Scam or not? Your thoughts please

Hi everyone

I'm new here and I thought I'd ask for some perspective. I'm compassionate by nature but also protective of my finances. Here's my situation:

I met a Philippine woman through an online dating site about 4 years ago. We weren't a match at all, but we've stayed in touch with emails and Facebook and basically stayed friends. She has never asked for any money from me but she did recently tell me about some difficulty she's been having with her tutoring business. I'd like to help her, because it's not really that much money for me, and also I'd think if she was a scammer she would've asked for money by now. I doubt a scammer would be willing to wait so long in the hopes that a small amount of money would be given without asking. But maybe I'm wrong...

I have video chatted with her via Skype in the past so I can match her profile pictures to her. The one odd thing I can't quite figure out is that all of her friends on Facebook are hidden, so it's hard for me to confirm some things she's mentioned to me. She might be hiding that information from me so I can't see other scam targets or simply because she's interacting with other men via Facebook and prefers to keep that private.

So should I be generous or hold back? Any thoughts? Thanks for your help.

We do not have enough information to advise.

Our basic response is to never send money to someone you met over the internet.

You may want to search "pinay scams".

thanks for the suggestion, I'll look at that.

I think my main question is: would a scammer bother to wait so long for money without asking?
any other information I could offer that might make it easier to advise?

Pinays are notorious for having internet friends, and complete families at home including husbands and children. They know there is nothing you can do to get your money back, and they take complete advantage of that.

while this general statement will not apply to every filipina you will ever meet, the group that is does apply to is much larger than you might think

When I read your post, immediately red flags went up. I was a victim. This person mayb e ligit. the fact that the friends are hidden is very suspicious

IMO,

No one on the internet I never met face to face is safe for me to send my money. "maybe" does not work for me.

Op, is dealing with Pinay not a typical Nigerian scammer or European scammer.