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Author Topic: Truth and nonsense about scammers.  (Read 53533 times)

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Offline Shadow

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Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« on: April 19, 2007, 12:57:41 PM »
Pictures
ScottjaySplendid has already done a good feature on pictures. What I would like to add is that blogs and party-sites are as popular in Russia as they are in the West. To get a set of pictures of a goodlooking Russian girl (as if men could se the difference) is a matter of 10 minutes on Yandex.
And I know personally of a woman putting a Sports Illustrated model in her profile to see the results. Not any man recognized the picture. Also I have seen in scam profiles many times pictures that were clearly not even the same girl.
What to look for in a picture ?
- Background: look at things like wallpaper, plants, electric switches, furniture.
- Reflections: see if you can see a reflection of the person taking the picture or the background.
- Pose: is it a natural picture or is it posed. Does she lean forward to make a point ?
Also never go on one thing. There have been cases of genuine RW sending swimsuit and even nude pictures.

Mail programs
You will read a lot about a program called 'the Bat'. I used it myself recently and it is a good program when you have more than one user at your PC writing mail. As such when someone shares their coputer with friends they could use it. Or it could be Yuri who 'needs' to separate his mail accounts.

IP
In a mail header there is always an originating IP, considering that the person sending to you does not need to hide their origin. It is possible to look up the IP and providing you used the right one it should lead to some place in Russia.
But wait... should the IP not show the city where she is living ? The answer is... not necessarily.
When you connect yor computer to the Internet, no matter in which way, you get an IP address. This IP addres is however not bound to your location, but to the server that distributes the IP. And as in Russia internet and providers are in development, it could well be that the provider offering the best speed and lowst price is in another city.
In theory, I could use a dial-up number in Moscow to go to the internet and I would have a Russian IP.
As such the IP is not a clear locator, but it can give out a lot of useful information.

Black and white ?
As it may seem here, things about scammers are not black and white at all. There are many shades of gray, and it is up to the men to determine how far they will go. I can even say honestly that every story that a scammer uses is based on real events. That does not mean that these events are real in your case.

There is one thing you should know. Unless she has a committed relationship with you, RW would rather starve to death and sell all their stuff than ask you for money. So if they do, in any way, before the two of you have ever met you should consider she might looking at your wallet, not at you.
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Offline Manny

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #1 on: April 20, 2007, 05:30:37 AM »
Telephones

It happens often with a scammer that the 'woman' who is your interlocutor will claim not to have a telephone. It most cases this is not true. Very seldom will a woman have no telephone, many have a landline and a mobile. It is worth noting that a cautious woman may be reluctant to give out her number until she is convinced you are 'the serious man' but treat with extreme caution women who simply claim that they have no phone. How does she expect to engage in an International relationship without a primary means of communication? Also abandon all ideas that FSU ladies are too poor to buy a mobile phone, it is simply not true, many would rather not eat for a month and have the latest model to pose with.

A classic excuse with scammers who claim to have no phone is the pre-arranged call. You will be given a number to call at a certain time, when it will be claimed your interlocutor will answer. Fat Yuri will have merely procured a local woman, maybe his girlfriend, to pose as your woman, he hopes the language barrier will prevent in depth conversation and exposure of his wheeze. An evaluation/verification call by a native speaker would expose this ruse of course.

If your woman truly has no phone, she will have a work number, a parent, friend or neighbour who has one and she can be reached ad hoc via this method. Do not be fobbed off by the 'no telephone' line, if you encounter too much resistance getting a number from a woman, it would be better to move on to one of many women you can contact who do have a phone.
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Offline Chris

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #2 on: April 20, 2007, 05:45:35 AM »
Just to add my bit to Manny's post, one of the first things I used to do when corresponding with a lady was to ask her for a phone number. I am happy to say I have never been scammed and my request for a phone number early on usually was the reason.

