Well, my sister-in-law is an educated woman but she is a single mom who is hoping to get into a relationship. She has been on a few dating and affinity
websites and talks to a whole lot of people online in the hope that she can find a good match for herself. It was during this effort that a man wrote to her
describing himself as geophysicist working for the United States Geological Survey and currently on a mission in Nigeria helping to find mining reserves. He
lives in Florida (he even gave her the address of the property and said that he is in the process of selling it because he wants to move to a condo), is
divorced, and is looking for a woman like her. They even spoke on the phone and that is when she mentioned it to my wife and I. Initially we were excited
about her finding a good guy but when we heard the whole story and heard about the Nigeria connection, I told her to give me more information. She then told
me his name, the property address, and I went to work. Using Google search and making phone calls to the property records office in the county in which the
property was located, I was able to confirm that this man was not the owner of the property that he claimed. After searching on the name, I did find a geologist with that
name in Florida but he was not working for the USGS and was a professor at a university. We knew right away that this scammer almost stole the identity of
this unsuspecting professor by finding his page on the university website and then picked a random property for sale in Florida. Thankfully, she sought our
help before anything bad could happen to her. She stopped contact with him right away and is now a lot more careful.
Sweetheart scams are common and dangerous: It turns out that such scams are so widespread that the United States State Department calls them sweetheart scams and describes how they work and what can Americans do not become victims of these criminals who take advantage of our kindness, our trust in the goodness of human beings, and tools available to us to send money anywhere in the world with just a few clicks. According to the Department of State, the initial contact happens through the Internet, a dating site or Facebook, and invariably the target is a male and the woman is young, beautiful, romantic, and just a little bit sassy. She sends romantic messages talking about how all men in her country (Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries are the main sources of these criminals and these are also the countries with world's highest number of criminals, crooks, virus creators, and hackers) are lazy or criminals or unemployed or on drugs and all she wants is a good life being a devoted wife. They can even research a bit more about you and customize their message by appealing to your religious views or talking about taking care of your kids from a previous marriage. More photos are sent, and they are professionally taken in a studio in which the woman looks sweet and cute. Since lonely men are more likely to respond to such contact, the criminals first develop trust, and once that happens, they write back with a sad story: a sick child or family member, death, job loss, accidents, arrests for crime that she did not commit, being stranded in a foreign country, etc. and the urgency of money. How she cannot access her bank account or how money can help her get out of a messy situation? Wouldn't you be kind enough to help a sick child or old parent get medical help? They also provide specific details on how to send the money, a Paypal account, a Western Union transfer address or even a website where if you enter your credit card information, money will magically be sent to her or to the hospital. Once that happens, you never hear from that person again, and the email is dead or the Facebook profile completely disappears.
Sweetheart scams are common and dangerous: It turns out that such scams are so widespread that the United States State Department calls them sweetheart scams and describes how they work and what can Americans do not become victims of these criminals who take advantage of our kindness, our trust in the goodness of human beings, and tools available to us to send money anywhere in the world with just a few clicks. According to the Department of State, the initial contact happens through the Internet, a dating site or Facebook, and invariably the target is a male and the woman is young, beautiful, romantic, and just a little bit sassy. She sends romantic messages talking about how all men in her country (Russia, Ukraine, and other Eastern European countries are the main sources of these criminals and these are also the countries with world's highest number of criminals, crooks, virus creators, and hackers) are lazy or criminals or unemployed or on drugs and all she wants is a good life being a devoted wife. They can even research a bit more about you and customize their message by appealing to your religious views or talking about taking care of your kids from a previous marriage. More photos are sent, and they are professionally taken in a studio in which the woman looks sweet and cute. Since lonely men are more likely to respond to such contact, the criminals first develop trust, and once that happens, they write back with a sad story: a sick child or family member, death, job loss, accidents, arrests for crime that she did not commit, being stranded in a foreign country, etc. and the urgency of money. How she cannot access her bank account or how money can help her get out of a messy situation? Wouldn't you be kind enough to help a sick child or old parent get medical help? They also provide specific details on how to send the money, a Paypal account, a Western Union transfer address or even a website where if you enter your credit card information, money will magically be sent to her or to the hospital. Once that happens, you never hear from that person again, and the email is dead or the Facebook profile completely disappears.