I've been scammed - money and broken heart

He claimed to be Sgt. Robert Jenkins. I had been chatting, emailing, and receiving texts from this scammer who claimed to be a sgt. in the US Army, in Baghdad, Iraq. Love was exchanged and high hopes and dreams. Promises were made and after time I released my new love to my friends and family. Still another 3 months down the road, I am feeling happy and continuing to fall in love. He sent me pictures of him in his uniform, him at his house in Ohio, and a close-up before he was deployed Jan, 2010. After reluctantly sending him $300 to fix his laptop there was still a lot of communication and more feelings shared. Then he claimed his 2-month leave was approved but need wired money for his plane ticket. I varified with some Army friends that the cost on leave is up to the soldier's family. I wired $1,900 to him. He was grateful and claimed to obtain his ticket flying out from Israel to Sweden. Once in Sweden he claimed the authorities needed him to get his liberty pass which he needed another $1700. He was so called stranded. With the love I felt for this soldier, I went to the bank and had wired that money. I was expecting him to be on a plane headed for MN. I got a text from him late that night and we chatted for about an hour. He said that he couldn't make his flight because some paperwork for his "honorable discharge" and "stap duty" wasn't with him. I already knew that discharge was not used when referring to leave, so I looked into the other terms he used. That's when I found out that his so called secured email thru the Army was used by many scammers. My heart sank to the ground and I cried my eyes out. I had sent every penny that I had and even maxed out 2 credit cards. Now, I am faced with the embarrassment to my friends, family, and children. How can I ever trust again?? I never thought in a million years something like this could happen to me. I am currently full of hurt, fear, anger, and tears!

There isn't anything anyone can say to make the hurt and loss go away, and in some ways it's best to face it and understand what happened.

I'm not after your sympathy but I had kidney cancer and suffered a stroke and my medical care has been an utter nightmare, but life goes on. I recently went on a local radio show about what has happened to me and the interviewer was amazed at how I could make a joke at what has happened, but you have to get over what you can't do anything about. It happened, and you have to move on, and I know that miring myself in misery makes my story is unappealing for people to hear. The fact that I can laugh at what happened makes it so people find it easier to listen.

I'm not after anyone's sympathy and don't want it, but I just want to demonstrate that you can get over bad things in life. It'll only drag you down, if you allow it to. I'm sorry to say that you aren't the first victim of these sick people, and you won't be the last, but the greater damage they do is if you allow them to ruin the rest of your life.

Think of the good things you can still do. Looking up at the blue sky on a sunny day and watching the clouds - your family and friends. They'll give you support but remember that you'll wear them down if you keep telling them about this. Be positive and try to drag yourself up. It's tough, but it's the only way you'll recover.

Hello KLH,

I'm so sorry to hear that this has happened to you. Your many emotions are totally to be expected in this awful situation, and are likely to continue for some time. Please do summon the courage to tell your friends and family about this, so that they can support you through this time.

Scammers like this target many women at the same time, and it is likely that there are other women still writing to this scammer, believing and trusting in him, and sending him money. Would you be willing to post his email address here, and a copy of the first one or two emails he sent you? (Scammers usually send identical copies of their first emails to lots of women.) Then, if other victims of this scammer google his email address, or some of the sentences he uses, they could find your post here, and realise too that he is a scammer.

Your scammer was never in Iraq, Israel, or Sweden. He would have remained in his own country or thereabouts the entire time. He is likely to be living in a West African country, though there are scammers in many other countries too, of course. If you are able to also post the headers from one of his emails, we may be able to tell you which country the scammer is really writing from. His photographs will have been downloaded from the internet; they will not be his own photos, but photos of someone who probably has no idea that his photos are being used by a scammer. The real person in the photograph is likely to be a married man, who is certainly not looking for love elsewhere.

This person contacted me thru my profile on Cupid dot com. He even had an older picture of when the soldier was younger. How convincing! There wasn't any scripted words but just a "hello and let me introduce myself. I am widowed with two children and currently on deployment in Iraq." Bla, bla, bla,,,, It was Sept 26, 2010 was his first contact to me. I figured him out on Feb. 10th, 2011. What a drain of hopes and dreams for almost 5 months and then suddenly my chest being cut open and my heart being pulled out and stomped on! After about 8-10 days he started telling me that "his heart was sprung" and he was starting to fall in love with me. I stayed cautious but was enjoying the attention. He said I am beautiful and sexy and wondered if I was communicating with other guys from the site or in the military. He started calling me "babe" and making me feel very special. The emails he used are,,,, sgtbobjeks at yahoo,,,,and Robertc.Jenkins at armymail dot com. He had me completely fooled. He texted me on my cell phone with a number of 1110440601 ,,,, He sent me e-cards from 123greetings dot com. And he did talk military talk occasionally using the "f" word to throw me off,,,,like "it's been a fucking long 6 yrs.",,,,meaning since his wife died in a car wreck, or "I'm in a fuckin war zone and want to get out of here." If anyone out there would like to ask me more questions, please feel free to email me directly at ,,,, . Please mark in the subject line "scamwarner comment" so I know who it's from. Thank you, and may God bless you!!,,,,,, K

I have deleted your personal email address KLM. Scammers do cruise by ScamWarners and would pick you up in a heart beat as a future victim. I also eliminated your real first name. ~Bubbles

I am sorry you got scammed KLM. Thank you for sharing your story, hopefully this information will help someone else. The loss of money is one injury, the damage to your emotions is adding insult to injury. Scammers have no conscience and would do it again if given the chance.

I will encourage you to be aware that scammers often set up "Recovery" scams where they promise to get your money back for you. Of course because it is a scam they want you to send money to do the job for you. There is no way to get your money back. Your heart will heal with time.

