Tue 08/17/10 11:35 PM Did you have a bowl of stupid for lunch? Well I had a years supply when I started socializing on the internet...read on!

I only correspond with members I meet here using communication channels provided for us at this site. If a "member" wants your email immediately "to send you pictures" or "get to know you in a more private way" there is a good chance they may be setting you up for a "Phishing","Spamming" or any one of numerous cybercrimes currently relieving unwary computer-daters of their hard-earned money.

Here is my story:
I consider myself a good catch for the right lady and now I know when I "meet" her, she would understand that if I didn't give her my e-mail or other personal info right out of the gate that I am being safe and not paranoid. WE ALL NEED TO BE AWARE that the internet is not safe; especially dating and social networking sites like this where members take the chance at not only having their heart broken, but their bank accounts and piggy banks emptied as well! I know; here is my story. I lost $3500 dollars and cried with a broken heart at the airport; flowers in my hand and limo waiting with reservations to the finest restaurant in town. WHAT A TOTAL IDIOT. I had been chatting with this girl for about 8 months; she lived far away and I had fallen in love with her! I truly believed she existed. DUMB. I was scammed and devastated. Boy did I feel stupid, and I REALLY WAS!

Because of this and a few friends that knew people, I worked with FBI IC3 (Internet Crime unit) for several months and by scanning my hard drive for stored info I didn't even know existed they were able to track several "bounced" or redirected IP addresses using sophisticated computer tracking hardware and some super high tech software to finally catch this person, a MAN, posing as many single identities; male and female. He had at least thirty men and women sending him money for various reasons including but not limited to medical ailments, travel expenses, visas and passports, shipping expenses, bringing his/her children with them, ill mother/father, etc. All very convincing stuff! He also had several hundred unanswered "please help!!" requests waiting for responses! The estimated fraudulent take from this ONE PERSON was over 120,000 dollars! After my incident I wasn't surprised when IC3 investigators informed me that there are literally 1000's of fraudulent individuals and even large fraud "rings" doing similar scams.
What really gets me the most is that I had sent poetry, pictures of my children, addresses to my employment and home, and several large Western union deposits TO A MAN!!! (Eeeeww YUCK! [No offense to those that prefer their own gender, really!]) Please learn from my loss and be careful and cautious, not trusting and gullible.

Internet crimes fall under federal and even international jurisdictions; and in the United States those individuals found guilty of committing cybercrimes and fraud face an easy 5 to 10 years (per offense) in jail and retribution/fines/court costs up to $250,000 dollars. Everyone involved in the scam will be charged with conspiracy to said offense; and will also face criminal prosecution.

Fraud has many facets and definitions; but basically is defined as
misrepresentation by any individual, group, business or corporation to coerce and/or convince any private entity to commit financially for a service or item that was never intended to be provided to the
aforementioned entity.

If you are a victim of this deceitful and absolutely criminal behaviour you can report it at this IC3 (Internet Crime) link:

http://www1.ifccfbi.gov/index.asp

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.

Post this on your website! It helps steer the bad element away!

HTML Code for IC3 website banner:

<a href="http://www.ic3.gov/" target="_top"><img src="path_to_image_saved_to_your_site.jpg"

width="width_of_chosen_banner" height="width_height_of_chosen_banner" border="0"/></a>


HTML Code for IC3 iCON LINK:

<a href="http://www.ic3.gov/" target="_top">Internet Crime Complaint Center</a>

At the IC3 site their are also available pdf files with postable documents; so spread the word to help bolster your social networking sites integrity; and thank them for truly helping us find real love! Remember! If you suspect a member is scamming you REPORT THAT MEMBER IMMEDIATELY. The site staff will investigate it for you.


You could say I am a little paranoid, and will NEVER SEND MONEY to anyone I haven't known for a while. DO NOT TRUST PEOPLE. Much to Mr. Machiavelli's surprise, humans are NOT "BASICALLY GOOD" and it is a crying shame that our brilliant and gifted species has been corrupted with DNA from society's bottom dwellers and degraded the human genome.

Oh! Before I forget, here are some very useful tips provided by the IC3 unit:

If a person shows they are from Alabama, but sends a message that sounds like broken english, there is a good chance that this is a foriegner impersonating an english speaking person; [no predujuce intended here, just a possible and all too common scenario.]

If the first reply to you asks you to communicate via e-mail, there is a good chance that this person is phishing or spamming your information for some other dark purpose. They may say that "they don't post their pictures for public viewing". If thats the case you can ask them to meet you for coffee at a local shop you know of! Good Luck!

Never give anyone personal information such as SSN, resident address, where you are employed, bank info/branch, childrens names/info/school even after you have established a certain amount of trust, especially on the computer or telephone! Remember this saying: Don't be shy! Ask them why!

A picture of a person via internet DOESNT MEAN THAT IS THE PERSON OR GENDER YOU ARE CORRESPONDING WITH.

Go with your gut feeling...better to bow out early than be victimized! Not 100% correct, but 100% safe.

