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Man Pays $200,000 To Save Fake Online Girlfriend
An anonymous reader writes "A 48-year-old Illinois man has experienced an online scam that was particularly devastating, both financially and emotionally. A woman he believed to be his online girlfriend turned out to be a fake, and his money has disappeared with her. The scam was recently revealed because he went to the police asking for help to rescue the woman, insisting that she had been kidnapped in London. The online 'relationship' between the two began over two years ago, during which he wired about $200,000 to several different bank accounts in Nigeria, Malaysia, England, and the US."
Dumbass
Why didn't he check that she was a real person. Would have cost less than 200k.
Darwinism at work folks. Move along, nothing to see here.
If our elected representatives no longer represent us, do we still live in a Democracy?
There is no reason to wire that much money to several bank account for an online girl friend, if she's worth $200 000 why didn't she move to him and then he would know she's safe. Move Before she was kidnapped of course.
Where men are men, women are men, and children are federal agents.
How do people this stupid have $200,000 to begin with?
I've worked hard for many years, and while my lifestyle isn't excessive, I still don't have anywhere near that kind of money to throw around even if I was getting laid by a real girlfriend.
This guy gave "her" $200k and never even got a blow?
Wow, where do I find suckers like this? I need the cash.
If telephones are outlawed, then only outlaws will have telephones.
People with common sense don't get so far into such a scam without smelling a rat... But people who don't have at least some common sense don't have $200K just sitting around. This poor guy must have been terribly lonely, and the perps played him like a harp. Very sad.
Am I part of the core demographic for Swedish Fish?
This is not the end of the road Blogoviovich, you will rebound from there. Don't give up. Continue the fight.
sed -e 's/Chuck Norris/Rajnikant/g' joke > fact
My previous landlord was sucked into this. He has sent over 20k to online scammers who are from the U.S. We even google mapped where they were in Florida yet he still sent money. He was sent various cheques, would cash them and western union the money, then charged with fraud from the cheques. He sent his rent money to "save her" to the point where he was 10k in debt on the house on back payments.
This sounds like a good way to pay off my student loans faster!
People don't think these classic scams could ever suck them in but if they are done in an artful way they actually can sucker people in. Most of these con artists lack the ability but there are a few out there with serious skills that really can sink a strong man's boat.
In reality, the man in TFA has been participating in a covert intelligence test using a new innovative testing method. The cost for this testing is $200,000. I don't think I need to go into what the results of the testing.
Are YOU using the TOOL, or is the TOOL using YOU? Think about it!
Is this a relevant story because the fraud happened online, or because of some other reason that is not in TFA?
I am Slashdot. Are you Slashdot as well?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
I wish I had 200k to wire period.
Bryan
This reminds me of the story that came out not too long ago about the composer who lost millions, believing an even more elaborate hoax than this guy.
No, the one you're looking for is "A fool and his money are soon parted."
See the difference between "screwed" and "laid".
"If any question why we died, Tell them because our fathers lied."
There, but for having more than 2 brain cells, go I.
...meet little head.
From my soon-to-be-published book "Dick: An Owner's Manual"
Rule #1: Your dick will lie to you.
bought himself a pretty high-classed hooker. Not sure for how long though......
Insert funny smart-ass comment here.
If it was a real woman, she would have cost him more than that in marriage
On the positive side he probably hasn't bred.
Admit it--You're all jealous over how easy this guy got off.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
hey, he's only out $200,000 and doesn't have an ex-wife!
the preceding comment is my own and in no way reflects the opinion of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Maybe he borrowed the money, so now he might owe $200k plus interest.
The AACS key is NOT 0xF606EEFD628B1CA427BEA93A9CA9773F
Is this a relevant story because the fraud happened online, or because of some other reason that is not in TFA?
Teh lulz are always relevant.
athough it should come as no surprise, is that this guy's Slashdot member number is 101.
One "Aw, Shit!" is worth 100 "Ata boys!"
Prostitutes would have been cheaper, and he might have ACTUALLY gotten laid.
MSIE: The world's most standards-complaint web browser.
To be fair, if you weeded out everyone that wants you for your money, you'd have to turn gay.
