MSG Robert Mclaughlin has been assisting our readers ferret out military dating scammers since I wrote Internet Dating Scam: Fake Soldiers back in October of 2009.
Moreover, he’s also been educating us about how to avoid getting caught up in a military dating scam.
His latest comment highlighted in point form all the things to look for when you meet someone online who says he or she is in the military. (Note: some changes have been made to the original text simply for readability. The original meaning remains unchanged).
- If he says he is military do not trust, especially if he uses a hotmail, yahoo or other free email account address. Ask for his email address ending in .mil. All military folks have one. If he says he doesn’t have one, or won’t give it to you, he is not a soldier. If he says it’s secret then demand the other one. YES, there are classified email addresses out there but all military personnel also have an unclassified address.
- Is he claiming that someone in his family died? Wife, parents, kid,etc? Check the social security death index to verify his claims.
- Is he divorced? Ask him in which county he received his divorce decree. Records of the divorce will be on file and many counties have the information online now.
- If he is telling you that he needs money to take leave, here are some facts. We earn 2.5 days of leave per month. That’s 30 days a year. If we pay for leave we only pay the plane ticket in the states. So maybe he needs $400 to fly coast to coast. You do not want a man who cannot even afford a plane ticket at that age. We pay no money for leave at all. The form we use is DA31, