ScamVictimsUnited.com

Hi,
I just found out I was a victim of romance scam. I gave this guy $8000. I am so confused. I was in love with this man and thought he was the "one". How could I be so stupid? It finally dawned on me that this might be happening but he kept asking me to trust him? Why did I do this?

Will I ever be able to recover emotionally from this? How can I ever trust anyone again? I feel like a fool and I am so ashamed of myself for letting this happen.

Don't beat yourself up about this. The scammers are good at what they do, and that is why the scams work.

And it will take time, but with the help of people who have been through the same thing as you, like people at this site, you will be able to work through this.

Please feel free to post informaiton about your scammer . . . name, email address, phone number, etc. . . . it could help to save someone else.

First off let me say I am sorry you got hurt by this guy and also that you lost money in the process. Falling for a scam does not make you a foool or stupid as these guys are good (like Shawn said) and know what emotional buttons to push to get you to fall for them and the scam.

Yes you will recover emotionally from this just share your story and the scammers information and focus on the fact that you are helping other people not get hurt by this person and that should give you a feeling of happiness and joy instead of the hurt you are feeling now.

Yes you will be able to trust people again you will just need to look at things a little more critically from now on, especially with internet dating. For instance if you meet a guy online and he starts off really fast saying how much he loves you and how he wants to be with you and then turns around and asks for money that is a red flag for you to cut ties. Before that last red flag, if the guy says that he is from somewhere around you or even from the US but is doing business in Nigeria then I would recommend cutting ties right then and there before you get to emotionally caught up with the guy.

Do what Shawn recommended and share the information of the scammer (post it here) and check out the site she referenced and talk to other people who have gone through the same thing, they will be able to help you get through this rough time.

Best of luck to you through this and remember keep your headup things will get better.

I just wanted to add . . . on the trust issue . . . my husband and I were talking about this just the other day . . . now that we have been scammed, when people contact us about the site we find ourselves doing a LOT of research to make sure they are who they say they are (reporter, producer, law enforcement) Eight years ago we would have just believed they were who they said they were, but now we "check" first.

Being scammed will make you think twice before you trust someone, and cause you to be more careful in the future, but it does get better.

My scammer from Nigeria was called Jeff Smith. He was located in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria. I lost $ 2,000.00. He was trying to run $4500 through my account when I stopped it and woke up. I am wondering if this is the same scammer. The thing that hurts the most is that I was falling for someone that doesn't even exist! Can't even say I broke up with someone - cause he wasn't real. I'd love to know more about your scammer.

Thanks for your wise words. I'm spending time attemp[ting to get my networking underway here, first, and then I'll go over there.
Thanks to eHarmony, who told me they removed a man from their service but he was still there until yesterday afternoon, I lost $18,000 on Friday due to an emergency the soon-to-be-husband I'd been involved with since June 6th had suffered on July 10th. I didn't get anymore phone calls, and his cell permanently switched into voicemail as soon as he managed to pick up the final portion of the 7 Western Union wires I send. Then, on Sunday, I completely figured out what had happened, and I had a more cathartic cry than I remember in close to 4 years.

Now, I'm not beating myself up anymore, but I'm lying to a few friends about how the romance worked out. I came up with a lulu, so they think he DID show up, I didn't ever get asked for money, and it was MY fault that we weren't compatible during the period of time he was here..... I want for the cycle of friends' inquiries to come to an end asap, but no matter what, I'm not beating myself up.
I lost 90% of a retirement fund that took 14 years to build.
All I can do now is to re-double my efforts to put my business and financial ambitions into high gear, and just make and set aside so much more $$ that I'll end up never missing what he/they looted from me.

London was supposedly involved in the travelling, before Lagos, but I have found out that there is a special way that they can stay in Nigeria the whole time, but bounce calls from the U.K. http://www.419scam.org/419-phone-uk.htm#phone-uk
I will send you copies of the most outrageous part of the entire saga, the part that pushed me indo despondency on Sunday afternoon, in another post.

I'm glad to be meeting you guys. Private message me and I'll tell you where I live, my age, what my eHarmony profile contained, etc.

Here is what I got on Sunday, about 48 hrs after he got my money (oh-- this guy is Edward G Jones, catchlove_joness@yahoo.com, eHarmony: Edward from Clayton, GA). It made me so goddamn mad to have my intellectual and emotional energy sapped by this out-of-the-blue attempt at a seconday scam, that this is why I pretty much stopped beating myself up. I do have to admit that the loss of the affirming messages and phone calls isn't exactly making me thrilled, but what's wrong with me if I am REALLY grieving for the pseudo-romance?

Ok, here's the next (I'm guessing last) part of the scam:

fromNiger-Delta Militant <nigerdeltamilitant@rocketmail.com>
reply-tonigerdeltamilitant@rocketmail.com

to "me"

dateSat, Jul 19, 2008 at 1:24 PM
subjectAttn: Woman !
signed-byrocketmail.com

hide details Jul 19 (4 days ago) Reply


Attn: Woman.

