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

I just have to tell my story because I am heartbroken and really believed this guy. He said he was from Italy, living here for 15 years, his wife had an affair with his best friend and his daughter is with him for the summer, but goes to boarding school and is 14. He lives in OH and just moved there from PA due to the tragic end to his marriage. He just left for Spain for one month, after telling me he was going to fly and see me soon, since he won a work contract and needed to complete this last job before he is done. He is an engineer/contractor by trade and was putting in a petrolium site in Madrid, Spain. He was given 60% of the 4.5 million from the contract for this job and then was to be paid the other 40% after the job is complete. Everything was fine up until a few days ago when he wrote and called me to tell me the tax authorities in Spain said he had to pay a "non-resident" tax fee for his work otherwise he would be shut down. He said he tried to work with the authorities but they only gave him four days to come up with the money, which he could not get from his credit card due to maxing out his expenses and told me he had to wait 4-6 weeks for the credit company to extend his credit. He asked his friend he said to send him money which supposedly he did but was still short and wanted me to send him $3000 which I did not do! All the romantic gestures and comments stopped after I said no and also the ring that he swore he sent me was never delivered to his fiance - which he called me! I am completely heartbroken and trusted this man at first and all he said and really feel like I have been taken advantage of more then ever with all I shared with him. I feel completely violated and taken. Please let me know if anyone else had this experience with the same man or similiar incident. Thank you :(

Claudia Johnson?? Anyone? She contract me via Instagram, now we are typing on Viber.. Number located in Albany.. She have son, she is in US army based in Pakistan? She didn't ask me for mony but I'm not shure if she is scammer..

I need help making my mom realize she being scammed by a man that loves hwr and qant to marry her but everyrhing i have read is red flag to a scam. He wanta gidt cards.. He supposedlt works for a oil rig but needs mtly retired mom pension and ssi money. I dont knos how to get her to see this but im very scared for herm that she will loose everything behind aome man luring her for money please help me.

Anyone came across Matt Wang , he claims he’s in West Africa in the army. Very quick romance and now he’s asking me to send 1k for medical expenses. He said their base got attack and wouldn’t have supplies/meds till end of next week.

Does anyone know of similar scam but they use the name Frederick Ivan? Same thing wife died, works on an oil rig and daughter is in a boarding school.

After reading all these comments, I think my best friend is being scammed. I saw a picture of this guy fron fb, calling himself David Lucas. He is supposed to be mid 60s, widowed, with a 15 yr old son in boarding school in USA. He says he is of Italian descent and is working on oil rig on Poland. How can I find out more about this guy? My friend has fallen for him hook line and sinker. He came off fb a while ago to have private chats with her.

Anyone had someone from aberdeen Scotland named Kevin Smith. Met on dating website. Lots of red flags.

The scammer has contacted me via HER app. We have chatted for a while through the app and then she asked me to go to another app called Hangouts. From there we have continued chatting the whole year (April 2018 - March 2019). She told me that she is from Texas, USA and is a military Corp. Story short she told me that the thieves stole her money and passport and that she stuck in Nigeria. She couldn’t travel anywhere to go back home. I gave her some money to sort her problems out and that she will be home as soon as possible as she kept her promises that she will pay me back soon but she never managed to go back home because of the plane ticket issues. She also told me that she had a daughter back home and she doesn’t have family - her parents passed away from a car accident. I asked her to see her photos to verify who she is - she has a Facebook account and instagram account - she has a few old photos of her and there’s a few military Corp photos of her but I wanted to see her recently photos but she told me that the camera of her phone was broken. She also told me that she loved me a lot, missed me and that everything will be fine and that she will give me my money back but she didn’t at all.

Hi do you know someone from the uk who resides now in the Philippines he claims his name Adil usman /Alex seage architect he keeps asking for money cz losing his passport there.

A Brazilian doctor name Sebastian Ramirez start talking to him everything looks like a normal person but he didn’t want to talk over the phone. He wanted to only sent text messages. Always an excuse. He promised that he will travel to nyc before going to Brazil to see his daughter then I realized what type of father travel to see a stranger before his family. Until one day he asked me for an iTunes card bcuz he didn’t have good service. I said yes but never sent him anything and decide to block him from everyone. Name is Sebastian Ramirez said that he lives in Brazil but work in Nigeria.

Hi..i had a same stories too..but he is a oil business owners and now in switzerland for contract..he ask me money because somthing happen and he dont have money and someone to ask for help.thos is really weird..

