I am recent love scam victim

Hi, I am a recent victim of a love scammer. I lost $3,000. I know I will never get my money back. I am posting my story in hopes that it might help someone else.

I personally checked the IP addresses in every email he sent me, all but 5 are from Lagos, Nigeria. Mods, please let me know if you would like me to post them here, there are a lot of them.

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Names: Jamie Grant, Jamie G
Age: 46
Status: Widowed, 4 years ago after 23 years of marriage, wife killed in car accident while delivering a very large donation check to an Orphanage.
Children: Janey Grant 17, Steve Grant 20 - both are supposed to be students at Oxford University, UK
Pet: German Shepherd called "Mr. Lolly"
Education: BS, MS, PhD in mathematics from Oxford University, UK
Languages: German, Spanish, English
Ethnicity: German/Spanish (German father/Spanish mother) born & raised, educated in England before moving to United States and marrying his wife

Occupation: Self-employed, lists salary as $250,000+ / year as a construction project manager, travels heavily for work
Professor: He said he was about to achieve his professorship but wanted to pastor a church rather than teach
Author: Worte a book on Christian relationships, soon to be published.
Religion: Christian (Pentecostal)

Location: Norfolk, Virginia-main residence Plano, Texas-2nd home
Address: Jamie never provided me an address
Emails: [email protected]; [email protected]; [email protected]
YIM: [email protected]
Phone: 703-955-3708 (I ran background on this #. It's Herndon, VA #. Herndon, VA is 190+ miles from Norfolk. No owner information could be located)

Social Websites: Active profile on Tagged.com as "Jamie G"; may be on Yahoo personals but I have not checked; Jamie found me on Myspace, I had him removed by MySpace in July. From personal experience and research, this scammer appears to prefer to prey on women older than he is.


Script: Jamie claimed he had not dated in the 4 years since his wife died and was his first attemp at online dating. He sent me a message on MySpace, Sunday, June 7, 2009, I replied, Monday, June 8. He immediately drew me off MySpace to YIM, emails began June 13, he gave me his telephone number June 15. Almost constant contact, I mean 24/7 constant, after the first couple of days, 90% via YIM. He declared his love for me in first week. He knows his Bible or uses a good Bible website, portrays a strong, prayerful, knowledgable Christian. He sent me devotionals almost every morning, we prayed together, talked about our faith, he wanted to pastor a church, etc. By the end of the week he asked me if I could give a donation to the orphanage he helps. He couldn't provide me the 501.(c)(3) info, said it was a new orphanage. I fell for it and he had me sent $100 via WU to a woman in Mexico, Missouri.

Saturday, July 13, Jamie told me he was leaving for Copenhagen, Denmark, the next morning to compete for a construciton bid job and would be gone at least a few days to a week. He asked me to close my MySpace page. He asked me to give him or his daughter my MySpace login and password. I refused. He IM'd, called, and/or emailed me all through the night every night and as much as I let him during the workday. Jamie never did remember the time difference between the U.S. and Copenhagen. He asked me when I bought my home and how much I paid for it. He offered to renew my passport for me so we could travel together when he returned. His explanation for all of this, his friend told him to ask these questions when online dating so he would know if I really cared. He apologized. But, I never forgot these questions.

Tuesday morning he claimed he won the bid and the games began. Jamie claimed he had to pay $14,500 in taxes and fees to get the bid job payment of $3.7 Million. Claimed he only had $9,000 because he had just paid his kids' tuition and duplex fees at Oxford and asked me for $5,500. I said no. Then, he needed just $1,200 for the $3.7 mil. I said no. He would pay me as soon as he returned to Nolfolk, and this money would be for our life together and the church he wanted to build and pastor. He (or other scammers) literally kept me in communication 24/7 from Tuesday a.m. to Thursday a.m. when I cratered and agreed to send $1,200 via WU to a woman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He claimed she worked in the U.S. office for the Danish company that gave him the bid. I sent the money Thursday afternoon.

In the middle of all of this, Jamie sets up YIM addresses as his kids and would YIM me claiming to be his children. Asking if they can call me Mom, begging me not to hurt their father, he has been through so much, they cannot wait to see me on summer break, etc. Jamie claimed he told his kids but asked me not to tell anyone about him. We would surprise everyone with our visit to them when he came to see me July 4 weekend. I did tell my adult son, his wife, and my closest friends.