How sad
Yeah, as a Slashdotter, I don't get many opportunities to call somebody else's love-life sad.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
I don't know if I should laugh or cry. On the one hand, it's really funny to that that really someone fell in such a trap. On the other hand I have to say it's really sad that there are really many people who don't know how to deal with it. I mean, it starts with the spam in the mailbox. I know many people who probably fall into a trap like this too. But this case is really extreme... I mean, $200,000 is a lot of money.
I'm a little saddened to see all the negative comments aimed at the *victim*. What did he do wrong? He trusted someone. Apparently, that's so idiotic and inconceivable that it makes him the one who's at fault. What's next? Blaming rape victims for not bringing pepper spray on a blind date? What happened to blaming the perpetrator? The lesson here appears to be, if you're capable of scamming people online, then you deserve the money and your victims are morons. I guess the study that was written about in NY Times last year wasn't far off the mark.
"The only normal people are the ones you don't know very well."
I can't speak on behalf of this guy's intelligence, but I am reluctant to conclude he's an idiot. My guess is that this guy is not so gullible in general, but that he let down his guard here because he really wanted to believe it was true.
Well said. I think if the commenters here would get past their 'smarter-than-everyone' mentality, they'd have a bit more sympathy for the dude. We all act dumb for love, that's why it's such a common topic on sitcoms.
"I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)
LMFAO
Maybe he borrowed the money, so now he might owe $200k plus interest.
Those kind of amounts are discharged in bankruptcy every day, no big deal. Can anyone prove he was not planning on declaring all along? Makes you wonder if he REALLY doesn't know where the cash is. In fact sometimes the rules on chap 7 vs chap 11 mean you "save money by losing money" if you can get your net worth negative or low enough... Even better if you don't actually lose the money but its just stashed somewhere.
Now someone whom is stupid, would wire it across the country, then buy a plane ticket using their own credit card to the destination to collect it and fly back, but they would have to be really dumb to get caught like that.
Yes, I did have friends whom were cops. I have no idea if their stories are true or not, but they are certainly pretty interesting.
"Science flies us to the moon. Religion flies us into buildings." - Victor Stenger
Wait for it. It'll happen.
Con artists can be REALLY good. If she was in contact with him for a long time, he probably really believed her, really loved her. When he found out that this person he trusted was in trouble, he did what he could to help.
People have lost millions over love. The have murdered, committed espionage, and started wars over love.
Need to remember that he was probably not very internet savvy or the scam would not have gotten past the first email.
As far as a dumb move by a person in love, this isn't at all out there.
A HELOC can have that kind of credit line.
New Economic Perspectives
As soon as you see Nigeria and bank in the same context, always run away. In fact, just Nigeria should be enough...
I'm thinking more "self love", but I also want my money, so even that's not safe...
"This post contains words, known to the State of California to cause thought. Wash brain thoroughly after reading."
It's sad they had to steal from him. He would gladly have paid 200K just to continue the fake relationship for more years. It seems to me that 200K compensation for being a fake online girl ought to be plenty for a Nigerian Scammer, so why not just continue the relationship for a 200K fee instead.
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.
Ouch.
a funny Mastercard commercial in this somewhere....
and you thought getting married was expensive...
There is no social mobility in America anymore.
http://www.brendan-nyhan.com/blog/2005/01/the_economist_o.html
and, from here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html
The key findings relating to intergenerational mobility include the following:
*Children from low-income families have only a 1 percent chance of reaching the top 5 percent of the income distribution, versus children of the rich who have about a 22 percent chance.
*Children born to the middle quintile of parental family income ($42,000 to $54,300) had about the same chance of ending up in a lower quintile than their parents (39.5 percent) as they did of moving to a higher quintile (36.5 percent). Their chances of attaining the top five percentiles of the income distribution were just 1.8 percent.
*Education, race, health and state of residence are four key channels by which economic status is transmitted from parent to child.
*African American children who are born in the bottom quartile are nearly twice as likely to remain there as adults than are white children whose parents had identical incomes, and are four times less likely to attain the top quartile.
*The difference in mobility for blacks and whites persists even after controlling for a host of parental background factors, children’s education and health, as well as whether the household was female-headed or receiving public assistance.
