Erica Akoto

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

Does anybody have information on her?

She's a white female from Togo but has a Ghana passport. I believe she's working with 2 other individuals. Randy Osyton (uncle) and Elton Jones (travel agent from Lixon Travel and Tours company ltd) from Ghana.

I need to confirm my suspicious and hope someone can help me.

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:01 pm

Hello canbear and welcome to 419eater. Please say a little more about your suspicions about this person.

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:14 pm

If you suspect that this person is a scammer, then you would very likely be correct.

Please elaborate a bit on your acquaintance with these individuals, and we will try to help you as best we can. Smile

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

i first met her on match.com approx 2 weeks ago. I asked her to go on skype. I saw that she matched up to her profile. We chatted every day getting to know each other. She said that her parents were pasted away. I didn`t have the audacity to ask her what happenned. She mentioned that she had a grand mother in Togo and an uncle in the UK. Apparently the uncle was sending 200.00 every to weeks to them. She told me that she was finishing her nursing degree in 2 weeks. A few days later, she wanted me to meet her uncle on skype. I met him, he mentionned that it was the first time that she mentionned a boy to him. He asked if i wanted to get in business with him. I said no. He said that he was a gold trader. She started calling me home phone. A few days later, she asked me for money to get a passport. 425.00 i gave against my better judgement. Last week, she was talking about fasting, i asked her if had anything to eat. She told me no. I asked her if she received the money from her uncle. She told me no. So, I end up send 200.00 for food for her and her grandmother. This past Friday, she calls me that she received her passport and then passed the phone to Elton Jones (travel agent). He tells me that he will email me the passport and the rest of the information in regards to her visa application. I received the email, he wanted 1,500.00 for her visa application. It even had a breakdown of the fees. So now, this is sounding extremely weird for me. She said i should borrow the money and we will work it out when she came to me. So, this morning, i spoke with her uncle asking him to pay for the process and i will remburse him when she comes to me. I guess you know the answer to that question.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

So to continue my story, at this point i`m getting very suspicious and i heard about love scams. So, I start checking on the internet. I get to a site with fake passports. I start looking through and i see a passport that looks very close to her. The name on that passport was Anna Winters.

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

Are you using real information here? If so, 86 this IMMEDIATELY, IF NOT SOONER!

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:41 pm

everything you've said says scam.
Parents deceased. Tick
Grandmother in Togo, uncle in the UK. Tick.
Gold Trader. Tick.
Where does the travel agent fit in? Only in the imagination of scammers do they arrange visas,
What email addresses are "they" using?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

It is real information. I don`t know how to 86 since i`m a new member.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

Her email is [email protected] and i don`t have his email since we only skyped.

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:51 pm

canbear, this may well feel hurtful, but you have almost certainly been scammed. If so, there will be no way to get your money back.

I suggest that you cut off all communications with all parties, change your Skype details and close/change your e.mail account. If you do not, 'she' will stay in constant touch and continue twanging the old heartstrings and emptying your bank account.

Have a look in our Love/Dating sub-forum for many more similar stories from victims. You have done well to realise what was happening before sending the 4-figure sum.

You would be most welcome to join us - perhaps as a 'Love Lad' Baiter - to get your own back on other, similar scammers.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

and the travel agent`s email is [email protected].

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 9:55 pm

Few real travel agents would use webmail. The source of a gmail is notoriously difficult to trace (which iswhy many of us use it).

canbear, you are now amongst new friends here. You will find support and empathy within our community.

Baiting Guru Joined: 27 Mar 2011 Posts: 21158

canbear wrote:

It is real information. I don`t know how to 86 since i`m a new member.

The Monsignor above me has pretty well explained the 86. I'm sorry that was a vague reference that we use where I am from meaning to trash everything. Cut off all contact and change everything.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

Yes, I did read other stories on the website. I appreciate your support. Thank you.

Sex-starved Tikka Masala Joined: 04 Mar 2011 Posts: 259

What they mean by '86' is to stop all contact immediately. It's not safe to deal with these people using any information that can be connected to you in real life.

Sorry to hear that you got hustled by these a**holes. Sad

Oh, and welcome to Eater! Stick around and exact some retribution on these pricks!

EDIT: Ninja'd

Master Baiter Joined: 03 May 2011 Posts: 237

I'm sorry, canbear, but you have been scammed. She is not who she says she is, her uncle is not her uncle, and the travel agent is not a travel agent. They are all accomplices in the scam, and they have likely pocketed the money you sent in good faith.

Some advice and information for you:

You are almost guaranteed to never see that money again.
You are highly recommended to change the e-mail that you registered with to something else. As well as this, you may want to contact a moderator and request a username change (if you have used it anywhere else, and I mean anywhere, on the web).

For information on the scam, and possibly the scammers themselves, you may wish to visit 419Eater's sister site: http://www.scamwarners.com/
I would highly recommend having a good read through of the site, so as to avoid becoming victim again.

As well as this, read this site which is more focussed on the 'baiting' side of scams. As The Monsignor has said above, read the Love/Dating Scams Forum which has scenarios similar to the one you were involved in. You may never get your money back, but you can educate yourself about these scams and other types - such knowledge is a valuable thing to gain, especially after falling victim to these rats.

I really am sorry to hear about your loss. Sad

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:09 pm

PS: Any photos 'she' has sent you will not be of 'her'. They will be lifted from the web, often modelling sites.

Please do go to our sister site, www.scamwarners.com and post details of this scam. (Do read the helpful 'sticky' posts there before you leave your post).

I guess that no-one else can know how you are feeling right now, all I can say is that you have done the right thing in coming here. Many, many others fall for this sort of scam - love/dating scammers are often highly skilled at what they do - and there would be absolutely nothing to feel ashamed or embarrassed about. Some of our own Members have themselves been scammed before joining us.

So, please do hang around, read particularly the Love/Dating sub-forum 'sticky' posts, and perhaps in time, you'll want to sign up for a Mentor, and vent your feelings on other Scammers by 'baiting safely' as we call it.

Meanwhile, look after yourself.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

Her pictures look like her since she skyped with me.

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:19 pm

OK.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

When we skyped, she was in a bedroom.

Master Baiter Joined: 03 May 2011 Posts: 237

Are you in any doubt that this is a scam? It's an honest question.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

yes

Posted: Sun Oct 16, 2011 10:56 pm

^^^ Tell us why you feel that way.

Baiting Guru Joined: 10 Oct 2003 Posts: 4747

I would say without a doubt this is a scam.

The fees seem high and their handling seems to be so informal that no government would allow it.

Travel agents processing VISA applications? Have you even called your countries Embassy in Ghana to check details on what you’re being told? Embassies would be the people you would deal with.

Also who are you asking about ? Anna Winters or Erica Akoto, I am sure any government agency would know the difference between the two names.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Oct 2011 Posts: 11

Thanks buddy.