Philippines girl...scam???

Hi,
My son has made friends with a Philippine girl on a game and then on facebook.
He has already sent her a parcel with food and sweets in it. And then I find out he has sent her money. He says only about £20 but I think it is probably more.
Her name is Genelli She lives near to Manilla.
He has booked tickets to go and see her in less than two weeks!!!! I am so worried about him.
She is 29 and he is 21. He has some learning issues and can be very gullible.
If it is a true romance then fair enough but I have serious doubts!!!
HELP!!!!!
Fanny Adams.

Please post the emails or other messages; if they are emails, post them with complete headers (minus his name and address). Did he send the money by Western Union, MoneyGram, bank transfer, PayPal, or what? Did he pay for the parcel or did she give him a credit card number to use?

I can't get to any emails as they are on his laptop!
He sent the money via Western Union.
He bought all the things for the parcel and paid for the postage.
She does sound ok to be honest! But, the money thing just won't go away!!!

It's a scam. Sending money by Western Union to someone to whom one is not already related and whom one has not met is almost always a scam. Same for MoneyGram, but not necessarily PayPal, as money is sent to an account by PayPal.

Please talk with him and ask for the first few emails, which are a script that she sends to everyone. Be sure to get the headers (Received: from foo by bar, etc.).

If he wants to marry someone from the Philippines, he needs to go there first. Don't EVER send money to someone you're dating until you meet them first!

Hi,
I just can't get through to him.
He is determined to go and see her.
He has spoken to her mum and dad on skype and they have said its ok to go.
He will stay with them. They are picking him up from the airport.
What can I say to him to keep him safe?

Have him contact the US State Department. They know the risks of travel. If you are near or in a large city, take him to visit a State Department office.

Don't forget it might not be a scam....here....The golden rule is: Never send money to someone you meet from the net...but you can do some search also: You can google her name, or phone, maybe your son can present you to his friend or girl friend..maybe you can ask your son her e-mail and just send a nice and gentle e-mail saying that you would like to meet her one day...just to it to have an answer from her so like this you will have the e-mail headler you need... Philippines is a beautiful country been there 3 time and my wife is a filipina. The only advices he should take are:

1) when he arrive there, he should go at his hotel room alone and relax first..
2) meet the girl in a public place she might also have a chaperon.
3) He has to be careful about another

scam going there: the girl go in the room and might be under age,,and run outsid or call the police saying he try to rape her then the policeman ask money because they are part of the scam.
4) always stay in the big city, shouldn't go on the province or mountain to visit the family
5) should have a plan B just in case, like having an other hotel address, taxi around etc..
6) the money he send, it is little and maybe she never asked for it maybe he offered and the gift as long it is little it is maybe only friendly..
7) If he goes on Mindanao he has to be careful especially on on the muslim side ( kidnap ) but not all foreigner get kidnap..
Never carry a lots of money on him...probably just 2000 pesos it is enough.
9) he should advise his bank he is going there because they might shut of his credit card and or his atm card.
10) While he is there, keep contact with him with skype or Yahoo messenger, so like this you can chat with him everyday and see him, there are internet coffee at every corner.
11) should get a needle shot before he goes.
12) Has to be careful with the pick pocket...they are pros..
13) Remember not every filipina are scammers there are little but too many but really don,t represent the majority of the nation.
14) if he meet the family, a very small gift like chocolate will be appreciate.
15) never pay them beer
16) never show his money etc..

Philippines as a very strange effect to people visiting this country: When you go there once don,t ask me why but you just want to go back.

It is a beautiful country, if he goes there i hope he will enjoy the beach.....

don,t forget she might be a very good filipina... and there is nothing to panic here, but to know little about the culture and the country will be a plus to you and to him. I have 6 children an one of them travel in Asia before and now he is married and happy. 3 beautiful grand children...but i do understand your worries but he is a young man and has to learn..just need good advice...



P.s: To admin i hope it is ok for me to let know about this other site also.

Let us know about his trip....it is also good to read good stories sometime.

be bless

I am going to meet a Filipino girl very soon. She too asked me for money but I refused as we hadn't met. She wants me to meet her family which I took as a sign that she was serious. I saw in your answer that you said never go out to the province or the mountain to meet her family.. May I ask a really stupid question..What are the scenarios that can happen..She has suggested that I hire a car from Manila and drive to Baguio and then on to solano....I have a few doubts already but can you give me your opinion please..thank you

Well I would think very carefully about making that trip, especially as you do not know the girl,

The fact that you are posting here tells me that you are doubtful, your instincts are telling you to be wary, there are stories of people going there and not coming back, robbed and killed

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article ... marry.html

I would advise that you re-think your plans

Hi James67, every scammer I have ever met, and I've met a few, have suggested I come to visit them. I hope you have seen the stories about people who have done this- many get beat up, robbed, kidnapped, or even killed. If they can get you to travel to an unknown place, then they will have control over the situation.
The alternative is they will ask for money to travel to you. Either way, money is spent, money is gotten.
I know you want to believe the person you are talking to is a real person with honest intentions. I'm afraid unless they are local to you and you can meet them someplace convenient, there is always a great risk of it being a scam. I suggest more communication, watch for requests for money, and then take it one step at a time.
As we suggest, if you think something is not quite right, you are usually right. Please trust that what you are feeling is true and don't travel.
My scammer wanted me to come to Malaysia to join him. Very convincing.

Yaner has posted some good advice above. I will add that Smith Jones' advice to take things slowly is also very sound.

I have met a young lady from the Philippines on Facebook too, she wants me to go to see her and her family, she is putting lots of pressure on me, and so is her family. I'm worried about going there. She wants to come back to England with me after, but she has no money and she is expecting me to buy her plane ticket when I get to the Philippines.
What might happen when I get to her house if I go?

As someone who works closely with Filipinos, lives in SE Asia and has a best friend married to a Filipina he met online, I would like to offer insight.

A huge number of Filipina women do legitimately search for romance online and it’s part of their culture that a courting male does offer financial support to the female’s family. Therein lies part of the confusion in determining what is a scam and a reason why so many inter-cultural marriages run into difficulties.

In short, it may not be a scam. My friend flew to Manila to meet a girl he met online and they are now happily married.

However, two things concern me, your observation that your son has learning difficulties and he has already sent money. The possible dangers there lie in potential scams either directly from this girl or in any unscrupulous members of her family looking to take advantage of a naive foreigner. This does happen.

I think it would really help if we could see some of the emails, including full headers if possible. I realise he may see that as a front to his privacy, but if you could persuade him or if you feel you should take matters into your own hands, we could look at the emails for signs of scams. You could always edit out anything too personal.

If that’s not possible, the advice from Yaner above is spot on and if my son were in this situation, I would beg and plead with him to follow the advice and make sure he realised it was because I loved him so much that I was on his case so much

She wants to come back to England with me after, but she has no money and she is expecting me to buy her plane ticket when I get to the Philippines.
What might happen when I get to her house if I go?

To start with, the "mights" can range from everything goes absolutely wonderful, you fall in love, get married, live happily ever after...... To: you get mugged after disembarking the airplane and die. "what if" never helps to plan a trip. Instead, I'd suggest you get your own hotel room, close to her residence, plan to use all 3 weeks of the time you can visit the Philippines without an extended stay Visa. Plan ( probably with her help) activities that you can do for those weeks, and get to know each other as much as possible.

I am also married to a Filipina, and their culture is very different from ours. With that much said, it can be difficult to tell the difference between sincere, and a good scam.

The first thing I'd suggest you do is to check with your State Department ( that is what we call it in the US, its probably a Ministry of something in the UK), and see what the Visa requirements and processing times are. I had to wait approximately 2 years after I was married before I could move my wife to the US to live with me. That would be a good place to start for time frames. I highly doubt you will go there, load her on your return flight, and bring her back legally into the UK.