Early Friday morning, another problem. They paid him with a check, he has never been paid with a check before, he expected cash payment. He needs cash to buy a plane ticket back to Virginia ($1,700 for airfare and $100 for "pocket/travel money). Another 4 days of constant communication trying to get the $1,800 for airfare: one of his U.S. clients owed him money but wouldn't send Jamie the money while he was out of the country. Jamie asked me to talk to or email the "client" and give him a credit card number, last 4 of my SS#, mother's maiden name. Nope. Then, he told me to give the info to him. Nope, didn't work. Then, he asked me if he could send the $3.7 mil check to me. Nope, it didn't work. He claimed he owned an electronics shop in Virginia and one of his vendors was demanding the money Jamie owed him for a shipment. Jaime asked me to accept money from his client and send it to the vendoer. NOPE. But, he never took no for an answer, it was hours of battling each time. This went on for days. I caved again on Monday, 6/22, and wired, $1,800, to the same woman in Milwaukee, Wisconsin that morning.

He played it up. Thanked me profusely, loved me dearly, called me his wife, that he would be home soon and would come spend July 4 weekend with me and pay me back everything he borrowed with interest. What a wonderful life we would have together. Where should we build the church? ... He called me from the airport, he would be on his way in 1 hour. Then his frantic call to me at work, "Oh, no, big trouble." He ran out on the hotel bill because he didn't have the $1,500. He planned to send the money when he got to US and cashed check, but the manager caught him. Jamie threatened to kill the manager to get away. He got to the airport, the police picked him up at the airport and took him back to the hotel. He wanted me to talk to "the manager" and take care of the payment. I refused and hung up, he did not stop IMing, I did not respond.

For the next 4 weeks he claimed to be under house arrest by the hotel manager, free of charge, until he paid the manager $1,500 for the week he owed him. He tried everything again. To allow his client to put money into my credit card account and I'd pass it on to Jamie, asked me to receive and cash his check, to take out a loan, to get cash advances, to get a payroll advance. He even asked me to pawn $1,500 worth of my personal belongings, I refused. He then asked me to go to his house in Virginia, he would tell me where he kept the key, and pawn $1,500 worth of his belongings. He asked me to borrow money from friends. He blamed it on me, if I loved him I would send him the money, etc. He loved me, then he was angry with me, then he ignored me for a day, then he hammed me constant 24/7 for a few days, over and over.

July 2 he sent me roses and a teddy bear at the office. That night, he said he showed me he loved me with the roses & bear and I needed to show him I loved him and send him the $1,500. Nope. He sent me 3-4 of the same poems from Lovingyou.com that all other scammers send their victims. The telephone number he gave me worked 40% of the time. When he called me, it was always a blocked or private number. He even asked me for $300 for his dog Mr. Lolly!

Never once was Africa mentioned, not once. He was stuck in Copenhagen, Denmark and was returning to Norfolk, Virginia. When he talked about his constant traveling for work it was Australia, Italy, Germany, Canada, South America, NEVER AFRICA. I knew absolutely nothing about West African or European scammers. By this time I knew he was taking me for a ride, but I thought he was some guy from the Virginia robbing women via online dating.

One morning, just to see what he would do, I agreed to send him the money and asked him to get me a WU address. I expected it to be the Wisconsin woman. No, he said the manager wanted me to WU the money to his personal assistant who was vacationing in Nigeria. I questioned that but went back to "agreeing" and took this address: Olawale John, 3 Adeyemi Street, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria 23401 Question: What is money for: Bills. He then sent me the very first SMS messages from unfamiliar domain, the jamiecool addresses. I Googled that domain and it led me to a male dating scammer website. I questioned him, he denied it all, said that his computer was hacked a couple years back and they stole his book on Christian relationships (the poems, teddy bears & flowers, etc.). Jamie enjoys playing like he is other people on YIM and his last attempt was him pretending to be the hotel manager emailing me from Jamie's room for the money. LOL, I guess Jamie Grant must still be stuck in Copenhagen.

He claimed he had a very heavy German accent, it never sounded German to me rather French. Sometimes his voice was higher voice and playful. Sometimes deep and more stern or angry. He does not like to talk on the phone much. Loves IM, he's okay with email.

I checked the IP address of every email he sent me and all but 5 emails originated in Lagos, Nigeria starting from day one. Four originated in US, one originated in the Russian Federation. Most days I received emails from at least 2-3 IP addresses, proving I was sharing myself with a group of Nigerian scammers.

I hope some or all of this information helps at least one potential victim.

Hi HeavenSent

Welcome to Scamwarners

Thank you very much for posting the details of this scammer.

I hope to have more to add to this scammers profile shortly.

