[email protected]

It all began when I signed up for a dating site just for the hell of it. I wasn't really expecting anyone to ping me so quickly, but this guy found me after only 24 hours.

He presented himself as John Antonio, and that he is american, 36 yrs old, widowed and has a daughter of 5 yrs old and that he lives in Las Vegas in Nevada.

I thought that was all pretty cool until he showed me his pics..
too hot a man to be asking me out for a date..
Pics

Then he tells me that he is out of the states on a Work project.. I ask him where.. and after many lost posts he says that he's in Nigeria. I don't really get any straight answer from him.. he claims that he doesn't see my posts on msn..(which I didnt save for that matter) and since I'm not really into waiting hours for this guy to finally make a post I tell him to email me instead.. which he does and more is revealed that way..

He tells me that he has worked for the US Marine Corps.. making supplies etc.. and was now into Construction.
That he lived at a hotel.. he and his daughter, Katie..
I asked him how he coped work with a child on his journeys, I also asked him how he spends time with her and how does he plan on her future when she'll be soon of age to begin school.

He told me that he takes Katie with him everywhere and that each time I was 'talking' to him that the child was down in the hotel lobby playing with other children. And that he would be homeschooling her. Poor kid.

Anyways, he had sent me the first two images of his hot gorgeous self.. (fake images in link) and I had asked him to prove to me that he did have a child with him.. I was already getting red flags at that stage.. and he finally sent me a photo.. last pic on that linked page.. note.. the guy in the photo isnt the same dude as the first two pics.. LOL

I then go on asking him where he is born.. he claims he is born in Dallas, Texas but his first few years of life he spent in Spain with his folks. This of course to smooth over the definate african accent he had on the phone, not that I could hear much of what he said because the line was breaking up all the time anyhows.
I was the one who called him.. wasn't a cheap call.. but it's the last I will be calling to any african country.
If anyone's interested it is 00234 803 247 1254

I did try a google search on the number but I came up with nothing.

He then tells me that he would like to spend New Year in Europe.. and I suggest to him why not come to Sweden? Even if I do meet the guy, at least I could show him around Stockholm.. maybe loose him in some gaybar if I don't like him.

So, he's like OK with that.. and I'm not Cool.. that was until he told me he was running into problems.. with his monthly payment.. :red flag:

He wouldn't be paid before 26th December.. I told him, well, wait then..
He mailed me then telling me he had paid 1100 Euros to his agent for fees and Visa.. and that he would be needing another 450 Euros for the flight ticket.. and that he would have to wait until 5th January for his next pay..
:blink:
I told him that he would have to wait until he get his next pay-out..
He was asking me for a loan.. I told him I cannot give him a lon.. (wouldnt give him one if I did have money anyhows)
This is where he begins to be downright annoying.. besides telling me that he LOVES me.. he WANTS to be there with me.. and that he was already booking his flight ticket to Visby..
Hmmm.. first off.. there are NO international flights to Visby..
then he says Vasteras.. and there are NO international flights to Vasteras unless you go through Sthlm - Arlanda first..

So.. with my head on my shoulders I check up on how much it would cost from Nigeria (wherever) to Sweden - Stockholm.. the funny part there.. is.. it would cost him at least 3745 Euro.. that's the cheapest price to get out of Nigeria.. and a Visa for Sweden actually costs only 60 Euro..

I tell him that in the mail.. and seemingly he ignores it totally..
instead he whines about me not loving him enough to give him a loan of 450 Euro so we can spend new Year together..
I don't like clingy and whiny people and I most certainly don't like scammers..

So he continues to whine and blah blah..
I run a check on his charmingjohn324 tag on the google..

He comes up on an anti-fraud site as the Prints of Darkness where he posts up scams from Nigeria.. (corny cover eh?)

He also pops up on a military dating site where he claims to be living in Texas, is 46 and is Gay.

And on the final one he pops up on another dating site in India, where he claims to be living in Los Angeles in California, 36 yrs old , widowed and has no kids and the last time he was active on that account was in August this year.

He denies all of this, of course.. claiming that he has nothing to do with any of these sites despite all of them do use [email protected].

Hmm.. so I tell him that if he is Genuine like he says he is then he shouldnt be worried so much if I ran a background check on him if he would be so decent to obtain me with the details..

This took him about a day to spew out to me.. with the excuse that he had to check up with the US marine Corps if he could give out the information that I needed..

He didn't give me much , but it was enough to point him out as a bluff..

JOHN ANTONIO
4155 TWAIN AVE
LAS VEGAS, NV 89103
MY phone number back home...i forgot to set it on voice mail....1-702-583-7741

I ran a check on the address first..
there is no 'twain avenue' in Las Vegas..
there is a West Twain Avenue and a East Twain Avenue..

I'm figuring he just picked one and knocked off the W on W Twain Avenue.. figuring it wasn't important..
I also ran a free background check on the people search program..
There is a Johnelle Antonio living in LAs Vegas.. but not a John Antonio.. however there is one living in Dayton, Nevada

I also ran a check on the telephone number that he included..
and that one comes up with a tollfree forwarding site, which he just nabbed quickly to throw more illusion into my face.

I point that out to him.. and this is his final email to me since I'm not going to be bothered with him anymore..

you werent up to the task.you cant love am very sure because you couldnt be adventurous....d toll free number aint me,military dating aint me...yahoo suggested this ID to me.U are intelligent though but no as smart.

stay in touch
john

I wonder who is the smartest apple around here.. him or I?

You are!

