Online dating is a big interest for many internet users and also is a large business industry. As such it also has a high potential for dating scam. Predators hunt where the prey is and the bigger the place, the better the potential for fraud to become a success. Looking for a partner online is not any different than any other search - search for a house, a second-hand car, a new mobile phone or any other similarities. In one simple yet important detail they have a common point: there always will be some people who will try to take your wallet on a date, not you.
Many people who are aware of the potential dating scam online, the first thing they have in mind is Russia. While it is true that many dating scams have the origin in this country or neighbor countries, it is not the Russians who invented dating scam, further only about 5% of all online dating services/persons are predators. As you see chances for you becoming prey of the real scammers are less than one in ten. Your common sense should stay alert and prevent you going to the wrong neighborhood and in addition to that we will discuss and reveal some of the tricks women or men are using to acquire their targets. Most of the con artists in online dating are female or pretend to be one, so we will reference the scammer as a “she”, but indeed you may replace it with a “he”. Be aware of the fact that there are some individuals out there who may try to extract from you some amount in cash playing on your feelings, but you must not become paranoid about it!
Marriage fraud is not an invention of the internet, nor is it new to this world. It is as old as mankind is. What Internet has brought new is the possibility of using typing to express feelings that requires much less actor skills than face-to-face communication. Paper can bear anything. Even a phone conversation can give you more clues of what’s really going on, but many times a direct conversation is avoided for rather obvious reasons. It’s either because the person on the other side is a scammer with poor talent and conversation skills, or a potential legit date who is shy. Unless you want a shy woman or conservative one, which in turn will most likely become a pain in the arse, you should avoid both. We now will have to look for some clues inside the text:
- The contact originates from a free personals site where anyone can place her ad for free
- It was not you who initiated the conversation; you received a letter from a lovely female who was interested in you. Her description of the partner is always very broad that will fit anybody - “kind and intelligent man, age and race don’t matter”
- Correspondence is always through email and letters are sent regularly sometimes even periodically and often, every day.A new picture is sent with almost every letter and the pictures are often numbered in sequences like (1, 2, 3…)
- She never asks about your job, possessions or the state of your finances, neither uses the word “financially secure” in her description of the prospective partner. We all know a girl wants to be financially secure and this question is an important one she would ask you if she was honest
- In her letters she talks a lot about trust, honesty and sincerity
- She does not answer your particular questions though she eagerly states she welcomes your curiosity. Any kind of secrecy should be avoided
- Her financial situation is very bad and she lets you know from the very beginning how little she earns, including the size of her salary even though you never asked about it. She pretends be a student
- She doesn’t remember what you have written. Actually, she may even not relate to the content of your letters at all, because she is too busy responding to other potential victims. The emails she writes are pre-written and sent to multiple recipients, with only few words changed along with your name
Scammers are not eager to give away their contact details. Having a postal address and phone number in addition to the email address is very important. Be sure to check them out if they are correct.
A VARIATION OF THE PROCESS
With methods described above the con artist will try to establish a thrust bond between you. Initial contact between victim and scam artist is to take the step in starting a relationship. Somewhere along in your conversation she explains that she currently is away in another country and that will not be returning to the States for another two weeks. As you dig and get to know the girl you find out more information about this hot girl. Her parents died in a tragic accident and she has no family or friends who can help her stateside and during the trip she was abandoned by her previous boyfriend in said country with no money to get home. Your next decisions will have impact on your future, with outcome almost the same. If you send the money, the contact will disappear, along with your money. If you don’t send money, the contact will be broken, but your finances will be left unharmed.
SUMMARY
There are a number of variations on the same basic scam. Usually the trick is to tell you a sad story on why she needs money. In some cases the scammers may be the one to create a profile on a dating site and wait for a potential victim to contact them. Typically, the profile will include a photograph of a very attractive young woman who will have no trouble attracting would-be suitors. Con artists may also strike up a conversation with a potential victim via an internet chat room or instant messenger like msn or skype. If you begin corresponding with a person with a view to a possible romantic relationship, remain cautious even if the relationship seems to be progressing very well. These scammers are very skilled at building trust and know how to make vulnerable victims fall in love with them. Regardless of the strength of your feelings towards a correspondent, you should view any requests for money as highly suspicious.