*After controlling for a host of parental background variables, upward mobility varied by region of origin, and is highest (in percentage terms) for those who grew up in the South Atlantic and East South Central regions, and lowest for those raised in the West South Central and Mountain regions.
*By international standards, the United States has an unusually low level of intergenerational mobility: our parents’ income is highly predictive of our incomes as adults. Intergenerational mobility in the United States is lower than in France, Germany, Sweden, Canada, Finland, Norway and Denmark. Among high-income countries for which comparable estimates are available, only the United Kingdom had a lower rate of mobility than the United States.
Key findings relating to short-run, year-to-year income movements include the following:
*The overall volatility of household income increased significantly between 1990-91 and 1997-98 and again in 2003-04.
*Since 1990-91, there has been an increase in the share of households who experienced significant downward short-term mobility. The share that saw their incomes decline by $20,000 or more (in real terms) rose from 13.0 percent in 1990-91 to 14.8 percent in 1997-98 to 16.6 percent in 2003-04.
*The middle class is experiencing more insecurity of income, while the top decile is experiencing less. From 1997-98 to 2003-04, the increase in downward short-term mobility was driven by the experiences of middle-class households (those earning between $34,510 and $89,300 in 2004 dollars). Households in the top quintile saw no increase in downward short-term mobility, and households in the top decile ($122,880 and up) saw a reduction in the frequency of large negative income shocks.
*For the middle class, an increase in income volatility has led to an increase in the frequency of large negative income shocks, which may be expected to translate to an increase in financial distress.
*The median household was no more upwardly mobile in 2003-04, a year when GDP grew strongly, than it was it was during the recession of 1990-91.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
--This way to the Egress-->
I drank what? -- Socrates
Forever alone
Send your spendthrift head of state this
Either way, whether or not the girl is "real" he is a total idiot. $200k (or even $2) to a cyber-real relationships is totally stupid and unjustifiable.
All we know is that one person who didn't understand posted. It's entirely possible some 10,000 other readers completely understood the original comment.
So you're basically in for Newtonic love?
PlusFive Slashdot reader for Android. Can post comments.
There can be only one!
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
is why we have so damn much SPAM!!!!!
You seem to think Oprah is real. Well it is, for a segment of the population. Don't let the tv stereo-types fool you into believing this is how most people are. TV shows the extremes because normality doesn't make for intresting TV.
There won't be a program Deadliest code, gripping the nation season after season. O.C. Support Desk is NOT a sure fire hit. BugBusters will not be challenged by the president of the US of A.
Most teenagers? Never rebel and get along with their parents and siblings. Most women are not complete sluts in college crying they can't find a good guy while banging the soccer team. Most men do not in fact follow their cock, either that or the navy has a LOT more gay people in it then a republican can stand.
Most people lead simple sensible lives, they might screw up a little by accident but recover and move on. The real idiots are rare. Same as with criminals. Most people will NOT in fact kill to gain a fortune even if they could get away with it.
Humanity is a lot more normal. TV reality is about showing the extremes on the edges but you would be a fool to believe it. Do you believe everyone can run really fast because you just saw the olympics? Then why do you believe all people behave like the freaks on talkshows.
Ancient statistic. 50% of people loose their virginity before 18. Means over half the population does NOT.
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
This guy can blow $200K on a fake person while I feel bad for blowing money on buying my (real life) wife flowers? I have about as much pity as I do change in my pocket, which is.... 78 cents.
Vote monkeys into Congress. They are cheaper and more trustworthy.
How does someone that foolish get to have that much available money in the first place?
That stripper is not really into you. She just wants you to buy her a few beers and then pay for a lap dance. No touching.
That's what she said. And he paid $200,000 for it.
What did he do wrong? He trusted someone.
Well, actually, no, he didn't trust SOMEONE. He trusted ANYONE. SOMEONE is an identifiable person. Text on your computer screen is not SOMEONE.
What's next? Blaming rape victims for not bringing pepper spray on a blind date?
No, because forcing someone to have sex is not comparable to convincing someone to send you money. This guy is about as much of a victim as the girl who decides to sleep with a convenience store clerk because he convinced her he's a talent scout.
paintball
"Not soon enough."
