Possible Romance Scam

Hello,

I am a new member. 4 weeks ago I met this wonderful guy on Facebook who is in the Army. He is very nice however I am getting a feeling he is not who he says he is. We communicate on Y chat and he sends me emails via Yahoo. I am feeling very stupid for falling for someone who I have not even met. This is very hard.

He has asked me to do two things which I do not feel comfortable about.

1. Right after we met he asked me to help a friend who wanted to transfer a large sum of money to me and then the friend would transfer it out. This to me sounded like fraud and I said no way. He backed off

2. Today he told me that his military check sent to his "nanny" had not cleared and could I help out and send money to her for his daughter. I would get paid back of course. I told him no that I could not help out and I did not feel comfortable about his request. He backed off

I have googled him extensively and the pics I have from FB match what I see on Google. He is a high ranking officer and I do not want to get him in trouble if he is for real. I did find him on Linked In and he accepted my request so I thought he was real. Also after a few days of communicating on FB he told me that his account had been hacked so he could not be on FB anymore.

I looked at the directions to see how to view the header from his email address but I am not sure what I am looking for. If you need the email address he is using I can send it. I did not want to include it here because it contains his first and last name.

Any guidance you can provide would be appreciated.


Thank you!

You have a private message, swimgirl

Thank you! I sent you a message.

Con Warner may have explained more in his PM, but I want to say it for the benefit of people reading this thread.

Chances are you are not dealing with someone in the US military at all. You are almost certainly dealing with an African romance scammer.

2. Today he told me that his military check sent to his "nanny" had not cleared and could I help out and send money to her for his daughter. I would get paid back of course. I told him no that I could not help out and I did not feel comfortable about his request. He backed off

A high ranking military official makes a very good income. He would not be living from paycheck to paycheck. In addition, people working for the US military do NOT have problems receiving their pay--and single-parent miltary employees are required to have a documented care plan that typically consists of assigning actual custody of their child to another person. They can't just leave their children at home with a nanny.

An experienced romance scammer will back off when they realize their victim isn't hooked enough to send money. They will go back to the romance, and try again later--sometimes they will wait days, weeks, or even months before the next money request.

It is not surprising that a background check would be clear. There is a real person by that name, with the basic information you were provided. Chances are you weren't actually talking to that person, though. In reality, the person you are talking to is almost certainly a young African scammer. All he did was find pictures of a suitable military man online and copied them to his computer. Then used google to find additional information about this person. He opened a few email addresses in this person's name, created a facebook and linkedin profile under the same name, using the real person's details, and then started his scams.

Also after a week of communicating on FB he told me that his account had been hacked so he could not be on FB anymore.

This is typical scammer explanation when their accounts disappear. Most likely, someone else he tried to scam reported the fake facebook account, and Facebook closed it.

Dotti,

Thank you!

I am so totally upset and devasted today. I had the feeling something was up but I just did not want to believe it. I am not a stupid person I have an MBA so I feel even more embarassed by all of this.

I will delete him off of my Linked In account immediately and delete the Yahoo account I set up.

Upset and devastated are understandable but don't be embarrassed.

If you look back, you'll think "how did I fall for that?" but you'll also notice how the scam is built up slowly and steadily in order to take you for every penny he could.

The good thing is that I did not send any money. When he asked or brought up money it was a red flag to me. I could not figure out why a Major in the Army would ask. That was the other red flag because he told me he was a Major but on Linked In the title is Lt. Colonel. I could not get him to explain the discrepancy in title either. I have read some of the other posts from members and it appears I am not the only person this has happened to. In my mind not only were we scammed, but the soliders whose identities are being used are scammed as well. Do they know about these activities?

Again, I am so glad I found this site!

I have seen a number of other posts about military scams and would like to warn others. The person I was dealing with said he was in the army and was using the following names and email address:

Email address: [email protected] (the header said Staff Sergeant Mark Hayden)
Yahoo IM: Mark_Hayden
The person also told me they were promoted to a Major so if they continue they might use the name Major Mark Hayden stationed at Ft Campbell, KY.