Avoiding being scammed is, in fact very easy. Don’t send money. If you suspect a scam or would like to report one, you may visit websites like:
Scammers use similar patterns or even same names and other personal information again and again. Therefore, you may even be able to expose a scam by conducting Internet searches through google on the names used by the scammers or key phrases from their emails.
January 2nd, 2008 at 10:34 am
I was browsing through the web and found your website interesting. I have gone through the dating scams on the website and my boy friend whom I was dating online was trying to do the same and I sent him $500 last week. I could easily make my mind that I am a victim of online dating scam.
‘Onlineguards’ an antiphishing company alerted me about this first but i ignored it at first for which i had to pay.
I think Onlineguards has stuck to their word - to eradicate cyber crime from the face of the earth.Good work onlineguards,keep up!
April 15th, 2008 at 6:06 am
I wish I had reviewed this site two weeks and 1500.00 ago. I fell for an internet scammer by the name of Mike Wisdom from the UK from a Craigslist online personal. He told me every sob story in the book and still continues to contact me. What for? I have no idea, but ladies be forewarned. Send money to a relative or someone who really needs it that you know if you know. I wish I had of. I could have enriched the life of someone who mattered. Remember dont be fooled by words like sweetie, babe and I love you. Love equals actions and for the internet scammer, you’ll find none.
May 30th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
Read more about professional dating services premiersingles.com scam/fraud at
http://www.complaints.com/2007/october/19/Ultimate_Singles_aka_Ultimate_Introductions__Jaso_152832.htm
June 21st, 2008 at 6:22 pm
Mike Wisdom is an internet dating scam artist.
He stole 2500.00 of my money with his lies! He uses 7-8 different pictures of himself that are not him
keep your money ladies..,.mike wisdom is a scammer
Posted by Valecia
July 6th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
Guys, no offense, but have you had success with ANY kind of dating? How has your experience been finding dates at local bars?
I am a PremierSingles.com member through StLouisSingles.com. I have attended 4 of their events. I have met some interesting people (guys and girls both) and made some good friends through this service.
I can’t comment on other services because I haven’t used them. Just wanted to share my experience.
Jonathan M
August 10th, 2008 at 12:01 am
Please tell me about Charlie Wisdom email address :”Charlie Wisdom” from UK is a dting SCAMMER or NOT???
Thanks in advance for your cooperation.
October 13th, 2008 at 3:49 am
Beware of a guy named Frank Ike a.k.a Frank Rolland. He is a scammer who claims to be an american residing in london. He is a liar and a fraud. His email address is frank_i@rocketmail.com
I was his potential victim but i was too smart for him. He never got a cent from me.
December 3rd, 2008 at 11:14 am
iv been talking to an american living in london he has given me an adress in kensinton and there is such a place but dont know if thats where he lives i cant check as i live to far away. i met him on uniform dating.com goes by the name of melvin . im so confused now dont know if its a scam as iv’e sent him 100 pounds but he says hes on a business trip abroad and his money stolen i had to send it by weston union .i talk to him on yahoo . have i been scamed?
December 3rd, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Most likely yes. Scammers know where and how to get money, and by telling a heartbreaking story to compassionate women will in many cases yield results (financial in this case).
While there is a slim chance that your “chat buddy” really got in trouble, there is a 90% chance you’ve been scammed. It’s a pretty common type of scam really.
December 30th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Hi. Has anyone out there been contacted or pursued by a kenneth jenks? Sometimes he goes by “K”… he claims to be in the U.K. Please reply, thank you..
January 10th, 2009 at 6:22 am
if you come across someone by the name of melvin gills an american living in london he is a scammer.
