Darry Barden <[email protected]>

I met a supposed Soldier stationed in Iraq at Camp Victory almost 3 weeks ago. He said his name was Darry Barden with an email address of [email protected].
Everything was going fine..moving too fast..but ok..Then he started asking for money for a Ts2 Phone that cost $600. I was to send the money by Western Union to Romeo Ose Kwame at Loughton, Essex IG1035A. That was the Financial Manager of this Ts2 Company.
When I said I wasnt going to do it he kind of threatened me with saying he knew my name, my phone number and my email address. I am worried because he does have this information along with some pictures of myself, my friends, and my house.
I did not send the money, but still feel like a fool to think this was really a Soldier. I saw on your account that "Soldiers don't beg for money on the internet-only scammers do that". That really made up my mind.
He also said things like he could not access his money because everthing was catered to them over there...and that he could not recieve letters..because it was against the rules..
I feel so stupid. Please just reassure me I did the right thing..
Refused to be Scammed

Welcome to Scamwarners Refusedtobescammed.

Of course you did the right thing, and you've done nothing wrong. I've had death threats and even voodoo curses aimed at me and that's just par for the course for a low life piece of scum.

Cut off all contact and ignore him. Even taking the time to tell him he's wating his time is just going to make him think he has a chance of bullying you into paying money and he's not worth wasting a minute of your valuable time over. He's probably already made the lives of other women a misery by stealing money off them so his male dignity is upset that he's failed to scam you.

You're in the power position and by ignoring him he'll fry in his own juices. Maybe he'll use your photo for scamming, but that's unlikely. They pick photos off the internet to use in scamming anyway so you've not given him anything particularly useful.

This is a common scam and there's not a chance there's any truth in what the scammer says, but you had confirmation of that when he started threatening you. He can't do you any harm as he's sitting in a far off internet cafe and will only move off his chair to collect money from the Western Union outlet and visit the local bar.

Nice work to avoid falling into his trap.

As Gomer said, just ignore him. Do not respond to him in any way. If he calls, don't answer. If you accidentally answer, don't say anything at all to him. Just hang up without saying a word (of course you can wait a few minutes before hanging up and let him burn some of his phone credit first )

Scammers are typically lazy cowards who want big money without working for it. They hide behind fake names and identities, halfway across the world from their victims, in an area where law enforcement is often corrupt, knowing that if they get caught, freedom is most likely just a bribe away anyway. They will write anything they want to, because they feel they are safe.

Even if they could get the passports and visas required to come to your country, taking action like that would take away their safety. There would be tickets, security, car rentals etc. They would be visible on security cameras, seen by security and others, and under scrutiny of another government. There would be better chances of being caught, and if caught, they would not be able to bribe their way out of trouble. They could end up serving real prison time. They would not be safe.

It's a simple fact of his business (and to him, it is a business, nothing more) that not every target will pay. He will throw out some threats and insults in a last-ditch effort to get money from you, because he knows he is not going to sweet-talk money out of you. But even if he could come to you, he isn't going to risk his safety for someone he has only wasted a few weeks, or even a few months, of scripted emails and chats on.

I too had a romantic relationship via internet by DARRY DARDEN, what a smooth talker,then moved on to tell me how "high security" prevented him from using a webcam, He then said all the things you want to hear including that he was staff sgt on a "peace keeping mission in Iraq" then wanted me to buy him a computer, playstation 2 for his kid Jack, He told me that he would have his"diplomat" IKE EMMANUEL" from Ghana West Africa get in touch with me as to where to ship the packages. I knew then it was a scam, Thanks to Oprah!!!!

