Has someone offered you a huge sum of money or a valuable consignment? It's a 419 or advance fee fraud - find out how they work, and what to do to be safe.
by paula70 Fri Jun 11, 2010 6:50 am
Hello
my friend has been in contact from a guy from a dating site for a few weeks.
all the typical signs are there ie: broken english, falling in love very quickly. He claims to be an American soldier serving in Afghanistan, and also has an address in harrogate U.k supposedly. He claims to be a widower, with a son who lives in Colarado with his deceased wifes parents.
he has been pushy in trying to get my friend to come up with a sum of money to enable them to communicate by phone.
i know this is obviously a scam, but she is vulnrable and i want to deal with this the right way to minimise upset or bad feeling.
he gives his name as Jack Mccarthy, and the email header is below. i have checked three of his emails, and two orriginate from u.k and the last from lagos nigeria :roll: .
so please help give me any information on this scammer so i have some facts to present to my very good friend.

X-Message-Delivery: Vj0xLjE7dXM9MDtsPTE7YT0xO0Q9MDtTQ0w9MA==
X-Message-Status: n:0
X-SID-PRA: Jack Mccarthy <[email protected]>
X-SID-Result: Pass
X-AUTH-Result: PASS
X-Message-Info: JGTYoYF78jFnomcRAmA4k3MieaPDXGSgCJSYsdM7PJ1k689peX9fbCzyB4SJUowlRQ0ZPBFr9YxjR10a6fxn+AFnBC1RGjLT
Received: from snt0-omc4-s47.snt0.hotmail.com ([65.54.51.98]) by col0-mc2-f26.Col0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.4675);
Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:06:41 -0700
Received: from SNT118-W40 ([65.55.90.199]) by snt0-omc4-s47.snt0.hotmail.com with Microsoft SMTPSVC(6.0.3790.4675);
Thu, 10 Jun 2010 06:06:40 -0700
Message-ID: <[email protected]>
Return-Path: [email protected]
Content-Type: multipart/alternative;
boundary="_0692ab92-61e3-40b8-9b18-56965b326b55_"
X-Originating-IP: [196.46.246.21]
From: Jack Mccarthy <[email protected]>
To:
Subject: love you
Date: Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:06:40 +0100
Importance: Normal
In-Reply-To: <[email protected]>
References: <[email protected]>
MIME-Version: 1.0
X-OriginalArrivalTime: 10 Jun 2010 13:06:40.0388 (UTC) FILETIME=[C425A440:01CB089D]

--_0692ab92-61e3-40b8-9b18-56965b326b55_
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable

oh and his last email

wwoowww...u look so great..infact today is my happiest day..u know wat?i m getting them printed now so that can take them along with me to the uptown now..honey i m sorry to tell u this.. i have to embark on mission to the UPTOWN and it may take me up to 5 days so i might not be online and promise 'll send u mine immidiatley i comes back..i 'll mss u so much..honey that is why we have to get connected and talk on phone..i m longing to talk to u and hear ur beautful voice....honey do raise the money before i comes back... LOVE U SO MUCH AND I 'LL NEVER STOP LOVNG YOU...

Jack
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by Crispy Duck Fri Jun 11, 2010 7:38 am
Welcome, paula :D

From the headers:

X-Originating-IP: [196.46.246.21]


196.46.246.21 Nigeria (Lagos)

WhoIs:
Celtel Nigeria Limited t.a ZAIN
ZBanana, 5th Floor, Wing B
L2 Banana Island
Ikoyi, Lagos, Nigeria

That alone says he is a scammer!
by paula70 Fri Jun 11, 2010 8:01 am
no doubt in my mind that hes a low life scammer, but how do i convince my unsuspecting friend? :(
by Crispy Duck Fri Jun 11, 2010 8:14 am
You could look Here & see if any of the info is relevant to your friends situation!

