Military Scams On Pof

Posted : admin On 6/8/2022

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has identified current and ongoing Internet trends and scams. The following scams affect military members.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has identified current and ongoing Internet trends and scams. The following scams affect military members.
POF scammer 15.2.2020 by name 'alexander074' Love has no distance'. Goes by names Kylebruce age 59, Richie Mills, Nicholas Jacob, Mark Anddy, Anthony.

Shannon* was excited. She’d spent the last two months chatting with a handsome military man and tonight they were scheduled to have their first date. It didn’t matter that it was a virtual one. If things went well, an in-person date wouldn’t be far off. He just needed to complete his tour and then he’d be back stateside.

She walked by her bathroom and popped in to make sure her make-up was flawless. It was her first virtual date though not her first time looking for love online. She’d met her husband 20 years ago on an online dating site. They’d had a fairy-tale marriage until his death two years ago. It worked then, so why not give it another shot, she figured.

Shannon looked at the clock. 10:05. Ten minutes to go…

It would be 5:15 a.m. in Aleppo. Tony had promised he’d be up so the time difference wouldn’t be an issue.

As the clock inched closer to 10:15 p.m., Shannon reflected on their last conversation. He’d talked about his dreams of opening a jewelry store and finding his one true love. Shannon’s mind drifted off before she looked back at the clock…10:20 p.m.

Tony was late. Though she was disappointed, she had known there was a possibility he might not make their date. He’d told her that the cellular phone she purchased for him might not clear customs in time for their date.

At 11 p.m., she decided to call it a night and signed out of Skype. As she logged out, she got a notification saying she had a new email. It was Tony.

“Just thinking of you baby I borrowed from friend a phone just to message you I could hardly sleep so hot with bombing all around miss you Chat tomorrow”

Shannon smiled. It was nice that he was so thoughtful.

As she prepared to log out of her email, she wondered just how hot the temperate in Aleppo was. Poor Tony, he must be burning up she thought.

She did a search on Google and was surprised at the results: 32 degrees.

Did she spell Aleppo correctly? This time she typed in Aleppo, Syria. The results were the same: 32 degrees.

Alarm bells began to sound in her head. She re-read their emails—from their first encounter on Plenty of Fish to his suggestion that they communicate via personal email. There were tons of emails. They’d chatted quite a bit over that 60 day period.

The more she read, the louder the alarms became. Soon they were blaring.

Why had she needed to ship the phone to Ghana instead of directly to Aleppo? Did his commander actually have a meeting with the United Nation in Accra and would it in fact be easier for the phone to be retrieved there? What about the incident with Tony’s favorite niece? He wanted to send her a birthday present but he realized his credit card had expired while he was overseas. He’d asked Shannon to purchase a gift card and send it to his niece.

Then Shannon began to wonder why, having lived in the United States since the age of 17 (he was born born in Germany), was his English still so choppy. He was now 39.

Were those all lies?

But…he seemed so sincere. Their conversations were never sexual in nature and he respected the fact that she was widowed. He was willing to take things as slow as she needed.

Unsure of the many questions that swirled in her mind, Shannon went to bed.

The next morning, she was still uneasy about Tony. She copied a few lines from his emails and pasted them into Google. She stared at the computer. There were Tony’s words…line by line. But, they weren’t from Tony. They were from a man named Paul. Shannon looked up at the page’s URL: www.romancescam.com.

It was there that she learned she wasn’t the only person “Tony” had conned. She quickly called the delivery company and was grateful to find out the phone had not yet delivered. She explained how she’d be scammed and thankfully the phone would be returned, less shipping fees.

The financial toll to Shannon was $850. The emotional and mental toll? Devastating!

Please don’t for a moment think Shannon is alone. Many widows are often ashamed to come forward and share their story. Because of this, we don’t know what warning signs to look out for when venturing into the online dating world.

If you’ve been a victim, share your story! Report it. Help spread the word about these scammers.

