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Author Topic: Google Is Your Best Friend  (Read 57924 times)

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Offline pantani

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #25 on: March 08, 2009, 08:46:07 AM »
google is indeed my best friend, if i had looked on this forum and read the advice i would have saved myself a lot of money and heartache. it seems i have been scammed!!


cheers guys and gals

Offline ECR844

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #26 on: March 08, 2009, 08:49:40 AM »
google is indeed my best friend, if i had looked on this forum and read the advice i would have saved myself a lot of money and heartache. it seems i have been scammed!!


cheers guys and gals

Welcome to the forum!

Offline sparky114

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #27 on: March 08, 2009, 09:05:25 AM »
google is indeed my best friend, if i had looked on this forum and read the advice i would have saved myself a lot of money and heartache. it seems i have been scammed!!


cheers guys and gals

Hi Rob

Welcome :)

Good to see you here, maybe you could post an introduction?  ???

Take your time to read the stuff here, I think you will find it most interesting :)

Mark
Today is only one day in a life of happiness

Mark


Offline KevinUK

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #28 on: August 15, 2009, 07:01:05 AM »

The odds of success in finding a FSU bride are dismally low. But you can decrease the odds of getting scammed by being careful and using Google.


How low are the odds?  I know you said the odds increase with being careful. I just wonder if this is worth the potential heartache.  I guess my biggest fear is the green card scam.  If I lost loads of money I would have no-one to blame but myself.  But if a FSUW played happy families for 2 years and then filed fake domestic violence charges and got me kicked out of my own home then that would be disasterous.  I know alot of cops so I know the havoc malicious allegations can cause in a guys life.  But I also know its a two way street.  Everyone can manipulate the system or the authorities.  Guys or girls.  So I reckon of alarm bells started ringing in a relationship then hopefully I would know how to handle it.  Most guys dont realise that even though Police have a fair idea allegations are malicious if they recieve a complaint of domestic violence then they must arrest and report to courts.  That is not to say the man is guilty of anything - that is for the court to decide. 

Offline skiingandrunning

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #29 on: August 15, 2009, 08:43:48 AM »
Kevin,

At one time I was thinking that the percentage is really low, so I asked a similar question in this thread:

http://ruadventures.com/forum/index.php?topic=7921.0

The responses I received contradicted the information I had read about or heard from others.  It helped adjust my viewpoint of the process from, "you really need to be lucky" to "if you know what you are looking for and are careful you can find the one".  Now does luck play a part, definitely, as in any relationship timing is so important but with increasing your knowledge (which you are doing by posting on this site) you'll probably dramatically improve your odds.   

Offline mike64

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #30 on: November 10, 2009, 09:12:42 PM »
Quote from: ScottJaySplendid
I wish I could make all of TomT's posts "stickies."  You can take this one to the bank, as well as the several previous posts.

Newbies would be well advised toread TomT's musings here and elsewhere. He has an excellent insight into this endeavour and is experienced beyond the experience of even many of us married guys as to the antics of Yuri and his cohorts.

One of Scott's other tips I have read and used is to drop the .com (or whatever) off the e-mail address when googling.

For example, smokinhotsveta@yandex.ru you would google as "smokinhotsveta@yandex" - I dont know why but it seems to bring up more hits.


I just used this idea you posted and bam!positive hit on a suspected scammer that has contacted me!! thank you very much   .... this forum rocks!!!!! :party0031: :party0031: :party0031:

Offline shakespear

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #31 on: November 11, 2009, 07:39:19 AM »
I just used this idea you posted and bam!positive hit on a suspected scammer that has contacted me!! thank you very much   .... this forum rocks!!!!! :party0031: :party0031: :party0031:


As Lee Corso says, "Not so fast".

Google is not the end all for determining a scammer.  We just finished a long discourse exposing how one of our forum members posted a lady on numerous scam sites only because she rejected him and he was a frustrated jilted lover and he wanted to punish her for her actions.

The fact that the lady contacted you first makes it likely that its a scam.  The google check only confirmed what you already suspected. 