The fact that he is lying about his whereabouts (ie not in Afghanistan) should help, but there are no Google hits on the email addy & apart from the (mis)use of English, there is little else to use as proof to someone who may need convincing. Any additional info you could post (a photo etc) could help.
by Dotti Fri Jun 11, 2010 11:47 am
The biggest thing is not to make her feel defensive. It is important to emphasize that these scammers are professional manipulators who would not do this if they didn't make money from it--not knowing these scumbags are out there, or not immediately recognizing one doesn't make her stupid. Take a look at the link Crispy Duck gave you. This is the summary of military scammer tactics, and includes the phone scam. If you can get her to look at it with you, expressing your concern without being judgmental or overbearing, it may help to plant a seed of doubt. Steer her here if you can, or if you can provide a little more information, we can have a warner contact her too.

There's lots of research that will help if you have access to any of their correspondence. Some scammers are careful to change names and emails frequently, so searching name and email may not yield anything--I did a quick search and found nothing.

Of course you can post more info here and we will gladly help you, but if you can see some of his correspondence and aren't ready or able to post it, here are some things you can do yourself.
-I'm assuming he probably has some scripted emails--review his emails and look for areas of significantly better English. If you google phrases from those emails (use quotes) or even his dating site profile, you will very likely find matches, often to other scammers.
-If he has set her up with the "phone company" it will be a fake, or will be a fake address impersonating a real company like TS2. Google the email for the phone company, or take her to the scam warning on TS2 (link in the military scam summary).
-If you have access to the photos he sent her, run them through tineye.com and scamdigger.com to see if they are already posted or used by scammers. Also, check his photos for signs of editing--backgrounds that don't look right, copy/paste artifacts, etc.
-Google his phone number, and if he gave her a UK phone number, check to see if it is a flextel number (numbers starting with 44-70 are redirect numbers used by African scammers more than anyone, and anything starting with 44-870 or 44-871 is likely to be flextel or another service abused by scammers).
-If he sent "ID" check that also for signs of editing and even misspelling (for example, one passport just posted here shows the place of birth as "Califonia"--the state would be spelled correctly on a US passport! Sometimes scammers misspell their own fake names on their fake documents!)

And, of course, you can continue to ask questions and we will be glad to help however we can.

Need to post photos? http://scamwarners.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=3219
Are you a victim of a romance scam? Read here for advice and FAQ's.
by jolly_roger Fri Jun 11, 2010 12:26 pm
Hi Paula
The previous posters have written good advice.
Any additional info about the subject or a photo would help greatly, because people will assist if they can.
The Whois (posted previous)
Zain Nigeria, formerly Celtel
Mobile Telecommunications Company
And also this may be of help - the Fraud management Unit can be reached on the email [email protected].
by GomerPyle Fri Jun 11, 2010 1:34 pm
UK forces in Afghanistan get a weekly free phone call allowance from military phones.

I doubt that the military are allowed to use their own personal mobile phones in view of the risk of interfering with military communications and radar, and interception by unfriendly forces. There's also a risk of setting off IED's.

Your friend is enamoured with a dream that exists only in her mind. Facing reality will be hurtful and painful for her, but she's going to go through it sooner or later. It's better if it's sooner rather than after she's also lost a hatful of money.

The next step is for him to ask for money so that he can arrange leave - another fictional method to extract monay from victims. The shame is that she is wasting her time and emotion on a sick and despicable human being.

Non-EU citizens should go here to find out about obtaining a visa to work as an au pair in the UK
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/
Whenever payment is requested by Western Union you're dealing with a scammer
by paula70 Fri Jun 11, 2010 4:59 pm
thanks for your helpful replies and links.
i have spoken with my friend this evening about my fears, and although she has taken it badly, and doesn't want to believe it, she has allowed me to continue the emails with him on her behalf to 'prove' to her that hes a scammer. so job half done :)
by GomerPyle Sat Jun 12, 2010 4:26 am
If you look here this provides indisputable evidence of what I mentioned earlier.

UK troops are NOT ALLOWED mobile phones in Afghanistan.

It would be an offence for him to have one and could get him and his fellow soldiers killed.

Article from the Times Online dated 6th May 2010

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/u ... 117569.ece

Soldiers in Afghanistan are being penalised by mobile phone companies that continue to bill them even though they cannot use the phones there.