If they are legitimate after a short correspondence and getting to know what type of person you are by emails etc, then they will have no reason not to give you a contact number, in fact, I found they were only too happy to give you one, shows you are serious also!  Make sure you call at different times (Ad Hoc as Manny says) until you get to know them, that way things cannot be set up by Boris in advance.

Chris
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Offline nunya

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #3 on: April 20, 2007, 08:23:25 AM »
Quote
Very seldom will a woman have no telephone
If your woman truly has no phone, she will have a work number, a parent, friend or neighbour who has one and she can be reached ad hoc via this method.


Exactly Manny. Couldn't have said it better myself.

Offline Qi Peng

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #4 on: April 20, 2007, 10:57:58 AM »
I ask for both the home and cell phone number in general. It's like having double verification.
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Offline TomT

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #5 on: June 26, 2007, 12:24:09 PM »
A girl from a particular city ought to have a corresponding city code on her land line. If she claims to be from Chelyabinsk, for example, but her telephone number displays the city code for Moscow, there is a problem.

This ought to be obvious, of course, but many men seems to be clueless about calling at all, much less being aware of city codes.

Offline Qi Peng

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #6 on: August 15, 2007, 12:40:25 PM »
Old saying: if it's too good to be true, then don't trust it.
Justice? - You get justice in the next world, in this world you have the law. -William Gaddis

Offline ScottJaySplendid

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #7 on: August 15, 2007, 10:11:01 PM »
Old saying: if it's too good to be true, then don't trust it.
Great wisdom from someone who has traveled so . . . infrequently.
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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #8 on: September 29, 2007, 09:03:06 AM »
I've been wanting to say this for some time, so here goes. A few women on Aweb have actually asked me for money, but I said no. Some of them may not have been scams, but didn't have the money, which is true. But I take the perspective that there is a large market out there, and it's a buyer's market, so I say, "even if you're real, why should I give you money to meet you, when I can go to Moscow and meet someone without giving her money?"

Questions like these are how I weed them out, so I can focus on what I want. Sometimes, it pays to be narcissistic.

Online andrewfi

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #9 on: September 29, 2007, 11:19:01 AM »
And in two years wen you travel, you think you will not be giving any money to  the Moscow women that you meet?
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Offline atleast

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #10 on: September 30, 2008, 08:36:23 AM »
Just to add my bit to Manny's post, one of the first things I used to do when corresponding with a lady was to ask her for a phone number. I am happy to say I have never been scammed and my request for a phone number early on usually was the reason.

If they are legitimate after a short correspondence and getting to know what type of person you are by emails etc, then they will have no reason not to give you a contact number, in fact, I found they were only too happy to give you one, shows you are serious also!  Make sure you call at different times (Ad Hoc as Manny says) until you get to know them, that way things cannot be set up by Boris in advance.

Chris


 especially at the dead of the night, like 2-3 in the morning. It
 will:
 1. Show if she sleeps alone. If a male voice answers, beware!
 2. Shows if she has a tender, enduring disposition. If she shouts at
 you something about disturbing the family, getting early for work,
 barely knowing you, dump her at once and move to a woman who answers
 nicely and tenderly at 2, 3, and even 4 a.m. They have some stupid
 rule down there about not calling after 9 p.m. and before 9 a.m. -
 disregard it completely. And the less you know her, the better -
 shows her stamina. How can she expect to engaged in international
 relationship without answering an international call in the middle of
 the night? If she does not, it means that she is not serious.

Offline atleast

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #11 on: September 30, 2008, 08:42:36 AM »
Quote
Very seldom will a woman have no telephone
If your woman truly has no phone, she will have a work number, a parent, friend or neighbour who has one and she can be reached ad hoc via this method.


Exactly Manny. Couldn't have said it better myself.

do not be shy to call at any time of night to these friends/neighbours
as well. They might be not friends or neighbours! But some other
scammers. Call at 5 a.m., just when they are to raise for work, in a
couple of hours, so that they won't have time to go back to sleep. It
works every time.