January 15th, 2009 at 3:10 pm
Terry Clem Hargreeves from London UK, civil engineer doing work in Benin City Nigeria; internet fraud and scammer needed cash after on-line talking for 4 wks…………email tery_clem01@yahoo.com
is a 100% scammer; states he is 3 yr widowed with 10 yr old daughter!!!
all lies…………….beware
January 23rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
I think I’m being scammed right now by somebody going by the name Ann Winslet from London who volunteers for the Better Life Foundation.Pics sent show her to be blonde..they are all numbered a0, a1, a2 etc. Never replies to specific questions. The modus operandi is exactly what you described above.
Be warned..
February 15th, 2009 at 8:40 pm
tery clem gave me the same widow and raising a 9 year old daughter, Lucy story. He was quite charming but came on too strong and said he loved me at 3 weeks of messenger (Ist Red flag). He asked me to close my Match account because he didn’t want to lose me to another man (2nd Red Flag). He asked me to send a Wii game to his daughter in Nigeria ($450.00 w/sh) because he forgot to bring it from London and his daughter was bored while he was at work. He said he couldn’t get one in Nigeria. He promised to get the money back to me (the final and obvious RED flag). I searched the internet and found this site. Sorry, Terry, that’s all I needed. No one should ask for money or favors like this so early in the relationship/non-relationship. I’m out. Thanks Bustathief!!!
February 21st, 2009 at 10:32 pm
Beware of a guy named : Henry Hanson Summerville. He is on a greek site advertising he is a sensitive good trustworthy person.
I wish I had read this page 2 weeks ago as I had fallen prey to a man who promised me marriage after 4 months and he is in Ghana and had a dealing with gold and needed some help. I went a borrowed money from friends and family as he could not get money from the UK (where is daughter is or the USA Portland where he lives. I send a large amount of money to him and promised he will be coming on the 14th of February 2009. I waited at the airport for 4 hours and he disappeared with the money and set me up waiting.
I just wish I know where to report this man and try to recover this money back from him to pay family members and friends back.
I am still in shock as I never expected it from him after so many months of a very nice relationship and promises.
February 22nd, 2009 at 1:25 am
Terry Hargrave Ken gave me the same sob story as above however his wife died 3 years ago in child birth and his parents died 10 years ago, told me i was a vision, the only woman he could ever love, blah blah blah etc
I also met him on match.com maybe i should contact them and let them know that a scammer is using their site to con vulnerable women
February 24th, 2009 at 10:19 am
Hi all, I am writing a book specifically on women who get scammed by men through dating sites. I met a women on a plane to London that had unknowingly fell victim to a scam, she was so nice and so sucked into the whole story it was difficult to convince her that she was getting scammed.
Because of this experience, I am researching this type of fraud (that often never goes reported by the victims). I would appreciate if anyone that has fallen victim to this would contact me. All info will be kept purely confidential, but I would like to publicize this type of scam more widely so we can prevent this happening to others.
email: eddie at bovak dot com
February 28th, 2009 at 11:28 am
Scammers from BlackandWhiteSingles.com
These guys should be ashamed of themselves. These men tried but no man will EVER scam me out of my hard earned money. I have posted the following information on other scam prevention websites along with the pictures sent and reported them to the FBI.
Scammers:
1. Tino Headwhite (Asked for $2900)
tinoheadwhite@yahoo.com
In Canada by way of New York and Arizona
Stated Profession: Engineer
Marital Status: Divorced
Children: Son
2. Alex Vega (Asked for ($10,000)
alexvega1960@yahoo.com
In England by way of Texas
Stated Profession: Engineer
Marital Status: Widowed
Children: Son
3. John Schneider (Asked for $5000)
majorjohn@yahoo.com
In England by way of New York
Stated Profession: Engineer
Marital Status: Widowed
Children: Son
Welcome to IC3
http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx
To file a compalint with the FBI:
The Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) is a partnership between the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), and the Bureau of Justice Assistance (BJA).