If you have any questions, please feel free to ask

Adding, yes please, do post them
If you could scroll down on the index page you will see romance scams
Please post in that section

I will be around for a while to check on your progress, if you are not sure about something please ask

Thanks, Ralph.

I will start a new topic in the Romance Scams section with (1) the IP addresses (there are quite a few) and (2) a new question.

Thanks again!

i too am a victim, mine was from match.com he posed as gary rogelio schnulle oriiginally from italy by way of woodstock,il which is a neighboring city to me. his story was that he was a businessman in england and his worker was killed. he needed money for the deceased family. then he got a loan but needed more money to get a anti terrorist certificate. i was stupid and as much as my head told me i wanted to believe and be loved. i am a 54 year old woman who has been humiliated and disgraced. i will never trust again, ever, as if my ex husband didn't do a good enough job on me. shame on me. ladies get off any dating online sites. beverly

Hi Grayswoman

Welcome to Scamwarners

i am sorry to hear you have been a victim of a romance scammer.

Please dont feel it was your fault, these are professional liars whos occupation is scamming people, unfortunately they are very good at their job and know exactly how to encourage their victims to send them money.

i am sure you already know this, his only motivation was to get money from you and to that end he will tell as many lies as needed.

If you could please send me or post any information you can on this scammer we can put up a profile that will help prevent others from being scammed by this person.

Before posting please read this thread on how to post here viewtopic.php?f=1&t=3561

You will also benefit from reading this thread on how to spot a romance scammer, a little late now i know but it will help you to understand how these scammers work viewtopic.php?f=13&t=3607

If you have any questions at all, please dont hesitate to ask

Just adding, a quick search reveals a profile of a man standing next to a bell, does this sound like the same person?

I would like to respond to the female that was the victim of a love scam because the same person contacted me in the manner just as she stated. I know it is the same person because everything matches. The name that he used with me was Brent Gabby ([email protected]). And of course there is Mr. Lolly the dog...and he told me he had 2 children who attended Oxford University in the UK. He said he lived in Plano, Texas and that the name of his business was Gabby Industrial Contracting and of course when I did the background and people search, there was no such business. There is a Brent Gabby in Texas but not in Plano. What really raised the red flag with me was the fact that his phone number was one of a Virginia residence. Whenever he called, the number would appear as restricted. I asked how he could have a business with a restricted number and I asked what kind of business did he have, drugs? He got frustrated and said that he had been having problems with his phone service provider, and that they told him they would take care of it in a week. (which I knew was wrong) Then as the lady said, he didn't like to talk on the phone long at all..he preferred to chat on IM. He appeared to know German but so could I if I had a book or look it up on the internet. Well, we were chatting last night when he supposedly got an "email" from someone who he was trying to conduct business with. He immediately IM'd me telling me that he won!! Then he said he had to leave for Denmark in the morning (which was this morning) and would be there for about a week but he would take his laptop to keep in touch with me. He would always use ,. honey, love, baby, sweetie just a little bit too much which was highly unusual to me. He even asked me if I could go with him to Denmark since I brought him such good luck. I told him I had responsibilities and that I did not know him well enough to be traveling anywhere with him. He also asked me to marry him next month and that I would not have to work because he did not want his "wife" to be stressed. He also said he wanted me to be the boss of his electronic store that he wanted to open soon. He even asked me to name it for him. What really kept bothering me was the fact that his voice and personality by talking with him did not match the photo that he sent. That may not make sense to some but it kept nagging at me. That is when I went on line and found this site and the message from the female and I realized that this was the same person. Even though I did a background check, what that did was to rule out information. It does not tell you whether or not the person is a fake. He has not asked me for any money yet but I think this is because it hasn't been long enough according to his game. He does not know that I am on to him. He is supposed to contact me when he arrives in Denmark to let me know he made it safely not knowing that I KNOW he is telling a lie. He also said that his father left him and his mother when he was young and his mother left him to live with his aunt in Spain. ( I am sure this is a sympathy tactic) And he went on to say that he worked hard and put himself through school to be self-employed. Another red flag was when he asked if I had a laptop...so I told him yes and the brand name and coincidentally, he had the same exact one so I said "if that is so...then you have webcam". So lets use it. So of course, there was something wrong with his...Ladies...it is true that everyone gets lonely and will fall for someone who says things that we like to hear. We have really got to do our homework and be very cautious when it comes to talking to people online. This doesn't mean that everyone is a scam artist...but this guy is good. He is very convincing. Just listen to that inner voice...notice the red flags. If something is questionable...then question it. And by no means give anyone money or sensitive or personal information.
He also appeared to be very religious and would quote verses from the bible and would want to pray with me. What woman could resist a God-fearing man? This is what we all look for because we relate it to someone with an honest nature and we tend to think that the person is legit. Now I haven't heard from him since this morning and I am sure that he wants me to think that he is flying to Denmark when he is probably trying to scam someone else. He portrays someone who has standards and morals. He PORTRAYS a man who is family oriented and who wants a good woman and who wants to lavish her with love and everything she wants. WHAT woman wouldn't want that? So ladies...there is a saying...when something is TOO good to be true....it usually is. I haven't decided if I am going to play his little game until I bust him out since he is unaware that i am on to him...but I may and post it just to let others know. It is a game to them ladies...they prey on good natured women. Don't be afraid to challenge a man if you meet one online. If they are legit, they should understand. He even went as far to say that he would invite my mother to live with us when we got married...what a jerk.