I was also scammed out of money, he said his name a Aaron Ramos and he worked in the radar room. At first he only asked for small amounts of money (i.e. his IPOD broke and he needed money to replace it). soon the amounts went up and up. This went on for several months. He sent me poetry and we talked via IM. Of course he said he loved me. It all came to a screaching halt when he told me I would have to pay money for a BTA for him to come home. Thank God I was smart enough not to send any more money. Because of this site, I was able to check his IP address from his email - it will be the last IP address just before his email name. and Yes it was Lagos Nigera, I should have know. I noticed he already has a new id on seveal dating site- same picture, but he is now using the name Brian Ramos. PLease do not fall for this. In the long run you will only feel stupid, used and heart broken. PS the email address he used with me is [email protected]

Welcome to ScamWarners drw001 and mickeyirish. Thank you for posting your experiences for others to see and learn from. Scammers do not want to talk to you because in most cases their ability with spoken English is different from their ability to write in English. Often they are using a script.

drw001 Do you have an email address for "Darren" so others can find the information.

I agree with you, Thank you Oprah for helping to expose scams.

mickeyirish Thank you for posting up your experience. I am sorry you got scammed, but I am glad it wasn't for a large amount. I am glad you figured out how to check his IP address. Yes, scammers often blanket social networking or dating sites to gind their victims. You are not alone in being tricked by a scammer. being tricked does not mean that your are stupid. One of the most painful results of scammers is the heart break that they cause, just to get money.

We are glad you found us and hope you will stay around. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask them.

I was recently contacted by Darry Barden too. Says he's a Staff Sgt. in Iraq. Said he has a son named Jack who's in Miami Florida. Sent me a lot of pics of himself. Fortunately I googled his name & found this site. I did not send him any money. He hadn't gotten around to asking yet. He swears he's the real Darry Barden and he is being scammed. I don't buy it. Cannot google any real info on a Darry Barden. I was also contacted by a Carl C Mille. He says he's in the army in Afghanistan. Has 2 sons Henry and Johnny in California. He did ask me for $250.00 on Christmas day for presents for his kids. Both are very sweet and smooth talkers and attractive. Their dating site profiles make them seem like they are perfect men.Both of their profiles have since disappeared from the sites I met them on. Darry said he was divorced. Carl said he was widowed. Both say their parents are deceased. BEWARE!

Here are YET MORE scammers to watch for:
[email protected] (Sgt. Scott Johnson)
[email protected] ("Capt." Warren J. Crawford)
[email protected] (Sgt. Craig James)
[email protected] ("Lieutenant Colonel" Chris Hughes), Also goes by "COL" Chris Hughes
sgt. [email protected] (Sgt Evan Vela)
[email protected] (Sgt Bruce Collins)
[email protected] (Sgt. Ramos Smith)
[email protected] (Sgt Michael Richard)
These are ALL scammers working on dating sites that I have come into contact with. They will try to tell you they love you and then ask you to open a credit card with a high balance limit on them, ask for help with leave, or ask to help them repair computers, get a phone, or purchase supplies.
I have been working with my local army office to try and put a stop to those I encounter, and was given this advice when talking to anyone who claims to be military.
DEMAND (and do NOT TAKE NO FOR AN ANSWER) that they give you this following information:
FULL NAME
RANK
UNIT
WHERE THEY ARE
AND
A VALID MILITARY EMAIL ACCOUNT. Have THEM email you at least twice, and send emails back. Then take the info they gave you to a local army office and have the office run the info through the military database to verify their identity. If they tell you they cannot give you that info, they are FAKE. They CAN and SHOULD provide that info to prove their identity.

The REAL Officers being portrayed are aware this is happening, and they are investigating it and trying to stop the identity theft.

Useful advice LadiTawni, but to be honest the clearest indicator that you're dealing with a scammer and not a soldier is that a scammer asks you for money, and a soldier has more important things on his mind than that when he's operating in a war zone. A scammer has nothing else on his scummy mind.

Hi all..

I've got the broken computer scammer hitting me up a the moment for cash. Hey I guess I am what has been labelled on this site at a "baiter". Once I realise these guys are scammers, I just like to have a little fun with them. I also figure, while they think they have me in the palm of their hands they are not actually scamming someone who will give them the cash.
The guy is going by the name Staff Sgt Michael Sanders. He says he is based in Afganistan. His story.. age about 40, widdowed, 9 yr old son named Joey. Met him on a dating site. I felt something wasn't right because of a few reasons.
1. He stated he loved me and wanted to spend the rest of his life with me after 10 minutes.
2. Sometimes his grammer was out.. like using will instead of would.. as in.. "I will like to know you more".. I've been chatting online for years now.. and I can ignore typing and spelling mistakes, but those of us raised speaking english, never stuff up grammer as we know it.
3. He kept asking me to tell him I loved him. Hey, I didn't even know what this guy like to eat for breakfast.