Offline Brasscasing

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #12 on: September 30, 2008, 09:13:33 AM »
especially at the dead of the night, like 2-3 in the morning. It
 will:
 1. Show if she sleeps alone. If a male voice answers, beware!
 2. Shows if she has a tender, enduring disposition. If she shouts at
 you something about disturbing the family, getting early for work,
 barely knowing you, dump her at once and move to a woman who answers
 nicely and tenderly at 2, 3, and even 4 a.m. They have some stupid
 rule down there about not calling after 9 p.m. and before 9 a.m. -
 disregard it completely. And the less you know her, the better -
 shows her stamina. How can she expect to engaged in international
 relationship without answering an international call in the middle of
 the night? If she does not, it means that she is not serious.

Or it could mean she works for a living and is tired. Phoning at all hours of the (her) night without good reason would show you have either no concept of time zones, a disregard for her health or possibly a psychological problem.
My guess is you'd make one or two of these type of phone calls and then she'd want nothing more to do with you regardless of her intentions. :-\

Brass
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P.S....Unless you happen to live in Quebec and are subject to the Quebec Charter Of Values, of course.

Offline Brasscasing

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #13 on: September 30, 2008, 09:23:09 AM »
do not be shy to call at any time of night to these friends/neighbours
as well. They might be not friends or neighbours! But some other
scammers. Call at 5 a.m., just when they are to raise for work, in a
couple of hours, so that they won't have time to go back to sleep. It
works every time.

My post above pretty well covers this post as well. Further, unless you have  comprehension and functional conversation ability in the Russian/Ukrainian language, someone could answer the phone with "Hairy Boris' spam and scam emporium" and you wouldn't know the difference.

Brass
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."  ~ John Diefenbaker

P.S....Unless you happen to live in Quebec and are subject to the Quebec Charter Of Values, of course.

Offline atleast

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #14 on: September 30, 2008, 09:34:51 AM »
do not be shy to call at any time of night to these friends/neighbours
as well. They might be not friends or neighbours! But some other
scammers. Call at 5 a.m., just when they are to raise for work, in a
couple of hours, so that they won't have time to go back to sleep. It
works every time.

My post above pretty well covers this post as well. Further, unless you have  comprehension and functional conversation ability in the Russian/Ukrainian language, someone could answer the phone with "Hairy Boris' spam and scam emporium" and you wouldn't know the difference.

Brass

 yes, but we were talking about the neighbours who refuse to give
 their phone numbers! My buddy corresponded with a woman whose
 neighbours refused! It's a red flag, isn't it?  Why these neighbours
 are there but to give out their phone numbers to foreigners? If they
 refuse, they are just not honest people.

Offline Brasscasing

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #15 on: September 30, 2008, 09:59:40 AM »
do not be shy to call at any time of night to these friends/neighbours
as well. They might be not friends or neighbours! But some other
scammers. Call at 5 a.m., just when they are to raise for work, in a
couple of hours, so that they won't have time to go back to sleep. It
works every time.

My post above pretty well covers this post as well. Further, unless you have  comprehension and functional conversation ability in the Russian/Ukrainian language, someone could answer the phone with "Hairy Boris' spam and scam emporium" and you wouldn't know the difference.

Brass

 yes, but we were talking about the neighbours who refuse to give
 their phone numbers! My buddy corresponded with a woman whose
 neighbours refused! It's a red flag, isn't it?  Why these neighbours
 are there but to give out their phone numbers to foreigners? If they
 refuse, they are just not honest people.

Well, imagine if you will your next door neighbor involved in the dating scene and wanting to use your phone to receive incoming calls or make outgoing calls from/to Gawd knows where.
There are plenty of reasons why she would not give out a neighbor's or friends phone number. Work numbers are a little different, even if she didn't want you to use it, she could supply it for emergency purposes.
If I can make a suggestion Atleast, read some of the threads in this room and get a feel for what constitutes an unusual situation, red flags and outright scams.
Although I don't necessarily disagree with you that a reluctance to supply phone numbers is not a red flag, you have to temper a leap to judgement with her life circumstances, financial situation and her own dating/contact history with international dating.
It's good to be cautious but not paranoid. You've found the best Forum on the net to help and guide you through this process (male or female), if your interested. Take advantage of it.  ;)
Welcome aboard. :)

Brass
“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind."  ~ John Diefenbaker

P.S....Unless you happen to live in Quebec and are subject to the Quebec Charter Of Values, of course.

