Semper Fidelis - [email protected]

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Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:06 pm

Hi y'all

I am doing my very first bait and appear to have hooked one of America's finest, Roger. Our Roger is a Captain in the Marines, working in Afghanistan as "combat logistics personnel and also ... with the Military Intelligence."

Can anyone help me to verify that this is a scam? And, if so, how I should handle it?

Why I'm thinking this is a build-up to a scam is:
- his first couple of emails include a lot of African english "am"s etc, but then his spelling and grammar improve as though someone else may be writing.
- the early mention of him being able to earning a lot of money soon through a "lucrative" business .
- an attempt on the emotions by talking about his wife dying a few years ago and how much his son misses him.
- wanting to settle down immediately and have more children.
- how very romantic and attentive he is.

Then, this morning I received my first email directly to my safe baiting gmail account, which contains this request to pay money to a third party:

"Listen, my duties here are heavy and am not always online but there a more convinient way of communicating with loved ones here...i want you to consider it and tell me if you can handle it....its called military satelite telephony system...you can connect with loved ones in the middle east but you will have to pay a little subsciption fee of about 240 usd.

If its ok with you ...pls email to [email protected] they will give you more details."

And when I checked the header, it's from a satellite connection:
----------
IP Information - 217.20.240.19IP address: 217.20.240.19
Reverse DNS: tnt-srv.bpk.redwingsat.com.
Reverse DNS authenticity: [Could be forged: hostname tnt-srv.bpk.redwingsat.com. does not exist]
ASN: 25320
ASN Name: SKPWRINTL-AS (Skypower AS Number)
IP range connectivity: 30
Registrar (per ASN): RIPE
Country (per IP registrar): GB [United Kingdom]
Country Currency: GBP [United Kingdom Pounds]
Country IP Range: 217.20.240.0 to 217.20.255.255
Country fraud profile: Normal
City (per outside source): Unknown
Country (per outside source): -- []
Private (internal) IP? No
IP address registrar: whois.ripe.net
Known Proxy? No

Edit Post: I've also googled Roger & sat phone's email address & searched the Eater & Scamwatcher forums, but didn't turn up anything.

Posted: Fri Jun 26, 2009 11:33 pm

Redback, you did a great job of picking out all of the characteristic scam identifiers. Without a doubt in my mind, it is a scam.

Sending a message to the third party asking about the satellite phone service would be a good place to start. Most likely a Western Union payment will be requested. Playing it straight and seeing what develops is probably best at this point.

If you want to stir things up a little, ask about his unit in Afghanistan. He may try to say it is secret, but call his bluff by saying Marine regulations allow soldiers to give out their unit, but not their location. If he does tell you, do a little of research to determine if it is real. If it is real, tell him a neighbor has a husband in the exact same unit and he is going to look up the Captain. If it is not real, you can decide what to do about it. It is preferable not to point out the error, but it might be used to a humorous effect. Another option is to insist on using a different satellite phone service that is less costly and has better quality service. If he pushes back, claim your neighbors uses it to communicate with her husband in Afghanistan. The idea is to take control away from him.

If you are going to stir things up, make sure to start falling hopelessly in love with the fine Captain. The trick is to make the scammer think he has a potential victim on the hook. He will fight and scramble to keep you there and put up with a lot of trouble.

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 11:02 am

Thank you, Miss Girly Girl

Thanks for your encouragement and advice. As you suggested, I've contacted the phone company and asked for costs and services and whether I'd need a new phone and will it be real expensive?! I'm so enjoying being 'blonde.'

Likewise, I've let Roger know that I'm keen to do as he suggests and praised him to the heavens for being so strong and smart and brave. Very Happy

Our church has a few military families and I've asked him what unit he's with.

Along with the gushing I've pressed him for more details on his son and proposed business that he failed to answer from my previous email. Admittedly this is a very mild 'slap' but I'm building confidence and would like to be a total dragon by the time I'm done with this bait.

Stay tuned!

Red

Posted: Sat Jun 27, 2009 12:20 pm

Good stuff on spotting a scam, redback, I've just run the IP and get the following,, Wink

217.20.240.19 equals,

Country Zambia,
Region Lusaka
City Lusaka
City ID 4964

Enjoy the game...

Juan's stalker Joined: 28 Aug 2008 Posts: 1423

That's wonderful RB Very Happy

PRS has given you the best advice! So glad you have put it to action.

Yes being sweet and confused but trying to be helpful is definitely the best way to be,at first..... Twisted Evil

Posting up any questions you have in this thread will always get you the best advice for your Roger.

Posted: Sun Jun 28, 2009 2:13 pm

Make sure you post any pics they send somewhere publicly, like romancescam.com
The funny thing is, they'll often send you stolen pics from guys in the wrong service......Army guys instead of Jarheads, sailors, instead of soldiers,etc.

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 7:58 am

Thank you all

Have posted Rogerlad to Scamwarners: http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=2923&p=11068#p11068 I did upload a photo with watermark, but then couldn't work out how to add it to post ... have messaged on Scamwarners to ask for assistance and will follow up. Wasn't sure about the protocol about mentioning this site, or usernames, sorry.

He let me know he doesn't work weekends aka 'special mission'! Will let you know when he gets back.

Red

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:00 am

Sorry, double -up!

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:12 am

^^^ to display your image just surround the URL with

Code:

[img][/img]

tags.

If you're using photobucket, there is an option on there to generate the code required for forums.

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 8:57 am

Thanks again, B8er

Sorry that you have to follow us Newbies around with a dustpan & brush! Confused

And so NOW I know what this buckety-thingy is that everyone talks about! It's all an adventure.

Our Rogerlad, in all his glory: http://i885.photobucket.com/albums/ac60/ChryssyHynde/RogerAnderson-1.jpg

cheers, Red

Posted: Mon Jun 29, 2009 11:03 am

Hi Redback

It seems all the good advice is already given and taken

All the same, welcome aboard and great work on posting your pet at Scamwarners Wink

I am also at Scamwarners but under a different name, (look for the postwhore and you might find me Wink

) just dont tell anybody, it's a big secret Cool

We all started somewhere and learnt the same things, usually by reading up, making lots of mistakes, then asking

If you havn't already done so, read through the romance baiting FAQ, it will answer lots of your early questions

Not quite a Newb Joined: 29 Jun 2009 Posts: 46

There's one simple test, although you've nailed it on the head with the other stuff. If his email address does NOT end in (branch).mil then it is a scam. Every soldier's email is formatted as:
(firstname).(lastname)@(servicebranch).mil. So for instance: [email protected]. Anyone who is contacting you from a civilian email provider is a scammer and should be promptly baited or shot over to another baiter.

Tell your friends, there seems to be a new type of lad coming in, the millad.

Edit: Also notice the complete lack of rank in that format.

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