Determining a scammer isn't rocket science.  It's really a pretty easy process and most scammers are rather clumsy in their efforts. 
"If you obey all the rules, you miss all the fun" - Katharine Hepburn

Offline philray

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #32 on: March 25, 2010, 07:53:32 AM »
Thanks for the warnings. Didn't finish typing in name on Google and she popped up
correct address and copy of same letter she wrote me.
You've saved me a lot of heartache and money.
Grateful Phil

Offline Alexk

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #33 on: May 16, 2010, 10:55:21 PM »
I feel for you Markje. The same situation happened to me also quite a while back. If you feel it is a one way conversation, and her letters are so general that you feel they are not in reply to anything you wrote... then almost certainly she is a scam... or professional letter writer. Send her a letter telling her you were invited to a party on mars... or something completely ridiculous. You will be amazed at her warm reply.

Alex.

Offline CanadianPrairieGent

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #34 on: February 15, 2013, 01:02:20 AM »
Well, she has invited me to visit her in her hometown (kiev ukraine).

So far, I am not tempted to reply positivly though, as she seems to be writing AT me instead of talking WITH me.

Perhaps I should mention that purple crocodile and if she's seen it too  ;D
I completely understand mje.  I have a couple women I have been corresponding with who act in the same way.  I have suspected scam, but for some reason, I want to play this out a bit further, just to see where it goes.  One can only learn from the abundance of experiences.  I will never send money though or make a promise I don't intend to keep.  But your comment about the woman writing AT you, rather than talking WITH you resonated with me.

Good luck amigo! :-)
“A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.”
― Robert Frost

Offline Anteros

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #35 on: February 15, 2013, 02:56:08 AM »
You responded to a post about 6 years old!!

Welcome to the forum.
Be careful what you wish for, you might get it.

Offline Muzh_1

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #36 on: February 15, 2013, 09:38:33 AM »
Well, she has invited me to visit her in her hometown (kiev ukraine).

So far, I am not tempted to reply positivly though, as she seems to be writing AT me instead of talking WITH me.

Perhaps I should mention that purple crocodile and if she's seen it too  ;D
I completely understand mje.  I have a couple women I have been corresponding with who act in the same way.  I have suspected scam, but for some reason, I want to play this out a bit further, just to see where it goes.  One can only learn from the abundance of experiences.  I will never send money though or make a promise I don't intend to keep.  But your comment about the woman writing AT you, rather than talking WITH you resonated with me.

Good luck amigo! :-)

Hey Kelly, keep in mind that when mje wrote this there was no skype.  :smokin:

Offline Manny

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #37 on: February 15, 2013, 09:49:09 AM »
He is now married to a Ukrainian woman and they have a kid.

Oh, and Skype was around in the late 90's.  :)
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline Muzh_1

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #38 on: February 15, 2013, 09:51:54 AM »
He is now married to a Ukrainian woman and they have a kid.

Oh, and Skype was around in the late 90's:)

You should know better.  :smokin:

How long you've been to Estonia?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype

Offline TomT

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #39 on: February 15, 2013, 10:02:31 AM »
mje and I had a nice face-to-face conversation in Amsterdam in August, 2007 and he met Lena from Yevpatoria shortly thereafter. The rest is history. (How time flies!)

Offline Manny

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #40 on: February 15, 2013, 10:04:49 AM »
He is now married to a Ukrainian woman and they have a kid.

Oh, and Skype was around in the late 90's:)

You should know better.  :smokin:

How long you've been to Estonia?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skype

I remember the offices in Tallinn with the two Bentleys outside, Muzh. Locals were using it before 2003 I can assure you. I remember it when the "users online" was six figures.
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Online andrewfi

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #41 on: February 15, 2013, 11:12:34 AM »
I was a very early Skype user. Given the username I chose I would have signed up in 2002 so I wonder if there was a pre-launch period. Given the place I was at the time we'd have been likely to have had early access to such lovely toys, but it sure anything was not available in the late 90's. There was a predecessor to Skype whose name escapes me now but I think I'd have joined Skype, at least in part, because it was free and the alternative that I can't remember, was not but I was using that back in the late 90's.
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

Offline Chris

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #42 on: February 15, 2013, 11:55:33 AM »
I was a very early Skype user. Given the username I chose I would have signed up in 2002 so I wonder if there was a pre-launch period. Given the place I was at the time we'd have been likely to have had early access to such lovely toys, but it sure anything was not available in the late 90's. There was a predecessor to Skype whose name escapes me now but I think I'd have joined Skype, at least in part, because it was free and the alternative that I can't remember, was not but I was using that back in the late 90's.