Offline dancing_in_the_rain

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #16 on: July 01, 2010, 11:19:19 AM »
oh lala, you guys just created a perfect guide for scammers   (:)
less is more

Online 2tallbill

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #17 on: July 01, 2010, 12:38:44 PM »
oh lala, you guys just created a perfect guide for scammers   (:)

Dancing Welcome to the forum.

Please explain your theory.

In my opinion there is no way that Scammers are going to start giving out their phone
numbers to large numbers of men and convince each and every one of them that they
are legit and not screw up the details. What about hairy Boris? how is he going to pass
himself off as Sexy Sveta? "oh sorry Beeel I have a head cold?"

For a scammer it's mostly a numbers game, send out a zillion letters to capture enough lonely
and gullible guys. These instructions don't work in reverse.
FSUW are not for entry level daters. FSUW don't do vague FSUW like a man of action so be a man of action  If you find a promising girl, get your butt on a plane. There are a hundred ways to be successful and a thousand ways to f#ck it up
Kiss the girl, don't ask her first.
Get an apartment not a hotel. DON'T recycle girls

Offline dazzer

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #18 on: July 01, 2010, 01:01:28 PM »
one of the first things I used to do when corresponding with a lady was to ask her for a phone number. I am happy to say I have never been scammed and my request for a phone number early on usually was the reason.

If they are legitimate after a short correspondence and getting to know what type of person you are by emails etc, then they will have no reason not to give you a contact number, in fact, I found they were only too happy to give you one, shows you are serious also!  Make sure you call at different times

:reading: Hmm... Seems like good sensible advice
 
especially at the dead of the night, like 2-3 in the morning. It
 will:
 1. Show if she sleeps alone. If a male voice answers, beware!
 2. Shows if she has a tender, enduring disposition. If she shouts at
 you something about disturbing the family, getting early for work,
 barely knowing you, dump her at once and move to a woman who answers
 nicely and tenderly at 2, 3, and even 4 a.m. They have some stupid
 rule down there about not calling after 9 p.m. and before 9 a.m. -
 disregard it completely. And the less you know her, the better -
 shows her stamina. How can she expect to engaged in international
 relationship without answering an international call in the middle of
 the night? If she does not, it means that she is not serious.

 :reading: I'm sorry but  :chuckle:
« on: January 14, 2010, 02:18:43 AM »
Would she be offended to get a text without telling her ahead of time?

Online 2tallbill

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #19 on: July 01, 2010, 03:43:26 PM »
one of the first things I used to do when corresponding with a lady was to ask her for a phone number. I am happy to say I have never been scammed and my request for a phone number early on usually was the reason.

If they are legitimate after a short correspondence and getting to know what type of person you are by emails etc, then they will have no reason not to give you a contact number, in fact, I found they were only too happy to give you one, shows you are serious also!  Make sure you call at different times

:reading: Hmm... Seems like good sensible advice
 
especially at the dead of the night, like 2-3 in the morning. It
 will:
 1. Show if she sleeps alone. If a male voice answers, beware!
 2. Shows if she has a tender, enduring disposition. If she shouts at
 you something about disturbing the family, getting early for work,
 barely knowing you, dump her at once and move to a woman who answers
 nicely and tenderly at 2, 3, and even 4 a.m. They have some stupid
 rule down there about not calling after 9 p.m. and before 9 a.m. -
 disregard it completely. And the less you know her, the better -
 shows her stamina. How can she expect to engaged in international
 relationship without answering an international call in the middle of
 the night? If she does not, it means that she is not serious.

