'Romance scams' Oil rig or military workers asking for money

[Angela_Beckett]

My Mom recently did the same thing! Was he a oil rigger, soldier, or a doctor?

In my profile said I like to paint and draw. So the Dude had a huuuge art supplies depot in Paris, I believe

It was so obvious and so ridiculous , but some people do fall for it, and lose their life savings. It’s not fair

 

[wishBones1962]

It's amazing the extent scammers go to, to scam. Also mind boggling the extent some people fall for the scams. Red Flags by the dozen pop up. The asking for $$ to me, is the most obvious Red Flag. Absolutely NO ONE online should be asking anyone for $$. Or giving anyone money.
My most recent was a friend who was falling for the money card scam. I told her many times to NOT send $$. Of course, she refused to listen. I eventually ceased communicating with her. If she was willing to blindly fall for a scammer, then she and I prob didn't have much in common anyway.
JMO MOO

 

[aThousandYearsWide]

In my profile said I like to paint and draw. So the Dude had a huuuge art supplies depot in Paris, I believe

It was so obvious and so ridiculous , but some people do fall for it, and lose their life savings. It’s not fair

An artist! That is a new twist! Yeah it is a huge shame these people are sometimes successful. The biggest red flag to me is the, "I'm a millionaire but need you to send me money because of XYZ".

 

[MajorHoople]

I can only imagine how the email went. Like how does one introduce themselves as a 'prince'?

Email address Nigerianprince123@____.com.

Did he ask for money by any chance?

Yes, the email was much like that. It was pretty cheesy. Anyone would need to be extremely gullible to fall for it.

It used to be common to get lots of spam. I hardly get any nowadays. The mail service weeds most of it out now.

 

[StarrChance]

It never ceases to amaze me that seemingly smart successful people fall for these scams, even when proof is given they can be very hard to convince.
I did hear a theory that made the most sense to me. Love is a drug, literally! Remember when you were young, well that same hormone oxytocin is at play, intoxicating and you can’t get enough.

 

[ElementalLaura]

I have several friends in their 40s and 50s who have come close to falling for this. Tinder is rife with these scammers, and they can be sophisticated.

One claimed to be an orphaned Mexican-American horse trainer from Washington whose client had him working in West Africa to train and ultimately import stallions to the U.S. He actually sent my friend a few small wooden horse carvings before asking her to accept a money order from him to pay for computer equipment to be shipped to her house to hold for him since he was supposedly moving back to her area. I think the scam was that he would overpay, have her send him the difference, and then his money order would turn out to be fraudulent. Fortunately, we talked before she agreed and walked through what was then (a few years ago) a popular scam.

One early warning sign is that they will fall in love with you immediately. My friend is very romantic-minded and falls for men in real life who come on too strongly, so it made sense that would also happen online.

I think it’s even worse now with covid lockdowns and so many people being socially isolated.