We have your husband and his agent in our custody.

You have to remain calm and don’t be forwarad regarding his situation when you try you won’t get to see him again and you can’t get us. All we need is your total co-operation and he will be set free.

We will get back to you with a contact number which you can talk to him.


Militant.
_____________________________________________________________
my first reply:
"me" to nigerdeltamili.
show details Jul 19 (3 days ago) Reply


you dumb crap. What do you expect me to do? sell my house and my puppy dogs, and start grooming 10 animals every day until I'm ready to fall into the grave so I can keep some clothing on my back and eat, once I am able to swallow again without puking? your screwing African scam never was funny and I'm choking too hard on tears to pay anymore attention to another single email or phone call from you or the rest of your gang
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fromNiger-Delta Militant <nigerdeltamilitant@rocketmail.com>
reply-tonigerdeltamilitant@rocketmail.com

to "me"

dateSat, Jul 19, 2008 at 3:27 PM
subjectRe: Attn: Woman !
signed-byrocketmail.com

hide details Jul 19 (3 days ago) Reply


WE DON'T KNOW OR CARE ABOUT WHAT YOU ARE SAYING. YOU WILL CRY THE MORE WHEN YOU SEE YOUR HUSBAND PICTURE !!

MILITANT.
______________________________________________________________________
my second reply, full of the truth, but making it clear that they were assholes for targeting someone of such modest means as me, and wondering if there is one shred of humanity amongst the creeps in this scam ring:

"me" to to nigerdeltamili.
show details Jul 20 (2 days ago) Reply


by the way, I guess that you, the kidnapper, picked up two greeting cards destined for Mr. Jones las night. If the contents of those cards would have been read out loud, they certainly would have been an earful. I wonder if anyone is interested in an outcome regarding Mr. Uzor.

I happened to have severe AT&T wiring problems between Tuesday and this afternoon, internet AND voice. On account of the fact that it would have been nice to exchange--no matter how full of intellectual and emotional dishonesty they would have been-- one last set of messages--final farewell messages. What would have been a bit memorable would have been communications aimed at warmth and flattery, and not disclosing that I had just put myself in a position of losing my life savings, messages or a conversation which appeared to be affirming and sweet, it's just too damn bad that the phone was malfunctioning during that time period. You, one of the Niger-Delta assholes, are a human being, too, and you might have actually thrived on some of the happy types of comments I made towards you.

I'm going to ignore the fact that you declared you "don't care" about the state I'm being left in, thanks to your grotesque scheme. I will not have the funds to pay the international long distance calls to UK or Nigeria that I was goaded into placing. But what is even more amusing is that on Thursday, I spend $150 for a haircut and leg waxing. Those funds were, on top of the other losses, dollars which I did not really have at my disposal The beautification services cut into the money set aside for my business adtertising in a church newspaper and my electricity bill. I now get it as to why I heard giggling on the other end of the phone during possibly the last phone conversation that was held, something that was about noontime CDT on Thursday. I ignorantly thought that reporting that I had made arrangements for the haircut and leg waxing were something nice for the gentleman guest who purportedly was interested in arriving in my city for a get-acquainted visit. The smooth feeling of my legs and the sleek hairstyle now make me gag if my mind turns to them.

Have fun with the spoils of your two month-long laying of a criminal foundation, the laying of foundations which would drag me to the point of letting you really clean me out this last week. However, there are some individuals in your line of "work" who might be interested to know that Interpol sometimes can do little to directly investigate incidents, but they are experts in providing tracking of criminal trends and in forensic accounting.
They directed yesterday that my local police had to be contacted first --- turned out to be very simple and well worth the time spent doing so. As soon as the complaint number, police station name, address, phone number, and the investigating officer's name were transmitted back to Interpol by me, they were only too glad to receive a report on your activities, and the Nigerian criminal justice system is accountable to Interpol for progress.
Additionally, our nation's Department of State will be giving attention to your activities regarding one of the two gentlemen whom you are claiming to victimize at present.

tootle-loo.




I'll probably be posting this under many, many topics here. I know it isn't about Jeff Harrison, but the stories from you prior posters were so close to mine, and the moral support some other mbrs of the board offered just struck a chord with me.

i am chatting with a guy called harrison now from nigeria who i met from meet your messenger.and i know only to well that he is a scammer.he told me he is from the u s but working in ikeja in nigeria but i know thats not to be the truth,,he told me he has a antique store there,i got caught out a few weeks ago by some one else .claiming some one owed him money and could he put it in my bank.like a idiot i said yes and then had to send it to him.i didnt realise wot a idiot i was ,never thought i would get caught out.but i think the guy that did that and harrison are the same guy,e mail address he used before is jeffersoncole@hotmail.com and e mail now is harrisonkage001@live,com