h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I'm kind of embarrassed to talk about this but my elder mother had been on a dating site looking for friendship. She came in contact with a Nigerian scammer and I didn't find out about it until it was too late. She lost a little over $800. At one point she supplied the scammer with her phone and home address. Once I told her what was going on she stopped immediately and ended contact with him and notified the website of his activity and I'm not sure if they did anything. My question is, is there anything else she should do? I'm worried about whoever it is having her address and phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shof Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 -change phone number -change address -contact poilce Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vice Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Well you did good by educating her, but sorry to say her identity may be used by the scammer in future scams. Having an address that he knows is valid and a name that lives there is all he will need to form new scams using your mothers identity. No doubt he will forge documents. Good luck anyway, them scammers are so annoying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3r0 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 dare I ask: how do you know it's a nigerian scammer and not a real love interest? :p Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jokeripa Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 How did give away $800 if you dont mind me asking? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 dare I ask: how do you know it's a nigerian scammer and not a real love interest? :p It's not something to joke about. I know. How did give away $800 if you dont mind me asking? It had been about 2-3 weeks and they conversed over email and IM without my knowledge. One day my mother said she had to go to western union or something and I said OK, but didn't ask why as I didn't see it any of my business. While she was gone, I became pretty curious and checked her IM logs and emails and he had said he had been in a car accident and couldn't afford the expenses. My mother sent him some money and as soon as she got home I talked to her about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3r0 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 (edited) Ah, i'm not making fun, I simply ask this as I myself fell in love with a woman over the internet, she sent me money for six months before we met, as I needed it due to my situation, we ended up marrying and we've been together for six years. So i'm just saying, there may not be malice intended etc, but children can be quite protective of their parents (my wife had two kids, one likes me the other doesn't) Unless of course it was a genuine Nigerian scammer :) Edited July 18, 2006 by Z3r0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 Ah, i'm not making fun, I simply ask this as I myself fell in love with a woman over the internet, she sent me money for six months before we met, as I needed it due to my situation, we ended up marrying and we've been together for six years. So i'm just saying, there may not be malice intended etc, but children can be quite protective of their parents (my wife had two kids, one likes me the other doesn't) Unless of course it was a genuine Nigerian scammer :) Well see, I'm not 100% sure it was a nigerian scammer, but he said he was currently in Nigeria on some trip, and his English was broken and he had ordered my mother a ring in the mail, which I assumed to be some kind of bait. He never gave out his address or phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3r0 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 (edited) yeah I would have to agree with you on that one, sounds like a blatent scammer lol, maybe I am wrong but what can they do from Nigeria if they have no CC details? Edited July 18, 2006 by Z3r0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hum Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 :yes: http://www.ic3.gov/ http://www.elsop.com/wrc/complain.htm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MasterC Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 -change phone number -change address -contact poilce And how would you go about changing your address? :rofl: Moving would be a little too much for this situation :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 yeah I would have to agree with you on that one, sounds like a blatent scammer lol, maybe I am wrong but what can they do from Nigeria if they have no CC details? That's what I'm afraid of. I'm trying not to think about it because I don't want to freak myself out or anything. I'm going to discuss the phone/address changes with her tomorrow. Btw, what would calling the police do? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusuf M. Veteran Posted July 18, 2006 Veteran Share Posted July 18, 2006 Well see, I'm not 100% sure it was a nigerian scammer, but he said he was currently in Nigeria on some trip, and his English was broken and he had ordered my mother a ring in the mail, which I assumed to be some kind of bait. He never gave out his address or phone. There's no harm in waiting for the ring to come in the mail right? What if he isn't a scammer? I'd contact the police and talk to them about it. I don't trust these so called Nigerian scammers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 There's no harm in waiting for the ring to come in the mail right? What if he isn't a scammer? I'd contact the police and talk to them about it. I don't trust these so called Nigerian scammers. It came. My mother mailed it back to the company this morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yusuf M. Veteran Posted July 18, 2006 Veteran Share Posted July 18, 2006 ^ Doesn't seem like he's a scammer so far. That ring could be stolen though. Good thing she mailed it back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shof Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 can you put a stop on the western union payment? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3r0 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 (edited) ask him to send a picture of himself and his address/contact details as you are coming over for a holiday and want to meet up, if he's not already aware you're on to him, then just pass his details on Edited July 18, 2006 by Z3r0 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 My mother sent an email yesterday morning saying she wanted to end contact with him. She blocked his email and removed the IM app. can you put a stop on the western union payment? It's already gone through, I believe. This was 2 days ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TokyoKiller Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I can't imagine how your mom must be feeling right now. Sucks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 I can't imagine how your mom must be feeling right now. Sucks. Absolutely terrible. She cried a few times and I feel so bad for her. She's afraid that my sister and I hate her. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z3r0 Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I can understand, it's unfair that these ppl prey on people who are lonely and are looking for friendship Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ranasrule Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 Absolutely terrible. She cried a few times and I feel so bad for her. She's afraid that my sister and I hate her. give her all ur support and reassure her that it could happen to anyone....and try to nail the ****** who did this. :angry: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 give her all ur support and reassure her that it could happen to anyone....and try to nail the ****** who did this. :angry: I do and so does my sister and our grandmother. The thing is, whoever did it was soooo damn good. She's always been able to laugh at the nigerian scam emails and what not but I've never heard of dating sites to have this stuff happen. I googled it and evidently it's becoming a problem. Thank you all for your replies, I feel a little better and I greatly appreciate it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bayrider Posted July 18, 2006 Share Posted July 18, 2006 I dont think he can do much with a name, telephone number and adress. It's not like you can't find that information about anyone if you open a phonebook or use an online phonebook registry. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
h3xis Posted July 18, 2006 Author Share Posted July 18, 2006 I dont think he can do much with a name, telephone number and adress. It's not like you can't find that information about anyone if you open a phonebook or use an online phonebook registry. True. I talked to my dad about it (my parents are divorced) and he said the same thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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