Quote From: free2bmegalHello to all you ladies that have been scamed! I have also been a victim of a scam artist out of Nigeria. I met "Mike" on American Singles, he came on line rather quickly, talking to me sweetly, talking to me every day, got my yahoo e-mail address, quickly said "I Love you" all the good stuff us ladies like to hear. Said he was from New York, just moved to Nigeria a year ago with his Mom and Siblings because of the death of him father, his father was white and from NY while his mother is black and from Nigeria,so they went there to be closer to her family. "Mike" hated it there and wanted to return to the States a.s.a.p, so he was looking for a woman to love and to be with in the states so he could move back and start a new life with her "me". We started talking on the phone as well as the computer almost every single day, he would send me poems and write me lovely letters and such, professing he undying love for me, well I felt like I had fallen in love with him also, and trusted him completley, then.......he had went to the bank and drew out some money for a plane ticket to come to me, he was beaten up and robbed by 4 men. Then, his Mom got sick and was in the hospital so she needed money for meds. Then he supposidly went and put $700.00 down on a plane ticket to reserve it and needed $550.00 more, could I help him, so of course I sent him money, then, he was in a car accident and was in the hospital with a broken leg, so he needed more money for pain meds, so I sent him more money, after that his car was stolen and his apartment caught on fire by arson, NO I did not send him anymore money. After that, his mom was sick again and in the hospital.
It was one thing after another, so after the fact of sending him $900.00, I decided to go on line and do some checking, I found an Internet Fraud Investigator out of the U.K. I wrote to him and shared my story, he checked out "Mike" and wrote back to me and told me he was a fraud and was part of the Nigerian fraud gangs.
I confronted "Mike" he denied it of course, the IFA shut down "Mikes" e-mail address, boy was he pissed at me! Then he got over it, we talked again for a while, I told him I wanted him to send me all of my money back and I already spoke to the police about it, then I had not heard from him in months. Now guess what????? he has recently started writing me again and calling me. He still want s to know if I still love him and he love me still and would love to start our "relationship" all over again. I have been going along with this (pretend this time) and here we go again, he is telling me now that someone from a different state, a girlfriend of his Uncle is going to Western Union $600.00 to me, I am to take out $100.00 for now for what he owes me and send him the rest because his mom is sick again and needs meds. He gave me the confirmation number from Western Union a girls name, no number, so I decided what the heck, go check it out. Well guess what I went to Western Union, there is NO money there. Imagine that!
I left him an e-mail a couple of days ago saying" OK Mike what are you trying to pull now??? your not getting any money out of me again!" I have not heard back so far.
Why do we want to believe them so bad? Are we so desperate to have a good man in our lives? And like the one lady had said "we are intelligent women" what is our problem?
Thank you!
The only problem you have is that you trust total strangers, and believe what you are told. These qualities are not a bad thing. But the world today requires that you don't allow your dreams and fantasies to over-rule your skepticism. Scammers know there are people out there who will believe some truly outlandish stories: successful men overseas who are robbed, beaten, can't cash their money orders in a foreign country, mugged on the way to the airport, have sick children in the hospital, etc. These stories I've read so far sound all the same to me. And I haven't believed any I've read so far.
Anytime a total stranger asks you for money, the red flags should be flying! The only people I give money to are the young kids in my neighborhood who are selling school endorsed items for their football or cheerleader team, who are accompanied by their parents whom I recognize from the local school.
You learned a hard lesson, and I suspect you will not make this mistake twice. Never ever ever give out your hard earned money to a stranger. I don't care if the person says he's the Pope! Just say NO!
(Original Air Date: 09/28/06) It begins on a dating Web site with flattering e-mails and IMs with handsome photos attached. The man pours on the charm and soon professes love, but he needs money -- to pay medical bills, fund investments and, most importantly, to get back home to the States and finally meet his long-distance love. Is his love for real, or just an elaborate con? Despite being taken for thousands of dollars in bogus money orders, Dee-Dee believes the man she knows as Cole just needs to get home from Nigeria to make good on his debts and marry her. Then, Annette is sure she's being deceived by a man who claims to be a contractor in Africa, but that doesn't stop her from sending him money. Have these women really fallen in love or just fallen for an international scam? Share your own online dating stories and talk about the show here.
