Problem With A Friend~Love Scam

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 16 Jun 2017 Posts: 5

Ok, I'm not sure if this is the right place to post this but need advice. My BFF and I posted profiles on Eharmony and we were contacted by a scammer. I realized after a few messages when I reverse searched his pictures and they came back to a Ukrainian journalist(I've posted about it on scamwarners and a couple of other scam sites). The problem: Fortunately, I caught it before she could send him any money but she had gotten further in the communication. I stopped emailing and he hasn't pestered me so i guess he has enough other victims. But she has decided to keep talking to him to(not sure exactly, waste his time I'm guessing). I(and another friend) have told her to quit. He doesn't have much information but he has some. He has her email address(not associated with her social media accounts, etc), her first name and city she calls home(she lives in an RV so she's rarely at home, shares home with ex husband, partly the reason she stays gone all the time).
That's not a lot of info to go on. But then I decided to reverse search her pictures and mine just to see. When I did, it traced back to our social media accounts, usernames, her blogs, websites, other email accounts, her ex, a bit more digging, family, rental property, even an ex boyfriend(and his sons, the ex BF lives in one of her rentals) and this rabbit hole just keeps going.

I don't know what to say to her to make her stop this nonsense and stop talking to him. After this experience(and I'm glad it happened with this man that was easy to look up because some might not be) I've now signed up for google voice(she has too) to talk to every man I meet online because you just never know. He could be a scammer, stalker, criminal, who knows? I've also signed up for a new email address and new username to use on dating sites. Never gave it much thought before but I do now.

Anyway, I'm concerned about her safety when/if this scammer realizes he's being strung along. What about me? Safety concerns? I've stopped all contact.
What about the safety of the victims? The ones that refuse to send money? Or can't send but a few dollars? Aren't they in just as much danger? Even though they don't know they're being scammed?

Any advice you can offer as to what I can say to her or websites/articles I can direct her to so she will give this up would be most appreciated. Thank you for listening.

Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 1:34 am

Welcome to Eater. Although it appears your BFF is not a victim, this Sticky is still relevant: ***Victims of Scams*** I would suggest you click the link for more helpful advice. I understand you have already posted at ScamWarners and they are better equipped to advise this particular situation.

We preach baiting in a safe manner. This is to prevent any type of revenge from the scammers. Using your real life information to communicate with someone can have dire consequences. You have seen what can be found with a simple search. Now, imagine what a pissed off scammer might do. You never really know exactly where they are located and even then, they have no qualms with doing this:

http://fox8.com/2017/05/23/police-elyria-high-lockdown-was-due-to-swatting-incident/

https://consumerist.com/2016/02/11/diabolical-irs-phone-scammers-call-swat-team-tell-victim-theyre-there-to-collect/
http://wjla.com/news/crime/irs-scammers-swatting-against-people-who-discover-their-phone-schemes-114088
http://wavy.com/2014/09/16/police-irs-scammers-responsible-for-hoax-swat-call/
http://www.postbulletin.com/news/crime/scammer-gets-revenge-with-bomb-threat/article_b6f83e37-4adf-52be-8327-9bf366f23089.html

Drop all contact immediately and ignore all further attempts at contact. Do know they may try and contact you with alternative IDs.

Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:29 am

^^^ Heads up. I am going to steal this but with credit to you.

Posted: Sat Jun 17, 2017 2:46 am

^^^No credit is necessary. These are happening more and more and just another reason to drop all contact with a scammer that comes into contact with your real life contact info.

It's all fun and games until this is the daughter of someone who simply refuses to stop communicating with a known criminal:

Happy early Eaterversary, TMF.

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