For the past year I've been experiencing a series of phone calls and e-mails from women around the world. Maybe that wouldn't be so bad, but these women turned out to be victims of "Romance Scammers" from Ghana and other parts of the world.
One blogger notes: "These scammers are really good at their scams. They put up pretty pictures, nice profiles, get your attention, gain your trust, then need your "help". They say they are from your local area..... but are currently taking care of some reasonably believable business in Nigeria, Ghana, West Africa, etc. They claim to need cash money... or help to cash their checks and money orders, or want you to open a bank account for them... BEWARE!"
I've had calls from women in England, France, Montana, Kansas, and California. I'm not sure how they find me, but it's probably not too difficult. For me this is the main lesson - when you post pictures on your blog of your family, you're subjecting them to being used by these scammers.
Here's an example of the correspondence I receive:
"Dear Mr. Mosqueda,
I think I have been the victim of a scam. I do not know how people can stoop so low. and I wonder if it has happened before. Somebody pretending to be you on a dating site in England. He has sent me your pictures, I do not know how people do this and he has been getting money out of me..... I spoke to him on the phone today for the first time and he sounds African... He has pictures of you in hospital, but it is not you that writes to me is it?
Please reply, tell me I am not going mad. I just knew it could not be right because his English was bad, and from your video you are the perfect gentleman with excellent English. Oh for pity's sake, am I a fool, thank God I did not send him any more money.... I am only a cleaner and do not get much of a wage. Looking for love is a terrible minefield, I will never do it again on the internet. In fact I will be single forever.
Yours sincerely
name withheld"
The scammer generally goes on about an accident or medical issue in Ghana and how he needs money for travel or treatment. He'll send short notes to keep the victim on a leash: "hey how are you doing this is daniel hope to caht with you soon.. i have added you on my yahooIM.. soo soon see yah.. kiss"
Amazingly, it appears to be one person:
Christopher Amartey
P.O. Box 46
Achimota,
Accra.
Ghana
I know this because he always says this is the person who has to pick-up the money in Ghana. So, I'm not on a dating site. I'm not in Africa. I have insurance that pays for medical care. My best advice is twofold: 1) don't post too many personal pictures on the internet and definitely don't put the name of your kids on the internet (something I didn't do); and 2) if it's not a MAJOR dating site, forget about it. In fact, try to meet someone at church or Starbucks, or a grocery store.
5 comments:
I am beginning to suspect that I have also been a victim of the person pretending to be you. He hasn't asked for money yet but he did try to get my passwords, which I refused to do. He sends me pictures of your children with different names and claims he is coming to see me next week and bringing them with him. I met him on SeniorPeopleMeet. That's not you, is it?
@StartOverAgain51 -- It's definitely not me. You need to e-mail him a link to this post. Hopefully, he'll get a clue and quit using my likeness and those of my children. Next, he'll know you know he's a fraud and leave you be. I wish you the best.
Actually yesterday I told him I sent an email to the real Dan and if he could respond to it perhaps I could trust him again, and I haven't hearad from him. You know what they say about things that seem too good to be true...
I wonder if there is something we could to, work together to try to catch him. Have you tried to find out who he is? How he got so many pictures of you and your kids? It gets even better for me...my ex boyfriend had been hacking into my email account and he contacted this guy and told him he would help him out with contact information for me because he'd like to see the scammer succeed where I was concerned. He was IMg with the fake Dan at the same time I was yesterday, and the fake Dan was still trying to prove himself, so he copied the IM from the ex. How evil is that?
Since your blog saved me, I wrote one, too. Tell me what you think.
http://www.suereifel.blogspot.com/
Hi Dan,
I think I have been another victim to this guy. He told me that he was a major in Iraq and was widowed and his son was in Ghana. He English is very bad and it was something I questioned him on at first. He wants me to get a laptop for his son in Ghana so his son could contact him. I wanted to check some stuff out before doing anything. I got suspicious today and googled you...and now I see what is going on...He has lots of pictures of you and claims you live in Worcester MA.
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