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Dating scam by russian women
Claims of Internet dating hustles originating from Russia have grown rapidly over the past year. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow receives from 10 to 15 complaints a day from victims who say they have sent anywhere from a few hundred dollars to as much as $2,000. Many of the victims report they were e-mailed photocopies of U.S. visas purportedly obtained by their Internet loves as proof they intended to come to America, only to never hear from the women again.
Read how to avoid fraud and what to expect from impostor russian women. Dating scam is biggest danger for every online dating user.
In the age of Internet dating, Mikhail Vanin is a sleuth in the service of lovelorn foreign men seeking beautiful, eligible Russian women.
Each week he receives dozens of e-mails seeking his help and advice. The missives come from the United States and other countries from would-be suitors who have responded to profiles of Russian women posted on Internet dating sites.
"Is her love for real?" the men ask in their requests to this self-proclaimed love detective in Samara, an industrial city on the banks of the Volga River.
Vanin, a 44-year-old romantic at heart, said he doesn't want to sound pessimistic, but "eight out of 10 times the women I investigate turn out to be nonexistent or even a gang of criminal Internet scammers."
Vanin said that most of the women he tracks down already have taken their suitors for a ride to the tune of several hundred dollars.
The perpetrators use fake names, fake addresses and fake pictures to lure the unsuspecting, Vanin said. Then, just as the love bug has bitten, the women ask the men for money to pay for their ailing grandmothers, or to sign up for English lessons so they can talk on the phone. Then they need more money to cover transportation costs to come to the United States.
Once the money is wired, the Natashas, Irinas, Olgas or Sashas disappear, leaving the men on the other end broken-hearted and, in some cases, just plain broke.
Claims of Internet dating hustles originating from Russia have grown rapidly over the past year. The U.S. Embassy in Moscow receives from 10 to 15 complaints a day from victims who say they have sent anywhere from a few hundred dollars to as much as $2,000. Many of the victims report they were e-mailed photocopies of U.S. visas purportedly obtained by their Internet loves as proof they intended to come to America, only to never hear from the women again.
The visas turn out to be fakes, copies made using computer graphics.
Russian dating scam have become such a concern that the State Department in October issued a special warning advising travel precautions to U.S. citizens.
Vanin's investigation business started several years ago when his Web site offering tourism services for visitors to Samara began receiving inquiries from foreign men who thought they were victims of dating scams.
Vanin realized he could help and began offering his services, starting at $19.
"If they don't have a phone number, it's suspicious. Almost everyone can afford a mobile phone these days. And if they ask for money, it's a sure sign that they are scammers," Vanin said.
Next he looks to see if the profile in question fits those on his or other Internet blacklists.
More than half of the inquiries contain names already familiar to him: Natasha on Lenin Street, Yulia on Volga Prospect.
If the women pass that test, Vanin checks out their addresses using a database of registered Samara residents. Last month's most frequently used bogus address was 10 Volga Prospect, the city's swimming pool.
If it appears that an address could be legitimate, Vanin suggests his customers sign up for his "gift and flower delivery with a twist" service.
Armed with a box of chocolates and a bouquet of flowers, Vanin checks out the address "to establish contact with your e-mail girlfriend and conduct an interview that may give a glimpse into her motivation."
But in the end, Vanin said he usually arrives at an apartment only to learn that the woman has never lived there.
"The women rarely exists," he said. "And then the men sometimes call me crying, telling about how they are broken-hearted."
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