How someone can get $200,000 available cash and then be so stupid to send it a virtual girlfriend is beyond me.
There are no words to describe that level of stupidity... I can't believe people can actually be that dumb... Wow... I...I... I'm lost for words.
MORON!
this is why i do not get involved with online dating, even texting for me is not cool when i am talking with my gf, if I know i can see here in person, i do so, otherwise use the phone...
It's a credit card, has a VISA/Mastercard logo, and pulls money straight out of a HELO as opposed to a dedicated credit card account.
I don't have one. Their only advantage over a regular CC is the lower interest rate.
By the very definition it IS a credit card as it is NOT a debit card. Any purchases you put on the card, or money withdrawn using the card are borrowed and subject to an interest rate which may or may not rise depending on the terms of your HELO.
In Soviet Russia, the television watches YOU!
Dude, give it a rest. All you have done here is make me more sympathetic to Americano, which is no small feat.
- None can love freedom heartily, but good men; the rest love not freedom, but license. -- John Milton
I could also get a HELO backed "creditcard", I keep getting offers for HELOs for anywhere from 100k to 250k.
Home equity line of backed "creditcard"? Does not parse.
Yeah, I'm in RE, we abbreviate the hell outta things
but HELOC is about as abbreviated as we've ever
said it. The 'C' is the important part there.
-AI
For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion
A friend of mine was on a dating site and started chatting with someone who seemed interesting. At first, just on the site. Then via emails. Even then, he was concerned that she might not be a real person, because, you know, that happens. So he checked the email headers. They appeared to be legit.
She claimed to have an undergraduate degree in medicine. Since I have some knowledge in that area, I helped him converse with her on that topic. She became subtly evasive, in that she never had anything intelligent to say about it and avoided the topic in discussions she initiated. But we persisted, kept linking to articles, talking about recent developments, stuff in JAMA, etc. It was kinda funny, because it was obvious that either she had lied about her medical background.
Eventually, she sent him a picture. First thing he did, of course, was to do a reverse image search. That immediately lead him to a porn site for someone with an entirely different name. Likely: this is a scam. Unlikely but plausible: those really are her pics, and she'd done porn to pay for school or something. The thing is this wasn't just a pic of the same person. It was the exact same picture. He decided to play along anyhow. What harm could it do to not jump to (obvious) conclusions when you don't have absolute proof? No need to make accusations or anything.
It wasn't long before 'she' asked for money. Her boss had demanded sex, and when she refused left her stranded in a foreign country. She needed money for a plane ticket home. He knew this was coming and had his own sob story prepared. His car was in the shop, and his boss hadn't paid him the last two pay periods, so he wasn't going to be able to make his credit card and rent payments.
That was the last email exchanged.
This friend of mine is actually a really great guy, and I felt bad for him that someone had tried to scam him. Of course, he was also smart enough to not get emotionally involved. But what's interesting is that the checking he did wasn't all that hard. Maybe interpreting an email header is hard. But a reverse image search engine? Upload an image, see matches. Maybe the hard part is knowing that it exists. Either way, he was smart enough to have just the right level of paranoia (or discrimination, more like it). The problem with other people is that they never learn basic critical thinking. Are they just stupid? Or did their parents and schools never bother to teach it? My parents taught me to be wary of strangers, without being rude about it. Not everyone is out to get you, but you will frequently encounter people who have no qualms about cheating you. Size people up before trusting them.
This guy who was cheated out of $200k... how gullible was he? Who just sends money to a stranger? I don't care how convincing a person seems. I'm not sending them money. Even if I DO meet them, I'm not writing a check for $200k. A well-meaning person wouldn't ask for it in the first place.
In about 1997, I met a girl on the internet. She was a medical student in London. (Sound familiar?) But actually, she knew TONS about medicine, as well as a lot about our shared interest in psychology. This one seemed legit. I had some other friends in the UK, so I decided to visit. At Gatwick, I was greeted by a very attractive girl of Indian descent. She was exactly what she claimed to be. Today, she's a research cardiologist at a major London hospital. Weird, huh? Of course... she never asked me for money.