by Chris Fuller
Mon May 14, 2012 1:54 am
Hello white_butter,
Sometimes it may be possible to find where a scammer has stolen photos from. For example, you can upload a photo to Google Image Search, and see whether any matching photos can be found.
The real person in the photographs, however, is unlikely to appreciate being contacted. It will be distressing to them to discover that their photos have been stolen by a scammer and are being used to perpetuate fraud - and there will be nothing that they can do to stop this. Also, of course, the real person in the photographs has a life and family which we know nothing about. We don't know what is happening in their own life at the moment, and we don't know how intrusive contact from a total stranger could be.
The most important thing is simply to know that the photos you receive are not photos of the person who has been sending the scam mails. Regardless of whether or not you can trace the originals.