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."

Comments

Dumbass

[Anonymous Coward]

Dumbass

Can't Feel Pity For Him.

[Afforess]

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.

Re:Can't Feel Pity For Him.

[MikeDirnt69]

There is no enought 4chan memes to explain how alone this guy is right now.

Re:Can't Feel Pity For Him.

[Upaut]

Some people get to wrapped up in the fantasy. The hope of love, easy riches, these both speak to a deep need in many of us.

A friend of mine once got engaged and moved the Scotland (from Massachusetts in the USA) for her Everquest sweetheart. Never having communicated with him in any way but online.

Now they didn't last more than a couple years, but it shows there are quite a few that never really alive in their own skin, and the prospect of making new friends in person causes stress and panic. But the need to connect is still there.

Personally, I feel for him even greater sympathy than those that lose their savings in a 419 scam; one has a core of inherent dishonesty -playing off ones greed for a quick payoff. This played off his need for companionship, and as he invested years, and thousands, into it, it wasn't for any form of payoff. Just to connect.

The Internets

[Anonymous Coward]

Where men are men, women are men, and children are federal agents.

Can this be real?

[tekrat]

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.

Re:Can this be real?

[Larry Lightbulb]

Probably the majority of it was in the last few months, and may have been for what he thought was a ransom. I don't have $200,000 laying about but if I truly believed that my girlfriend was being kidnapped I could get it within a couple of weeks by loans and remortgaging.

Re:Can this be real?

[19thNervousBreakdown]

Well you see, an obsessive devotion to a single pursuit tends to lead to two things:

1. Expertise in that area.
2. A corresponding lack in other areas.

When you take that devotion to extremes, you can make a lot of money and not have the time or desire to spend it on anything. And unless you work hard to avoid it, the "lack in other areas" is likely to include your love life.

How do you not know this?

Re:Can this be real?

[EdIII]

When you take that devotion to extremes, you can make a lot of money and not have the time or desire to spend it on anything. And unless you work hard to avoid it, the "lack in other areas" is likely to include your love life.

How do you not know this?

Uhhhhhhhh........

2. A corresponding lack in other areas.

Re:Can this be real?

[spun]

Wait, do you think we live in some kind of meritocracy where intelligence and hard work are rewarded, while stupidity is punished? No, we live in a kleptocracy where connections and favors are rewarded and being born poor is punished. If you have money and/or connections, you can make more money with very little risk or effort by stealing the labors of honest working people, who are so desperate that they will do nearly anything for you. So, you shouldn't have to look to hard to find suckers like this, if you aren't already rich, try looking in a mirror. If you are halfway intelligent and working at a salaried job, you've more than likely given away at least that much value.

Re:Can this be real?

[vlm]

Home equity loans. Those are usually used for cars, bling, and cosmetic surgery, and on very rare occasion are used for home improvement. I got a roof and air conditioner with one in the early 00s.

Usually these "moralizing human interest stories" have a much more complicated and detailed real story behind them.

When it comes to he said / "she" said like this, if he was dumb enough to be out $20K, but smart enough to report it as $200K and theres no paperwork to prove it either way, he may as well go for the gold and strike back at "her". Worst case he's busted for filing a false report, although how they'd pin it on him is a mystery. Best case is he makes a nice profit. He's probably pissed off and looking for revenge....

Another possible situation is someone turned 200K into coke, snorted it, doesn't want to admit it, and weirdly enough this utterly pitiful story sounds "better", or at least doesn't violate someones parole terms, divorce settlement, custody requirement, etc.

Then there's the money laundering mule whom got burned. His handler got him used to sloppy handling procedures (yeah I know I told you to keep the last $20K for yourself, but I'm in a hurry and you can just keep $40K of the next shipment). Next thing you know "his" share of the money is gone and he's left holding the bag for laundering, errrr, I mean now he's a unfortunate victim going to the police, how sad.

Sometimes these stories are people whom did NOT get burned, if you know what I mean. Sure, they withdrew $200K of their money and wired it to Mr Kingpin in another country whom now has $200K with a valid receipt proving it is his. The untold story is Mr Kingpin handed him a bag of $300K cash as the first step. Sometimes the IRS catches these guys if they're dumb enough at cash handling (buys a Ferrari, in cash, the week after reporting his "loss", etc). Generally the less the guy helps the cops the more likely this is the situation. He's probably not making that much on a risk free carefully choreographed transaction like that. Probably more like 10% or maybe he's having a favor taken care of for him or being forgiven of a certain mistake toward a powerful person.

The IRS situation is very complicated. If you withdraw the cash, stash it, or wire it to your brother in another state, suddenly you have quite a capital loss there to report. Of course you can only do this about once per lifetime, but, maybe he had a windfall inheritance and this is how he, uh, "lost" it...

Sometimes you see this "behavior" when a genuine, although illegal, deal goes bad and at least you'd like to deduct it from your taxes. So, your "co worker" promised you a 25% rate of return, and he just needs a little cash to get him thru a tight time, but he skipped town instead... Well, at least you can write it off, and/or explain where the money disappeared to, even if thats not exactly where it went. Look thru the local papers for a grow up that got busted a couple weeks ago that had about $200K of expenses, etc.

