Scam on match.com dating site
Closed
Polosolitaire
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genmi -
genmi -
Hello,
I sent a message to a 31-year-old woman named Leila Bamba via the dating site match.com at the following address:
http://rencontres.fr.msn.com/channel/index.aspx
The young woman goes by the username "seudouce1".
After a message from me, Bamba Leila replies that she wants to tell me something but on MSN.
So, I set up a meeting on MSN and then she tells me that she actually lives in Ivory Coast in Abidjan.
I think to myself, oh no, she lives too far away, but I still chat with her just in case. The discussion lasts several hours on MSN, and she starts to tell me that she is very interested in me and that she would like to come to France to form a united couple. I’ll skip the details.
Then she asks me for 200 Euros to renew her passport; I categorically refuse thinking that it’s a pure scam. Cautious but still open, I ask her for her phone number which is 00225 66 86 84 60 to verify that she is indeed a real woman. She tells me that she would love for me to call her.
So, I call her, the communication quality is very poor, Leila Bamba doesn’t speak French very well yet she manages to write quite well on MSN. The call cuts several times but I manage to talk to her for 2-3 minutes, she seems sincere to me. She says she has dual Ivorian-Lebanese and French nationality, so there is no problem for her papers to come to France; she claims to be the daughter of a French military person in Abidjan.
After some hesitation, I decide to send her 200 Euros via Western Union. Three days later, she sends me a scan of her passport that she supposedly just obtained with the money I sent her, which reassures me completely even though I am surprised to see that the validity of her French passport is 5 years when it should normally be 10 years, but at the time I didn’t realize it.
She then asks me to send her another 250 Euros, stating that her mother and she can pay the rest to buy a plane ticket. It was agreed that I would pick her up at the Paris airport, but she needs to send me a scan of her ticket to prove that her story is true.
Instead of her ticket scan, she sends me a certificate from a travel agency saying that she has bought her plane ticket. An agency that, by the way, doesn’t exist on Google.
That's when I realize that I have been manipulated like a silly child. The travel agency doesn't exist on Google either. And she requests 100 Euros to pay various unforeseen taxes, such as luggage fees and departure taxes.
I threaten to report her online if she doesn’t return my 450 Euros that I sent via Western Union; she replies that I will get my money tomorrow, but it’s been over 2 weeks and still nothing, not even an email despite my rather threatening follow-ups.
She sold me a dream, and I was so naïve and taken in by her words that I let myself be beautifully fooled; I would never have believed this would happen to me, but the silver lining is that now I will be more cautious and won’t get fooled like this again.
I probably have no chance of getting my money back, but at least I can report her so others don’t fall for it. The only thing is that she clearly knows how to forge documents, and I can’t unfortunately be sure that Leila Bamba is her real name, although to withdraw the money at the Western Union office, she needed to show an ID with the first name Leila and the last name Bamba.
If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to share.
I sent a message to a 31-year-old woman named Leila Bamba via the dating site match.com at the following address:
http://rencontres.fr.msn.com/channel/index.aspx
The young woman goes by the username "seudouce1".
After a message from me, Bamba Leila replies that she wants to tell me something but on MSN.
So, I set up a meeting on MSN and then she tells me that she actually lives in Ivory Coast in Abidjan.
I think to myself, oh no, she lives too far away, but I still chat with her just in case. The discussion lasts several hours on MSN, and she starts to tell me that she is very interested in me and that she would like to come to France to form a united couple. I’ll skip the details.
Then she asks me for 200 Euros to renew her passport; I categorically refuse thinking that it’s a pure scam. Cautious but still open, I ask her for her phone number which is 00225 66 86 84 60 to verify that she is indeed a real woman. She tells me that she would love for me to call her.
So, I call her, the communication quality is very poor, Leila Bamba doesn’t speak French very well yet she manages to write quite well on MSN. The call cuts several times but I manage to talk to her for 2-3 minutes, she seems sincere to me. She says she has dual Ivorian-Lebanese and French nationality, so there is no problem for her papers to come to France; she claims to be the daughter of a French military person in Abidjan.
After some hesitation, I decide to send her 200 Euros via Western Union. Three days later, she sends me a scan of her passport that she supposedly just obtained with the money I sent her, which reassures me completely even though I am surprised to see that the validity of her French passport is 5 years when it should normally be 10 years, but at the time I didn’t realize it.
She then asks me to send her another 250 Euros, stating that her mother and she can pay the rest to buy a plane ticket. It was agreed that I would pick her up at the Paris airport, but she needs to send me a scan of her ticket to prove that her story is true.
Instead of her ticket scan, she sends me a certificate from a travel agency saying that she has bought her plane ticket. An agency that, by the way, doesn’t exist on Google.
That's when I realize that I have been manipulated like a silly child. The travel agency doesn't exist on Google either. And she requests 100 Euros to pay various unforeseen taxes, such as luggage fees and departure taxes.
I threaten to report her online if she doesn’t return my 450 Euros that I sent via Western Union; she replies that I will get my money tomorrow, but it’s been over 2 weeks and still nothing, not even an email despite my rather threatening follow-ups.
She sold me a dream, and I was so naïve and taken in by her words that I let myself be beautifully fooled; I would never have believed this would happen to me, but the silver lining is that now I will be more cautious and won’t get fooled like this again.
I probably have no chance of getting my money back, but at least I can report her so others don’t fall for it. The only thing is that she clearly knows how to forge documents, and I can’t unfortunately be sure that Leila Bamba is her real name, although to withdraw the money at the Western Union office, she needed to show an ID with the first name Leila and the last name Bamba.
If you have any comments or suggestions, feel free to share.
15 réponses
Polo,
You have fallen victim to what is commonly referred to as a romance scam.
Your beautiful African woman was not a woman but a man. You were indeed talking to a woman on the phone, which explains the difference between the written and oral conversations.
Have you filed a complaint?
Contact me at chrisvorascam@croque-escrocs.fr for more information.
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PLEASE MENTION THE EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THESE SCAMMERS
We will make good use of them (Blacklist)
You have fallen victim to what is commonly referred to as a romance scam.
Your beautiful African woman was not a woman but a man. You were indeed talking to a woman on the phone, which explains the difference between the written and oral conversations.
Have you filed a complaint?
Contact me at chrisvorascam@croque-escrocs.fr for more information.
--
PLEASE MENTION THE EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THESE SCAMMERS
We will make good use of them (Blacklist)
I would like to remind you that most people who instinctively search on Google about these scams end up here.
If your goal is to inform, I don’t see why you wouldn’t do it here as well, so that your information benefits the greatest number. :)
See you!
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Bourreaucat at your service
Each victim reacts differently, of course, but most of the time, they are psychologically devastated.
Some quickly fall into depression. The romance scam is the worst scam since these scammers manipulate feelings and emotions and take advantage of the emotional void of victims who do not sign up for dating sites by chance. They are already fragile, alone, and isolated...
When they realize that they have been scammed, feelings of shame, despair, and loss of self-confidence alternate. They are completely destabilized, lost, truly touched to the core.
Information must be shared sparingly to avoid adding to the victim's distress. That is why I offer them to contact me personally.
Moreover, you may take my responses as recovery, but I prefer to talk about care. I am also working to gather as many victims as possible to quickly create an association which seems essential to me now.
But my priority remains the victims of romance scams, having been a victim myself in 2005.
I hope I have answered your question.
Sincerely
--
PLEASE MENTION THE EMAIL ADDRESSES OF THESE SCAMMERS
We will make good use of them (Blacklists)