely kid and wants people to talk to. So I also gave him my email. No big deal, he says he's a widow with a young son in the States, Texas. 2 or 3 days he's telling me he loves me, I told him no, etc., he writes like someone with broken English. I asked if I could call him, he said no, then I asked him to call me, he said he couldn't unless I sent him money, I said no, then he asked for itunes cards, so I sent him $200 in itunes cards, he immediately asked me for $300 more, that he couldn't do anything with only $200... I said not absolutely not. He tells me he loves me that his wife died, sends me pictures of her.... I still say no. Now he's saying his general came and he got rewarded with gold bars and money, and he wants to send something to me, for me to give him my address. Nope, not happening. Just to warn anyone else out there. He goes by the name Scott Jay Flowers, says he's in Kabul.

Daisyann74 | September 15, 2017 | reply I have never been to dating sites but one day I received a friend request from a man named Philip Gabriel on Instagram so I accepted it. This guy later on started writing to me through Instagram. I didn't want to be rude so I answered him back and he wanted to start chatting through Hangouts so I did and we became close through the chats to the point I fell for him. He says he lives in Jacksonville Florida. He says he is a Sgt. in the Army And works on the base there. He told me he is originally from Sweden but him and his mom moved to the states when he was just a little bit after his dad passed away. He says his wife passed away during child birth. He has 2 children. He has not asked for money. He wants me to come and visit him in Jacksonville. He sent me photos of himself and his children and photos of him, with donald trump and a photo of himself in Washington dc. And also a video of himself at one of the emergency conference on hurricane Harvey he was very convincing. I have talked to him twice and he talks very good English but he does have an accent. But we did get into an argument and we haven't wrote to each other since. I miss him so much! I want to write him and check to make sure he and his children are ok since hurricane Irma came through Florida but haven't yet. HAS ANYONE EVER SPOKE TO SOMEONE BY THE NAME PHILIP GABRIEL THROUGH INSTAGRAM AND GOTTEN A SIMILAR STORY? This is the 2nd time I am posting my story to let everyone one of you in this blog know that this guy Philip Gabriel I was talking to is a scammer. He lied to me but never got my money only thing is I sent pictures of me and my kids to him and wished I didn't do that. The photos he sent to me if him and his children belong to another name but I will not give that name because his wife is really alive and he and his family are very popular and famous in the US. I was so shocked when found out who those photos belong to. I was tempted to contact the person to let him know some was using his profile to get photos to scam women but I was afraid to do so.

Hi, Its a shame that I end up being a victim too. the person called himself as Leonard Fredrick from Fulham settle in Leicester. He portrayed as a gentleman and very god fearing nature and the worst part is, he'll ensure that he prays for you on the phone and ensure that you say grace morning and evening.He looks good and very innocent. How the hell can i even imagine that some God fearing man would do those cheap tricks. He said he came down from Leicester to meet me, unfortunately the Airport security and custom held him back because of the excess baggage and along with excess gold ornaments that he had brought. The agent called me to tell that he arrived but cannot get out of the airport because he need to pay those fine and charges and They actually made you panic with worry, Which i realized only few hours later. He even sent me a picture of him boarding the flight. I then felt something was wrong i called the U.K embassy and also check with the airport customer service if there is any passenger with that name. They could not find his name nor his matching date of birth and the embassy informed that no country can hold a passenger more than . I felt foolish but i was lucky i didn't sent the hours without notifying them. bingo!!! I then realized that Jack lied... You will come to know if the person is fake, He/She gets very impatient and was more concern about you sending the money rather than the sob situation that they mentioned they were in. So please be judgemental and careful. I was surprised when a man asked for money but then i thought it was just someone who needed so bad than I do. He said he's from Leicester, he speaks an African accent and he will not be specific about the culture, knowledge and his personal life, but he will generalized all his details and information. He had a so called sister known as Matilda and mother as Elizabeth. Mom is very old and sister is disabled, very convincing story. You will definite fall for that kind of a man who's so stubborn to speak to your family so he can trusted. Be careful both women and men out their, This world has change, You can trust animal and other beings but very difficult to trust another fellow human. Humanity is diminishing day by day. Love is just a word not a promised nor a feeling, So USE it wisely if you still know the worth.

Hello. I recently received a friend request from a guy named Kelvin Eddie Mcclain. I accepted his request because we had several common friends. He started chatting with me and told me hi is from Germany residing in Portland. He called me one time and he didnt sound german nor american to me. I had a feeling i was talking to a jamaican accent man. I asked for a video call, he said he is not into that. I feel this is a scammer. Am i right? Please help me. Thank you!

Hi I'm chatting with a woman who seems to be too good to be true, doesnt care about money, is a doctor, american (im norwegian), doing better in life than me in general, except she has cancer. She has never asked for money. She looks like (and has been) a model, looks 23 even tho she's 30+. I'm 23. We've talked a lot, but she never wants to go on cam, because of her arm being broken thus she does not want to show herself when not looking great. She's sent a ton of photos, but I can find none of them on google using the image search. She also wants me to get braces for my teeth (my teeth are more or less fine) so I can experience pain with her, and she refuses to do chemo unless I do it. What the hell am I dealing with.

scammed from John E Powell states he is trauma dr. in Un Peacekeepers in Syria needs money to get to the states romance scam claims love and marriage and has money will repay when gets to states never gets here sent money to other people in his name WU/Moneygram own money also received fraud check check out by Federal Reserve Check bounced after sending money back now am facing banckruptcy and Civil Suit by Bank but thank God not being prosecuted for this I can fix my heart,my health, and money it will take time but I will survive

Has anyone heard the name DAVID Jobe? Solar energy, wife died 5 years ago and 3 weeks had to go to Dubai and then west Africa now for another week?

I have been in connection with Alexander Freeman for about 9 moths now. I met him on Facebook, I felt really hard for this man. He worked on an oil rig in Canada, I felt so lonely and wanted a man I could trust and love, but no I understand I did a big mistake. He says he is in Cape Town now, because he was supposed to pick up his son Anthony there, and they were going to visit me. He was caught by the police and is in housearrest in Cape Town, because he didnt pay his sons hospital bill. I know understand its all a big lie, he never intent to meet me, he just made up the whole story to get money from me. watch up ladies, dont let this man break your heart

It's really sad that the moderator isn't stepping in to offer advice to the victims who are unsure and suffering. It's been a month and a half since anyone has helped.

All you ladies that play Words with Friends please be aware that there are a lot of men on there who want to play the game only to get you talking on hangout or whatsapp and then scam you....I played along with one for a while (I worked in law enforcement and know their little scams). Of course he professed his love for me and talked so sweet and that he was in love with me, blah, blah, blah but when I refused to open an account for his oil rig contract payment he wasn't too happy with me!!! :D He goes by the name of Joe Federick from San Antonio. Beware of all those on Words with Friends, they are using it as a dating/scam site!

Yes love101 that guy is a scammer too. People don't meet you and start asking for money. Join a local singles group in your area. If someone you met on FB or anywhere else on the internet asks for money unfriend them, block them & move on!

but not all of this people are scams and how can you get to know that, someone will surely be in need of help one day, think before you act please

I was on mingel2 and i have communicated with about 10 different women. They all did pretty much the same thing as far as a sob story and needing money.

Be careful with a handsome guy by the name of Ben Miller, his pictures are with 2 beautiful daughters according to him is a widower, asked me on viber if I could received a package from Europe that it was a check, so I blocked him changed my phone number as well, never give him my address, also a Wilfred Davidson, Dr in Iraq working with the UN his daughter in Florida and he is a widow as well (according to him) be careful ladies he says he has no access to his financials and will ask you to open a hangouts app.

A construction supervisor from L A working on an oil rig in Scotland. Wife died in child birth with second son. 11 year old son in boarding school. Professing love calling me his wife etc. Came to me at a very low point in my life luckily I realised I was being scammed and stopped all contact

i think I am being scammed anyone have a josh rockwell texting them

I have a friend that has been sending money to a guy who claims he is in the US Army in Sudan. She says she met him when on vacation in Florida. He says he needs money for all sorts of things. I think it is a scam. Every time he is supposed to come home something happens and he can't. Now he claims he was shot in the leg. He goes by the name Miller Beckman. I have tried to find someone with that name. No luck. Everyone has a trail on the internet.

got a new scam for ya, girl in Ghana, says she a nursing student. wants me to send her a $100 uTunes card. says "To upgrade her phone." NOT! she wants to use it for her own use. nope. OR the same girl wants me to send money to pay for a ticket to the US AFter graduation.

I am so glad I read this because I do believe someone that is using a photo of a person who is in the Military even his user name is sgt9617 on instagram. He told me he need an itune card to update his computer and he is in Turkey. Everytime I have tried to asked a question to why he can nto ask a family member he would not answer those questions. I told him I can not support an Sergeant who is in the Military that has money then he say that I broke his heart. I nver intended to send him any money or card because its a huge turn off for a man to ask a woman for money especially not even knowing her.

I starting a friendship with n army general James Martins Andrew he was in Syria but he got transferred to Afghanistan, but before coming to Afghanistan he sent me a luggage with all his belongings with a diplomat carrier Smith Duncan, I had to pay 3000 dls for customs in Indonesia, then 3000 for expenses of the carrier and now I need to pay 10150 dls to the customs in Georgia. He supposed to be here in California in December but now he changed the date until next December 2018

Hi. I recently met a man on POF. He says he is an orthopedic surgeon who works on deployment by the UN. He lost his wife to breast cancer and has an 18 year old daughter going to school in Spain living with her grandparents. About a week in he told me he was being sent to Syria for 2 weeks. He has emailed and texted every day. I did give him my cell number and I'm regretting it. Today he told me he is in Syria indefinitely and given me an email address to request him to come home early so we can start our new life together.. A lot of the verbage in his emails reflects a lot of what I have read here. He has not asked for money yet. I keep telling him he sounds too good to be true. I know not to send money but I am getting worried.