SGT Peter Butterfield

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Thank you very much. Hopefully I did this right.

I, too, have been scammed by Sgt. Peter Butterfield. He used the same stories, conversations, demands, pictures, etc. on me. Only I was stupid enough to send him money. I thought I was smarter than that! I join those who wish to make sure scammers like Peter Butterfield are made public. I am not accepting any communication from him from this point forward. I need to take my loss my like big girl and just get past my feeling of incredible stupidity and embarrassment. He said he was "coming home to me" on October 17th. I had a feeling in my gut that it wasn't real. I thought I did my homework on searching his name. Obviously I missed this site in time to stop the Western Union transaction. I guess it could have been worse. I'm not sure if there is any action I can take to recover any funds but I'm certainly going to check it out.

Kandi, thank you for being brave enough to share your story. You touched my life in a positive way. I'm so sorry this happened to you and at exactly the same time! Unbelievable! I just have to believe what goes around comes around.

Take care,
Cindy

Welcome to Scamwarners, Cindy!
I'm really sorry to hear that you were scammed by Sgt. Peter Butterfield. Your chosen username reflects your feelings just now, but I believe that you are not crazystupid. Unfortunately, you were targeted by a criminal. Somehow whose every waking moment is spent making up lies. A thief, who goes after unsuspecting, open-hearted women like you, to try to steal as much money as possible before his deceit is discovered. You had no way of knowing that it was all lies.
Thanks for posting. I hope that you will learn how to keep yourself safe on the internet and will come back here to report the details of any other scammers you encounter.

Hi Cindy,
I am so sorry that you were scammed by this same person. I am doing everything I can to stop him. I have stopped all communication with him, but i have reported his name and all of the pictures to Match.com, which Is where he lured me. I too thought I was smarter and I even confronted him in the beginning about the "soldier scam", but he denied it and I believed him. I truly believed everything he said to me all the love letters...he told me how much he was looking forward to me picking him up at the airport, how he was going to buy us a house, bla bla bla. But I think I always knew in the back of my mind something just wasn't "right". His grammar wasn't correct all the time. One time he called me stephanie and when I asked him who she was he said she was his "late wife". I believed him. But when he asked me for the $1500 on Saturday, I KNEW then who I was dealing with. I too searched for this man before this weekend, but was unable to find him. I miraculously came acrosss this site with his picture and nearly threw up...but I was also relieved.

I will do everything I can to stop this man if I can. I am so sorry you were his victim too. I am sickened that people really do this to women and pose as our military. I makes me so mad. I wonder who this man in the picture truly is. I wonder if he even knows. He sure is a good looking man. I feel awful for him though.

Take care Cindy. Keep coming here and share your story. The more we get out the more we can stop.

UPDATE:

I have contacted Match.com with the following info:

Hello,
I just finished chatting with a member of your team. I was recently scammed
by a man who claimed to be Sgt. Peter Butterfield. I do not recall his
match.com profile name. He said he could not disclose much info on match
because of security and asked to move to yahoo. He claimed to be stationed
in Afghanistan and was coming home soon. Our communication continued and
after a week I cancelled my membership with match.com. This past weekend he
sent me an IM asking me to send him $1500 immediately and he would pay me
back. Luckily, I did not send it as I was aware of these scams.

I have all of our emails and all of his photos that he submitted to me.
Ryan, the guy I was chatting with suggested I send you the pictures. He
also has gone by the name of Joe Butterfield, Joseph Butterfield and I think
David Butterfield. His address he used with me is:
[email protected], but has been knows to use other ones as well.
Here are the pictures he sent me.

Please let me know how I can help you further in finding this guy. I also
can send you the email headers if that will help.

Match.com reply back:

Subject
Match.com Account Inquiry

Response Via Email 10/04/2011 09:05 AM
Dear xxxxx,

Thank you for providing the additional information.

Thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention. Although our privacy policies prevent us from discussing the details of another member's account, I am happy to report that we have taken appropriate action based on the information you have provided.

If there is anything else I can do for you, please let me know.

Warm regards,

xxxxxxxxx
Match.com Customer Care

I at least feel better that this scammer cannot scam anymore women on match.com unless he comes up with new pictures and new addresses. I have a feeling that this guy is in the USA somewhere...I don't know why, but it's just my gut feeling.

Fixed quote tags. ~Bubbles

I at least feel better that this scammer cannot scam anymore women on match.com unless he comes up with new pictures and new addresses. I have a feeling that this guy is in the USA somewhere...I don't know why, but it's just my gut feeling.

Sadly, Kandi, this is exactly what he will do. It takes a few minutes to start a new email account and open a new Match account, or on any other dating site.

