is this a scam????

Hello my name is Tammy. I was on a dating site and fell in love with a Army man stationed in Afganistan. He had told me that he cant be on leave until Dec 2013, so that he won't see me sooner than that unless we ask for leave. He gave me a name, Lt Col Roberts and email him at [email protected] to get the forms to fill out so he could go on leave. I had to mark yes or no. Then there was another email and another form with an amout of $485 that I have to send Western Union
PAYMENT INFORMATION
Name:Helen Slater
City: Indianapolis
State: Indiana
Country: USA
Zip code:46201
I'm a single mom with 3 kids and really can't affort this. My friends are saying it's a scam and it's breaking my heart. But I want to know. Heck I'm admiring a picture of a person that might not even know I exsist. Please help!! Thank You.

Hi Tammy and welcome to ScamWarners. I'm sorry to tell you that this in indeed a scam. Members of the military can only receive leave if they're eligible for it, it cannot be requested for them by people outside of the military, and it never costs them money to apply. Also, consultant.com is a free email service and is not used by the military. I'm glad that you came here to check and that you've been listening to your friends. Please do not send this man any money, he is not a soldier, he is a scammer who is only after your money. You can read more about this type of scam here: viewtopic.php?f=13&t=6527

If you could post some of the early emails that you received from him with your personal details edited out (including the headers-if you don't know how to find those just ask) it may save others from being scammed, since scammers often use the same scripts to scam multiple people. If you have any other questions please ask.

As Guenther has already said, this is a scam.

The moment a "soldier" asks you to apply for ANYTHING you can already be certain it is a scam, as that is not how the army works--and while a scammer will sometimes try to claim that it is a new policy, in reality the army will never work that way. The entire structure of the US military is based on a hierarchy. Requests are made within the chain of command--this is intentional, as it ensures accountability. Civilians are not part of that hierarchy, they have no accountability as they don't report within the chain, and therefore are not in a position to make any requests for soldiers.

In addition, if soldiers deployed in war zones could simply buy leave whenever they wanted it, there would be a shortage of soldiers in war zones, especially around holidays!

Please drop this scammer immediately. There is more information on next steps in my signature line--I strongly recommend reading those.