Slashdot Mirror
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If our elected representatives no longer represent us, do we still live in a Democracy?
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?
why didn't she move to him and then he would know she's safe.
Um, because she doesn't exist....
No sig today...
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.
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.
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
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.
If it was a real woman, she would have cost him more than that in marriage
Admit it--You're all jealous over how easy this guy got off.
Bill Clinton: Pimp we can believe in. - The Shirt!!!
How do people that naive get all that money in the first place? If I had a girlfriend who needed $200,000 to save her own ass she'd be S.O.L. if she came to me for it.
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
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'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."
Wait for it. It'll happen.
Evidently money is not distributed fairly in our society.
http://alternatives.rzero.com/
As soon as you see Nigeria and bank in the same context, always run away. In fact, just Nigeria should be enough...
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
Bull. Fucking. Shit. You haven't heard that. Ever. That's just your absolutely pathetic understanding of the "progressive" agenda.
It's probably not your fault though -- smart people with a lot of money have been painting progressives with that brush for a long time, and a lot of dupes have fallen for it.
--Jeremy
Jesus was a liberal
There can be only one!
MMO Quests are like orgasms:
You may solo them, I prefer them in a group.
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.
How do people that naive get all that money in the first place?
Because the world is far from a meritocracy. Or an any-thing-most-people-in-their-right-minds-would-consider-worth-measuring-ocracy. Power, riches, and related trappings are not distributed by fairness or intelligence, nor does the gullibility required to lose this sort of money preclude the chance to obtain it by some means deserved or not.
And before anyone points it out: I'm well aware that I'm comfortable compared to many in the world by luck of birth rather than personal worth. Yes it is working out OK for me, thanks for asking (though I don't have $200,000 to my name, never mind $200,000 to blow!).