Woman Duped by Lad on Dr. Phil Show

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Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:42 pm

On yesterday's Dr. Phil Show (US talk show) a woman who had been conned out of over $175,000 USD was on. (seemed to be a combination of a love and lotto lad)

I watched most of this show and the amazing thing to me was how this woman (who seemed intelligent, rational, etc.) continued to believe the lad's story even after the host brought out piece after piece of evidence showing he was a fraud (the show proved he was really in Nigeria not where he claimed, that his IDs were fake, that the construction site picutes he sent did not fit the story he told, and on and on). The lad even asked her who she was when she called him on camera (wouldn't you recognize the voice of the woman you loved who had given you that much money?)

The woman had sent the lad money to fly and be on the show with her to prove her friends and relatives he was who he said he was. Of course, he had an excuse for not showing (and double of course, he kept the money).

At the end it did not appear she was convinced she was the victim of fraud (she said she would not send him any more money because she had no more).

Although I have seen similar stories, it always strikes me how convinced some people get of these lad's stories (while we laugh at their efforts).

Too bad we don't have this lad's details to bait.

Here is a link to more information and clips if you are interested.

http://www.drphil.com/shows/show/1984

Posted: Thu Feb 21, 2013 8:52 pm

IM_Dumm wrote:

Too bad we don't have this lad's details to bait.

Would it be OK for a mod or admin to approach the show to try and obtain the lads details?

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 14

Hi, newbie here. I saw the show too. I had already been crushing the forum with my husband for laughs. ( I found this forum after I received a letter from the Nigerian government saying I'm due millions in scam reparations, all I needed to do was pay a few hundred dollars for the ATM/debit card in order to access my new wealth). That show was one of the reasons I decided to make an account and troll the "Nigerian government".

She met him on match.com. I'm sure he wouldn't be too hard to find on there.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 5:27 am

This lad has been, or could been baited by some one here already. There are plenty of romance lads, every lad you can bait is helping our couse. Lotto lads and the standard AFF lads are just as bad and can ruin people's lives too. On Scamwarners we have the occasional victim who just can't be convinced that they are scammed, despite the fact they posted their story on the forums. Just like this lady, who went to this show to tell her story but couldn't be convinced. Lads know how to "brainwash" a victim in believing everything the lad says is true, and in case family or friends get involved to warn the victim of the scam, the lad just simply tells the victim to break with family and friends. Especially romance scam victims can be very hard to convince they are scammed.

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 21 Feb 2013 Posts: 14

Oh she knew. You could see it in her face. She just didn't want to believe it. You could tell how lonely she was. All she wanted was a man to write her a poem. I would feel more sorry for her if she didn't steal from her son and family to give this lad money. It's a character flaw on her part as much as the lads. Its kind of hard to feel empathy for somebody who stole from their own kid.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:38 pm

^ I didn't see the whole show and missed the part about her stealing money from family to give to the lad. I did hear her talk about him trying to get several million dollars.

^^ Not sure I agree that she was convinced in the end. I think the logical part of her brain knew it was a scam, but another part of her had invested too much to give up on the dream.

Posted: Fri Feb 22, 2013 12:53 pm

Pinkynthebrain wrote:

It's a character flaw on her part as much as the lads. Its kind of hard to feel empathy for somebody who stole from their own kid.

Desperate people do desperate things.... It's not a character flaw if one is desperate. When you are homeless and you have nothing to eat, you might shoplift, feel bad about yourself - but you were desperate enough.

It's all about how you feel afterwards - it's character flaw when you feel good after doing bad things.

And after you had already invested money, time & energy in a lad, and you still believe it will all be returned, that the lad will pay you after all then you might consider it. "I'll take couple grand from my son and then I'll give him three times as more"

And later on, when you are in debts etc. you still persuade the idea that the lad is going to pay you at the end of it because you HOPE it's like that. It's your only hope to pay all those people back, get all the money back and make everything right.

Elite Baiter Joined: 19 Jun 2011 Posts: 1066

^ That's why lads are disgusting. They don't just steal a person's money. They ruin relationships, break up families, and crush hopes amd dreams with nary a second thought for the damage they're causing. They see a victim's money as their money, just unfortunately in someone else's pocket at the moment. They are sociopaths.

Posted: Sat Feb 23, 2013 4:10 am

The hard part for me is seeing the denial. They can't admit even to themselves that they're being scammed, because they've invested so much and they have to believe that it hasn't all gone to waste. It can't be real without being devastating, so their mind makes it impossible to be real. In my profession I see these same kinds of reality-warping defenses all the time. Sad

Baiting Guru Joined: 19 Apr 2007 Posts: 3123

Very sad indeed, can only hope the below is true:

'Recent Dr. Phil guest Dawn, who admits she had given her online boyfriend, David, $30,000, says that since appearing on the show, she has spoken to David once, telling him that she knows he's a scam artist. “He denied it, told me never to call him again,” she says. “Since then, I haven’t called him, and I haven’t sent him any more money.” She says she was sad when she found out that David wasn’t real. “But now that I know the truth, I’m just getting on with my life.”'

However, not sure how 'expert' the ex-military investigator the show hired is - in the UK, the 'DMV' do not take their own pictures, nor do the passport people. You pay £5 to sit in a booth, get the correctly sized pictures and send them off to these agencies on your own.

(Yes, I understand they might have lied to her to get her to understand it was all a scam, but still - not technically accurate).

Posted: Sun Feb 24, 2013 2:58 am

I'm reluctant to believe that 419eater peeps do not know that these shows are scripted.

Dr. Phill, Dr. Oz, and the a$$hole of all shows, (deleted)

http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-secrets-making-reality-tv-they-dont-want-you-to-know/

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