Romance scammer

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 13 Apr 2017 Posts: 1

Hi everyone
I have just learned that my mother has fallen victim to a romance scam and has given the person/person's £5000 which has left her with no car or savings.
I want to cause some problems for the people involved so my question is what can be done? I have got a conversation started with the email address that my mother gave me so the ice has been broken.

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:15 am

Hi Masonx3,

Sorry about what happened to your mom. I hope that if you choose to bait this pile of dung yourself, you are doing it safely as per all the forum rules (see the stickies). Personally, I would advise you against baiting this particular scammer and leave it to other baiters with more experience so as to learn to bait safely and well first (it takes time to do this well if you really want to learn how to do this). You have to bait with a completely made-up identity, including a fresh new baiter email address, a made-up mailing address (if need be), and so on... It is imperative that the scammer cannot trace you back, nor your mother. Your mother should completely stop corresponding with this scammer ASAP and so should you if you are not baiting safely.

If I were you, I would not bait the scammer but rather add the scammer's details to the ScamWarners website and to the "Surplus 419 scam letters" section of this website. Many baiters will bait scammers found in these places. Also, read this - information for romance scam victims: https://www.scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=18484

By adding the scammer onto ScamWarners, the scammer will become searchable, so other potential victims who could look up the scammer's name and/or email will not fall in the same trap as your mom. Also, the crime should be reported to the authorities; they likely won't do much about it, but it doesn't hurt. Also, review the information your mother has given to these scammers. See the link from ScamWarners for more detail on what info is not too problematic (name, address, phone number, photos) and what info is problematic (credit card number, bank account information, passwords).

Furthermore, these scammers may try to re-scam your mother later, possibly with a brand-new romance scam or a "recovery" scam. Once again, the best action is for your mom to completely ignore any unwarranted emails. If the scammer tries to re-scam your mom and your mom doesn't answer, he will eventually get tired and stop sending crap.

Hope this helps,

LW

Posted: Fri Apr 14, 2017 6:29 am

Baiting for revenge is not a good idea - you will not think rationally and could make mistakes that link your bait to your mother and the scammer could decide to take revenge on her. The best thing to do is drop your bait and also ensure that your mother is no longer in contact with the scammer - she also needs to be aware of other attempts to scam her, such as claiming to be able to get the original scammer arrested or get her money back (for a fee).

Also, post up the scammer's details on ScamWarners as LadWarrior suggested. If you have emails giving details of how/where your mother paid the £5,000, post them up as well - or PM them to a Moderator here or at Scamwarners, with brief details of the scammer (fake name, email address, etc.).

Elite Baiter Joined: 28 Mar 2015 Posts: 1916

If you are in the UK, please do contact Action Fraud Police UK. Their telephone number and email address are online and they are keen for anyone to contact them who have suffered cyber crime.

They have, in the past, worked well with the police in Ghana to trace and bring to justice a man who scammed a woman in the UK out of her life savings, her home and more, besides. That is only one case which they have successfully pursued.

They may not be able to find the man who scammed your mum, but there is much they can do to help and they want to.

Good luck.