Online Daters Beware: Scams Hit Close to Home

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Posted: Tue Mar 25, 2008 12:51 am

Online Daters Beware: Scams Hit Close to Home

News1 KAUZ

Story Created: Mar 24, 2008 at 5:26 PM CDT

If you sign up for online dating services you know the person on the other end may not completely match their descriptions. That's not all you need to worry about. Now scammers are targeting people looking for love.

When Carrie Thompson of Wichita Falls first signed up with a popular online dating service, she was hopeful. Her first e-mail came from a man who called himself David Hudson.

He told her, "I want someone I can trust with my life because love is trust and trust is love."

David said he was working abroad, but wanted to come to Texas to meet her. That's when the trouble started.

"He told me the airline only took cash, and all he had was money order. Could he send me the money order, cash it for him and then send him the cash," she says.

That raised some red flags. Carrie told him she didn't feel comfortable doing that and refused to give him her address, but she continued talking to him.

Carrie says, "Every few sentences it goes back to when do you think you can get me the money. I don't want to have to wait that amount of time."

Carrie did some research and realized David was trying to make her a victim of a classic money order scam. Here's how it works, a victim cashes a money order and sends some of the cash overseas. The scammer tells the victim to keep some of it in their bank account for all their trouble. Eventually, the bank then finds out the money order is a fake and tells the victim to pay back all of the money. Carrie didn't fall for it, but she is fighting back.

She says,"You decide to put yourself out there, try something new to meet people and the first experience you have is a scam. That is a very disappointing feeling because you've been played by someone."

Carrie contacted the F.B.I. Cyber Crimes Division and filed a case. She also filed a complaint against David with her dating site. Carrie's relieved she didn't fall for the scam... But says there are people who will get hurt.

"They're taking your money, but for some people they're breaking their hearts. It's very sad and I do find these people to be wicked," she says.

Master Baiter Joined: 19 Mar 2008 Posts: 100

Sounds familiar. And I know the particular popular service that matches people for you seems to not care much. I told them that they should take more care in signing people up and they never responded. The scammers probably signed up with stolen credit cards and I hope the credit card companies but them in a bind for not checking very well.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 04 Apr 2008 Posts: 1

A friend of mine got scammed once- sweet girl too but I didn't hear about it till AFTER it happened.
Some guy on a dating site sent her a message and he "seemed really sweet" and was weirdly into everything she was into, and when she expressed concern about needing money he was SO eager to help by signing a check to her, was going to give her part of it then she would send the rest to him.
How sweet right????
Mad

Needless to say she lost cash she didn't really have and he made out like a bandit..

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