Nigerian / Malaysian Romance Scams

There has been an alarming increase in romance scams. Russian women? Yes, but that's old. Now it's Nigerians going after women in the U.S.

You would think it would be easy to spot a romance scam. They wouldn't be on a legitimate site, like match.com? Guess again. They wouldn't be able to do sophisticated jokes? Guess again.

Here are some of the things to look for:

1. They are on a legitimate site, with a full profile. They also stalk you down on facebook.

2. They have inordinately handsome photos, like the one shown above. The person using that photo has called himself John, Matthew, Vincente, and more. They are often photos of models taken off the Internet. They also use photos of real people. Bear in mind the person above is NOT the scammer. The scammer is a Nigerian sitting in an Internet cafe, often corresponding with 10-12 women at a time.

3. They ask you to go to yahoo IM immediately.

4. They are famous for using "buzz".

5. They immediately call you "honey" and "baby."

6. They are usually a widower with one child.

7. They "live" in the US, but immediately head for a foreign country, often, these days, Malaysia.

8. Often they are an engineer working on a "project" in Malaysia or Nigeria.

9. They have incredible bad luck, for which they'll hit you up for money which they want wired, Western Union: their brother dies and they have to pay funeral expenses, they have to pay an "agent" to get a job, their child dies in a car accident, they become ill overseas and have to pay a doctor. Eventually they want to come "home" to you, and ask for money. They then will need more money to get through "Customs."

10. They want your address in order to send you flowers.

11. They want you to accept foreign packages for them.

12. They ask you to marry them immediately.

13. They have Anglo names like John Armstrong or Kevin Williams. Sometimes the names are misspelled - Kevins Jones.

14. Many have autrocious spelling and grammar, the smarter ones do a very good job with English.

15. They call you on the phone and they have a weird accent which they explain by saying they've lived in different countries, or are from Germany (popular).

16. They prey on women who are not attractive - which categories I will let you imagine ...

17. They ask questions early-on that would indicate your wealth, i.e., what kind of car do you have, how much does it cost to get your hair done, do you own a house.

18. They will ferret out whether there is a man in your life who can 'stand for you.' If not, you are especially good prey. For instance, they might ask who takes care of your car.

19. They send you emails with poetry they have scammed off the Internet. Google part of a message they send you that is romantic, and you will be led to scam sites.

20. They give you an inordinate amount of attention, praise, sweet words and epithets. (If only real suitors would take tips from these romance scam artists.)

21. Their site on match.com (for instance) disappears the minute you start corresponding.

22. If you're paying attention, you'll catch them at mistakes. You'll see a message on their IM site. They'll call you by the wrong name. They'll forget how many kids they have, or their mother's name.

If you begin to get any of these signals, or something doesn't seem right about someone you're corresponding with, PAY ATTENTION TO YOUR INSTINCTS. Do NOT send any money to someone overseas that you don't know. Call me for dating coaching (817-734-1471) if you suspect anything, or want more guidance. If you suspect, stop all contact at once. This is a variant on the old Nigerian 419, and these people are pros, and are NOT nice people.





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