I understand that people here are frustrated about being scammed; I was almost scammed with oil rig scenario; people here keep asking if you know so and so by their name and would like to exchange pictures but you have to understand that it’s all fake; The name is fake, the photo is fake /stolen and you will probably never find whom it belongs to; the email address/phone numbers / websites all are fake ; the scenarios maybe similar because they all use a script ; these scammers actually get training for this and some pay for the training; the more skilled ones may pay for fake websites and software. That’s why they get so angry when they don’t get compensated for their time. The only thing that is a FACT 100% is if they ask for money it’s a SCAM; you maybe in denial like I was but you must cut all communication with these people; and just like they use the web and social media to scam people we can use it to educate ourselves . There is so much useful information about these scammers and how they operate. I have learned so much from this experience.

Anyone been talking to a Ben Bradford? Daughter Tracy , he says he has just started a contract on a rig in south Atlantic ....bit vague. Very charming and a bit ott with affection . Wanted an I phone for him and daughter, but when I hit the roof he soon changed his mind and apologised. Am very suspicious. Nothing turned up on tin eye .

Anyone get scammed by a man claiming to be an independent contractor on a Swiss oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico who's bank account got hacked and then his credit card expired and now he's bored and wants iTunes cards sent for him to rent movies? Goes by the Twitter name Witold ?

Hi my name is Joanie . I meet this guy six months old. On my face book massage.i am 58 I ask him his age he told . Me he37year age. We talk time when on I fell in love with him he told me I love me. When I did talk to him he ask me to send him some money for phone.i near through once he would use me for money Ok I send him for phone now time when on father have cancer.talk to his father . His father said he son talk lot about me.and said his son was going to married me. I said yes You son going to take care of me and I going to take ofhim. Same day his son call and said that father told him to get lawyer. So I told go get lawyer. Then he told me that his father was rich. I don't care about that.next day I get a letter from his father lawyer said that he life me 100millon 5thursand dollar I have to do pay fee ok i.did it I pay12 hundred dollar.now they ask me to800 dollar to tanfer the money to my account I am so heart broken because I thought he love me and he church man I guess that lie too

Could someone tell me how to do the pix search please ? I have them and now know I am being deceived but no idea where to start . I need to know for my piece of mind who this person actually is

My guys name is Alex Agota from HUNGRARY living in Hartford Connecticut working as a civil engineer in North Cyprus Has a 22 year old daughter Sarah in school in Italy His wife died for cancer then he moved to the USA. He is supposed to be working on a mall I. Famarsa North Cyprus be for mugged and needs money do medical help or he will die Die you B He seems to have network of people working with him a doc Ha and an interpreter called Nastafa I fell for it thought I was an intelligent woman appernally not enough He even played on my faith God has seen it all he Wil pay if not repented I will leave it with the ultimate Judge

Who writes me is called Bakery Goode, writes me on Twitter. Supposedly a soldier, he also has a daughter and basically his whole family died in every tragedy. He says he wants to marry me, blah, blah, blah ... It really sounds very sweet. But from the beginning I didn't believe him. Please tell me if I have to block it now. Or if I can show your photos to someone to compare.

Everpaid a immigrant for all there traveling expense including there immigration visa. I was emailed a good copy of there immigration visa. Picture matched. Missing plane departures but now fixed. Forgot yellow card in transit. I am very upset. So i get id card and verification. Little money left. I am upset and they r almost homeless. Should i help. I feel responsible.

I am dating a woman named kate bella and she sent a check that looks like a fraud check. She told me the only way to deposit it was through atm. Her mom said she is a cop. I want to believe shes real but im confused

I had a guy try for months said he was Dr. sent me all kinds of pictures. He called and I knew from his voice and accent he wasn't American. Asked first for ITunes then cash. From me he got nothing.

So this guy I met is a building contractor building a bridge in Singapore. Apparently he tried to order stuff from the states and they put a hold on his cc. He even showed me a pic of the notice and of his bank account..over $300,000! He is from Flordia, has a 9 year old named Allison, and hes divorced because his wife and best friend had an affair. Wants me to give him my log in info for my cc. Hes gonna pay mine off then have me charge the things he " needs" sounds to me like hes stealing someone else's money right? This guy is super sweet and acts like he cares. Anyone had this scenario??

Do not accept friend requests from an Andrew Phillip claims he is a Doctor in Sudan on a peace mission his email he uses is Andrewphillip883 he contacted me on Instagram and of course immediately wants me to marry him and then starts asking me to send his son a gift card etc and then says in order to get his 15 million transferred he needs my bank info I was well on to his scam from the beginning but thought it would be funny to mess with him he kept messaging me all day everyday even called me a few times via hangout app which is their MO to get u to switch to another site if I could post pics and his messages here I would. Just be safe ladies these guys are animals and need to be caught

