Hello.

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.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:40 am

Hello everyone, i have just joined your site and thought i would introduce myself, my name is Steve a live in Wales and am self employed, i decided to join here after a good friend of mine was scammed for 20500 pounds by some conmen, but i guess i should post that elsewhere? anyway just wanted to say HI Smile

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:45 am

Welcome to eater! This is as good place as any to post that and I am obviously sorry to hear about your friends loss.

The advice is read those stickies and then bait safe. Find a mentor if you need a hand.

Happy hunting but make sure you don't get too involved. Revenge is sweet and all but just take a step back and make sure your judgement isn't clouded and that you are administering prolonged pain to these low lifes.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:45 am

Hello, welcome to 419eater. The way you found us sucks Sad

but the fact that you found us is great Very Happy

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 1:06 pm

WELCOME WB.pull up a chair, grab a cup of coffee, read the stickies, get a mentor, bait safe, have fun and forget about having any free time ...EVER AGAIN Laughing

Trophy Videos · Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:16 pm

Welcome to eater, Steve! ^^All that, and above all, bait safe, and enjoy the fun! Very Happy

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:19 pm

Welcome to Eater & Happy Valentine's Day Very Happy

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 3:46 pm

@Welsh Boy - welcome to Eater! I'm glad that you found us, but I'm sorry that it was a con that brought you here.

To help you get started, I have listed some links below. Read the posts in these forums, and you will get a good idea of what we do here. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Very Happy

Forum Rules and FAQ

Scambaiting Ethics

If you are interested in becoming a scambaiter, here is where you can request a Mentor.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:05 pm

Thank you everyone for the welcome Smile

it is most appreciated, i have done a bit of reading here and i have to say, you guys are great in the way you get some of these scum back, can i post the story about my friend here?

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

Welcome ( in spite of the rugby score at the weekend)

^ they've said it all stickies, read, be safe, etc etc

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:20 pm

Welcome Welsh boy. Nice to have you with us.

Welsh boy wrote:

...can i post the story about my friend here?

It's great to hear stories about victims. It helps us all to see what we're working against. Feel free! Not that you would, but please don't reveal any personal details about your friend.

You might also consider directing your friend to ScamWarners.com. That site is dedicated to helping victims and raising awareness. Posting there might be helpful to other potential victims if they come across it.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:26 pm

I dont know really where to begin this story, but ill start from the day i met Maureen, i was contacted in November 2007 by a lady to give a quote for modifications to her house, the quote was accepted so work began, this job is a long project and work is still ongoing.

During the course of the work i got talking to Maureen and we became very friendly, Maureen was a nurse all her life untill she retired at age 60 eight years ago, her husband died three years ago so she is living on her own, during a conversation in November she told me about a gentleman she was in daily contact with through the internet (msn), she has been in daily contact with this gentleman since February 2007, this man claimed to be a U.S army officer currently serving in Iraq, i did not think much about it really but she admitted that she had fallen in love with him and that he had proposed to her.

Fast forward to Saturday 9th February 2008, i was busy when Maureen asked if i would do her a favour and run her into the local town so that she could go to the bank, at this point in time me and Maureen had become quite good friends, she told me thst this man wanted to fly from Iraq to the U.K to visit her but had problems with his bank in the USA, he asked Maureen if she would lend him 10.000 British pounds?, i begged Maureen to reconsider this because i believed he was a conman, after some persuasion she decided to reconsider, now at this point i contacted a friend who is in the U.S army and is in Iraq, after exchanging a few PMs i was back at Maureens yesterday morning and armed with some info that my friend had provided me with i presented it to her, she then showed me another message from this man in which he asked for a further 50.000 british pounds, he claimed that the U.S Military had forwarded his belongings to a safe vault in a bank at Ghana and that he would need her to send the money there so that his possesions would be forwarded to her, now she believed what i was saying and agrreed that he was a conman i persuaded her to contact the police, Maureen was so upset that i contacted the police on her behalf, i was told that because no money was sent a crime had not been committed but they would send an officer to speak to her, when hearing this Maureen became very upset and cried terribly, she went upstairs and returned with an envelope that she handed to me, i opened it and inside were four money transfers to a bank in Ghana totalling 20.500 british pounds, i couldnt believe what i was seeing and contacted the police with this new information, they are currently investigating this case.

Maureen is a lovely old lady who has worked hard all her life, it makes me mad, sad and feeling totally useless that this person could do this to her.

Steve.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:34 pm

That's VERY unfortunate Sad

We do try to do our best to keep these scumbags away from innocent people...but they outnumber us.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:36 pm

Thanks for sharing that. What a heart breaker.

I hope she realizes how lucky she is to have a friend like you. Sadly, there is almost no chance she will ever get her money back. You'll read a lot of posts here about how stupid scammers are, but the fact is, most of them know exactly what they are doing. They use throw away cell phones, untraceable email addresses, and of course fake names and locations in their correspondence.