In order to protect yourself from becoming a victim of these unscrupulous people, please consider the following:

1. Watch out for broken English, especially from someone who claims to be born and/or raised in the United States;
2. Communication with little to no punctuation is another red flag;
3. Use Google Voice or similar phone app to avoid having to provide your actual phone number;
4. Think twice about using screen names that include identifying information (i.e. TopekaCutie050575);
5. Remember when you provide someone your full name, he/she can easily Google your address, contact information, etc. One widow even had a scammer use Google Earth to send pictures of her home to try to intimidate her into sending him money;
6. If he provides you his full name, run his name through a public records site such an intelius.com. Put in your own information too. You’ll be surprised at what you’ll find;
7. Don’t immediately become social media friends with anyone you meet, especially online. They have access to your photo, friends, employer, etc.;
8. Often, a scammer’s page will get deleted. Facebook, POF, Match, etc., will have gotten a report about this person (you aren’t the only person they are trying to con). The scammer will then contact you from a different profile claiming a mistake was made or they are a one-woman kind of man and want to focus on you;
9. Pay special attention to his communication. Scammers tend to ask vague questions. They have so many cons going, it may be hard to personalize text exchanges. For example, they may simply ask, “How was your day?” despite your mentioning the day before that you had to give a major presentation. They won’t ask “How did your big presentation go for the prospective new client?”;
10. Take note of if your name is used during text exchanges. Are you simply, “Babe”, “Honey”, “Sweetie”? These scammers have hundreds of women they are “working”. They don’t have time to learn your name. You’re just “Sweetheart”…one of 200 unfortunately;
11. Scammers ALWAYS have a sob story. He is trying to smuggle their inheritance out the country; he is the lone survivor after seeing his entire family murdered; he was on his way to visit you but the government confiscated his passport, etc.;
12. Beware of what’s called “dry begging”. The scammer won’t say, “Can you loan $200?”. It’ll be more like “I really want to be able to book my ticket to come home before the rates go up. I don’t get paid until the 15th of next month though;
13. If he’s sent you photo(s), try doing a reverse Google image look up (Note: I have only been able to do this via my computer; not on my mobile device). You’ll be able to see other places the photo appeared online including sites warning about potential scammers;
14. Follow your gut. If you feel uncomfortable or suspicious, immediately block all communication;
15. For men claiming to be in the military: A) Consult with your military friends. If something sounds weird or suspicious, ask a military contact. B) Keep in mind that if he’s in a conflict zone especially, the possibility of his being actively involved on a dating site is practically nonexistent. Their IP address can’t be disclosed due to safety concerns. C) Military personnel get their funds deposited directly into their bank accounts. There should be no need to send him money. D) For those claiming to be in the states, ask what base? A quick Google search will give you insights about the base. E) If a packet is being mailed to military personnel, there is no need for the packet to be re-routed anyplace else to circumvent customs rules.

You can learn additional tips on how to stay safe, especially when online dating by reading two previous blog entries: “Widowed Status Often Attracts Scammers” and “Online Scammers Target Your Wallet Then Heart“.

*Details of the story have been altered

Mom to a feisty preschooler, Kerry Phillips became widowed at age 32. She runs an online support group for young widows and widowers venturing back into the world of dating and is a blogger for The Huffington Post.

If you feel you have been scammed by a person claiming to be a U.S. Soldier, contact the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center and the Federal Trade Commission.

Army CID is warning anyone who is involved in online dating to proceed with caution when corresponding with persons claiming to be U.S. Soldiers currently serving in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria or elsewhere.

Army CID receives hundreds of allegations a month from victims who state they got involved in an online relationship with someone, on a legitimate dating website or other social media website, who claims to be a U.S. Soldier. The 'Soldier' then begins asking for money for various FALSE, service-related needs such as transportation costs, communication fees, marriage, processing and medical fees. Victims of these online scams have lost hundreds of thousands of dollars, with a very low possibility of recovery.