Started talking to a guy says he lives in Amarillo New Mexico met him on Tinder looking for a relationship not games and sex games so we started talking on messenger texting you sent me his number then he asked do I have an Instagram account we can talk there you can see my pictures that's who I am so we start talking and it's been 2 weeks now but the week we met the day after he wanted to see me but I couldn't meet him I had a doctor appointment so he left and went to Nigeria he said he's a kind of engineer and works out of the country a lot when he gets there he says how am I doing start to talk and he says do you know what stream card is I said no it's popular here that use it to eat and trade and buy things okay so three days later he texts me tells me that he needs to know if I can help him with $50 so that he can eat his Nanny sent him to cards but he doesn't have any more and the James card will not accept the transfer of money he wants to get they rejected it I said no I can't I don't have any money which I don't I'm a poor woman living on SSI fine he said he understood but four days later he asked me again and I still told him no so he starts talking to me and we start talking and telling me that he's falling in love with me and that he loves me and then when he gets back he plans on helping me give me money to help me get on my feet that he will do everything for me because he loves me in it I will be there to help you I will be there at the end of the month he says then all of a sudden the next day can I help him we're getting a plane ticket because he doesn't have the money James card rejected will not access his money he needs $600 his Nanny sent him a thousand needs it to get back so he can purchase more stream cards and then get back to Nigeria to finish his job I told him I didn't have that money I am not trusting someone I just meant to send it that that much money to I would have to be in a relationship with you longer than a week and I don't have that kind of money but it's only $600 I am not lying to you I need it he says I cannot get home until I get there to get to my money but I have told him no five times now he tells me he still loves me that he doesn't love me for my money so there it is I know and I feel in my heart that it's a scam

Anyone had an alex Kingsley name used?

I got my “scammer” to reveal who he actually is. He started telling me everything…why he scam people, where he’s located, his name, etc. He even video called me so I could see who he actually is. I now have a screenshot of the video call and a picture of himself that he sent me. I never fell for any of his scams before but I can understand why a lot of women do. He has the most beautiful accent I’ve ever heard in my life and comes off as very charming but he’s really controlling and manipulative. I can't make this up if I tried to. Lol Summary of previous post: I wrote a post here in June 2019 (if I’m not mistaken) about a guy pretending to be an architect and owning his own company. He claimed to have left the US to go to another country to do contract work. The very same day he was to return to the US, he said he was in an accident and robbed of this ID and Passport on his way to the airport. He got upset because I wouldn’t send him money or give him usernames and passwords to my accounts. He stopped talking to me in May but all of a sudden, he started messaging me again recently (August 2019) saying I abandoned him while he was in distress. Last week, after trying to ignore him he continued playing the victim. I started telling him I knew who he was (scammer) and I was not sending money or giving him anything he previously asked for. After ten minutes of him accusing me of abandoning him, he finally came clean. Now he won’t leave me alone. Saying things like he came clean because he’s fallen in love with me. After telling him I don’t want any communication with him, I finally blocked him after he text me saying he felt like killing me. Again, playing the victim.

Yes I haven’t been scammed before but this word is a wayward and we must understand Even though about 90% of this situation is Scam but what if the person is being real but need a help I think 10% of the people on the internet is real but sometimes they need support.

Please stay clear of Calvin Baldin...Oh yes there's a real profile on LinkedIn & Tinder and possibly other sites but he's NOT REAL... The scammer associated with these accounts is currently using the email address (zackerygeoky . He's very cleaver and will try to lure you with sweet words. Protect your personal information and do not accept his request.

I met a man. He said his name is Ferguson Jones. His birthday is supposed to be the 1st week of May. I’m putting as many details as I can in case he has reached out to others. We started talking on Facebook. That he’s stationed in Syria. That he’s a electrical engineer. Said he’s a widow from Va. this started around August 10,2019. He claims he closed his Facebook because of it being hacked. On 8/26/2019 he claims he was shot in the leg. And it was and ISIS attack on the base. And he needs me to write this address UnitedNationseurope78@ . The person responding for this email is a Michael Williams. They want $1883. The phone number 210-486-039*. Belongs to Texas. And that shows the tower pings. I tried doing searches on Ferguson Jones but nothing comes up. Tried the Va courthouse no records. Thank God I told him upfront I had no money. These people are smooth. But I pray they are caught and brought to justice.

