by Rui
Fri Apr 08, 2016 7:54 pm
This scam started when I gave someone from a chat site my email. A man claiming to be John Miller contacted me and immediately began talking about how he is looking for marriage. He claimed to be in his 30's, from Austin, TX, to have lost his wife 5 years before, and said that he was working on an oil rig and had a son in boarding school in Ghana. Now, to my credit, I realized right away that something was off. Unfortunately, I assumed that if I didn't call a number or give out financial info then I would be ok. Then I get a weird email from Kelvin Miller, the "son", calling me mom. John Miller then asked me if I would send laptops to his son and his friends in Ghana. That was like the 3rd message he had ever sent me... I decided that it wouldn't hurt to give him my address. I figured that if laptops actually showed up then I could go to the police..Then started receiving "presents". John said they were for me and for Kelvin. I freaked out, especially when I noticed that the credit card numbers claimed to be in my name. So I spent hours on the phone, got Lifelock, and went to the police. At the exact time this was happening, I received a letter from the US government informing me that my personal information had been stolen. (That part is real.) No one I spoke to was sure how the scam was being perpetrated, but this person was using different credit cards on every purchase, all Visas. I got a list of over 30 different card numbers from the companies, but there were a lot more than that. They were very confused, because the cards appeared to be in my name, but nothing has ever shown up on my credit report. The presents were quite random. All of them were shipped next day air. I received such things as a Packers jersey, Birkenstocks, candy, and 6 tshirts with pictures of pot plants on them. (Apparently one wasn't enough...) My favorite present was a shirt that read "Know Jesus, know peace. No Jesus, no peace." Seriously, my scammer is concerned about my religious beliefs? Anyway, after the police said they wouldn't even try to find him, I said something along the lines of "Omfg. I know you are a scammer. Don't contact me again." So thus he disappeared, and I was left wondering why exactly he was sending me bizarre things... All was well until a couple of nights ago. I started receiving calls on my cell phone from someone who claimed to be Kelvin's headmaster at his school. He said that Kelvin was worried about me because I won't respond to him. Now, in my defense, it was 4:30 am, so I sleepily told him that I knew this was a scam and to leave me alone. But he kept calling!!! The number is from Ghana. I NEVER gave out my cell phone number. I am not sure what scam they are trying to pull, but I'm scared of them.