Following is one requesting a transaction: (please note that I did tell him I could not help with this request because it was fraud and that I was not engaged to him) He backed off but continued to email me apologies for asking me to do this for him.

Some Times Ago, I Made Friend With A British soldier that I met in Iraq two years ago during my second dispatch to Iraq then i was Squad Leader, Co. "B", 15th Infantry Regiment 3rd US Infantry Division, and He was The Financial Officer In Charge Of The English troop,he keeps record of everything and reports back to England On everything that comes into Iraq,
When i got to the states we spoke and he came here with His family for holiday last year, I am close to him and his family and we know each other so well... He contacted me again yesterday and asked me about my view on if i knew anyone i could trust with Money and i told him i do.., my fiancee.. you.. And He Simply Confide In Me That He Has An Amount of 892,000usd To Transfer Into An Account In The States, That He Would Present The owner of the account As A Contractor Who Supplied Bullet Proof For The Troop And He Would Sign And Confirm That The Consignment Was Delivered So that The payment Can be Made. That He Needs Someone he can trust... i should be the one helping him out with the sorting of the accounts and all but as a military all our accounts are being monitored with that of our families.. so i just told him that my fiancee is going to help him with it and once he gets retired in the next 6months he is going to wire back the money to his account then the military would have stopped tracing his account.. he is really counting on me to help him find someone trustworthy to do this.. he saved my life once when we were in Iraq and i am trying to save his life.. because the money is what him and his family would be living on once he gets retired.. and in-case you are worried, it's all legit you can even get your lawyer involved.. because i remembered you saying something about me being a mob yesterday.. lol.. Not only is he wiring the money, you would also get some percentage of the money he is wiring to you.. i just told you this because i feel like i trust you.. let me know what you think..

Missing you lots..

Mod edit: Quotes added - CW

Following is the last message I received yesterday asking for help with a child that does not exist. I told the person that I could not help and they needed to contact a family member. This really raised a red flag and I am so glad that I found this forum. I have learned a lot by all of this and I just hope my experience will help someone else.

The least you could have done is send me a message to tell me you miss even if it's two lines.. and yes i do understand the feeling of you thinking that i might not be able to check my mail,well you have a lot to learn about the military and i am so ready to teach you.. i do miss you so much and i love you even more..

there was an important issue i needed your assistance with, apparently my leave bonus check that was sent to my nanny before i left hasn't cleared yet and she emailed yesterday to tell me that she took Cynthia to her place in murfreesboro. so they wouldn't feel so lonely being home alone.. she also brought it to my notice that she has to buy nebulizers for Cynthia and also take her to the hospital for her allergy shots, so i do not know if it's okay with you but i would really appreciate if you could do me a favor and help get some funds over to them.. please let me know.. anything ranging from 500$ upwards.. as soon as the check clears, my nanny would sent back money to you.. and maybe a little extra from me..
i would really appreciate it if you could come up with something.. i am counting on you sweetie.. i love and miss you too.. i hope sometime soon we get to be online the same time.. we have got a lot to talk about..

Your love..

Mod edit: Quotes added - CW

I have been contacted by George James, on MATCH.com. His email address is [email protected].
George claims he is in the US Army based in Afganistan.
George contacted me and had me IM him on Yahoo Messenger.
He claimed he was Irish/German, born in the US, in Bedford, Texas. Went into the Army as soon as he was old enough to join. His brother is a gangster and is the only sibling that he has; though he forgot that he told me this and has claimed to be the only child. His parents are dead.
George is going to retire in 12 weeks, so he was looking for a partner to be with. Within the first week, he claimed there was a Taliban attack and his computer and phone were stolen. He tried to get me to buy new ones for him, but i refused. A few weeks went by and he went on a "mission" to deliver food to the woman and children in the villages. When he go back he told me he received $800,000 in money and gold braclets, rings, and diamond earrings. He wanted me to receive these items through his Army friend, who would deliver them to me personally. I refused saying I didnot want to be involved. George contacted me a few times after that hoping I would change my mind. I didnot, so he started playing with me, refusing to talk to me on IM.
George is not really organized in his emails to women. He sent 1 at least 3 times with the same information; talking about my picture, which he did not have. He was just looking for a handout. Told me from the start that he loved me and missed me so much; couldn't wait to be with me; never really told me much about himself ... i wanted to speak to him on the phone but he refused; said the Army did not want him to use the phone to call me..... I traced his IP address and it came up as Ghana Africa. I told him this and he agreed that it was correct because the Army secretely re-directs their emails so that they cannot be traced. All he said was bull shit and i told him this on at least 3 occasions, but he came back for more. Finally I gave him some adjectives (that were not nice) describing himself and we don't communciate anymore. Please be aware of George, he is not real romantic, sounds young, has a little bad attitude, gets mad quickly and will come at you with his mean comments ..... but he is just an idiot trying to make money doing what he does.