Michael Oscar from Berlin Germany found me on FB. Wow, what a handsome guy he was.....He was an architect. I feel badly for these people whose photos are being used in these scams. Do they ever find out their photos are being sent all over the place? He had salt & pepper hair and a slight beard/goatee. He looked like a male model. Said he had a 12 year old daughter just like me. His university time on LinkedIn in Germany was for 4 years versus the typical 3 years in Europe. He had no connections on LinkedIn and he had only a few likes of his photos on FB. All the people that liked his photo on FB had Eastern Indian names and photos. He immediately wanted to get off Messenger and go to Google Hangouts. His FB page disappeared. I fell for it. Anyway, the "I love you" and "you are so beautiful" started quickly. Then he basically asked me for info while coming across like the most amazing person you could possibly meet. What did I have for a house. Did I rent or own. He basically was searching for what I was worth and I'm sure he would eventually ask for money. No doubt in my mind. We didn't get to that point. I called it off. If anyone wants to see these photos, I am happy to show them. I think this handsome salt & pepper haired man should know what someone is doing with their photos. They clearly hacked into some type of social media site to get them. I tried to locate the IP address but it wasn't coming up. The guy called once and it was the last day we communicated. He had a very Indian sounding voice. I was like where is the German accent?Disappointing but if a male model type is contacting you and you are a just a regular Joe/Jane, then Houston we have a problem !!!!!! I'm happy to share info. I really think these people are disgraceful and the media sites need to do a better job of weeding them out.

I met a man 1.5 years ago on Facebook. He said his name was Antonio Huffman. Just wanted to be friends. I told him I was married, but my husband was dying from lung cancer. He said he understood about it because his wife had died from cancer. Also had a son who was killed in auto accident. He lived in Buffalo New York. And owned a diving business. Had 47 employees. He was trying for a contract with BP to work for 3 months for 5 million. He said he was flown to meeting and won the contract. A little later he and all his employees were on the way to the oil rig in the gulf. That was last summer,fast forward to now he told me that his wallet was stolen on route to rig. So he couldn't access his account to get his own money. He has ask me for money all this last year. I have social security from my last husband. I sent him a little amt. Along this last year. Then he told me that he had sent me 2millon dollars in cash ,and also a car. I started getting request from a shipping comp y in England to send them 5500.to transfer the money to my name. I told him I didnt have it. Later I did zero t him 2,000.to finish the amt.needed. now the woman named terri sent me a text that more money was needed for a tax certificate to have the package cleared through Mexico border. I am so disappointed in him . I thought he was a real person,but now believe he is just scamming me. He told me he was born in poland,but has been in us over 20 years.he also says he has a grandson that is 3 years old that he will hVe to rIse,and he needed my help.also said that the contract is up next month,and he was coming to my home to help me with my husband who is passing away from cancer. If anyone knows of him please let us know.thanks so much.

So, these scammers target gay men too. Almost weekly, some young stud in an army uniform sends me messages, wanting me to get kik or hangouts or exchange phone numbers to text. The English is always very poor, and the names dont make sense a lot of the time. Eventually he will tell me he is on a peacekeeping mission in Syria or some other place like that. That is when I report the profile and block him. I'm a gay man that lives in the deep south, doesnt like gay bars or the "gay scene ", and acts masculine, so obviously my chances of finding someone are almost nonexistent without the internet. My problem is that I have the utmost respect for our nation's military personnel. Getting with a guy who is serving his country and who is responding, mature, in shape and masculine would be my dream. It's so hard to dismiss any guys who contact me on the chance that they may be a scammer. I will usually entertain them until they demand I switch to kik or hangouts, or, in very poor English, claim they are from Houston or North Dakota or wherever, but are on a "peacekeeping mission in [insert name of obscure country here]". I know its Frustrating for anyone out there, whether you're a 37 year old gay country boy or a 56 year old widow/widower, or just live a busy life and seek out connections online, but we mustn't let our loneliness cloud our judgement. Read these stories here, so you will know the warning signs, and good luck to us all. God bless, and dont give up hope.

Just blocked a guy who sent me a message through instagram, then we started texting. He said his wife died 2 years ago in a car crash, he has 2 small boys 3 and 6, his mom takes care of him while he is deployed, he is in North Korea on a "secret mission" loves me, wants to marry me, all the same stuff. He is from Clearwater Florida, in the Army, about 42 years old. He has sent several pictures of him, in uniform, and with the kids. Only has an instagram account, no Facebook or anything else. He managed to get $200 from me in Amazon cards before I told him he was fake and blocked him. He also sent a picture of a Military ID which was fake. His name is James Strickland, James Bob Strickland, Bob Strickland. Anyone else know this guy?

His name is Tyler Richmond lives Bahamas has a daughter his wife past away.. only child father a marine past away, His voice very deep with an Caribbean accent very handsome men, we never cam chat excuses all the time .. He would get upset if i asked personal questions about his life. His very well spoken.. He never asked for money only to transfer money from California to Bahamas but he wanted me to create a pay pal account and he having access to it.. He was very loving promise marriage.. I did felt in love deeply but just never trust what he asked for>> he got was my full name an old address

My Mom is being scammed by Man named Jacob Lowe. Now asking for money for plane ticket to come see her. Sent leave papers from Caterpillar supposed to bring 70000.00 dollars with him. My father passed and this started bought year later. She believes everything he says and pushed us all away. Feel empty inside right now amd worried.