Some operators refuse to suspend contracts without proof of deployment — information that soldiers are told not to divulge. They are forbidden anyway to use mobiles on active service because of security considerations.


The same will apply to US troops. Anyone pretending to be a soldier on active service asking for money for a mobile/cell phone is a liar and scammer.

I DO understand the hurt your friend will be feeling, but paying money to this liar and thief will only increase her pain.

Forgive me being so blunt - but no more proof is needed. Soldiers on active service DON'T put their buddies lives in jeopardy. He isn't a soldier - he's a low life scammer.

Non-EU citizens should go here to find out about obtaining a visa to work as an au pair in the UK
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/
Whenever payment is requested by Western Union you're dealing with a scammer
by paula70 Sat Jun 12, 2010 2:46 pm
yes i know he is, never had any doubt. He wasnt asking for a mobile, it was something about a connection im not entirely sure, but anyhow, now my friend is aware, as i set up an email tracker on her email account so she can see physical proof that he is sending them from Lagos Nigeria, and thankfully that has done the trick, shes gone into angry mode thank god .
by GomerPyle Sun Jun 13, 2010 4:16 am
I know that I must sound heartless, but you must be cautious with your affection and your money otherwise scammers will use one to steal the other.

One of my many irritating habits is research, and if any person comes across a person online claiming to be a UK soldier, an easy way to verify this is to ask them to provide their 'e-bluey' contact details so that you can e-mail them. A scammer will be clueless, and even if they read this, they won't be able to provide details and receive your mail because it utilises the old BFPO system. Any civilian with an email address and internet connection can sign up but importantly, a soldier must provide his service details, including BFPO number indicating where they are serving.

No 'e-bluey' - then he's not a UK soldier and is a liar and scammer.

If a soldier wants your money - just ask for one thing in return that won't cost him a penny - his 'e-bluey' contact details. Don't waste your time and affection on someone who proves he's a liar.

If the person doesn't know what an 'e-bluey' is, he's an idiot and imposter.

Non-EU citizens should go here to find out about obtaining a visa to work as an au pair in the UK
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/
Whenever payment is requested by Western Union you're dealing with a scammer
by paula70 Mon Jun 14, 2010 3:40 pm
No im not wasting any time or affection on him/her. One of my many hobbies is research also, which is what led me to this site amongst others, and which is why NO MONEY has or will ever be sent, i am not questioning his innocence, i know, and my friend knows what he is. so thanks for your help
by GomerPyle Mon Jun 14, 2010 6:04 pm
I know that I must come across as cold and harsh, but there's a stage at which a victim has invested so much emotion and money into a scammer that her faith in him, whatever the evidence, becomes unshakable and the consequences can be serious. I have just been trying to describe reality to counter the fantasy that scammers use to lure their prey, because that what your friend is to these criminals.

Non-EU citizens should go here to find out about obtaining a visa to work as an au pair in the UK
http://www.ukvisas.gov.uk/en/doineedvisa/
Whenever payment is requested by Western Union you're dealing with a scammer
by Ralph Mon Jun 14, 2010 7:02 pm
Hi Paula, I am glad to hear your friend realises that its a scam.

Could you please post as many details as you can about this scammer, it will help others to avoid being scammed.

If you or your friend have any questions, please ask
by Azie Back Mon Jun 21, 2010 1:13 am
Hi Paula,
There's been a lot of support and advice from members here, which is really sweet. My concern is however about your friend's emotional state of mind. It's hard to let go of something you have believed for weeks to be true. I can't blame her if she 'misses' the moments and wished that it was true and not a scam. These scammers have no conscience and they don't realize the emotional roller coaster ride they take their victims on while trying to rob them of their hard earned money. I'm so glad she has a friend who cares. However, :twisted: I believe the one way to get even with this scumbag is to report him to the scambaiters. Let them take him on a roller coaster ride of humiliation and they are simply FANTASTIC at what they do. :=) May be then she'd be able to come to terms with her shattered hopes. I know I would.
Take care and good luck. :)

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