When they find a victim who is willing to pay, they will not stop until they get every last cent. If they get that far, they will encourage their victim to sell their belongings, mortgage their homes, borrow from friends and relatives, or commit crimes. Usually with the false promise that everything will be fine once the big payday comes.

Edit to add: You might want to warn her about recovery scams. When they think one of their victims has wised up, they will often impersonate some sort of law enforcement agency and offer to get their money back. This will of course require endless fees, and is just another scam.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 7:56 pm

Hiya

Luckey has made a very good point. Recovery scams whereby your friend will reieve a mail from someone claiming to be able to recover the money for her - for a fee. Total scam, complete load of lies and bollocks. I hope you enjoy your stay.

BTW, it's good to see another sheep shagger join the forum. At this rate we'll be able to take the site over some time in the next century.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 8:08 pm

Thanks for the tips guys i will pass these on to Maureen, LOL sheep shagger Very Happy

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Mar 2007 Posts: 2628

^^
The time to worry is when they substitute "goat" for "sheep"

Not quite a Newb Joined: 17 Jan 2008 Posts: 54

I read an article in Navy Times (weekly paper full of US navy news and rumors) about these type of scams. They take pictures from service members blogs and such to send to victims. Some even said the money was needed as a refundable deposit to ensure they would return to duty in a combat zone. The lads would then pose as the service members reporting senior and arrange payment. When the service member never shows up, the victim contacts the reporting senior only to be told that Sgt So and So was killed in an attack.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 9:46 pm

If you could get the lad's e-mail address from Maureen we would be delighted to make contact with him, hopefully the box is still open. I am sure that there are members here who would enjoy a little chat with this new found friend. Twisted Evil

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:04 pm

I have four e-mail addys that this person uses plus a mobile phone number that he uses to contact her on, i am afraid to use them because the police have advised Maureen to act as normal for the time being, this man still believes that Maureen is going to send the 50,000 pounds to him.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 10:18 pm

Sad story indeed. And welcome to the site, stories like yours help fuel the mission here.

As for that scammer. Let me give a few tips for future reference for anyone who may know someone possibly falling for one of these Iraq scams.

1. Lads claiming they need money to fly out of Iraq to visit their potential vicitm.

Not true, Militiary flies you into Iraq on their dime, they also fly you back out on their dime.

2. Lads claiming they have no money after being in Iraq, as they don't get paid.

Not true, Uncle Sam does not want irate soldiers who have no will to do as they are told. They will be paid on time. Four things you do not screw with in the military. Finance, Supply, Mess, Automation/Commo.

3. Lads claiming Uncle Sam won't give their equipment back or what not, and the need $$$ to get it back.

Not true, Uncle Sam owns their equipment for the most part, and by contract for all intents and purposes. They own them.

4. Lads have money they "found" that needs to be be moved out of country.

Right, That is such Hollywood BS. In real life Everything coming in and out of any Military Operation via military is searched. No one in there right mind would risk their career for a "trunkbox" that they will only get a small percentage for, compared to the life sentence they will get in Ft. Leavenworth.

Posted: Thu Feb 14, 2008 11:57 pm

Welcome to the forum Welsh boy. Sorry to hear about what happened to Maureen, hope you can at least make some lads pay in part for it.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 10:57 am

Question for the Mods, given that the Police are investigating, and we already have our own suspicions as to how well they'll do, would it be in order for us to have the addies and phone, given that he is most likely scamming others as well, or do you think we should hold off for a while.

My current thought is that a Mod has a look at the addies and see if this is a known Lad that could benefit from our attention from different directions?
Even if that were to be from those more skilled in the art of apprehension and subtle baiting rather than a general free for all.

If a safari expert could have him travel to a suitable location maybe, just maybe, we could drop him in the laps of the 'right people'

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:21 pm

Welcome to Eaters Welsh Boy. I am sorry to hear about Maureen. My deepest wish is that the powers that be would start running "public service announcements" about scams and scamming. Here in the USA we get PSAs on radio and tv concerning drug abuse, physical abuse, mental illness, child molestation, etc. Why can't someone start running ads about scams and scamming? It makes sense to me.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 5:54 pm

Thanks again for all the advice given to me here, i have learnt a lot in the short time i have been here, i would be prepared to give a moderator the addies plus the telephone numbers if they could be of any help, i have been reading through the letter archives and you wont believe how much i laughed at the stupidity of some of these scammers, but it also goes to show how low these people really are, for those in the UK there is a documentary on at eight oclock tonight about Nigerian scammers.

Posted: Fri Feb 15, 2008 6:34 pm

Welcome WB, sorry to hear about Maureen. With a bit of luck we'll have a mass bait going to cause this guy some anguish..

Oh, and i'll be watching that program. I've always wanted to have a try at romance baits.