Uggh! Russian fakers

[foraloysius]

A few weeks ago I recieved a message from a guy from Russia who planned a trip to the Netherlands to make a dream come true. He is supposed to be gay and felt like traveling to a country where he could feel really free from discrimination etc. He assured me this wasn't about money and he didn't need a place to stay. We started mailing and I was showered with pictures. I told him I wasn't interested in him, but I was willing to guide him through a few things in the Netherlands. He was looking forward to meet him and I told him I was going to show him around town etc. I didn't say it but I thought I might take him out to dinner because for him this would be an expensive trip.

We continued mailing and he seemed like a nice guy, he told me a lot about his private life, that he had been married and got divorced and that only a few of his friends knew that he was gay. I gave him my cell phone number (not connected to anything financial) and he called me yesterday. He sounded very excited over the trip and he told me he had gotten his visa and was now going to purchase a ticket.

This morning he mailed me again. He didn't get through custom because he didn't have enough money with him. If I could lend him 300 euros...

Ofcourse I refused. The story is even too silly to be true. Customs doesn't decide if somebody has enough money. Kind of stupid to come with this story. He sent me another mail that his dream is now not coming true. Yeah right!

I feel really p****d. I like to approach everything and everyone with an open mind. And now I have the idea I have become a victim of my open mind. Fortunately I didn't fall into the trap to send him money, I bet a lot of people would do that. But still I feel betrayed.

I just wanted to share this with you. Not only because of my hurt feelings but also as a warning to others. Behind Russian dreams there are a lot of Russian fakers.

Louis

 

[rapunzel]

Hi Louis,

Had he already left Russia? Customs/Immigration at border crossings and airports of the countries that are being visited can and do check how much money tourists are bringing with them. If it appears that someone does not have sufficient funds to support themselves during their stay, immigration officers will ask questions and refuse entry if they are not satisfied with the information that they are getting from someone in that situation.

I am not saying that you should have given him the money. I certainly wouldn't have. Though, there is a chance that he is telling a truth. Nonetheless, it is up to him to ensure that he meets his tourist visa requirements and that he brings enough money for his trip. It isn't reasonable of him to ask you for financial assistance and he sounds like a brazen SoB. I reckon that he may have been trying to enter the EU under a false pretext with the intention of remaining illegally.

Anyway, apart from some feelings of annoyance and disappointment you haven't come to harm.

This is a timely reminder that the internet can be a dangerous place. I also believe that most people are decent, but there are always plenty of arseholes out there trying to put one over others. The internet provides plenty of opportunities for crooks and weirdos to work their mischief. Recently we've had a couple of girls murdered by people they met through facebook. They were trusting and naive and now they are dead.

Chin up Louis!

Olav

 

[foraloysius]

Thank you Olav,

He already had a visa so I don't think customs would have made him remain at the airport. BTW, he said he had 2300 Euros with him in cash and they thought he would need 300 more. That doesn't make sense, does it?

Chin up indeed!

Louis

 

[rapunzel]

No it doesn't.

2300 Euros is a good sum, especially if the stay is only brief. I reckon this has worked out for the best. My gut feeling tells me that he was planning to blow you off (no pun intended), as soon as he set foot in your country.

Russia is a basket case and many Russians are desperate to get into Europe.

Olav

 

[foraloysius]

To be honest

I think there were no plans at all to come to the Netherlands. I think it was all made up just to get under my skin and get the 300 euros in the end. The pictures were probably of a stranger, used for their purpose. The voice I heard yesterday on the phone somehow didn't belong to the face. And they called from an anonymous phone number, no caller ID visible. I bet somebody somewhere in Russia is mailing to more people with a call for money in the end. Some people will send money and I bet nobody will show up at their doorstep.

 

[rapunzel]

You are probably right

You obviously have a good nose for sniffing out a ruse. Hopefully you didn't give this person your address or a lot of personal info.

It could well be a group of organized scammers, who do this a hundred times and over every day. You never know if they have contacts in Holland, who might just want to pay your place a visit when you are not at home. So keep the details, just in case.

I am not saying this to make you paranoid, but since you don't know who you were dealing with be vigilant. It is amazing what ill-intentioned people can glean about others through casual, friendly conversations. You don't think anything is awry, whilst their little minds are ticking over taking stock of anything useful to their ends.

I hope this doesn't make me sound paranoid, but I am not a trusting person and quite aware of how easy it is to get people to disclose personal info. Organized crime is a huge problem in Europe especially since the advent of lax EU border regulation.

 

[peterh770]

It's not just Russian. These scam artists are everywhere. Never respond to anything unless there is a direct and verifiable connection to someone or some organization you already know.

 

[westyslantfront]

Hi Louis. I am sorry to hear about your bad experience. Yes, there are alot of scam artists all over the world. Russia is not a very pleasant place for most people and with the current culture there, dishonestly and scamming is just a part of it.

Ross

 

[foraloysius]

Thanks y'all! It's indeed not only Russia, there are lots of other countries full of those people too. Ghana sticks out especially. I get so many messages on gay websites from young guys in Ghana in which they promise me the whole world and then something that I have the impression that at least 150% of the male population in that country must be gay!

 

[mixfinder]

Dr Jonathon Gray

I ran a listing for an apartment to rent and recieved a nice email from a Dr Jonathon Gray who was coming to work on an exchange with the Agriculture Department. Seattle being a port city his job would be inspecting incoming food shipments. He went on to say his wife and daughter would be coming before him and he needed an established address to enroll the daughter in school. I fell for it and emailed all kinds of in formation regarding the apartment, Tenant Laws and lease requirements. After the third email he wanted to send a check to me made out by the government for the moving expense. I'd need to cash it for my part and return the remainder to him since the moving expenses were included in only one total payment. He'd used the balance I returned to ship his belongings and pay for travel. I asked him for local contacts at the port district, Department of Agriculture or his supervisor. He dropped like a rock. Three times when I had an apartment for rent I recieved similar inquiries, the final laden with typos, grammatic errors and poor english. The third time I recieved inquiry from Dr. Jonathon Gray I admonished the sender for doing such a poor job of extortion and suggested they buy and English dictionary. So far he's not applied since.

 

[sudsmaster]

Louis, you were smart to drop the relationship when you did. It certainly sounds like a scam to me.

And as others have said, it's not just Russia. I have a business acquaintance who was scammed out of thousands by a woman he met on-line, back in the early 90s'. That was back BEFORE the Internet, you see, so it was done through Compuserve, email, and snail mail, I guess. In any case, she'd send him all these pictures and slowly let him into her life's sob story, how she longed to travel out West (to Utah) and settle down, maybe be with him, blah blah blah. She'd just need a little financial help to settle her affairs, that's all. Well, after the last big check, Pam disappeared from his radar, never to be located again, and he was devastated. Sadder but wiser.

Of course, we all get scammed in little ways every day. Ever buy something on impulse because of how much you think you're "saving"? LOL, if you don't really need the thing, you'd be saving the entire cost just by not buying it.

Or, the "News at Eleven" little teaser commercials throughout the night. When you finally settle down to watch whatever it is, usually turns out to be very obvious and/or stupid and of course it's held back till the end of the newscast - after you've sat through umpteen commercials. (might be more of an issue in the US than Netherlands, I suppose). OK, not criminal like the Russian and Nigerian scams, but it's borderline fraud nonetheless.

 

[sudsmaster]

PS - When I sell something on Craigslist, I usually ask that the prospective buyer send me an email with their phone number so I can call them. I never list my phone number in the ad, or send it to them in an email without having theirs first. I've had no problems working it this way.

Spam filters seem to snag most fraudulent offers, but a few still seem to leak through.

 

[jetcone]

Louis

Don't let the 1% of humanity dull your mind to the 99% who are honest and true! It obvious you sensed something from the begining in your inner mind not your concious mind and didn't act till later BUT you acted before you really got stung!

I had the same experience with an Ozzie beauty I was dating in Sydney years ago. He wanted to come back to America with me and we made plans and when it came time he told me it was time to buy his ticket!

So you're not the only to get in this mill game. Don't feel silly, honesty is never foolish and if you keep completely honest with your self you will never get truly fooled. The fakes can't keep up the image for ever!