IC3’s mission is to serve as a vehicle to receive, develop, and refer criminal complaints regarding the rapidly expanding arena of cyber crime. The IC3 gives the victims of cyber crime a convenient and easy-to-use reporting mechanism that alerts authorities of suspected criminal or civil violations. For law enforcement and regulatory agencies at the federal, state, local and international level, IC3 provides a central referral mechanism for complaints involving Internet related crimes. read more >>
Filing a Complaint with IC3
IC3 accepts online Internet crime complaints from either the person who believes they were defrauded or from a third party to the complainant. We can best process your complaint if we receive accurate and complete information from you. Therefore, we request that you provide the following information when filing a complaint:
Your name
Your mailing address
Your telephone number
The name, address, telephone number, and Web address, if available, of the individual or organization you believe defrauded you.
Specific details on how, why, and when you believe you were defrauded.
Any other relevant information you believe is necessary to support your complaint.
April 2nd, 2009 at 7:28 am
I just need to correct the person Henry Hanson Summerville ’s name as he contacted me and busy making arrangements to repay all the money that he borrowed. He is indeed a good person but because of certain circumstances he could not get to me and could not make contact with me. I just want to correct and make his name clean again.
He is a respected person.
April 6th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
i am in the process of finishing up with my scammer. so much money, so much grief. i learned he was not even the person in the picture. how sad, to be so taken in. so hard to beleive the world is not an evil place. theres not even a safe place to meet people, the world just got smaller for me. i wish i could speak w/others about this, that is the only way i know to share my pain. but again, no trust on the internet. My scammer used the name MARK WILLS, he has been staying at Zamza Guesthouse and working with a man named Samuel Addotey. I think he is in over his head, not to mention bad karma. Im disgusted and shocked at how many men and women are taken so advantage of. god help us all.
April 7th, 2009 at 6:50 pm
Terry Clem from London, civil engineer is a scammer. He lied that he was in Spain and needed help with a tax situation. He was not infact in Spain. He was adamant that he needed some Euros and when it was obvious that he would not succeed, he never contacted me again. He was online for 2 weeks very charming and romantic. His pictures show him to be mildlt retarded I have to admit!!! That is why he is still scamming even after four women have exposed him. I doubt that he has a daughter named Lucy and I don’t think he is British or German. He sounds west african or jamaican. He is looney!!! now you know.
April 12th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
I must say that my mouth has not gotten off of the floor yet after reading all of the preceeding messages. I too was scammed by Tino Headwhite, whom I “met” on Black and White Singles.com. He was as smooth as they come. I had only been on the site about a week when I met him. I instantly had red flags up about him as he never initially wanted to talk on the phone. Yet, he was always online…I mean always!! I would check back at all hours of the day and night and he was always there and he never wanted to talk on the phone. He professed all of this great life enduring “love” for me almost instantly. I have no one to blame for all of this but myself because I knew better but I allowed him to con me and to smooth talk me and I actually began to feel sorry for him. I mean, we were supposed to meet up in Atlanta after he came back from Malaysia. He provided me with e-confirmations of his flight schedules and purchases both going and returning to the states. He had it all mapped out and I just let him explain all of my concerns away and I trusted that maybe I was being too hard on him and that maybe I should give him a chance. Well I gave him more than a chance, I gave him $1200 when he said that he was robbed outside of his hotel in Malaysia and that he was not able to pay his hotel bill and he could not get back to the states. Though I was reluctant, he used every ploy to get my emotions caught up and I eventually gave in to him because I felt sorry for him. He promised to pay me back…sent me text and email messages to “feel better and trust that he would pay me back because he loved me so much he could never hurt me.” Yeah right. That bastard still continues to contact me saying that money means nothing to him, only our relationship. No money has come back to me and it never will! Ladies, BEWARE and AWARE PLEASE!! Also, I must be a magnet for this type of scheme because I too was contacted by Alex Vega, John Arnold, and Ronald Evans…all Engineers, all traveling overseas dealing in oil and gas. All professing massive love very early. I have advised Black and White Singles so maybe they will devise a system to alert all unsuspecting females. I googled Tino and thats how I found this site…he struck long before me…same email, story, everything!! I am filing my complaint also.