 :reading: I'm sorry but  :chuckle:

I agree, calling a girl up at random times when she should be asleep
and wake up her mother, maybe a child, and your future girl is a great
way to make an lasting impression, (most likely your last impression).

I think you should call her up drunk too, and call her some other woman's
name by mistake, and maybe ask her if her sister is hot.  :chuckle:


FSUW are not for entry level daters. FSUW don't do vague FSUW like a man of action so be a man of action  If you find a promising girl, get your butt on a plane. There are a hundred ways to be successful and a thousand ways to f#ck it up
Kiss the girl, don't ask her first.
Get an apartment not a hotel. DON'T recycle girls

Online andrewfi

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #20 on: July 10, 2010, 02:15:36 AM »
oh lala, you guys just created a perfect guide for scammers   (:)

Don't worry, we are well behind the curve here!
...everything ends always well; if it’s still bad, then it’s not the end!

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OPW ?
« Reply #21 on: July 14, 2010, 04:18:09 PM »
oh lala, you guys just created a perfect guide for scammers   (:)

Is he an OPW?

One post wonder
FSUW are not for entry level daters. FSUW don't do vague FSUW like a man of action so be a man of action  If you find a promising girl, get your butt on a plane. There are a hundred ways to be successful and a thousand ways to f#ck it up
Kiss the girl, don't ask her first.
Get an apartment not a hotel. DON'T recycle girls

Offline harry_

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #22 on: August 05, 2010, 06:30:08 PM »
A girl from a particular city ought to have a corresponding city code on her land line. If she claims to be from Chelyabinsk, for example, but her telephone number displays the city code for Moscow, there is a problem.

This ought to be obvious, of course, but many men seems to be clueless about calling at all, much less being aware of city codes.

Now that this is 3 years old, does it still hold true?

I understand that Americans tend to be a bit more migratory, but my cell has a MA area code and I live in NH. I have a sister with a southern California area code, but lives in MA. I am pretty sure my son's area code is in Canada, a place he has never been.

Then add Vonage....

Offline ecocks

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #23 on: August 05, 2010, 06:39:21 PM »
A girl from a particular city ought to have a corresponding city code on her land line. If she claims to be from Chelyabinsk, for example, but her telephone number displays the city code for Moscow, there is a problem.

This ought to be obvious, of course, but many men seems to be clueless about calling at all, much less being aware of city codes.

Now that this is 3 years old, does it still hold true?

I understand that Americans tend to be a bit more migratory, but my cell has a MA area code and I live in NH. I have a sister with a southern California area code, but lives in MA. I am pretty sure my son's area code is in Canada, a place he has never been.

Then add Vonage....

I haven't done Vonage in a few years but think it used to be North America only.

The Ukrainian landlines are still in place. The cell phones are by provider with no regional assignments to help you out.

Offline harry_

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Re: Truth and nonsense about scammers.
« Reply #24 on: August 05, 2010, 07:16:54 PM »
A girl from a particular city ought to have a corresponding city code on her land line. If she claims to be from Chelyabinsk, for example, but her telephone number displays the city code for Moscow, there is a problem.

This ought to be obvious, of course, but many men seems to be clueless about calling at all, much less being aware of city codes.

Now that this is 3 years old, does it still hold true?

I understand that Americans tend to be a bit more migratory, but my cell has a MA area code and I live in NH. I have a sister with a southern California area code, but lives in MA. I am pretty sure my son's area code is in Canada, a place he has never been.

Then add Vonage....

I haven't done Vonage in a few years but think it used to be North America only.

The Ukrainian landlines are still in place. The cell phones are by provider with no regional assignments to help you out.

used to be free long distance to like 3 countries too, I think they are up like 60 now.

Do people even give out their `home` numbers any more? I have a LL here at the house, no phone is even connected to it..... I wonder if my voice mailbox is full, it has only been 2 years  :coffeeread: