I get semi-regular emails from women that are checking on information given to them by, what they hope is, a prospective suitor (online, obviously). It has not failed, every one has turned out to be a scam and these poor women cling to the hope, even after several emails/phone calls to me.
Currently, I am on email #7 to this woman that seems to insist that this man: Staff Sergeant So and so is at a base that no longer exists. No amount of actual fact has her convinced.
Sigh. I feel badly for her, she obviously was very invested (hopefully not financially yet). Last year, one woman was vehement that he was telling the truth because she had “met” him on Christian Mingle.
Because the men are saying they are military, so the women (the smarter ones) actually think to check if the story rings true. I can’t release pers info, but I never have to - there are SO many holes in the stories other than the names. Since I am a military point of contact, they call/email me.
One woman (last year) had sadly already started sending money, about $25,000 (yikes). She was too embarrassed to report it either.
So, they don’t think you’re the guy, they’re contacting you for help reaching the guy, is that it?
I got nothing for you, people fall in love with inmates doing life.
There’s a Taiwanese woman who believed that General Petraeus proposed to her and was raising money so he could come over to collect her. She gave him over $50,000.
I think the OP’s characterization of it as “a scam” misled us. While such a scam may exist, there are no doubt plenty of people who, perhaps in a time of emotional weakness, are reaching out to find someone.
On a visit to family last summer I got stuck watching Dr. Phil with a relative who leaves the TV on all the time. Two episodes were devoted to a woman who had one of these fake “lovers” she was sending money to over and over.
The signs of it being an obvious scam were right there in the first few minutes. Dr. Phil just kept pounding away at her with more and more evidence. He even found the real guy whose picture was being used by the scammer. (And that one picture only. Lady, ask for a bunch of pictures. Including a selfie with him holding up a sign with your name on it.) At the end of the second show she finally “conceded” that it was a scam and was going to end it.
But you could tell she was just saying that to end the onslaught of information. She was going to keep it going.
The level of denial among the people involved in these scams of all types is astonishing.
That’s the awful part - generally, they are women “of a certain age” and really want these guys to be real. Even in the face of SO much evidence, they want the fantasy to be real.
Sorry if it was hard to follow - I am a point of contact for the Canadian Armed Forces. As such, I deal with a lot of calls from the public. Semi-regularly, I get calls from women, asking for confirmation on details that an online love interest has shared. Every single time, these are lies. They are not even GOOD lies.
But the women, usually really wanting to believe in the fantasy, are difficult to convince, and usually send several follow-ups.
One woman last year had already sent $25,000 and said to me “How am I going to tell my kids?”
I guess bottom line, if a “love” interest starts asking for money, run far far away and don’t look back.
My adult son was exchanging e-mails with a young lady, who said she had a rape fantasy and offered to give him her address so he could break in and rape her. He got off the computer so fast you would have thought his hair was on fire. I wonder how many men have fallen for that?
Well done to your son for not falling for that, but I hope he also reported that to the police. Because odds are that the perpetrator would try that again.
We know about Poysyn, but why do they call you?
Also, a lot of men are victims of the same scam, although I guess their love interest is more likely to be a Russian model than a tough military guy.
I also remember of a similar scam where the women, instead of giving money, were used to receive, stockpile and send to foreign countries merchandises bought with stolen credit cards. The journalists “stumbled” on this scam while enquiring about credit card fraud, expecting to meet thieves instead of a number of enamoured middle-aged single women.