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Romance scam Reports & Reviews (84)

- Blacksburg, VA, USA • Apr 15, 2024
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I met Marc through Elite Singles dating site. I did not like my options on the site but since I was in communication with Marc I didn't mind continuing communication outside of the site since I was no longer using it. Thereafter, I did notice that Marc's account was gone. Marc said he is a real estate broker and financial coach in trades. He stated having made projections and loved helping his students. He introduced me to an "AI Trading" site called PureTradeOption.com. Marc said to start small but the more I put in like $10K the more I'll get a return on. I only put in $200 and had to convert to bitcoin to invest. He suggested I use Cashapp but I used my Coinbase account. Once processed by Coinbase (took 1 week), I deposited it into the PureTradeOption account I created. After almost 2 weeks, the account grew to $9817.49 by 4/10/24 at which point I received an email that no other profits could be made until I "top up" by depositing "$6500." Marc stated that I would not be able to withdraw funds until my account reached $60,000 since I had a "basic level" account. I attempted to withdraw the $9817.49 for a deposit into my Coinbase account. Once the transfer on the PureTradeOption acct reached 86% transfer, it paused and prompted me to entire an access code, which I obviously didn't have. I then attempted to withdraw my initial $200 and received the same prompt again. Both of my attempts were followed by an email that stated my withdrawals declined. When I told Marc, I was not moving forward with the "top up" of $6500 he was aggressive by calling me "stubborn" and that I could not learn from him because I argue (when there was no argument). This is an odd response from someone who I met online for the purpose of dating. We never video called or met in person since he's supposedly in New Jersey and Hungarian. On very brief phone calls, he would just say hello and sounded like he had African heritage. When I emailed customer support to receive an access code, the person stated I could not withdraw because I had not reached $60K. When I stated this was a SCAM in my reply, the response was unprofessional, "Alright then you can go ahead with the report, it’s the criteria for a withdrawal in the basic account" and "Obviously you are trying to prove a point and we will do everything to sue you for a false allegation." Lastly, there was no withdrawal fee. Any reputable trade site would take a commission and/or transfer fee. Marc and PureTradeOption are likely just keeping people's money. Also, I could not find any discussions online from anyone in AI or Forex trading about this site.

I am concerned this has happened to others or will. And if I put in $200, I can only imagine how much they've scammed out of other people.

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- Trenton, NJ, USA • Apr 03, 2024
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My boyfriend, Kerem Anderson, is currently living in Aden, Yemen. He worked there for a couple of years on contract as an orthopedist. He has finally been paid for his contract and most of the money is held by the above-mentioned bank in account 021000021. He asked the banker, Najma Jones, (cell 415 889-2277) to do a domestic wire transfer of $500K into my ***** ***** account. Mr. Jones agreed and did all the necessary paperwork for the transfer. When the paperwork was done, Mr. Jones demanded a fee via text, a fee of $762 "to sign agreement of the documents". He would not proceed with the wire transfer until Kerem or I paid this fee.

None of it sounds right to me. My bank charges nothing for wire transfers. I told Mr. Jones that he had two options: one was to waive the fee, and two was to deduct the fee from the $500K. He refused both options.

I want this wire transfer to occur, with either the fee being waived or the fee being deducted from the amount to be wired.

Kerem's address through the app called Telegram is @Fred465. His phone through Telegram is +234 81 3725 6356. His current email is [email protected]

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- Middleboro, MA, USA • Mar 30, 2024
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Conned me over the last 2 months to help him pay for his daughter’s medical bills, daycare payments, rental payments, food, and airline tickets twice. I want justice for myself and my money back along with stopping this person from continuing to scam others as well!

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- Wildwood, NJ, USA • Mar 20, 2024
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Pretended to be friend for months and acted like they wanted to help get me through a rough time. Help pay bills. Payed a few of my credit card bills and sent me a check. I used the cards to pay bills and after 3 weeks the payment was taken back and the check bounced. Now I am stuck with all the fees and paying everything back. They all the sudden were wanting me to buy gift cards for their sons birthday, which I found odd and all the sudden all hell broke loose with all the accounts.

