My Supposed Art Dealer Scammer Who Ended Up in Africa ...

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 14 Mar 2009 Posts: 4

Hi, I've just stumbled upon this site by accident really, but I'm so glad I have!

This is the second time I consider I have attracted a scammer since I joined with Match.com just before Christmas. I won't concentrate on the first as I broke off all contact with him. It is this current one that is causing me most concern.

I'm 32 and when I initially got the first email message via the Match.com website, I instantly thought "what does this guy want with me?" He says he is 49, an art dealer and a widower (his wife supposedly died in a tragic car accident). The photos portray a guy who is drop dead gorgeous. He says his mother is Greek, so you can imagine ... tall, dark and handsome.

I was looking for somebody younger on the website and initially sent a "thanks but no thanks" message. But he persisted "you are my soul mate, I fell in love with your smile from the first moment I saw you" blah blah blah, you know the script by now, I'm sure.

So, I gave in and provided him with a Yahoo email/instant messaging address (not my Hotmail account initially, although I did revert to using that once we started exchanging messages). He kept sending me messages telling me to call him and gave me a number. Then unfortunately, one day it logged me in as "online" and he saw and started talking to me, which was when we began chatting...

The first few times we spoke, he was in the UK, then he went to Spain to buy sculptures, shipped them home and then flew out to Nigeria ... which was when the alarm bells started ringing (my last scammer flew out to Africa on business and that was when things started to get nasty with him).

So, he flies out to Nigeria, settles in his hotel, everything is fine, and then the day after he arrives, he goes to the port to claim his goods and it is to cost him over £4,000 to claim them. He has only £1,300 and asks me for £3,000.

Before he left for his trip, we arranged to meet for dinner (was meant to be last night) and I gave him my mobile number.

I have been very standoffish from the word go with him and this has proved my instincts are right. I have ignored him for a couple of days now, but he persists in ringing me at all hours of the day and night, texting me. My phone is now permanently on silent and I can't even have vibrate enabled as it wakes me up in the night when he calls. The initial number he gave me was a UK mobile number (which he said had a roaming profile and he could use anywhere). Yet now, he is using a Nigerian mobile (I have figured this out by doing some investigating on BT's website).

Whilst part of me is furious that people out there can be so dishonest as to mislead people like this, another part of me now wants to play with him to try and get my own back.

Can anybody help me or should I resist for fear of getting my fingers burned even more. Any suggestions?

Posted: Sat Mar 14, 2009 2:16 pm

Hi HP,

If he has your Real Life info (RL), you should drop him. While it is unlikely that he will come to you, its best to be safe.

You can, of course, rebait him as another person who saw his profile, fell in love, etc, and then work on wasting his time, getting him to travel, waste his money, etc.

The big problem is that he is using a fake photo, so many fun things you could do for him won't happen, like get him to safari to "meet" you for a romantic weekend in Liberia, for example, or send pictures of hi self with self deprecating words on them, but you can waste his time.

My advice would be to drop him and either dive into the pond with a fake email account, or rebait the same guy.

Good luck! Bait safely, read the stickies, and find a mentor if this hobby appeals to you. Oh, and welcome to Eater!

Doc

Elite Baiter Joined: 15 Sep 2008 Posts: 1006

Welcome Honeypie! I'm sorry this guy tried to mislead you but good for you that you got suspicious before getting really involved and sending money. Shocked

Of course he was gorgeous - they steal pictures off of modeling sites. Very Happy

As Doc said above, he has real life information from you so you want to drop him but there is nothing wrong with getting a safe email (gmail strips your ID) and contacting this guy under fake name. Then you can have all sorts of fun.

BTW - This guy's story sounds familiar...what's this "art dealer's" supposed name?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 14 Mar 2009 Posts: 4

He says his name is J@m3s G3org3 ...

I think I've finally got rid of him now - I told him I had kept every single email he had sent me, together with those I had sent to him (which isn't a lie because I did after my last experience) and I had given them all to my local Police station, along with my mobile phone, and I didn't ever want to hear from him ever again.

The hard faced beggar still emailed me back:

"re you going to help me out or not? i dont wana listen to whatever thing u re saying here, i know it's not ur fault..some stupid boys and girls out there have already spoilt the world all with the name of scamm...there is nothing that seems real again even father and son, mother and daughter there is not too much trust again especialy when it comes to money issue...
so tell me, will you assit me or not...i am not gona lose anything, u will only break my heart and i will recover deffinately..but what will it profit u to do that? u forgot the way u and i have been moving on this relationship? we re suposed to meet yesterday, but if u like believe me, if u like dont. it must be well one day and i will still care to see u face to face when i come over to england.
love u
J@m3s"

I asked him what part of LEAVE ME ALONE did he not understand and told him that it was a Police matter now and so far, so good.