April 14th, 2009 at 3:14 am
Watch out for Jonathan Dolph. He claims to be an American living in the UK but working in West Africa with UNICEF. He has a 15 yr old daughter in the hospital undergoing treatmeant for a car accident that happened 5 years ago. His wife allegedly died in that car accident as well. Both his parents are dead and his sister is 28 yrs old and is a nun. He has pictures that he took from a website called focus agency. http://www.focusagencyhawaii.com/view_male_models.htm. He uses the pictures that are located in commercial and the models name is Casey. When I confronted him about this he says that was during a time in his life that he no longer does that and his nick name is Casey. He tried to get me to send $200 dollars to Joyce Chen in San Francsico and when I did not he got brutal. He told me he loved me within the first week and claimed he wanted to marry me. He deleted everyone from his facebook page. I met him using the application on facebook called Are You Interested. Watch out!
April 17th, 2009 at 9:04 pm
watch for this person his name is federico galonii, an amercian working in nigeria, he needs money right away, oh he wanted to marry me, don’t trust him he is the web site Latinosinglesmeet under lordschoosen his picture is posted with a child, so watch out
April 18th, 2009 at 3:12 pm
I have been contacted by Terry Clem. He sounded too good to be true. Thank you to all the women who posted the fact that he is a scammer - saved me a lot of heartache etc. He comes across as very romantic and caring. He told me the same story that his wife and second baby died in childbirth. He also told me about Lucy his 9 year old daughter. Thank you again everyone and others beware !!!!
May 1st, 2009 at 9:29 pm
Let me add another scammer to the list…Ronald Evans. He is posting his profile on Black and White Singles. Supposidly he is in oil and gas, an engineer or some sort of variation of this. He is out of the country. He sends a generic email, the exact same one mind you, professing a lot of interest. He needs a dictionary and a few English courses but don’t be fooled thinking that he is sincere. Be aware! He will ask you for a yahoo chat id so that he can begin communications there. Usually, his yahoo account will be something like evans2kn02 or evans2kn01.
May 5th, 2009 at 12:06 pm
I met a man on the site name of Nicolas Sean Morgan, design engineer, has lots of money, said he loved me after a week, and wanted to marry me!! Said he was In London on a contract……hasn’t asked for money yet!! I asked him for proof that he was a real person, and he became very upset…….said that if I loved him why would I question him?? that I should trust him til he arrived back in the states…..talked to him in person, sounded Middle Eastern….there needs to be a web sites that list names and where they puport to come from or live, and the link should be on every dating site……….that would stop alot of the scammers!!
May 5th, 2009 at 12:08 pm
forgot!! I told him that I was going to send him a suprise, and got his adress…..looked it up on Google maps, and it was a small apartment flat…..no fancy hotel like he claimed!!
May 17th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
I met a man who said his name was Matthew McCoy on yahoo personals. We chatted every day for a week. He said both of his parents were deceased and he was an only child. He had to go to London to collect a check for his parents’ estate or something… he wanted to fly back to the states, but needed money since the check for 500 pounds wouldn’t cash for some reason. He wanted me to send him around $600 through Western Union. He said to send it to a man named John Harris who supposedly was a travel agent in London. He kept asking me for my address and phone number… thankfully I recognized right away that it was a scam. Ladies, please don’t be fooled. This man had multiple pictures of himself. Very believable…
May 27th, 2009 at 6:05 am
Can anyone confirm is Charlie Wisdom is a dating scammer? Someone else posted a question about her last year.
June 7th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
I met a guy through a dating site, he told me his wife and young boy died 7 years ago in a car accident while he was at work , only his girl survived , the girl is now in Nigeria and he asked me for money to send her since he is in the sea,and the weirdest thing that she got 2 lines a 14 year girl got one english, one nigerian line , and the english number is reported on WHo CAllS ME SITE “that a poor guy woman are asking for money” . I don’t even think that the pictures he sent me are his and his daughter was so blond as a baby and now she is almost black . Maybe am mistaking but it is not good what is happening.
And i think he is the same man that L.H mentioned
June 8th, 2009 at 3:56 pm
I too encountered the same Matthew McCoy as the person named Lucy (May 17th). Same scam, but of course I knew something didn’t add up. People you don’t know shouldn’t ask you for money - at least normal people don’t. And he too said he was from the states but his grammar seemed iffy at best.