The U.S. has established numerous task force organizations to deal with this growing epidemic; unfortunately, many times the people committing these scams are from African countries using untraceable email addresses, routing accounts through numerous locations around the world and utilizing pay per hour Internet cyber cafes, which often times maintain no accountability of use.

Read the Joint Service Sextortion Brochure for more information and see examples of fake documents used by scammers.

You can also learn more about identity theft, romance scams, sextortion and online impostors at the U.S. Army's Social Media Resources site.

For more on these fraudulent acts, read the announcements released by Army CID:
U.S. Army CID Warn Citizens to Be Vigilant Against Internet, Digital Scammers
With National Spotlight on Internet Romance-Type Scams, Army CID Makes Additional Attempts to Warn Unsuspecting Victims
U.S. Army CID Pleads with Public, Warns Against Romance Scams
CID warns Army community about social media impersonation of Soldier accounts

- DO NOT SEND MONEY! Be extremely suspicious if you are asked for money for transportation costs, communication fees or marriage processing and medical fees via Western Union.
- If you do start an Internet-based relationship with someone, check them out, research what they are telling you with someone who would know, such as a current or former service member.
- Be very suspicious if you never get to actually speak with the person on the phone or are told you cannot write or receive letters in the mail. Servicemen and women serving overseas will often have an APO or FPO mailing address. Internet or not, service members always appreciate a letter in the mail.
- Many of the negative claims made about the military and the supposed lack of support and services provided to troops overseas are far from reality - check the facts.
- Be very suspicious if you are asked to send money or ship property to a third party or company. Often times the company exists, but has no idea or is not a part of the scam.
- Be very suspicious if the person you are corresponding with wants you to mail anything to an African country.
- Be aware of common spelling, grammatical or language errors in the emails.
- Be very suspicious of someone you have never met and who pledges their love at warp speed.

Pof Scams List

Saying they are on a peace keeping mission, looking for an honest woman, parents deceased, wife deceased, child being cared for by nanny or other guardian, profess their love almost immediately, refer to you as 'my love,' 'my darling' or any other affectionate term almost immediately, telling you they cannot wait to be with you, telling you they cannot talk on the phone or via webcam due to security reasons, or telling you they are sending you something (money, jewelry) through a diplomat. Finally, they claim to be a U.S. Army Soldier; however, their English and grammar do not match that of someone born and raised in the United States.

Here are answers to some of the most common types of scams:

1. Soldiers and their loved ones are not charged money so that the Soldier can go on leave.
2. No one is required to request leave on behalf of a Soldier.
3. A general officer will not correspond with you on behalf of a Soldier planning to take leave.
4. A general officer will not be a member of an internet dating site.
5. Soldiers are not charged money or taxes to secure communications or leave.
6. Soldiers do not need permission to get married.
7. Soldiers do not have to pay for early retirement.
8. Soldiers have medical insurance for themselves and their immediate family members (spouse and/or children), which pays for their medical costs when treated at health care facilities worldwide - family and friends do not need to pay their medical expenses.
9. Military aircraft are not used to transport Privately Owned Vehicles.
10. Army financial offices are not used to help Soldiers buy or sell items of any kind.
11. Soldiers deployed to combat zones do not need to solicit money from the public to feed or house their troops.
12. Deployed Soldiers do not find large sums of money and do not need your help to get that money out of the country.

Report the theft to the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) (FBI-NW3C Partnership). Online: http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx

Report the theft to the Federal Trade Commission. Your report helps law enforcement officials across the United States in their investigations. Online: http://www.ftc.gov/idtheft

By phone: 1-877-ID-THEFT (438-4338) or TTY, 1-866-653-4261

By mail: Identity Theft Clearinghouse, Federal Trade Commission, Washington, DC 20580

Report the fraud to the Federal Trade Commission on Nigerian Scams. Email: spam@uce.gov.

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