Welcome to ScamWarners, FFS. Excellent job on recognizing the red flags and doing such thorough research.
I'm sorry that you had to be manipulated by this scammer, but am very grateful that you've taken the time to post all of your research and your story here. If someone else is targeted by him and finds your post, they will be alerted to the scam and may very well be saved from becoming a victim.

You've done the right thing by dropping contact with him as well. Good for you.

Please do let us know if you need any help or have any questions.

Hi FSS,
i just read what you've written and there are some details they remember me the lad who has got me. He is a bit older, but he also is a widower and has a daughter named Katie. He also works on his own project and is in Nigeria to purchase machines. Naturally there he got troubles .
It seems to me, that he may be the same person.

Hi Amelie..
He was very convincing in the beginning.. but.. his voice and accent.. was not that of an American.. nor that of a spanish person. He had this very distinctive 'flavour' of an African.. that he tried smoothing over with later on msn that he spent a couple of years in Spain before moving back to the US.

I might have believed that.. if it weren't for the fact that I'm born in the UK.. and that I moved to Sweden when I was 13.. and I don't have much of a brittish accent.. as much as this guy has a very broad african accent.. which he shouldn't have if he is the guy he poses to be in the images..

Also that his grammar was pretty decent in the beginning, until he got relaxed and then it went downhill pretty much..

And that he denies the final telephone number to be his despite he mailed me it, and it is a tollfree number..
because I checked it out..

And with someone being american, or european for that matter, none would have the sense of mind to call 450 euros for 'chicken cash' since it is a nice sum of money.. for me.. it is the equilavent of a month's rent..

Hello, FFS, and welcome to Scamwarners!

You've done a great job of detective work on this scammer, and a good comprehensive posting of the information.

Scammers often pretend to have children. They think it gives them leverage with the women they are trying to scam. Women who are looking for sensitive, caring men will see his devotion to his child (many times a daughter) may fall for him more quickly. Also, the child is frequently used as a means of asking for money - the child becomes ill, has an accident, or needs school fees. Sadly, many women who can deny the scammer money for his own purposes cannot deny that money to a child.

Thank you for posting the results of your searches. Now that you have put them here, other women will find them if they take the time to be as careful as you have been.

About poems.. he also sent me this one..

Hi,
In this X-mas,
In the daytime if sun shine so shall Ur expectations come true,
At night when moon comes out so shall U receive blesses,
then if rain fall so shall it going to carry all your problem away from U!
May this Christmas be so special that you never ever feel lonely again
and be surrounded by loved ones throughout!


John

Of which can be found in a zillion places on the web..

These red flags you can find on the international financial scams brochure from the US Department of State online.

Elements of a Scam – Key Warning Signs:
Scams involve one or more – sometimes all – of the key signs below:

• The scammer and the victim meet online – often through Internet dating or employment sites.
(John found me on a dating site)
• The scammer asks for money to get out of a bad situation or to provide a service.
(He asks me for a loan of 450 Euro to cover the expense of a flight ticket to Sweden of which he promises he will pay back once he has arrived to Sweden)
• Photographs that the scammer sends of “him/herself” show a very attractive person. The photo appears to have been taken at a professional modeling agency or photographic studio.
(I have posted up the photos that he sent of 'himself' on my website, the link is found in the first post of this thread)
• The scammer has incredibly bad luck-- often getting into car crashes, arrested, mugged, beaten, or hospitalized -- usually all within the course of a couple of months. They often claim that their key family members (parents and siblings) are dead. Sometimes, the scammer claims to have an accompanying child overseas who is very sick or has been in an accident.
(He didn't get as far as to claiming a horrible accident, however he does declare his parents deceased and that he has a child of 5 with him by the name Katie)
• The scammer claims to be a native-born American citizen, but uses poor grammar indicative of a non-native English speaker
(he claims to be born in the US, Dallas, Texas. he even gives out his birth date May 31st. His mother he claims was Jewish and his Father a Latino. His grammar totally sucks and he sounds like an African over the phone.)

These were a few of the pointers that made me suspiscious.. I hope they help others to detect in first hand before getting lost in the flattery that these people hand out for you to believe.

Well ladies this charming john is still operating only under new name...Johns Heart <[email protected]>...
he contacted me on a dating site for las vegas and red flags from the beginning..
his profile from the sight disappeared the next day..to which he replied I have found you and i have further need to look for my one and only true love......good thing I am so jaded by life that i took this as a crock of crap...
The pictures he sent were to good to be true, and really to not know a damn thing about this town....not even the area he lives in, another huge red flag..The beginning of the conversations were very smooth yet at times he would slip and he would type something that didn't quite go with the rest of his writing style...oops!!! His sudden leaving of town to England..."on business"..yeah right buddy I wasn't born yesterday. His phone call to me last night was the fianl straw..really with the accent, I believe South African, doesn't add up with the rest of your story. So this morning when I checked my email I found on it a email from John that had a CC address to another woman that had a different email address from John....I used his old email and found this site...to which I say thank you for being here to help protect women from this, as if dating isn't hard enough, we woman have to deal with jerks like "John" trying to take advantage...He better hope that he truly is overseas in another company, because I have given all my emails and IM information to my "friend" in the FBI...he has F**ked with the wrong gal...
Once again I thank this site for helping women find out about these scam artists....
Mallissa

Welcome to ScamWarners, cupcake. Good for you for noticing the red flags and taking the time to search. I'm so glad you were able to find us and have posted more information here to contribute to the thread. You're right, romance scammers are vile. It's bad enough to steal money but preying on people's emotions is even worse. Good luck to you, let us know if you have any questions. Also, please do post any early, scripted emails you received from him or other contact information you have.