Statistics tell such a sad tale.

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Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 4:20 am

Ok, so I'm a bit of a statistics freak but they do make interesting reading at times.
Over my time I must have contacted hundreds of Russian women and actually started out searching seriously for my othet half from overseas. After many disappointments however I bumped into my lover and best friend in the frozen section of my local supermarket, lol.
Anyhoo the past few months have been really interesting and frankly alarmingly shocking if indeed anyone was really still trying to find their soulmates in Russia.
Last 6 months I have contacted 288 women from Russia, out of those 288 30 did not reply to my initial contact leaving 258. From those 258 35 did not continue the correspondence past 2 letters so that left 223 women I corresponded with on a regular basis over the past 3 months, exchanging photo's and interesting facts about ourselves, our families and our cities and countries. Truly sadly out of those 223 women it turned out that 212 of them requested money for continuation of correspondence with me paying for translation of emails or paying for their internet cafe usage, requested money for a Visa and plane ticket, needed money for an operation, had to visit their sick mother urgently and could not afford to get to her and could I help pay for the travelling and various other scams!!!
That left 11 "genuine" Russian women searching for their soulmates overseas and I dare say some of those are slowly biding their time before requesting money from me, let's say half of them to be generous?
So that would leave out of 288 Russian women I contacted only 5 who have the POSSIBILITY of actually being genuinely searching for real love.
I find this all so terribly disappointing and extremely sad, dating services inundated with scammers and only a mere handful of genuine women actually looking for their one true loves. And how many of them miss out of finding their mates because the guys they correspond with have either been burnt by a scammer in the past and doesn't trust or believe in them or the guys have simply given up looking over there because of all the scammers.
It burns the fires within me to make these scammers suffer badly for their contempt of lonely hearted men and I shall continue to make their lives a living hell. This site and you my fellow baiters serves such a purpose in making more people aware of these scammers and actually affecting the way they operate. The scammers are no longer making the killings they used to and pretentiously maybe I think we should claim some small credit for that.
At this time of year when loneliness strikes hardest and deepest in the hearts of the lovelorn and lonely is when these scammers really turn the screws so we should remain forever vigilant. Kudos to you all, keep fighting the good fight, for every scammer we expose perhaps one poor lonely guy is spared the torment of being taken by one of them for all his money and having his heart broken and his dreams dashed.
Cheers and happy New Years to all and a safe and healthy and happy holiday season for you and yours.

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:21 am

Thanks for sharing that, Tarquin.

As a mod on a victim support site, I know only too well the devastation and harm these scammers can cause to innocent people.

The fact is that, as you rightly point out, during the Holliday season, loneliness can feel much worse to some, and the scammers exploit this all they can.

In fact, they exploit anything - webcam sessions they can use for blackmail purposes, religion, the victim's ill health - I recently was told of a scammer who wrote, in pretty much these words "Well, you're ill, you're not going to be around for much longer. Might as well leave your money to me" Evil or Very Mad

Truly, nothing matters to them except money.

And it is such a shame, Tarquin, that of all those women, only 5 appear to be legitimate.

Mind you, as I keep saying, the more we can educate others to the scammers' ways, tactics etc, then we can deprive the scammers of what they need most - victims who don't know they're out there.

TG

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 10:41 am

Thank you for your honesty and insights Tarquin. It takes courage to reveal your painful experiences in such a 'personal' yet public forum and for that you get my full respect and empathy. I can't say anything that will change anything but the mere fact that you have come to the realisation that these utterly ruthless scammers are out there means you will be spared any further heartache and if you can spread the word to other vulnerable lonely hearts they might also avoid being manipulated and disappointed too. I'd like to add that despite your experiences there ARE some genuine people out there looking for love. Now you know the scammers tricks you can avoid the obvious and perhaps find a genuine soulmate. Good luck!

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 11:12 am

It's something we sadly see all too often nowadays. The best tactic is to post up as much information on a scammer as you have. Pictures, emails and headers posted on sites let people who have enough smarts to do some Googling on their new love find out exactly what they really are.

Posted: Sat Dec 30, 2006 12:32 pm

Jeez I knew it wasn't great out there but I never knew to what extent, thats 1.8% of those out there are genuine.
It would be interesting to see what impact we made on the percentages over a year, if we all made a concerted effort to nail these scammers.
Plus making the "innocent" more aware of what the modus of these Vlads looks like before they part with their cash and get hit where it hurts (no not the wallet!!)
Its amazing how many people are unaware of these scams, I didn't have a 'scooby's' until I came across a reference in a thread on another site, and no one in my office was aware until I started talking about what I was getting up to on those dark evenings!! (Baiting not the other stuff!!!).
I have pointed a few in the direction of "Eater" so they can have a laugh at the trophy room but also so that they might read for themselves at what goes on and maybe join in.