I do encourage you to be careful giving out your personal email account address. This can and does set you up for further contact with scammers. If people have questions we would rather they raise them in this thread which is both public and moderated by the volunteers who keep this site open and safe.

KLM's scammer used the following email addresses:
[email protected] ,,,,and [email protected]

This is a scammer. We don't hide their details so others can find the information and be helped.

Best to you as you heal KLM

Look out for Robert Raymond Hart working in Dubai. I almost fell for it, but after checking the phone number on this site, found out it was a complete scam. If you're unsure, go with your gut feeling. DO NOT SEND any money.

Welcome to ScamWarners lsteiner2240 . We are glad that information you found here helped you to keep from being scammed. That is our goal. Feel free to post up any further information about this scammer. Thank you for being part of what we do here.

i have been scammed too, by a Captain, in Iraq Peter Dolphin, i fell for the Sat.phone, sent 1,600 almost fell for the phoney leave, but this site saved me, every thing his entire story right down to his poetry is here, send money to the u.k, hes a widow, 1 child in the u.k , on a secret mission, I even talked to him on the phone, but I realizes I shouldn't have to pay out money to the u.k for his leave, the sad part, I still want him, and will miss him terribly, and he isn't even real.

Welcome Debbie,

I'm sorry to hear that you were scammed by this impersonator.

You probably realize it already from reading this site, but I just want to make sure you do understand that the person you have been in contact with is not American and he is not a soldier. He is most likely a young African man who is writing to several women, possibly under a variety of fake identities. The whole phone request was also a scam, the satellite phone company was phony. He did not sign up for a satellite phone--he and his accomplices simply pocketed the money.

With that said, it is normal that you still want the man he was pretending to be. Scammers pretend to be everything you want in a man--romantic, caring, compassionate, brave, and devoted. They create the illusion of a relationship, because that is what they need to steal your money. When you learn the truth, that relationship ends, and it leaves you feeling hurt and lonely just like the end of any other relationship.

The best thing you can do for yourself right now is cut off all contact with this scammer. Don't respond to any emails or chat invites--block him from your messenger, block his number from your phone if you can. If he is given a chance, he will try to remain in contact with you. Most likely he will attempt to be even more romantic, swearing that he is innocent and we are just wrong, but it's just lies in an attempt to get you back so he can scam you again. He might even "confess" and claim he truly loves you, but once again, that is another ploy for money. Or he might get nasty, sending you threatening emails. But no matter what his response, it will only be harder on you.

If you can post his details--emails, phone numbers, and post a couple of his early emails (these will be scripts that he reuses on other victims)--you can also help others who may be in danger of being scammed too.

Hang in there--it will get better.

oh, yes, i even know some of the other sites he has profiles on, Face-book, and another with his photo on Tagged,,I also believe he is on Smooch.com ,he usually says he is from San Antiono Texas,another is Sunnyvale,Ca,

It has to be said, but when you sign up to one of these free sites looking for romance, you're actually looking for a scammer because anything up to 90% of the males there are just looking to steal money from women.

It isn't that most men are like this. You just happen to have chosen the one place where scammers hang out to look for a victim. Unless the website has a very active and rigorous anti-scammer policy your chances of finding a partner there are pretty close to zero. It's not in their interests to tell you this.

Even if you met someone real you'd probably drop them because the scammers are all programmed to behave like love hungry 'poetry spouting' robots who go wobbly at the knees with love just prior to making a cash request, and this is not how the average male behaves. The scammers can be schoolkids or middle aged and aren't people you'd think of as potential partners.

It may be flattering to have a male romance you this way but as soon as he attaches a price tag to his love, then you need to start engaging your critical mind and asking yourself what's going on.

The greater shame is that victims only come here AFTER they're visited these dating sites, if they'd come here BEFORE, they'd never become a victim.

Dear KLH, please excuse my english but it's not my native language. I've been scammed also, I quite understand you, I also began to fall in love with my scammer. But when he wanted money from me the alarm bells went off, I searched and found him at scamwarners.Fortunately!!!! I'm looking for Robert Jenkins, your scammer - is he the good-looking man with blue eyes, you can find it at facebook?? (He is new at the page of my scammer!!) Do you have a foto what you can post here??? I think it's important, that his face is known!!!
You have to be ashamed of yourself for nothing!!!! Just look forward, the life must go on. I'm in my thoughts with you and wish you all the best!!!

SGT BOB JENKINS...me too. Got suspicious when the money request came. He used the e-mail [email protected]. Three pictures- Profile picture, picture with two daughters, army picture. He said his daughters are in Malaysia with their grandmother. Widower of 5 years. Used the word "Sprung" (had to look it up in the slang dictionary) in the last e-mail before the instant chat where he was depressed because youngest daughter needed asthma medication and was in the hospital. He needed $450. That got me suspicious. I went on face-book and found two profiles for him. One empty, and one with 17 friends. Went to the 17 friend profile and sent a message to the only friend that was military. Sent a message to the military friend who friended me so I could see his profile information. The birthday did not match. The military friend said he did not know the guy and had just accepted a friend request. I believe both Robert and Bob Jenkins profiles are fake there. Also, there is another profile Sgt Robert Jenkins on Netlog that is also active and a similar story and an e-mail 2be4love. This scammer wants you to load yahoo messenger to facilitate instant messages so he can play you easier when it comes to the money asking. SPECIAL THANKS TO KLH FOR THE WARNING!!! In time before I fell for this money request. I am feeling sad and do not want someone else to feel this way too. Thank-You again KLH!!!

Welcome to ScamWarners caramin. Thank you for putting up this new and additional information. Just as the information that KLH posted helped you, this will help someone else.

It is great that you found this was a scam before sending any money.

Yes, it's good that the money stayed with you)) and as to the broken heart..time will make it's job and you will remind everything with smile