John R. Buckingham(helochef)

I met this guy on Equallymatched.com, a Christian dating site. helochef is is user name and he also uses that as his email most times (helochef@hotmail being one). I posted this same warning in another area on here, so please bear with me if you already saw it on there; I'm new on here. He is a helicopter mechanic and also claims to be an inspector. In the past 8 months, he has worked in Las Vegas, Portland and upstate New York. I believe he is in Portland at this time. He claims to be a widower with a grown daughter that is suppose to live here in Florida. This guy is smooth; and the best liar I have ever encountered in my whole life! He set me up so good! I was so embarrassed about this whole thing until a volunteer from this site contacted me and asked me to come on here and tell my story. Then I thought about him doing what he did ; I surely don't want him to hurt anyone else if I can stop him. About 3 months into our "relationship" (we had only communicated by phone), he had just started a new assignment and was in a "jam" due to the IRS freezing his accounts and not being able to contact his employer, ya-da, ya-da, etc. Could I send $150.00 so he could get electricity turned on to place where he was suppose to stay? And it snowballed from there into thousands of dollars. I still look back at it and wonder how I fell for all the lies he told. But I realize there are thousands of intelligent competent people with good hearts who did just what I did. AND, he kept playing the "Christian" card on me; he knew the Bible good enough so that I felt confident he was saved like me and as a Christian, it was the right thing for me to do (to help him out). It still seems like a bad nightmare that I hope I'll wake up from. I pray everyday for his salvation and for God to help me deal with the financial blow I have taken. So far, He is and I praise Him daily for the blessings He gives me.
Thanks to all who man this site; you're doing a huge service to the public! And you can bet if I meet anyone else through a dating site; I'll check on here to see if their name pops up!!!

Welcome to Scamwarners biirrd and I wish it was under better circumstances.

I am sorry that this liar and scammer has caused you upset and pain.

The support team here are happy to help you and answer any question or concerns you have.

By posting this scammers details here you will help alert others and save them from losing money.

Please do not post any of your personal details, your online safety is also our priority.

Here is a useful guide click here to what steps to take and what to be aware of after being scammed.

Howdy Biird, I'm sorry to hear you got scammed and through such a horrible format. I really dislike love scams.

The best news I've heard all day is that you're not feeling stupid or embarrassed. That's the hardest thing for us to get across to a victim.

Please read up on some of the other scams that we deal with and look out for money recovery scams.

Biirrd, welcome to Scamwarners!

I'm glad you found your way here. Kudos to the volunteer who contacted you.

Don't give up on finding the right one - just take it slowly and check everyone out thoroughly.

Can you post more information about this guy? You said you spoke with him on the phone. Do you have a phone number for him? Did he speak with an accent? Do you have any emails from him that you could post here? As The Enchantress said, when you post them, be sure to delete anything that could point to you.

While it's possible that he is in Portland, that would be very unusual. As you can see from most of the postings here, romance scammers are seldom where they say they are.

Keep your spirits up, biirrd, and don't let him ruin your life any more.

I am sorry that being scammed has brought you here, but now you have a chance to help prevent him from being able to scam others.

The more information posted here, the better. Phone numbers, emails (preferably with full headers if he was using hotmail--just xxx out your address), and chat logs will improve the odds that another potential victim will find out before he is too late. They will help us to try to identify where he really is (for example, if his phone number starts with some exchanges in the 206 area code, he is likely not in the US at all, as these are web-based free numbers). They will also help us to make sure his scripts are captured.

Here are some phone numbers John Buckingham has used; the first is the most recent and most used.
503-954-9236 315-863-6349 315-344-9112 The email address he was using was [email protected] and [email protected] the hotmail address was the most commonly used. He is registered with the FAA as a helicopter mechanic. Would it be possible for me to file any kind of complaint through them?
Thanks.
Robin

Thanks biird

The more information we have here the more likely it is that a potential victim will be warned.

I'm sorry to hear about Buckingham still being in circulation. You are one of many, many, many this con artist has duped. He dooped me for thousands, too. As he did many folks while he was running his scam here in Alaska. I personally have cost him every job that I've known about since leaving Alaska. I have lost contact with where he might be at this time. I have a very extensive file on Buckingham, and I promise you any employer will not retain him once I contact them and forward what I have on this guy. If anyone out there can provide reliable information as to his whereabouts, I guarantee you he will not be able to stay employed there. There are many of us here in Alaska and beyond that feel for you. I will follow up with the phone numbers listed here by another poster and see if he is currently employed. thanks for the info.......

Hi Fourwair

Welcome to Scamwarners,

I have spent some time looking into this with another of our advisors and we suspect that you perhaps should change your user name to prevent your own identity from being compromised.

Second, as far as we know this person only uses fake details, if you could post up the headers we can get an idea of where he is, while his early emails may help us to identify other identities used.

If you dont know how to post headers, please let us know what email providor you used to receive the emails from this person and we can give you instructions on pulling up headers which will help us to tell in most cases where the email came from.

If you have any questions at all, please ask

Dear fourwair,
I'm curious as to the scam he was running there in Alaska; I know he told me he had spent time there; was it a romance scam as well, or more to do with his employment as a helicopter mechanic? He still answers that 503 area code phone...at least he did as of about 3 weeks ago. Maybe you know the answer to this; is there some way I can file a complaint against him with the FAA?
biirrd

I don't think there is anything the FAA can do about this. In fact, one of the top FAA inspectors in the state of Alaska was one of the people who got taken for several thousand. Basically, Buckingham didn't violate any of the laws that the FAA governs. I have thought about it and I will try to get an address on him. That is the only FAA law that I can imagine he has violated. As a certificated mechanic he has to maintain a current address on file with the FAA. Bingo, we can either get a current address on him OR if he has not kept it current MAYBE we can at least get his certificate jerked.

I raised the question about the FAA because I was thinking maybe along the lines of unethical conduct; he borrowed money from me to pay for supplies, parts, fuel, etc. for a "job" that he was supposed to be doing in Portland and thru a set of amazing circumstances, he had no access to money, employer couldn't be reached, company credit card was stolen....etc.....So my thinking is, he's using his position as a FAA licensed mechanic to bilk people for money. Yeah, I'd be thrilled if they'd yank his license....it would be some justice.

I worked with this guy in Tunisia .He lied and scammed pretty much everybody he met.Including me.Dont know how he got his lic. to work on helicopters Didnt seem to know much about them.His resume looked like a rap sheet including 2 years missing from resume,after background check found out he was in prison.I helped get him fired.Total scumbag.

Thanks for your post. At least you verified the stories he told me of working in Tunisia. 2 years in jail? Wow....had no idea about that. However, I was able to supply the district atty. in Portland Oregon with some info that helped lead to his arrest. He had scammed some guy out there and the man contacted me through this site to see if I could provide pics for ID. I doubt if he did much time....but anything that will keep him from scamming anyone is a plus. I'm totally amazed at all the people who have come out of nowwhere and had the same sad tale to tell of this dirtbag.

Buckingham is now confirmed in Portland, OR from April 2013 to Dec 2013 using [email protected]