Sorry if this spoils it for anybody wanting to try and play him at his own game but, like I say, he is so hard faced that even the threat of Police didn't shut him up straight away!

Thanks for your advice, guys, btw. I really appreciate it x

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 9:23 pm

I would post his details at scamwarners.com (the sister site to here).

That way if anyone else gets suspicious they can find him by name or e-mail address. Post all the details you can, that way someone will see they are being fed the same line and it is truly the same scammer.

If you feel like it, post his dating site and name here - you can use leet speak - like changing an "a" to "@" and "e" to "3" so he can't search his profile name and find this site.

I'm sure at least one person would love to have a go with him Twisted Evil

If you want PM me with his details and I'll take a shot Twisted Evil

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 14 Mar 2009 Posts: 4

I've just checked back on the dating site but because his initial message was over 30 days ago, unfortunately it has auto cleared it. When I first viewed his profile, it said that he lived in Birmingham, although he told me he lived in Liverpool (near where I live), which made me a bit suspicious straight away as, when I brought that up, he never responded. He obviously swaps and changes to suit. I've just searched now under Liverpool and Birmingham for a 49 year old but he didn't appear ... I do recall though that when I went back to look at his profile a second time, it had been made private so that nobody could view it. Whether this is because somebody had complained to the site about him or he had done it through choice, I don't know.

I have two email addresses for him though if anybody is interested. Let me know and I will PM them to anybody who wants them.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 14 Mar 2009 Posts: 4

Ivana, I just had a look at Scamwarners. The first telephone number he gave me was a +44 70 number which is a recognised redirectable number designed to fool people into thinking they are ringing a UK mobile phone. How stupid do I feel now?!! At least I never parted with any money, not that I have any to give anyway, but there are other people in totally different situations to me who may have been coersed into it.

The second number I have though is a Nigerian mobile phone number. Again, anybody wanting either number to go with the email addresses - give me a shout.

Posted: Sun Mar 15, 2009 10:43 pm

Don't feel bad -- a lot of people are taken in by romance scams and lose a lot of money. That's why they have their own thread here, it is very common.

May I suggest a disposable phone just for using the dating sites?
And the g-mail address with no real personal data.

I'm just glad you realized it was a scam before you lost any money.

You can have fun with these guys - just be sure not to believe ANYTHING they say.

I have one now, from a dating site, who writes very good english (most of the time).

He said he was in the UK, then went to the Bahamas to write up a work contract. He is "self employed" and had to pay for his expenses up front, although they were going to reimburse him when the job was done.

Within a couple days he was "robbed" while he was at work (in Nigeria) and lost $12,000 in cash. I told him before he left the Bahamas to get traveler's checks Evil or Very Mad

Now he is trying to BULLY me into sending him money (in about 2 weeks of knowing him). I told him I had 2 car wrecks in 2 weeks and had to pay out money on the second one before I'd get cash from the first one.

Told him I had 3 insurance companies and a lawyer involved, and a TON of forms. It's going to be at least a month before I see any money and 6 months before the lawyers do their thing. He was uninterested in the 300$ for the car...and the 500$ deductible I'd be getting back.

He focused on the $3,000 that should come out of the lawsuit. Asked me if I was going to make him wait 6 months before I sent any money. After I told him I should be getting 300$ in a month.

I play a normal, lower middle class single woman with no kids. And he's expecting me to send thousands of dollars. Boy is he going to get frustrated with my offers of $50 off and on Twisted Evil

Hey any money is money - or at least that's what I'm going to say - can buy him a couple meals, or a night at the hotel...but he's after bigger money so it will be insulting to him Twisted Evil

And he should hang in there for 6 months or so thinking he'll get the bigger money Smile

Lol he just IMed me - he said he was losing his internet connection in 24 hours.
I suggested going on-line to his bank and applying for a loan since he could pay it back in full once he was finished - that pissed him off...told me I wasn't even trying to help.

Then I suggested he borrow a co-workers lap top from time to time so we could still chat...he's dropping me for now since I have no money to send at this time - I'm sure he won't go away all together since there is money to be had in the future...

"u no if u care about me you would help"

For some reason "know" is frequently "no"...

My Supposed Art Dealer Scammer Who Ended Up in Africa ...	View next topic View previous topic