I am back with a copy of the actual initial email that was sent to me... NOTICE THE GRAMMAR
I would love to tell you a bit about me.i don't have much to say but at least i am willing to share my past and present with you so u will be able to know my kind of person and the true and real personality i posses.My name is Brent Gabby ,i am 45 years of age ,i am the only child of my parents...i moved to the states when i was 4 years of age..my dad is from Germany and my mom is from Spain..my dad and mom got to meet each other in Germany and i was born there as well..but i moved to the states and stayed with my moms aunt when i was 4 years of age..my dad and mom had some disagreement..very early of there relationship so they both had to break off..so my mom had to go back to Spain and she took me along to Spain too..but i only spent 4 months with mom there..she wasn't able to cope with me there,so she had to throw me down to her aunts place in San Jose in California and i grew up in the Campbell area and schooled and went to college there too,Going to school wasn't that easy cause i attended Evergreen Valley College and i had some few friends in college to as well but once we all were done with school everybody had to start a life of there own.i have some friends that stays around the school area,so i get to stay with them sometimes either to relax or have one or 2 conversation about life and studies.Moreover i attend University in the UK a friend of mine dad live in the UK and i beg him to take me down there and when i get there i work hard and make some money to sponsor myself to school there i am happy i got out with a good degree in Industrial Mathematics and i am proud of what i have.throughout all the time i have been with my moms aunt..i never did heard from dad or mom again..i was just abandoned there and i grew up to really do love my aunt cause she was such a lovely aunt to me..but she left me so early..she died when i was 17 years of age..so since then.. i have just had a life on my own..doing what i know how to do best in honesty and living my life to the fullest..and i grew up to understand the principles of life and the truth that follows it and i have made a vow to my self and God that i will forever remain honest and truthful to the things i say and do..cause truth and honesty is the only key to success..but its every hard to go about..but i still try not to break my vow..and i do seek all i want with all my heart and the truth of it.I finally saw my mom in Spain when i went .

Would like to hear from you soon

Brent Gabby

Hugs

Second one from him...

Thanks for the message ___,its really nice to hear back from
wonderful lady like you , i do understand you and i know how hard it
is to be a single parent , i got a German Shepherd too i called him Mr
Lolly , he is the only companion i have for now ., but two great mind
think alike..we got the same thing in common there...lol...About your
past relationship i can see how hard it is for you but you need to let
the past go and lets face the present...No one knows what the Lord
has in stock for him or her so let be optimistic and hope on God ....I
am tired of this loneliness and i hope i will be giving an end to it
for ever because i know that the Lord want the best for us and age is
not by our side anymore so we need to live the rest of our life with
happiness , ___ i do understand you are such a busy type like me but
i think we need to create time for each other so that we can get to
share more about each other and see where the Lord lead us to ...Let
me have your yahoo ID so that i can add you on my IM and get to share
more about each other on there..and you can also add me to your yahoo
IM my id is [email protected] ..i will be waiting to hear from you
soonest


take care and have a wonderful day ahead


Your Admirer


Brent

B4real,

I am sorry you had to waste your time on this scammer but glad to hear you caught on before you lost anything other than time. There is absolutely no doubt that this is an African scammer you are dealing with. As you mentioned, there are several mistakes in grammar, but even more telling is some of the specific mistakes and phrases ("I am the only child of my parents" is a dead giveaway right there) that would not be made by someone raised in the US but are very consistent with writers from African countries. I couldn't say for certain whether this is actually the same person as the scammer the previous poster referred to, because scammers have a very annoying habit of stealing each others' scripts, so he could simply be re-using material he stole from another scammer.

Often the romance scammers use fictional travel disasters as a reason to ask for money, so don't be surprised if you get an email in the next day or two detailing how he is stranded, or was arrested because of something he was carrying for the business, or had some kind of accident on his trip that only you can help him out of...