I truly wish that shutting down an account is all it takes to get rid of scammers. The reality is, shutting down their accounts is just a minor nuisance to them. The spend many hours each day scamming and perfecting what they do. A closed account here or there is really nothing to them.

A closed account to us is details about a scammer lost. Now what has been posted in the Butterfield topics is just historical and most likely will not do any good from here forward.

I know it feels good to close an account. It feels like you have been proactive and it happens every day. We discourage closing accounts because we lose our handle of the scammer and the name they use.

It is very doubtful that the scammer is in the USA. Scammers want you to believe they are in the USA or the UK because that fits the pictures they steal and use in their scams. Scammers, lie, cheat and steal.

You should be able to check the Headers and find where the IP leads to. Follow the links in my signature.

The chat log you posted tell me your scammer is definitely not American. The mistakes and phrasing point squarely to African.

One of the hardest things to do after finding out you were scammed is often separating the scammer from the character he played. For days, weeks, or months, this scammer represented himself as a distinct character, with a career, life story, and set of activities to match. Even when we learn it was a lie, our minds naturally relate the scammer to his character, and we unconsciously assume that the scammer chose a character that is similar to himself. We often do this because we are generally not very comfortable with lying ourselves, and know that if we were playing a role, it would be easier to invent a story that shared a lot of common elements with our real life.

It's very difficult to understand the mind of these scammers. The them, lies come as easily as (or more easily than) the truth. The scammer has one goal, and only one goal--to get your money. Everything he says, and everything he does, and everything about his character is based solely on that goal. He says what you want to hear, and what has worked in the past. He will continue to lie after his victims know the truth, because he has nothing to lose anyway--he doesn't care if his victim is hurt, or she thinks less of him, because she never mattered to him anyway. His only goal is to see if he can get more money before she escapes his grip.

It can take a very long time to really comprehend the true personality of a scammer, and how different it really is from the character.

One of the biggest problems with many dating sites is that even when they close accounts, they do NOT notify members that the account was fraudulent. They just quietly close the account and move on, ignoring the dozens of members the scammer has already been in contact with--so even if those members know the account is closed, they don't understand why. (And incidentally, many don't flag the photos in any way, and the scammer can come back with the same photos and a new name/location within minutes).

When his dating site account is closed, it doesn't phase him. He knew it was going to happen sometime (if he had a paid membership, undoubtedly he paid with a stolen credit card or a victim's money, and when the money source realized what was happening, the account would be closed anyway). That's one of the main reasons he was so quick to get you off the dating site and onto messenger and/or email. When his account is closed, he will merely tell each woman he is in contact with that he closed the account because he fell in love with her, so he no longer needed it. He will then go to facebook, a military site, or even google, and do some quick searching for photos of soldiers, or go to a modeling site like modelmayhem, pick a male model. He finds one he likes, saves those pictures in his email or on a thumb drive, and either makes up a fake name, or simply goes to a directory site and chooses a random name and address. The whole thing will take him less than 10 minutes (if he hasn't already prepared it before the account was closed). Another 5 minutes to create a handful of brand new email addresses in his name and open a new dating site account, and he is back in business with a new identity. He doesn't even have to change his letters if he doesn't want to--he can just copy and paste them into new emails.

The problem is, though, that when his new character is scamming someone, and she is suspicious, she will google that new address. Because it is brand new, it hasn't been reported for scamming yet. She will find nothing to tell her that he is a scammer, and she is more likely to proceed thinking everything is fine. There is no way for her to connect his new character to his past scams unless she googles his actual emails--and many victims do not think of this.

That is why we like to publish the information but leave any free accounts alone, unless we have a very specific reason for closing them. At least if the next victim searches the name and/or email address, she will find the information posted here and be warned. Until the dating sites step up and proactively notify each member who has been in contact with a scammer, it is the best way to ensure victims have a way to learn the truth.

I have heard from this idiot four times so far. He says "you have broken my heart. I haven't heard from you in days. My heart is blending". Think he meant bleeding. Lol! I am so mad. I'm having a hard time forgiving myself for being so stupid. Crazy thing is that I still want it to be real. I know it isn't. Just wish people like this didn't exist. It has consumed me for the time being. I have also turned him in to Match.com. Not that it will make a difference. Thinking about sending the pictures and back up to Fort Sam Houston Powless Hall where he said he lives. Just to alert them. I'm thinking about writing to Dateline and 20/20 too. If just one of these horrible scammers can be caught the world will be a better place.
Trying to recover,
Cindy

Hi craxystupid, you are neither crazy or stupid. Please post the email address you were contacted through. I am sorry you got caught up in the scam. Please read around and educate yourself about scams and scammers. They are experts at deception and staying untouchable. Educating, supporting and exposing are the best tools we have to fight scammers.