Janet88,
Thank you for sharing your experience. I still can't believe this is happening. The person using me unfortunately was very...very good. I received e-cards and his messages were so nice. But the facts did not add up and I started to get suspicious. Then the emails I posted came and I knew something was wrong.
I also asked to talk to him but he said he was not allowed to call which I thought was odd. The pics I received were of this very handsome man and I guess I wanted to believe I met someone worth getting to know.
This all hurts...but definetly a lesson learned. It seems they are all using IM chat. I wasted so much time on chat.
I am glad you figured it out before things got out of hand.
I really wish there was more we could do to get these people. It's frustrating!

I went in this morning to delete the Yahoo account that I had been using. Well guess what..there is another message from my scammer sent this morning. Instead of using the Yahoo account the message is being sent from a Blackberry. I have to say this is simply amusing now.
I am not able to find the IP tracker so here is the header of the message.

If someone can tell me where this is coming from that would be great! It is the same IP address but it tracks to California which is more than likely not correct.

From [email protected] Mon Apr 9 00:10:21 2012
Return-Path: <[email protected]>
Received-SPF: none (domain of ymail.com does not designate permitted sender hosts)
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AQEB
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X-Originating-IP: [98.138.91.211]
Authentication-Results: mta1058.mail.bf1.yahoo.com from=ymail.com; domainkeys=neutral (no sig); from=ymail.com; dkim=pass (ok)
Received: from 127.0.0.1 (HELO nm23-vm2.bullet.mail.ne1.yahoo.com) (98.138.91.211)
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Reply-To: [email protected]
X-Priority: Normal
References: <[email protected]>
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In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
Sensitivity: Normal
Importance: Normal
Subject: Re: I love you!

From: [email protected]
Date: Mon, 9 Apr 2012 07:10:21 +0000
Content-Type: multipart/alternative; boundary="part7617-boundary-938341395-1395990439"
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Length: 59345

Header Analysis Quick Report<br>Originating IP: 178.239.84.121<br>Originating ISP: Research In Motion Uk Limited<br> City: n/a<br>Country of Origin: United Kingdom<br>* For a complete report on this email header goto ipTRACKERonline

But, see the NNFMP in the headers? NNFMP is a little understood yahoo mail protocol that, according to yahoo, means the headers were forged. While it's not always the case, these headers are most often associated with scammers and spammers. When you see NNFMP, the IP information is typically unreliable.

swimgirl, http://www.iptrackeronline.com is the site we use to trace headers.

I understand now. I was looking at an incorrect IP address. It makes sense and thank you for your help!
I received two more messages from the same address. I have deleted my account so this will stop.

I have been approached recently by a David Milo or [email protected].

He was really sweet, but something felt off because he was wanting to meet me really quickly. I wanted to believe that it was real (who doesn't want to find happiness?) but the other thing I found odd was the fact that he said I would have to pay for his leave.

He claimed to be in Afghanistan. Fortunately I am a curious person and I decided to google information about military leave and discovered that my suspicions were founded. And thanks to this site too.

I contacted the dating site that I met him through and they have just informed me that his profile was deleted because they discovered he was a scammer.