I... Don't know what to say...

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 03 Nov 2010 Posts: 2

Ok first of all, if you're watching the news, Marie Register -- thats my mom. If you're watching the news then you also know that she has been accused of being the mastermind behind many 419 Scams common to Nigeria, though I'm surprised the media hasn't really caught on to this comment by the detective:
"Oddly enough she has sent every dime back to Nigeria".

I'm wondering what is going on in this situation. I can't, for my mother's sake, disclose everything I know, but I can say this:
1. She just lost her mother 2 years ago to natural causes.
2. She recently divorced (ugly divorce too)
3. She just started online dating right before she met the person I suspect to be the real scammer.

The police are accusing her of mailing out check for greater than the amount of sale and also accusing her of coming by the names via craig's list and ebay. From what I saw this is false. She had some guy in her email sending her these lists of names.

Here is what I understand though that I don't believe will hurt anything:
She meets someone on MatchDoctor, he claims to be from the UK and trying to save up enough money to meet her in the US. Then he comes up and says that if she "works" for his friend, it will expedite his visit as he will dedicate the earnings (being she was living pay-check to pay-check) to the "move a scammer to America" fund.

My mother is Caucasian and I know for a fact shes racist, there is no way she would have ever voluntarily sent money to Nigeria -- as much as I despise any form of racism, I believe this is what exonerates her. Secondly, she would never scam anyone - she's been living in the "average" for 40 years, nothing would change her level of happiness about that. Last but not least, the detectives refuse to say that the scams originated from Africa and they refuse to even let it slip that it could be the slightest possibility that she was the victim -- instead they insist that she is the mastermind behind all of the 419 Nigerian Scams!

I hate to say it but you should see the area I live in and the area she lives in, it will become apparent really quick if she is the mastermind, this family has NEVER seen the first dime of that money.

Again, my "theory" here is that she is innocent in the fact she is a victim herself. Instead of the police going after the real culprits they would find it cheaper just to silence the victims instead while the rest of America is laid completely bare and vulnerable to their old and NEW scams.

I believe this to be a new scam but until I can talk with my Mom's attorney I am unable to release any of the transmittal between her and this scammer but I'm sure everyone gets the "gist" of how it works and it played out over the period of an entire year so this is a very elaborate and extravagant scam (definitely above the capability of my mother being she can't keep her mouth shut, in 3 days she would have given herself up by talking to someone).

If anyone has any advice in this (as right now she's just getting railroaded by the government here) it would be appreciated; furthermore I would like to ask that the admins please post this somewhere to warn others about this type of scam where easily the scammers turn their victims into the scammer's themselves =(.

Posted: Wed Nov 03, 2010 7:49 pm

My understand is that being party to a crime makes you equally guilty.

She will have her day in court and a jury will decide (unless she plea bargains)

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 03 Nov 2010 Posts: 2

I completely understand but I know that she would have never had done it if she had known the checks she was sending were fake.

She has no priors -- and a firm supporter of the law (not even a speeding ticket). This could have happened to anyone.

Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 3:42 pm

I don't want to be an asshole, but I have absolutely no sympathy for people falling for scams. As for aiding criminals in their scamming activity, eh... Even if she wasn't wise to the fact that she was being taken for a spin, she must have had an inkling as to the fact that what she was doing wasn't above the board. Stupid criminals are still criminals...

Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 5:56 pm

Hi MklW and welcome to Eater.

Let me say first of all that I haven't been watching the news, and I don't know your mom's story - but I do know that what you are describing sounds like an overpayment scam - a check for too much money is sent to a seller of an item, and then the seller is requested to send the 'overpayment' on to somebody else - the scammer.

You can read more about this (from the seller/check recipient's perspective) here:

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3238

It sounds as if your mom has been tricked by the scammer into sending the checks out - instead of the scammer himself doing it directly. Unfortunately, it is not a new thing for a romance scammer to trick his victim into 'working' for him, and luring her into participating in his scams. You can read a little bit about this here:

http://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=25

Your mom's attorney will be her best help in this situation. Along with your support.

Contrary to what ButterChurner says above, it is actually very easy to fall for certain scams, whoever we are, and whatever our circumstances. As many people know, I first came to Eater after falling for a scam myself.

Posted: Fri Nov 05, 2010 6:22 pm

Quote:

I don't want to be an...

Then don't be one. Avoiding trashing victims is a good way to start.

Scammers prey on vulnerable people.

Are some of those people greedy? Do some make stupid mistakes? Of course. Does that mean all victims are greedy or stupid? No. Many are simply trusting, or lonely, or desperate enough they aren't thinking straight. Some are even mentally ill--the scammers will not hesitate to use a victim's illness to their own advantage. We may talk a lot about the stupidity of scammers around here, but the truth is, some of them are very skilled, and are experts at manipulating people.

A skilled scammer can convince the right victim of just about anything. This is especially true of romance scammers. With the right cover story, a scammer can turn a victim into a criminal, without the victim suspecting a thing. A job scam victim may honestly believe he/she has a legitimate job collecting payments for a foreign business, or a romance scam victim may honestly believe she is helping her future husband to collect debts owed to his business.

I personally don't know anything about this particular case. It's clear she was a participant, and it is also evident there was a Nigerian scammer involved, and it sounds like there was an ongoing romance scam. What we don't know is whether she was so hooked that she believed everything her scammer told her, or knew or suspected that what she was doing was wrong and chose to do it anyway. The court will have to decide what her level of responsibility is.

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