June 14th, 2009 at 6:58 pm
Thank you for all these information, Terry Clem just told me he will be traveling to Nigeria tomorrow, he is widow and has a 10 years old girl, living in London, so now I know what will be his next step.
June 18th, 2009 at 5:18 pm
I have 2 to add to the pot. god.son01@yahoo - alais Ward Martini and Dennis Ajose. He is a 53 yr old architect, widower, parent deceased when he was 5 live with his uncle in england who is currently in China building a mall with his 10yr daughter. Someone stole 40,000 from his bank and now he has no money to return to his home of MN. Loved me after 1 week, asked me to remove my profile from bbpeoplemeet.com. Never called me a was available by im a lot in the beginning but once he got stranded and I have no money to send him he is rarely available but lo and behold a man named Jude White, 55 widower works for the UN has 12 tr old son, from Italy live in LA has office and apt in NY. email gbati40@yahoo also goes by Joseph White. He is now trying to hook up with me. Both guys pics look like men in their 30’s both men very good looking of course.
Just thought I’d let you gals know about them. You’d think they’d be a little more creative in their M.O.’s Same story different names/faces.
I’m sure it’s probably some real dip running this.
Oh well, at least they got nothing from me. You don’t fall in love after 1 week of IM.
June 22nd, 2009 at 6:51 pm
Hi i meet a guy from date website. he’s from London, his name is robert meckin (robmeck_4u@yahoo.co.uk) we talked most everynight and he seems a nice guy. but once we talk he close his account on that sitedate cos he said he like to focus on me. i believe not all the guys at website is scammer but now i just like to check if somebody ever got an email or love letter from him. or is he a scammer??
June 29th, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Hello Ladies,
I feel your pain. I too was almost taken for money. My guy name was Anthony Gomez(goviwoo@yahoo.com,Jotan707@yahoo.com) from supposedly Fremont Ca, but doing Civil Engineer work in England for bus station. He told me nice things about himself and his mom. Then the perfect picture started unraveling.
He had to have a surgery and needed money $1200.00. Also, his mom could not give it to him because she was sick and had paid off the barn house. I almost sent the money to a third party as his request but was not able to. He asked me to send $400.00 to a friend in PA. through western union.
I’m glad I was not able to gather the funds to give to him. Please be aware of him. He is on every dating site from UK, Craigslist to CA.
Please be careful women, because we are lonely and looking for Mr. Right we become opportunist for predators.
Take care
July 1st, 2009 at 10:55 am
Hi ladies be aware, Ward Martini a/k/a god.son01@yahoo.com also is now trying to scam $3000.00 for money for airfare for him and his 10yr old daughter from China. Very Romantic said his birthday was same as mine on 6/17, If he tried to do it to ANNE and did not success, now he is doing it to me, but thanks to this site I got the same story about being and orphan at 5yrs old and an uncle raised him in England. What a scammer said he was an engineer/architech and was building a mall in China and someone took $40,000 from his checking account and now it is being investigated by the bank and he has no money to come home. So, ladies be aware of this piece of no good man who is living off good woment with good hearts OH, he also wanted me to donate over $1000.00 dollars to the orphanage of little girls who are unwanted in China, got mad because I donated directly to the orphanage and not to him.
July 1st, 2009 at 12:11 pm
I am being contacted right now by a Guy named Kenneth Jenks that is in the UK and wanting to come home to NC?? He said that he is waiting on a shipment of cars to clear customs in London and even sent me a letter from the port authority saying that he needs to bay the clearence fees before they will clear the cars? I am wondering if it is the same Kenneth Jenks that someone on here is talking about
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:40 am
Here i would like to clarify that a guy i mentioned as: Robert Meckin, IS NOT A SCAMMER or related with any fraud or fake, and he is never involve with any kind of crime. the fact, HE IS A TRULY NICE, WARM AND TRUSTED GUY. i would like to clean his name and appologize for any uncomfortable things that came up because i put his name and his email address in here.