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- Eureka, MT, USA • Mar 17, 2024
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Perpetrator contacted victim (me) on Facebook dating site. Introduced himself as Dale Petersen, resident of Kodiak, AK. I was in Anchorage at the time. Talked to me daily via the dating site and asked if we could communicate through "Signal". I agreed since I had the app, at first he asked to communicate through WhatsApp. Continued communication. I thought his answers were unusual, as everything I stated was repeated within his answer. I suggested that we speak instead of text. He said he was embarrassed of his "accent". said he was Norwegian. I have a Norwegian relative and know the accent, he looked Norwegian in his photos as well. He called and texted me every day for approximately a month, sent me daily pictures of him and his dog, told me a story of him being at his daughters place in Jacksonville, FL and he had sent her and her boyfriend on a trip to Peru. His job was a retired welder, he retired from his job in Kodiak due to health issues. He had two degrees, one in civil engineering and one in business management. We were to meet in Anchorage, and he said he had been making plans to go to Greece for his birthday in June and would I join him. He of course would pay for my ticket. We talked about attending concert of mutual interest in artist. I actually bought two tickets to go to a concert in Napa, CA. He told me he was having his house remodeled in Kodiak while he was away and that he wanted to have it completed before we visited there. He sent me pictures of it, started referring to it as "our house" which I thought was weird. I also wanted to see him face to face and his phone was having "problems" - another red flat ignored. I asked for pictures to show his frustration, he sent me a set of "4". I bought the concert tickets with my Discover credit card. He seemed excited about that, also about the fact that I had Bitcoin, that he was following that market and doing research on it. He gold me that I could open a "Discover bank account" online, where he could deposit funds to help fund our future vacation plans. What I did not know is that when you open a Discover Bank account, it automatically merges to your Discover Credit card account. He told me he would be making deposits into my regular checking account via the Discover account and could I please send funds to his contractor, Michael Schmdt247. I asked about credentials for Mr. Schmidt. He assured me he knew him, his wife and where he lived, provided me with a materials list with cost. Initially he said he needed to send him 7500, I could only send daily limits. I sent a 10 test transfer, then a 2000, and then 3000. I sent this because I saw that money had been transferred into my bank account, 5,000, 1400, 1,000 and 1,791. I thought he had made those deposits of "his" money. I also transferred 2,000 into bitcoin and sent it into his wallet. I still had 2,000 to transfer when I received an email from Discover for my monthly statement. My minimum due was $212.00. How could that be, my balance was over 10,000. I discovered those amounts deposited into my bank account were from my discover credit card, via the new discover bank account made online. I froze everything! When I told him I froze, he became extremely angry, wanting me to unfreeze and even attempted to get back into the online account to withdraw cash back rewards. He sent me a picture of his passport, his middle name was different as was the birthday, picture had been doctored. Did a reverse search on his pictures, found pictures of a "real person" named Rufus Gifford, politician, from Boston Mass. I called the number he was using from Signal on a regular line, a woman answered. When I mentioned his name and the scam, she exclaimed, You too?. I asked her to tell me more. She was scammed 5,000 and her bank account cleaned out in May 2023, he had been courting her online for about 5 months, Her name is ****** ******* ********* ******* ***  He first contacted her when she was going through Hawaii airport in January 2023. Same ammo used but different, Greece, Peru, daughter *****, same pictures, she sent me a copy of what she had. She is devastated, on disability, age 66, afraid to tell her children. He called her as I was talking to her and wanted her to tell me they met in Kodiak, which they didn't. The house pictures, once I got an address (street) I googled and discovered it on Zillow for sale, he told me he had put it on there and he took the pictures. I have a friend in Kodiak, I asked to check out, she called me back to tell me Dale Petersent is non existent, and so was Micheal Schmidt - unfortunately money had already been spent. When I called Discover, they basically told me since the money went into my account, it was a scam but not fraud. I reached out to CashApp, again, money had already gone through. I asked if they couldn't close Michael Schmidt247 account or at least look into how much he was getting. I made it a point to put on the transfer for Dale Petersen home repair. - all of that was a lie. He wanted me to send the last 2,000 in bitcoin, I told him no, put the 7 grand back into my bank account, He said he couldn't since I froze it. I said there were alternative ways, gave him my address where I am working to send me a cashiers check. I know that won't happen. I am pissed beyond belief for not regarding the red flags. I am more pissed that this is a well organized scam with parties at both ends, using AI, using a real plan book and preying on older, single widowed women ready to start getting social security. If I can gather all this information as a sped teacher, why can't authorities go after these scam artists and help recompense the victims? He knows my birthdate, my home address, full name. They are getting better in making themselves seem very "real". I figured I paid a man about 127 bucks an hour to talk to me, compliment me and ** me for about a month. It's criminal!! The crime isn't online dating, it's about accessing someones credit card, illegal transitions, using someone else's identity, using victims as "mules" to transfer money to unidentified criminals, doctoring a US passport, using someones phone number illegal, scamming woman on disability, the list just goes on. I feel like I was emotionally raped. I want to see justice, even if I don't get a dime in return. I really want to see whoever is on the receiving end of Michael Schmidt247 in jail! Thanks for pursuing this matter in earnest.