Shockingly enough, it might be true as reported. Historically unlikely, sure, but possibly true. Maybe. Its a heck of a story anyway.

Re:Can this be real?

[Seumas]

A new girlfriend would be way cheaper.

Re:Can this be real?

[Larry Lightbulb]

Most of those guys end up blowing 99% of that on women, drugs, and vehicles..

And the rest just waste it.

Re:Can this be real?

[Dunbal]

Not necessarily, depending on what state/country you live in and how long you've been together. For most places, living together 6 months is the same as if you were married, and that means she gets a chunk of your income.

Re:Can this be real?

[arivanov]

In a lot of places around the western world nowdays.

This is a natural result of our "civilisation" frowning on and outright prohibiting parents allowing children to meet Ms Danger and get acquainted with it. It is better to get swindled out of your pocket money a couple of times instead of being swindled out of your salary and life savings a few decades down the road.

I know that I am going to be modded into oblivion, but it is a statement of the fact - there were much less nerds and social misfits in the days when I went to school. Despite the fact that I went to a high school that specializes in sciences and math, the number of nerds we had was nothing out of the ordinary. Today that would have been (and actually is) nerd central. 20 years ago it was a school like any other with the usual 1-2 slightly nerdier kids per each class of 25. However even they boozed, did silly things, partied and made their fair share of social mistakes on par with everyone else.

Re:Can this be real?

[Dunbal]

Guys who cling on to the first thing that fucks them

A puppy is for life and not just for Christmas.

Nobody seems to be able to just hold the fuck up and be with themselves for awhile.

Except for you, apparently? It's an instinct, hard-wired into people's brains to ensure the survival of the species. Most people follow their instincts. Congratulations on being so intellectual that you managed to over-ride this programming. Now let's talk about how your highly evolved genes are going to be passed on. Oh wait...

Re:Can this be real?

[Locke2005]

Not necessarily, depending on what state/country you live in and how long you've been together. For most places, living together 6 months is the same as if you were married, and that means she gets a chunk of your income.

Not if the kidnappers kill her, she doesn't!

Re:Can this be real?

[craash420]

OK, I'll feed the troll. Are you such a mouth-breathing knuckle-dragging animal that you can't defy your instincts? "I'm sorry honey, I didn't mean to bang the babysitter but my instincts took over! It's not my fault; she's half your age with supple skin and firm breasts. The survival of the human race depended on me and I did not falter!"

Re:Can this be real?

[spun]

Do you really not understand the point I am trying to make, or are you being dense for rhetorical purposes? To the elite who control our country and take in ninety percent of the income, $250k/year is a joke, a sign that you aren't any sort of real player, but just a peon no different from the guy making $20k/year. If you are making $250k/year, some wealthier fellow is still eating most of your lunch.

Back to my original point, plenty of stupid people make more than enough money to blow $200,000 on a fake girlfriend and not even feel it. It does not take brains to make money, it takes connections and money to make money. Real money, that is. Brains and a whole lot of luck might get you into the $250k/year "Adorable Junior Capitalist Club" but without connections and a certain amount of sociopathic lack of empathy and remorse, you won't be making much more than that.

Simply put, there is no upward social mobility in America anymore. The children of the middle class are just as likely to make less than their parents as they are to make more, and things are even worse for the poor. We do not live in a meritocracy, that is my point. My point is not "$250k/year isn't that much to the average guy," of course it is! My point is that $250k/year isn't going to buy you a Senator, or even a Congressman, and therefore, is not real money to the people who can and do buy Senators and Congressmen.

And, more importantly, neither you nor anyone you know will never be one of those people, no matter how hard you try. If you want upward mobility, go to France. Or Sweden. Or, heck, almost anywhere but here: http://www.americanprogress.org/issues/2006/04/b1579981.html

Re:Thinking saves money!!!

[Joce640k]

why didn't she move to him and then he would know she's safe.

Um, because she doesn't exist....

Don't Assume

[b4upoo]

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.

Re:There's an old saying

[fish waffle]

No, the one you're looking for is "A fool and his money are soon parted."

Sigh...

[koan]

See the difference between "screwed" and "laid".

Big head...

[TimHunter]

...meet little head.

From my soon-to-be-published book "Dick: An Owner's Manual"

Rule #1: Your dick will lie to you.

Anyone here divorced?

[Rude Turnip]

Admit it--You're all jealous over how easy this guy got off.

Re:Thinking saves money!!!

[Narcocide]

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.

Re:Sad

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

How sad

Yeah, as a Slashdotter, I don't get many opportunities to call somebody else's love-life sad.

Lack of empathy

[hahn]

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.

Re:Strange...

[tukang]

You left out the most common one: inheritance.

Re:Thinking saves money!!!

[tverbeek]

Evidently money is not distributed fairly in our society.

Nigeria

[b0bby]

As soon as you see Nigeria and bank in the same context, always run away. In fact, just Nigeria should be enough...

Less upward mobility here than in France

[spun]

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.

Re:Thinking saves money!!!

[scot4875]

Well according to my democratic acquaintances, money is not fairly distributed and needs to be taken from those who have too much regardless of how hard they work for it and given to those who have none regardless of how little they work for it.

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

Actually most people

[SmallFurryCreature]

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.