Is this an OLD scam? (girl, husbands, young, call)

[moxiegal]

Scam. Scam. Scam. Run for the exit now...and if an email raises concerns similarly in the future....add it to the scam file.
Do not reply.

[ChiGal7]

I hope you reported this one and the other one that you already replied to, to POF.

That message is practically identical in tone to every nigerian spam email I've ever gotten in my junk mail folder. It's so blatantly obviously a scam that it blows my mind that anyone would actually fall for it and start giving them money. Here's a tip, anytime you see an email from anyone with whom you've never talked to before and they start it with, "Hello Dear,", plus either an outward request for money or in the case of OLD a request to go off the site and email privately right away, then you know it's definitely a scam and you should report it to the dating site.

You asked what their motivation is, why they do this? Because they are trying to get money from stupid people who fall for their bs. These scams have been going on for years and years. Many years ago they started with sending regular letters through the mail (hello mail fraud), then they graduated to sending faxes. Now it's all over email and using all sorts of websites where people interact with others. It's as old as the hills and it's always about trying to scam money from stupid people who fall for their bs.

[Asgardian]

I think the majority of the Russian women dating sites are scams. The very god looking women telling you they think about you and all their pictures are like glamor shots.


If it's too good to be true........

[RbccL]

Current POF member, Same message from "UserNameBob" about his employer:

"Hope your day is great..I’m sorry if this bothers you but i just needed to let you know that my boss Richard came across your profile & he's been all over me about getting in touch with you. I was only talking him into online dating & while showing him how to use the dating site, was when he saw your profile.
He is a 62 year old widower now living in Reno, NV. Having lost his wife to cancer 5 years ago, he has not been on the dating scene but trust me he is still very affectionate, charming plus a good sense of humor. He said you are the only woman that caught his attention and he compliments your very remarkable profile. "

Excerpt from "his Boss"-( richard clerk <richard.clerk020@yahoo.com>)who clearly isn't an educated engineer, as there are grammar and punctuation/language problems.

"Hello There,
Good morning to you and hope you good and doing great out there today.? Guess you had a beautiful night rest.? I wish you a great and successful day ahead ok! Yes Thanks for sending me your email, well, I'm very new to online dating and am trying the email thing and thanks to my Employee for making us connect.
I’m currently living the BEST chapter of my life!!! The older I get, the better it gets! The more I flow with life~ the more JOY, CONTENTMENT & FULFILLMENT I experience! I love to laugh & laugh often! And I love making people LAUGH.
I try my best to fully experiencing everything that happens~ embracing the good & sad times, & everything in between! People tell me that I’m a very REAL, genuine, SINCERE, down-to-earth & FUN-LOVING person. I can be FUNNY & GOOFY, but also, SERIOUS & PHILOSOPHICAL.
I am self-employed- Civil Engineer and Interior Designer Architecture. I lost my wife to colon cancer and life has been Up and low but still have reasons to always smile....
Okay i want to finally say thank you for giving me your email for ease of communication... I appreciate your effort in making our communication work so i have attached recent photos of me and some few questions 4 now.
Tell me more about yourself?
When did you join the dating site?
Have you find any body yet?
Where is your current location?
I would be delighted to hear from you again. Bye for now and good night.
Regards,
Richard."
(3 photo bucket pics attached of a wealthy looking man standing in front of a mansion

[Hivemind31]

Originally Posted by JerZ

What's the scam, what is the person trying to get?

In almost all situations, it's money (or a predecessor to money, like personal information). Some of the means by which they intend to get money are listed above, but ultimately, that's what it comes down to.

[LakeLifePA]

It says "God bless", so it must be legit.

[Stagemomma]

Nigerians

[NWGirl74]

Originally Posted by stepka

But the English is really not bad--it's not educated English but it's not really foreign accented either.

I've received messages from men who were legitimately born and raised here in the States with worse English than this one has.

[chiluvr1228]

I had one of these scammers when I was on an internet dating site. He supposedly was an engineer in the U.S. military in Afghanistan, blah, blah, blah. His first name was supposed to be John. He posted a picture of himself in his uniform. Stitched on it was his name "John". Now I'm not aware of any country that puts a man's first name on his uniform. I had my son, who is an IT guy, track down his IP address. He was actually in some African country.


If you're bored you can play along for awhile..... :-)

[JerZ]

Originally Posted by stepka

I'm with you fellers. I did reply to the first one to ask why the man couldn't start his own account but I never took it off the dating site. It just seemed too. . . odd. But the English is really not bad--it's not educated English but it's not really foreign accented either. I sometimes do get messages from men who say they're American but it's obviously not their first language so I ignore those. I don't ignore them if they really do say they moved here from another country, but none of those have ever come to anything.

The "dear" part is. What guy do you know who calls prospective dates "dear" unless he's over 85?

Glad you dodged this one, Stepka.