Online dating scam

[moroccogirlny 100]

Lynbrook woman says she lost $25G in online dating scam

By MATTHEW CHAYES matthew.chayes@newsday.com

Joan Romano concedes she was gullible when she fell for a man on an online-dating site.

Romano, 53, of Lynbrook, spent about six months in a virtual romance with a man who described himself as a U.S. soldier serving in Afghanistan - and she lost about $25,000 in the process.

When the man, who said his name was Sgt. Austin Miller and, later Sgt. Austin Newman, asked her to send a laptop so they could keep in touch, she purchased one and sent it to an address he provided in Ghana. When he told her he needed her to pay the customs fees on the laptop, she did.

And, at his request, she wired him tens of thousands of dollars over several months.

"I fell for it and I screwed up," she said of the courtship, which had included promises of gold, marriage and starting a family.

Romano, who is divorced and works as an office manager for a rheumatologist, says she was suspicious - though not sufficiently skeptical to refuse his requests. She blames her gullibility on the daily stress of caring for a disabled brother and elderly mother, both of whom live with her, as well as on her patriotism. She had worked in the World Trade Center, though fortunately she had called in sick on the morning of 9/11.

Christopher Grey, a spokesman for the Army's Criminal Investigation Command at Fort Belvoir, Va., said his office is investigating the case.

Romano isn't the first person to fall for an Internet con artist masquerading as a U.S. Army soldier, Grey said. In the past six months alone, the Army has received hundreds of such complaints, mostly by women who tend to be middle-aged, single, divorced or widows, he said.

Among them are women who were convinced that the impostor who had ripped them off was a legitimate U.S. service member, he said.

Match.com, the dating site where Romano says the man first messaged her, said in a statement that it advises members to "be cautious of scammers, never wire transfer money or provide banking information to anyone," and report any suspicious activity.

A Nassau district attorney spokeswoman confirmed that Romano had filed a complaint but said the office told her to call the federal government because the crimes occurred outside the office's jurisdiction.

Romano says she also filed a complaint with the Federal Bureau of Investigation in June. Special Agent Jim Margolin said its Internet Crime Complaint Center doesn't publicly confirm or deny the filing of complaints.

It's hard to find such impostors, much less prosecute them, Grey said, because they tend to run their operations out of Internet cafes on other continents where there are legal "jurisdictional issues."

"They'll set up an operation, work it a couple weeks and move on," Grey said.

And contacting the Army to confirm a name against official military records won't necessarily weed out scams, Grey said, because many impostors steal identities of real soldiers.

Women in romantic relationships should be suspicious if they are asked to send money or valuable items, he said.

In Romano's case, she says she concluded she was talking to an impostor when she and a neighbor searched online last month for information about the man - and found pictures of him on a site about impostors.

"My face almost dropped," she said. "I said, 'Oh, my God!' "

Link

[thongd4me 69]

Joanie not playing with a full set of dominoes -

sending a laptop to an address in Ghana

for someone in the US military?

I'm currently with the Rigling Bros. circus

and I'm living in Belize.

Oh and I could definitely use a laptop -

my wife uses mine all the time and I

could use a spare

Edited October 12, 2010 by thongd4me

[IndigoSkies 168]

This story mirrors another story I read that a Dell employee from India swindled thousands of dollars in cash and in goods from an American women. The naive woman went on to say that she knew something was amiss but she still continued to correspond with the said Dell worker until she realised that once her naked pictures were uploaded to the ominous Internets, there's never going back. No Dell employee can ever erase your embarrassment. Ever.

[Nagishkaw 510]

Women in romantic relationships should be suspicious if they are asked to send money or valuable items

Ya think?

[Fandango 1,439]

I feel for the woman, that's a lot of cash...but at the same time.....####### WAS SHE THINKING?

[Sc0tt28 26]

Just for the record, I was a soldier deployed to Iraq when I met the woman who is now my wife. I met her online but I also didn't ask her to send me stuff so...

[Ban Hammer 12,863]

Just for the record, I was a soldier deployed to Iraq when I met the woman who is now my wife. I met her online but I also didn't ask her to send me stuff so...

hmmm, canadian flag. you didn't ask for timbits?

[Sc0tt28 26]

hmmm, canadian flag. you didn't ask for timbits?

LOL, no I'm the US citizen petitioner, my wife can't be bothered to find out what she needs to do to get her green card and so I'm here on her behalf. When my wife first told me about this "Tim Horton" guy, I was quite confused. "Is he a friend of yours?", "Is he someone I should know but admittedly do not?"

[Ban Hammer 12,863]

LOL, no I'm the US citizen petitioner, my wife can't be bothered to find out what she needs to do to get her green card and so I'm here on her behalf. When my wife first told me about this "Tim Horton" guy, I was quite confused. "Is he a friend of yours?", "Is he someone I should know but admittedly do not?"

just how much canadian tire money can one bring into the usa?

[nane1104 146]

Women need to stop being so desperate in the dating game. I feel for her but wow...really??

[SuperDuper! 230]

Women need to stop being so desperate in the dating game. I feel for her but wow...really??

Wow, you are looking to get NAGged, aren't you?

[trillium13 84]

It's hard for me to find sympathy for anyone who falls for this #######. I mean, come on now.

Hey, did I tell everyone I won 3 million British pounds this weekend? I got an email that said so, so I know it's true!

[Ban Hammer 12,863]

It's hard for me to find sympathy for anyone who falls for this #######. I mean, come on now.

Hey, did I tell everyone I won 3 million British pounds this weekend? I got an email that said so, so I know it's true!

that's all? dayum i won the un lottery for 150 usd!

[carolynhotstuff 252]

I feel sorry for this poor woman.

[SuperDuper! 230]

I feel sorry for this poor woman.

Most feel sorry for her stupidity.