His email address is [email protected]

I have a genuine female friend I met on facebook a few years ago. She is from the US and her husband is ex militry (served for 22 years). I have checked with her in the last couple of days to see if she had the same gut feeling about this guy as me, because this guy is smooth. It took him two weeks to tell me his laptop had crashed and that he was using a friends.

Unfortunately for this guy. I'm an Aussie.. and us Aussies hate con artists.. so I'm having fun playing with him... I guess you could call me a bit of a bitch (excuse the language).

Shirl

Welcome to ScamWarners ozzielass. I am glad that you realized that this was a scammer. Thank you for posting this information about the scam here for others to find.

What you are doing by "messing" with him is known as baiting. We discourage baiting using any email accounts that are tied to your real life. To learn more about baiting, visit our sister site: www.419eater.com. There you can learn how to bait safely.

Thanks for the advise about the email address Abby. I never give out my "home" email address. And my yahoo account does not have any info about me other than my first name, i'm from "somewhere in Australia" and my birthday (day and month only).

I only wish I had know about this site a long time ago

Best Wishes

Shirley

I too was contacted by a Staff Sargeant Darry Barden stationed in Iraq with a son named Jack in Miami Florida. My last contact with him was Jan 20 2011. He tried several times to get something out of me, but didn't Thank God. but I kept hoping he was legit. But when I wouldn't send bank information for him to send me a MIllion dollars he got upset but then went to me opening up a new bank account, this was because I had to many good reasons not to accept any money like that and said I could ask the FBI if that was ok. Finally his laptop wasn't working and started asking for me to send a new one to him or send money. When I asked why he couldn't pick one up himself, he just stopped talking on the IM. We had been talking since day after Christmas.
I too met him on a dating site. I had another same day that was stationed in Afkanistan.
Frankly that was all I got on the dating sites. I had 4 back to back. First 2 on same day that I joined. Which were engineers in foreign countries. then after them I got the 2 army guys on same day. not just same day but same min. you might say. They all got a piece of my heart , but only one got some money. I still have most of my emails from Darry and his pictures he sent. I still can see him on yahoo. I have a couple emails sent from one of the Engineers. They are very good. Saying all the things a woman wants and needs to hear. The perfect man of your dreams. I knew thast Darry was a fraud and wasn't talking to him, however I still kept hoping somehow it was a mistake, but in trying to searh his name I came upon this site. I couldn't believer there was 3 others talking about the same man. I know God lead me to this site. I was able to take him off my contact list. His email that he used with me and is still active is [email protected].

I was recently contacted on facebook by a woman claiming to be a sergeant in the army stationed in Iraq the name on Facebook is Sgtwaters Waters she claimed she was fixing to retire out of the army after being stationed
over in Iraq for 6 years and that she was looking for a man to marry when she got out and settle down then she wanted to be able to talk on phone but the only way she could do it was if i signed up at www.ts2activation@mail2america and sent me an email supposedly from the company an they advised i must pay
300 USD for activation and 100 dollars a month and then they want you to estimate the months you are activated when i told her i couldn't afford it she asked how much i could afford and maybe they would be able to make some other arrangements then she said if i didn't get activated she could not get released next month.
i knew a good friend that had just returned from Iraq so I called him and asked and he said it sounds like a scam.
I also noticed on her wall on Facebook that she was having same type conversations with another man. I contacted him to advise of the possible scam.

Welcome, kyemt. This is a definite scam. Good job on spotting it.

mail2america is a free web mail address and isn't associated with any branch of military, nor companies providing any communication services. The claim of needing you to pay so that she can keep in contact is very common with this type of scam. Please read this informational topic on Scammers impersonating military personnel for more information: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6527

Let us know if you have any questions.