Barry Robert Collins

I am crushed. To leave myself so open, gullible and now poor. He got in touch with me through Millionaire mingle...web site my girlfriend put me on. Half Brit half Yank he said. Lost his mom when he was 28...brought up his brother and sister 14, 11 on his own. Hours of phone calls, IM's ...then he had to go do a job in Joberg...built cell towers. His sis emailed me from England...was so happy for us...his brother called to say thankyou...never heard his big brother so happy. Finally he was going to get his own life! Had the flight details KLM...got to Joberg...asked if he could go do a job in Lagos. I didn't feel it was my place to say it was too dangerous...long story short...needed extra equipment cause of change in areas and countries...would either have to come back to Dallas, sort things out and go back or me send his brother money in England (where everything gets shipped from) and he could send the new equipment out. The countless hours I spent talking to him...unbelievable. Anyway he and his supervisor get robbed and beaten, require surgery, supervisor dies from injuries...Barry feels guilty. Quits the job...takes care of getting the body back to Joberg...helps with all the expenses (of course I sent more)...and on and on and on. I just can't believe the timing and the noises in the background and the sleep habits and how well he knew me. My poor children loved talking to him...total british accent. I have all emails and IM's archieved...if someone wants to help.
Crazy thing is I miss him...
how evil and dark is another humans soul? over $50000.00

Hi barmoshow,

I'm extremely sorry to hear that you got scammed. It's a terrible feeling to be scammed and when your heart is also involved - ouch.

Would you be able to post some of his emails, with headers? That would help us to try and see where the scammer is writing you from.

Hello barmoshow, I am sorry that this scammer has done this to you. Sadly you are not alone in being scammed. Scammers are experts at manipulating your feelings and getting you to attach to them. The statistics are staggering regarding the amount of money that is lost to scamming.

I know that doesn't make you feel any better. What is not measured is the amount of heart ache that scammers cause to their victims. We try real hard to support victims like you when the realization comes that you have been scammed. Our Support Team members (Scam Warners and Scam Advisors) are here to help support you as are the Moderators on this site.

Please feel free to PM any of us to ask questions or deal with the difficulties you are having.

We are glad you found us.
Abby

Crazy thing is I miss him...

Not so crazy. Stories like this make me wonder whether some of these scammers could manage a legitimate career in paid role-play/fantasy.

Recently I read a story about the discovery of provoker agents from the FBI in some sort of cause organiz'n. They got very social with the members; lots of time activity like that is as much for the socializing as the cause, or if it wasn't at first, becomes so. My rxn was that if it'd happened to me, I'd be tempted to contact the agent and ask if she could go on playing the role, maybe even for payment.

Robert

The world would be a much better place if scammers used their talents and energy for good. They however have found that they can take more money by doing illegal activities. They have no conscience and are only interested in the quick score.

What they do is both criminal and inhumane as evidenced by the quote you pulled. This is why we fight scams. Thank you for your participation.