The following letter was received by a man checking on a woman that he had sent $300 to for her visa. She sent him a copy of the visa and he checked with the embassy in Moscow to see if it was real.
Dear Sir,
There have been no US visas issued for the person whose visa you sent us. The visa is fake.
Please be aware that there is a very common internet scam to defraud American men whereby people create false Internet profiles and send what appear to be legitimate correspondences.
They usually misinform the victim about travel expenses that do not exist and/or they inflate the cost of the expenses that do exist. They lure the American in with e-mails, pictures, phone calls, fake visas. and even e-mails from fake travel agencies in an attempt to prove their good intentions. Almost always something happens and they "can't leave the country". They either "get injured and are in the hospital" and a "member of the family" contacts you for more money or a "member of the family" needs an emergency operation and therefore will need more money, or they are stuck at the airport and are not allowed to board until they can show they have xxx amount of dollars to cover their expenses while in the US.
At some point they claim to have been robbed of the money that was sent or claim that they are detained at the airport. Again, their purpose is not to immigrate to the US, but to get as much money as possible from the victim. Many men have lost anywhere between $400 to $11,000 because they continued to send money without suspicion. Most of these scammers are actually men who are paying women a minimal fee to sit and pose for pictures and to pick up the money at the Western Union.
We hope this information has been helpful.
Sincerely,
Consular Fraud Prevention Unit
US Embassy, Moscow, Russia
Scammers just don't seem to learn. Or maybe because it works so well on so many they do not seek to change? After researching many reports, over the years we have identified the following "common scenarios" that most scams being run can still be fit into.
The scammer is basically attempting to turn you into a "cash cow" through steady repeated requests for money for Internet costs, translation fees, language lessons, etc. In this scenario a false relationship is usually created but sometimes the scammer doesn't bother to personalize correspondence or devote much time in creating the appearance of personal attention. This scenario is the most general and the most varied in terms of how the individual scammmer(s) work the scenario. Almost always the scammer claims to be using an "Internet cafe" or an Agency and thus the reason for the steady costs. The scammer will run the scenario until you quit giving money. Note: Make sure to distinguish this from legitimate requests for assistance. Follow your gut!
WARNING: THIS SCAM GETS REPORTED MOST OFTEN AND CAN BE THE MOST COSTLY!In this scenario the scammer will often forgo the need for the petty cash of internet costs. Often they will claim to have Internet access through work or through a friend. Their letters are usually VERY PERSONALIZED and the illusion that a real relationship is forming is STRONG. After a while (this "waiting period" varies greatly, some wait only a few emails, others will continue correspondence for months) the chance for a visa to visit you arises and a relatively large sum is required. The scammer needs the money right away and is in a hurry to see you for one reason or another. Once money has been transferred the scammer disappears entirely or makes some excuse. Either way the scam is completed and the next mark is located.
The key to avoiding this scam is to simply learn the RULES for obtaining a visa to visit or especially immigrate to your country. For the U.S. see our U.S. Visa page for info.
This scenario is similar to the Visa Scenario and sometimes run at the same time. Essentially the scammer wants you to send money for the travel costs for her to "come to you." Often when running the Travel Scenario scam, the scammer will claim to have a connection such as a relative that works in a travel agency or who is a pilot or of some special tour that is suddenly available at great prices.
Be especially careful if your country (or the country in which they want to rendezvous) is one that they do not need a visa or to obtain one is relatively easy to do.
To visit the United States is difficult for persons from the CIS countries so you should be able to easily spot this scenario once you learn the rules pertaining to travel from HER country to YOUR country. Learn them.
The scenario begins with the high intensity communication and personalization of the Visa Scenario but instead of the "visa request" someone gets ill and is in need of hospitalization, an operation, medicine, etc. Once the money is transferred the scammer is gone.
Just like the Illness Scenario only a mother or other relative is in an "accident" and in need.
Usually run by Agency scammers or organizations this scenario works on quantity not quality. Basically, the person you are corresponding with does not exist as they are portrayed. Up front money is asked for the girl's info or her internet costs, etc. and once it is transferred nothing further is heard from the scammer. The transferree never gets what they have paid for or is provided bogus information entirely.
This situation applies during an actual VISIT to your correspondent. In this situation, the scammer extracts money from you in various ways and money is often paid out for services and accomodations that she has arranged (often to relatives). This is a scam because the prices being paid are far higher than if you had arranged everything yourself. As part of this scam, she may require money from you for expensive gifts, dinners and so forth. Note: Most sincere Russian and Ukrainian women are almost embarrassed to let you spend money on them in a first meeting or early in the relationship. Most cities have good public transportation and most ladies will prefer to not make you spend your money on expensive taxis, etc. in these situations.
Fortunately this is not truly a "common" situation. But this situation is the most emotionally devastating to the victim. The general circumstances involve a person who is willing to go so far as to actually become engaged and perhaps even married. The goal all the while is only to obtain as much money as possible from the victim before either leaving him immediately prior to marriage or even after marriage if the nuptials have occurred. Factors, such as proven identity fabrications, multiple and continued personals listings, surrepticious relationships, and other considerations help determine that this situation is a true scam and not just an extreme case of Sour Grapes. Because of the difficulty of this latter analysis, only reports including significant proof of these factors will serve as a basis for a Scam Alert
This is a new twist on the old Nigerian Scam and so far it is not very common. Basically the girl says she has a ton of money or even gold and wants to immigrate to you without "losing it to the government" (taxes???). The scam is either to obtain your banking info outright or more typically to talk you into depositing a certain sum of money to establish an account, into which she is supposed to put her money. Obviously however this game is played it is a very bad idea.
This is a new category that we will use to denote this particular situation. Such exploitation can occur in many ways. For example in many instances it is the AGENCY/owner/manager that is actually conducting the correspondence unbeknownst to the "client." Often they receive the money that is sent for the client's benefit and do not even inform the client or they are simply taking a huge cut of the money unfairly. Another method of scamming is that persons have set up false identities by paying a small sum to models or local girls for their photos and then conducting business as though they are real persons seeking marriage, etc. Likewise the identities of former clients who have gotten engaged or married or merely left a particular Agency and gone to another, more reputable Agency, have continued to be used by the former Agency. These are just some examples of this frequent activity. One way of identifying this fraud is if you have written to a woman for a period of time and she suddenly moves without telling you. Or, she just disappears and the agency does not know what happened to her because they cannot find her. Another common thing is to have written to her for a few months and after asking for, and paying for, her address and phone information, she does not want to give it to you, and the agency does not want to refund the money to you. When encountering this type of fraud in a person that YOU are corresponding with, etc. you should:1. Make all attempts to verify that you are dealing with the actual person. 2. Establish a connection, if possible, outside of any Agency influence. There are a number of translators available in Yoshkar-Ola that will help with this. We suggest that if you are suspicious, you contact one of them through the YO Friends group on Yahoo.Rule to Remember!
As always, we highly recommend that you never send money at all unless you are thouroughly convinced of the person, have met them in person, and have established a longstanding relationship.