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- Newnan, GA, USA • Mar 05, 2024
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Played the romance game that he was trying to get away from a very bad situation.

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- Lexington, NC, USA • Feb 26, 2024
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TikTok@lifebyg737

Gary requested me through tik tok, presented himself as a single dad of 2. Where his wife left. I shared similarities with him as I was a single mom as well. I was in contact with him for a month through text. Where he became a love interest. Never asked for anything, after a month. I demanded that he video called me. He said he was under a contract with tik tok which was under strict restrictions and he get in trouble for breaking them. In order get out of the contract he would have to pay them 30-50k. They held on to his funds and he just need me as a gate way to get his money out. He attached an external account to mine. Where he asked me to send it to cash app and bitcoin account. Where he would buy his way out of the contract. He assured me that everything will be resolved and he will be with me soon. I saw on the news on Valentine’s Day where a woman was scammed out of a million dollars, explaining the same situation I was in. I then realized I was a victim of the same circumstance. I was stupid for trusting and believing this stranger and naive to believe he had no reason to hurt me. Now I’m soon to be in collections with one bank and under investigation with another. This man ruined my life. I just want him to be sought out and found.

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- Union Hall, VA, USA • Feb 23, 2024
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Same story as the man who lost 500K. Lisa Burbidge was the person who contacted me originally and told me she had a deal that you could not afford not to do. She led me to her "aunt" Eileen Burbidge who completed the scam removing my funds from Safepal wallet. The scam paid 1-2% per day. When I wanted to withdraw the funds,they were diverted into t o a "Safepal Blockchain "pledge" which I was never able to recover the funds from. The balance is in a "Coinjarr.com/wap" account that continuously requires more fees to have my funds released. Eileen Burbidge is a partner w/ the Blockchain Certification and Coinjarr.com. Watch out for these nasty sophisticated scammers.

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- Durant, OK, USA • Feb 18, 2024
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He said he was Taylor ****** and i had to pay for his accommodations in order for him to come and meet me

He said i was the only woman for him

I have spoken to others

But he wont leave me i block he emails

Makes new requests on instagram to get to me

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- Roanoke, VA, USA • Feb 14, 2024
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Been dating a girl online named Jennifer, Linda that promises to come and see me. Sending her multiple gifts and money airplane tickets she never comes. She promises to come but never arrives. Always has an excuse that she’s in nursing school or she got an inheritance wants me to pay for the attorney fees and Ukraine, she said she just got back from Switzerland. I have been out over $70,000 

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- Hoffman Estates, IL, USA • Feb 14, 2024
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They said they were David Boreanaz the actor.

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- Kent, OH, USA • Jan 30, 2024
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He approached me through facebook messenger and asked to join Spike Chat Room.  Spike is a separate App.  He told me he was in Syria in the Army and that he had been captured by Alcidai. He started asking for gift cards.  I provided apple, visa, mastercard, google.  I bought the wrong kind and he wasn't happy about that. He then referred me to a lawyer to help me set up a bank account.  I went onto telegram and he set me up with online banking and gave him access to my bank account and credit cards.  He also set up a Crypto Account in my name.  As soon as my social security money came in it was gone because he took it and put it into the Crypto Account. They tried telling me that they were sending checks to pay off my credit cards and when the money came, the check bounced back.  They sent me checks for $4200 to one account but then moved it to a different credit card.  They then sent me a check for over $40,000.  The bank said that the check was fraudulent. I closed my bank accounts and contacted the BBB.

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- Douglasville, GA, USA • Jan 30, 2024
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jason john jeffery scammed me out of money jenan llc and dsa antigua

he does not legally report taxes at all and arranged a abogus marriage too

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- Yonkers, NY, USA • Jan 30, 2024
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The scammer used credit card without owner’s knowledge. They said they would pay back full amount but stopped paying after a few payments. Also, he tried to convince me to do marriage fraud.

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- Medway, OH, USA • Jan 26, 2024
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This person, Philip Schuster, defrauded me in 2018-2019. I submitted many FBI ICI reports and one individual has been indicted. Philip Schuster contacted me again via email on November 23, 2023 claiming to have been paid for services provided to ****. He actually gave me banking information and log information though I do not know if the banking information is legitimate. He told me he owed significant taxes on the money in the account and could not access it. He began asking me for funds to pay these taxes. Funds were sent by me via Paypal, Bitcoin and cashiers checks. I believe Mr. Shuster has extorted me as well as defrauded me, as he continually tells me he can only pay me back if I send more funds.