Also known as Sgt Joseph Butterfield. [email protected]. Match.com name Sweetpeter0977, is a scammer. Contacted me under pretense of being in the army for 20 years. Caught his wife in bed with another man. Divorced. Ex took son to Florida with other man. Wife died of cancer 3 years ago. 14 year old son living with Uncle Mattew Butterfield in East London. Peter/Joseph inherited antiques when father passed. Needed money to get items out of security company to sell. I fell for it. He gave me his bank account log in info to verify he had money but couldn't get to it. Sent me pictures of himself and his son. Everything appeared to check out. I was scammed.

Hi everyone. I was also romanced by this 'Peter Butterfield' from around sept 5th to early oct. very romantic and had me falling in love him. believing all that he wrote. he was very good at selling his story. He hooked me into talking with him by leading with that he was moving to Canada. then he said BC. I thought he is cute, we could talk.
Same story that he told all the other ladies here. About his wife, son and uncle. I was cautious but certainly allowing myself to be swept up by his romance and loving ways, that were all lies. we would IM and email several times a day. He blew it 1st when he IM me asking what other new ideas I had for, what then continues into making love on IM. well that was all one way as he already knew I wasn't going there. but that told me he was talking with other ladies. Then his story that he needed $1500 to pay his CO to do his discharge papers in Kabul, Afgan. so he could fly directly to BC. I said I couldn't help him. that I didn't have the money. He got all upset, emotionally blackmailing me with I didn't really care, that I trust issues, that I wasnt really ready to meet him. oh and my favorite was for me to swear that I didn't have the money. at 1st I was reassuring that I did care and would be there to meet him when he flew from Fort Sam, Texas, after his discharge from the army.
until I started feeling not respected, being pressured and made to feel guilty. I sent him a very direct email saying that when I said I didn't have the money that should have been more than sufficient, that I didn't appreciate being pressured and made to feel guilty. that what he may see as trust issues, that I prefer to see ias being cautious and learning from experience and there is nothing wrong with that or me. He tried to make up after this and after a short while came back to asked for 50,000 lbs for his CO again. wanted me to transfer funds from his account into mine so he would have them when he got to BC I refused any access to my account, still not knowing that he was a total scammer but for sure not feeling comfortable, I offered to get my bank to receive a money order and hold it for him. he wasn't interested in that. I sure understand how hard it is to see him for what he is, not real. there is sense of loss for the hope and potential for a what I thought was building into a great relationship. I had this happen again will post about eric richie, also from match.com

I

Welcome to scamwarners, patB!
I'm relieved to hear that you didn't lose any money to this scammer.
Was he using the same email address as with the other ladies that have posted?

yes, I think so, he was using [email protected]. funny thing is if he had kept going a little longer he may have gotten further with me. well I was falling for him, i was still grounded enough to want to meet before committing 100%

did you see my post about another scammer, eric richie? he sent the exact same romantic email that peter sent. I was so shocked, then hmmm, something smells fishy, I didn't stick around for the money part, although the girls a work were taking bets as to what eric's story would be. at 1st I felt bad thinking he is a scammer but then why would he sent the exact same romantic scamming email that is posted on this site. would he have been the same person as the 'peter' person?

but then why would he sent the exact same romantic scamming email that is posted on this site. would he have been the same person as the 'peter' person?

There are several and more reasons for the above. English is probably not his first language, it may be Ibo or French, but anyway he will be barely literate. Look at some of the rubbish they write themselves that are around this site.
He also sends out 100 messssages an hour so he can't possibly write them all and has to cut and paste, or send prewritten stuff. Getting a scammer off a script is a hard job and so they never answer questions or respond to what they get told. They ask them, and what they are told gets filed and makes the scam against the victim more effective at some stage. We often warn not to educate scammers but it's unavoidable really.
We don't really know what goes on at the other end of the line and who we deal with. Is the scammer just a boy paid hourly to send out rubbish, until he gets a hit and a supervisor takes over? Maybe a gangleader is driving a big fat armoured Merc and controlling a team of scammers from his home? Or is mugu a solo worker running his own show. It is even possible that a terrorist cell is running scams to send money to buy arms and explosives to kill our soldiers and whatever, they are just concerned with results and percentages. If 99.8% of scams are ineffective then .2% are effective and they get paid.
By the way I made a post yesterday and searched a scammer text. I got led deeper into a jungle of scammers with different texts on the profiles and all coming from one source. I needed to pull out from dealing with it or spend all day. That's how scammers work. It is very complex, and explains why a scammers time is precious and why some of us try to waste it.