Was it Kazaa? or something like that?
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Online andrewfi

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #43 on: February 15, 2013, 12:04:26 PM »
No we used kazaa for file sharing but Skype grew out of that. It was an israeli thing if I remember correctly.
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

Offline Muzh_1

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #44 on: February 15, 2013, 12:46:42 PM »
No we used kazaa for file sharing but Skype grew out of that. It was an israeli thing if I remember correctly.

Yep, Kazaa was great until the lawsuit from Sony.

I think I know the service Mr. Fi refers to but the name also escapes me.

Offline CanadianPrairieGent

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #45 on: February 15, 2013, 02:04:06 PM »
Well, she has invited me to visit her in her hometown (kiev ukraine).

So far, I am not tempted to reply positivly though, as she seems to be writing AT me instead of talking WITH me.

Perhaps I should mention that purple crocodile and if she's seen it too  ;D
I completely understand mje.  I have a couple women I have been corresponding with who act in the same way.  I have suspected scam, but for some reason, I want to play this out a bit further, just to see where it goes.  One can only learn from the abundance of experiences.  I will never send money though or make a promise I don't intend to keep.  But your comment about the woman writing AT you, rather than talking WITH you resonated with me.

Good luck amigo! :-)

Hey Kelly, keep in mind that when mje wrote this there was no skype.  :smokin:
Good point, and my bad.  I need to make it more of a habit to look at the dates of posts.  :-)

Nevertheless, one of the women I suspect of being a scammer actually has Skyped with me, but it didn't seem right.  She has no computer of her own (Where have we heard that one before.) and is reliant on a friend.  She Skyped once from her friend's place, but there was no audio and someone was sitting beside her, presumably helping her with her basic English skills.  We haven't Skyped since, even though I have asked to.  She talks at me rather than converses with me, and is starting to make a habit of telling me how much she thinks about me, etc.  She very recently asked me to join her at the end of March in Czech Republic, even though we haven't had any meaningful correspondence.  I guess scammers can Skype too. ;-)  I'm just curious to see how far this goes.
“A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age.”
― Robert Frost

Online Faux Pas

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #46 on: February 15, 2013, 02:13:55 PM »
I was a very early Skype user. Given the username I chose I would have signed up in 2002 so I wonder if there was a pre-launch period. Given the place I was at the time we'd have been likely to have had early access to such lovely toys, but it sure anything was not available in the late 90's. There was a predecessor to Skype whose name escapes me now but I think I'd have joined Skype, at least in part, because it was free and the alternative that I can't remember, was not but I was using that back in the late 90's.

I remember Skype having a pretty decent voice application during 2003-04 but picture quality/connection was bad. IIRC, it required more speed and bandwidth than most peeps had. At the time Yahoo and MSN had a good webcam chat. It wasn't until 05-06 that Skype came on in gang buster style out of nowhere with what was the eventual Skype of today

Online AvHdB

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #47 on: February 15, 2013, 03:38:40 PM »
No we used kazaa for file sharing but Skype grew out of that. It was an israeli thing if I remember correctly.

Yep, Kazaa was great until the lawsuit from Sony.

I think I know the service Mr. Fi refers to but the name also escapes me.

Perhaps you are referring to ICQ long ago in I think the mid 90's I used it was quirky and fun. I think also an Israel invention.

It became very popular in the former Soviet Union.
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Offline Manny

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #48 on: February 15, 2013, 03:53:39 PM »
I remember Skype having a pretty decent voice application during 2003-04 but picture quality/connection was bad. IIRC, it required more speed and bandwidth than most peeps had.

That's how it was in the early days. I remember tinny voice calls that dropped all the time. Most people simply didn't have the speed it needed. Other applications were much better.

A pal of mine (Alexsei - I think Andrew has met him) introduced me to it very early days. He knew a bloke who knew the guy........ something like that.

If it wasn't late 90's, it was early 2000/2001. Way before 2003 anyway. I have my early passport stamps I can dig out that might date it better..
Read a trip report from North Korea >>here<< - Read a trip report from South Korea, China and Hong Kong >>here<<

Look what the American media makes some people believe:
Putin often threatens to strike US with nuclear weapons.

Offline Slumba

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Re: Google Is Your Best Friend
« Reply #49 on: February 15, 2013, 07:34:30 PM »
I actually used SpeakFreely back in the days before Skype, about 1998 or so.  It worked, although it was not always full-duplex (only one person could talk at a time). 

http://www.speakfreely.org/

It got superseded by other applications, mostly because it was free ( no money to promote it) and also, did not have the code needed to punch through firewalls and NAT (like your home Internet router/gateway has).
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