Happy New Year to you all

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:05 am

This kind of scamming is not as low as they go. There are threads on this board where they've gone to other depths as well.

If I were to say they're scum, I'd have a lawyer from the Scum Anti-Defamation League calling me on line 2 Smile

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:00 pm

Well said Tarquin and good for you.

I'd add to this. I have a very good friend, and he is one of the smartest and wisest people I know, but unfortunately, single and in his late forties or early fifties, he tends to be lead by his heart, or more crudely and accurately, by his prick. A couple of years ago he became involved in an internet romance with a Russian woman (yes she was a woman and she did exist) through one of these agencies. After a short period of time, and because he was cynical and sensible, he arranged to go to see her in Russia.

After a time or a few times, they 'fell in lurve', or rather, he became totally besotted with her, and he went through hoops and hurdles to get her and her child into the UK. Once there, she wasted no time in going off with an older and richer man whom she already knew. There is more to it than this, I've just outlined the bare bones. I don't know if this was her long term plan or if it 'just happened' but it does add to the general concern that one might have.

I have travelled a lot in Eastern Europe, both on business and holiday, and you can meet some of the most charming and wonderful people there, who are genuine and sincere. If someone is looking for a partner, I would sincerely suggest a trip to almost any of the old eastern bloc (especially Romania and Poland, my personal favourites) with an open mind, as a means to achieving this. Even if you don't meet someone, you will have a great holiday and it will restore your faith in humanity.

*** BANNED *** Joined: 02 Jan 2006 Posts: 2021

Those stats are well interesting Shocked

Yep thats all i got to say

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 5:55 pm

I did not enter romance baiting looking for a real lady.

Initially, I limited my baits to tried and proven locations to find scammers.

Later I ventured into riskier areas, like chat!

I have met many scammers, or questionable ladies on chat, but a few very nice ones.

I was invloved with a nice asian lady for a long time, but things weren't going to work out. I pointed her to a SAFE dating site, and helped her setup a decent profile, and she recently married a good man.
Hooray!!

In the process of working chat scammers, I bump into a lot of ladies who seem to be in too much of a hurry to marry somebody in the US.
Be wary!

There are some decent ladies in poor countries,looking for a husband in a better place who aren't intending to dump him once they arrive.
I don't know how you identify them? It's a gamble.

Be careful!!

If you meet somebody who you are interested in, be prepared to meet her. I do use 'baiter tactics' to determine is she is real.
Check email headers
Get her on cam
Mail a modest gift to her home address, see if she gets it.
Set an extended time frame for marriage, if it will happen.
"I will come to meet you but not marry you in your country."
For US citizens, a 'fiancee' visa is safest. You will be out some money, and there is a waiting period, but when the lady arrives here, she can stay, if you marry. It also gives you some time to spend with you here.
If you get pushed into a marriage in a foriegn country, there are other problems!

I wasn't really looking for a real lady when I started baiting, but have run into some nice ones who were worth gambling on. (I am single)
I've also done enough victim work to realize there are many risks, even if you can't see obvious scammer traits.

I'm going to put my percentage of ladies really looking a little higher......but from my experience on chat/IM.

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 7:33 pm

@Tarquin9- Nicely done mate! Very insightful and very well stated. Thumbs up

Posted: Sun Dec 31, 2006 10:38 pm

I've heard a lot of cautionary tales about Eastern Europeans looking for husbands. I have a friend who tends to fall head over heels in love after 2 dates and he's recently met and got engaged to a Russian in the space of about 6 weeks. She's in Australia on a temporary visa, possibly even a 3 month tourist visa (she's very vague about it) and she's busy spending Mr Sucker's money setting up their love nest and arranging to ship her mother and brother here once she gets the ring on her finger. As a natural cynic I think her motives are entirely dodgy and other people agree, but Mr Lovestruck is completely besotted and this woman knows exactly how to keep him that way (and not just in the bedroom). She cooks, cleans and generally treats him like a prince. I suspect this will change once her mother arrives to live with the happy couple. I've tried to warn him but he won't listen and he's determined to go ahead ASAP. Then she'll have a baby and Mr Gullible's fate will be sealed.

Posted: Mon Jan 01, 2007 12:04 am

Vanndickey wrote:

@Tarquin9- Nicely done mate! Very insightful and very well stated. Thumbs up

I'll ditto that!

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