When meeting someone for a first date, leave your purse and personal info in a locked vehicle; preferably a trunk. Always tell someone where you are going or take a friend if possible. Don't let your date change plans at the last minute or on the way to your meeting place. (If they do just say "RED FLAG!" If they are legit, they will immediately backtrack; and if they are not, they won't show up!) Pick a public location or business you know; or know people at. Keep your cell phone with you; and DON"T STORE PINS, ADDRESSES AND OTHER PERSONAL INFO ON YOUR CELLPHONE! (I can dial 911 on my phone in my pocket if I need to. IMPORTANT! You can practice this by disabling your connection in your options or connections file on most cell phones; that way you can see if you typed correctly on your screen without actually calling them. If 911 is called and you dont respond, they will automatically send a patrol unit out to the GPS location on your phone. Always keep this feature on. Now if your phone auto-dials when you turn your connection back on it is better to tell the operator that you dialed it accidentally...DON'T HANG UP ON 911! They dispatch on those calls, too!

Don't click on pop-ups! "you just won" or "1,000,000 millionth customer" or "Meet Local girls in (your town)"; this gives them your routing info and redirects your IP address to them.

Try to correspond with local interests that can actually meet you for coffee, a drink, dinner etc., instead of falling for someone far away.

JUST USE COMMON SENSE AND CAUTION!
MOST OF ALL "THINK SAFELY, BE SAFE!"
Edited by happyperson4you on Tue 08/17/10 11:44 PM

Sorry this happened to you but thanks for all the info...

Wow

I read this like the bible!!!

I am so sorry for you

I hope and pray this doesn't happen to me!!!

i read everything you've wriiten and thank you for that.

dont mean to offend, but PT Barnum said it a 100 years ago.."there´s a sucker born every minute"

I am constantly flabbergasted by the lack of common sense in regards to internet socializing....honestly..for anyone with half a brain and no morals, this place is a gold mine....

Keep in mind that these fraudsters are getting better and better at their game every single day. Even when they don't succeed in getting your money, they still learned just a little more about how to manipulate people and what mistakes not to make the next time around.

I guess I probably have been too trusting of people, I have given my private email out a couple of times. I won't make that mistake again, thank you. Luckily (I guess) I have nothing for anyone to steal.
So sorry that you've been through all that, but don't give up on love, it will happen for you when the time is right.

Thank You for the information.

This is why I almost never talk to anyone I have not met first in the forums. Not that that is a guarantee that they are real, but if they are here long enough and participate regularly, it's a good bet that they are, at least, a real person and not a scam.

"Are You Practicing Safe Cyber-Socializing?"


so this topic isn't about keyboard condoms and see-through monitor slip-on covers?

To the OP .. sorry about your experience. I know others who've been taken for a LOT more $$ .. like $35,000+ so don't feel too stupid. It can happen to the best of people, when someone uses their heart to get to the wallet.


I've online dated for 7 years. Have had many awesome, and some not so awesome, experiences in it all. Some LTR's with very real people.

But I also know most every scam out there. I love the fast track to asking where my mom was born. SIGH.





Today .. a guy wrote me asking if I would like to meet. His idea of meeting? Get this ..

"maybe you'd like to go for a ride and we could drive through the mountains" ....
























riiiiiiiiiiiight

& maybe I'd like to be raped and murdered on my next outing .. Whatever DUDE.

Wow Fade, I've thought the very same thing when I see this...

Before you decided to meet the person in person, have you ever tried to chat with webcam with "the woman", sir? Have you ever asked their home address back and tried to Google-Earth it?

Adding people on Facebook sometimes a good way to get to know them better too. They usually post more pictures there (travel pictures, work pictures, etc), and update their status so as to let us being updated about where they are and what they do. And also, we can get a better idea about their personality (like how they write comments, etc), and how big their circle of friend is.

Falling in love thru Internet might sound a bit unrealistic but it is NOT impossible to meet good people and build a solid communication with them, or even more: having a relationship. There so many good people out there having a sincere interest in friendship and/or relationship.
I once experienced it with a guy who's living miles away from where I am living now.
He's living in New South Wales, Australia, and flew to my home country to see me.
We met on a dating site. He came accross my profile page and he started to message me. We exchanged countless long emails with pictures, adding each other on Facebook, and he phoned me too so I get used to his voice (he speaks "accentfull" English and I asked him to speak slowly since English is not my mother tongue).

Sorry to hear this happened to you, but you didn't take even the most BASIC common-sense precautions to KEEP it from happening ... and what's up with sending MONEY ... ? Homey, that's a dead giveaway that you're bein' played. It's one thing to be lonely - it's quite another to be gullible. I'm glad your story at least has a 'kinda / sorta' happy ending ... but remember:

Experience is what we get when we don't get what we want.

Bingo!

Good Info thank-you. I never give out my addy to strangers. I get a lot of come-ons like that. I think after awhile, you develop a six sense about them. How I deal with them depends on my mood. Sometimes I just delete, Sometimes, I report them. But sometimes, when Im in a mood, I take thier addy, go to my msn junk-box, and sign the addy up to every scam in there! Hehehe