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- Branson, MO, USA • Jan 07, 2024
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Was recently talking with an older relative, and she was describing a situation in which her friend had entered an online relationship with an unnamed welder that “worked on an oil rig”. This man, who had claimed to be a millionaire, had convinced her that he couldn’t retire from his job on the oil rig without her helping him transfer his welding money through a service called “SureStack”. The scheme involved her paying the conversion fee of $5000 USD, and receiving $10,000 USD in return. Upon looking up this service for myself, the web page was filled with placeholder text and an office address that did not exist. This, combined with the strange activity mentioned by my relative, led me to report this site to the Better Business Bureau.

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- Reno, NV, USA • Jan 07, 2024
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the person made a friend request and i excepted she said she needed help with to renovated a house and i gave her my info and now she scamed my account and ask me for 1500 dollars everyweek now . and now threaten me to put my info out there ,

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- Colorado Springs, CO, USA • Jan 04, 2024
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The scammer contacted me on Instagram saying that he was a soldier deployed in Yemen, he sent me photos of him, he maintained constant communication after 2 weeks he asked me to send a package to my address, he told me that he was sending military papers so that I could help him request an emergency permit, I agreed and gave them my address, after 3 days later I received an email from this company (speed delivery ltd) they sent me photos with the description of the scammer's name and package details and a link to track the package, for a week I was checking the package tracking link and the link was updating the places where the supposed package was going, then the package shows that it was detained in Mexico and there the scammer pressured me to help him pay the money, I spoke with the scam company through a chat on the Internet page, they told me that I should send them $2250 because the package was overweight, the scammer convinced me and I sent the cash by FedEx to an address in New York, then the package was still updating the page until it arrived in Washington and there the company asked me to deposit $15,000, which I did not send. Then the scammer continued to pressure me with the supposed emergency permit for which he needed $2,800, of which I sent him an Apple gift card for $500 and $1,610 via cashapp. The scammer told me that he had obtained the permit and was coming to the United States before the end of December, he sent me a photo of the ticket and a video walking at the airport towards a plane to board, then he told me that he had been detained in Istanbul and They were asking for $1200 and then I called 911 and then I made the report to the police, the police came to my house and saw all the evidence and told me that it was a scam and that I should proceed to block this person on WhatsApp, Instagram, Google and so I did, I sent a complaint to the ScamPulse.com a few days ago but I did not receive an email or a call and I don't know if they received my complaint

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- Colorado Springs, CO, USA • Jan 04, 2024
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Me contacto un supuesto militar residenciado en Texas, desplegado en Yemen, me envio fotos con su ropa militar, luego mw envio fotos de un paquete que queria enviar a mi casa con documentos militares, la compañia me escribió enviandome fotos, numero de paquete para rastrear, rastree el paquete por dias y el paquete cambiaba de lugar hasta llegar a México y la compañia me escribió pidiendome $2250 por un excedente de peso, envié el dinero a la direccion que me enviaron wn New York, luego el supuesto novio me pidio una tarjeta de regalo para un iphone y se la envie y luego me explico que iba a tramitar un permiso de emergencia para solucionar el problema del supuesto paquete que me habia enviado, que nunca llego y me pidio $2800, los cuales envie en transferencias por cashapp

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- Dunbar, NE, USA • Dec 30, 2023
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The scammers initial contact was supposedly from the singers manager via text explaining that the singer, Lanie Gardner from Nashville, Tennessee, was interested in a relationship with the victim (my brother). And this developed into a texting only back and forth with the singer explaining that her father was a millionaire and that she was going to be rich when she finally married someone. Her father would give a million dollars to the man she married. The scammer asked for the victims name and address information. This was so she could have money sent to him so he could buy nice clothes and an airline ticket to Las Vegas to one of her concerts. Once there she would ask him to the stage where she would propose to him so her father would know it was real. She explained that after they were married she would divorce him and split the money from her father with him. When I heard this I tried to convince him this was a scam more than once. He said he believed me finally, but secretly continued to text back and forth with the scammer. And just recently he asked me to cosign for a loan of $5000. I would not cosign without an explanation. So he finally confessed to me that the scammer sent him an authentic looking check for $5000.00 that he cashed at our credit union. The check for $5000 was sent from her manager, (Jonathan Estrada, P.O. Box 71402, Salt Lake City, UT 84171). Unfortunately the credit union initially gave him $2500 only because their policy allows the account holder to take $2500 cash from a large check and they can get the rest or another $2500 the next day or a day or two later. He was able to get the other half of the $5000 before the credit union discovered the check was bad. Then she somehow convinced him to go get ten $500.00 Apple gift cards, scratch the codes on the back of the card, take pictures of the codes and receipts and send them to this scammer. My brother does not have much money and now he is in debt to the credit union for $5000. I hope there is something we can do to ensure more people are aware of this type of scam and maybe even recoup some of my brothers money.

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