Now if your're interested I know a nice bridge for sale in NY....

 

[lordkenmore]

"Don't let the 1% of humanity dull your mind to the 99% who are honest and true!"

I think that 99% honest is higher than I'd put the number of honest people in society at large! Still, I definitely agree with the idea of don't let the dishonest ruin things!

Frankly, I don't think these scam artists are anything new. Yes, e-mail messages offering to split the contents of a Nigerian bank account left intestate didn't exist before e-mail. But these scam artists have probably always been around. Cavemen might have been taken in by a deal to buy a great cave in a great water front location for only a couple of quality animal pelts. Only to find that the cave was not only water front, but also located six feet under the surface. The only thing that changes are the approaches, and technology. Scam artists have adapted computer technology, since they must move with the times. Like the rest of us.

That intuitive sense that something is not right is definitely worth having. I wish I had better ability that way.

 

[andrewinorlando]

I've had pen pals for many years in foreign countries, like El Salvador and Columbia, who had fallen on bad times, and I've helped them out financially. Since we had long standing friendships, I wasn't concerned that I was being conned, and every time, they returned the money as soon as they were able, even if it took a year. So there are many good and decent people out there. But there are many con artists too. Always be careful when you are contacted out of the blue.

But nonetheless, it was still really nice of you to offer to show him around and be a friend, but I agree with you, I wouldn't have given him the money either. You have no idea where he was actually going, no proof it was to the Netherlands, or if he was just a con artist planning on taking you for a ride. Russia is a hard place, and some would love to get out at any cost. I've been contacted by Russian "models" who pledge their love and loyalty if they can just get out of that darned country. Yeah, right.

 

[foraloysius]

Thank you all, it's nice to get support here, that's why I love this site. I think I made a good decision and feel much better now after sharing it. I do feel that subconsciously I knew there was something wrong when that guy called anonymous without caller ID and I somehow found that that voice totally didn't fit the pictures he sent to me.

There are indeed a lot of good people out there. I will not forget that.

 

[aquarius1984]

About 12 months ago I received an email from an American guy who said he was a watcher of this site although he was not a member.

Odd but not totally unreasonable I thought.

He informed of of a trip to my Hometown of Crewe as he was a fan and enthusiast of Bentley Motor Cars which are manufactured here actually not to far from my home.

Pictures of himself and his Miele machines followed and we conversed over a couple of emails to the point I invited him to see the collection and visit my home.

We also arranged to swap detergents from the UK and America when he arrived with him bringing some and me buying him some to take back

He also asked me if I was able to source some rare Bentley/Rolls Royce memorabilia gievn to staff members years ago and once I responded that my housemate Bentley employee had asked for him and what he wanted couldnt be gotten for him all communications ceased.

I dont know if he even made it over here for his visit.

I find this really odd as I didnt even recieve a thankyou email for trying my best to find what he so wanted.

Frightening to think that it could be one of these scammers and I would of been in the same position even having the guy in my own home being robbed had he of even made it over here.

I tread with much more caution now.

 

[irishwashguy]

I have that as well, only, I had posted an ad for a lost dog

My roommate a couple of years ago had let his dog loose accidently. We put an ad on Craigs list. We found the dog, and someone was inquiring about a room for rent. I did not have a room for rent, so for fun, I played along. Do you think that they actually read these things? I kept her going for about two weeks. She was so excited to come to Portland to start a new life, so she said in many e-mails. I came home to find a fed ex package with a 4500 check in it. Everything looked fishy about it. , A bank of America check that said it was from a Florida account, when in fact it was Georgia. I took it in to Bank of America here. They were very interested in it.After that, She seemed content staying where ever she happed to really be. As far as I could tell from the package, she lived in a PO Box in Texas. I guess it was cheap rent.

 

[jetcone]

Kelly

I had the same scam with my apartment on Criagslist too! This guy was moving to the States from England and wanted to send me a check for $10,000 to cover rent and he wanted me to completely furnish the apartment with new furniture!! Can you spell SCAM??

I said no way am I renting anything to anyone I don't meet in person.
How does this scam work, do they get your bank information, is that what they are after??