Stringing a scammer along is something known as scambaiting, and is something we don't deal with here over at Scamwarners. We also do not recommend baiting a scammer who has your personal information. If you are interested in learning about baiting scammers safely, I would recommend you visit our sister site, www.419eater.com where there is a wealth of information about the topic. Remember, they may be across the world from you, but these scammers are still criminals without conscience, and while it is pretty reasonable to expect he is not going to show up on your doorstep tomorrow, you really don't want to deal with trying to minimize the damage caused by an angry scammer posting garbage about you online, etc. You also don't want to point out the mistakes he made that led you to recognize him as a scammer--doing so will not stop him from scamming again, but the information will help him to improve his scam and become harder to detect by the next victim.

B4Real, welcome to Scamwarners!

Good for you for doing a background check. While it didn't tell you he was a scammer, it raised enough red flags that you were looking for other specifics on him, and that was enough.

To add to what Dotti said, no doubt in a few days or weeks, after "grooming" you with loving emails from "Denmark," he would suddenly be asked to go to West Africa (where he has been all along), and there's where the emergency usually happens - an accident, a mugging, a contract payment that doesn't come through when expected, etc., etc.

BTW, he probably mentioned being brought up in Spain so you wouldn't get too suspicious at his accent when talking on the phone.

Thank you Dotti for the info. I am not going to have any further contact with this loser. My time is more valuable. He sent me text messages saying that he was "over there safely" after reading the very short email messages that I sent him telling him to leave me alone and that I was no longer interested. I didn't let on that I caught on to his game because as you said he could brush up his skills for the next victim and I wouldn't want that to happen to anyone. More people need to know of this website. I only found out about it because I started a search on the net to try to find out about the phone number that he had given me and I ran across this one. I will be sure to tell anyone I know about this website especially if they are conversing with guys online.
You all are awesome, and thanks!

I am back for the final time with the last of the pitiful email messages that the loser sent to me after I left my final email message telling him.." Get a LIFE, A REAL JOB, AND YOUR OWN IDENTITY" and lose my name and email! He then sent this me this email:

Well i know you saw all my message but you never want to reply because you know what i am talking about its true , well even though you left me to another man i still love you and i will always pray for you , but that does not mean that you need to bring up all this excuses that i dont understand , even if people are trying to poison your heart , why can't just place everything is front of the Lord and come to me and explain to me , but you rather send me those email to scare me off because you found another man , well i will surely proof to you that i really love you and i will be coming to you directly immediately i finish getting things done here ...Take good care of yourself and your new man , try not stress yourself and take all worries away


Remember i still care no matter what comes our way


Your Admirer

Brent

If anymore emails come my way, which I will NOT be responding to, I will post them to help others.

I suspect you will receive a couple more emails from that email address, then more sudden admirers or inheritances will turn up.

Scammers are quite insistent, the best course of action is always, ignore them, do not reply and they will leave you alone eventually

i met a guy on a dating site.. uniform dating.com, he told me was in the armed forces US military, a psychologist, currentley working in baghdad, i believed him , it wasnt until yesterday when i checked something that brought me to this website and i saw phony leave documents, that i realised that i had been scammed.. I have lost £2400 paying for leave charges that i thought were genuine, he said he loved me , blah blah blah and i was stupid enough to fall it, which is unlike me, but he doesnt yet know that i know, i havent paid any more money, im not sure what to say to him to be honest.. i told him that a family emergency came up and i couldnt pay the charge, i know i wont get the money back, but i feel like i have been invaded personally , its horrible. im not sure whether i should tell the dating site or not as i have no proof.. I dont want anyone else to fall for his charm, and i dont even know if the pic he posted is genuine?? Probably not .. anyway im glad that i was directed to your site, and that i know the truth.. its just really sad that people like him make it very hard for genuine people to find love, as it destroys any faith you have in human nature , as you lose trust that people will be honest ..

I'm sorry you were scammed by this low-life. You are not alone, this is an all-too common scam. You should immediately cease any and all contact with him, period. Don't reply to emails or phone calls. Once he realizes he can't steal any more money he will go away.

I would not hesitate to notify the dating site about his profile. This particular scam is rampant on dating sites all over so those sites should already be able to quickly verify that it's a scam. You can always offer a link back to here as additional evidence.

Hi, debbiehayes.

I am also sorry that you lost, not only money but your trust as well. Can you please post the email address this idiot is using? That way, you may well save someone else from 'falling' for his scam.

At least, that can be some revenge for you if it does.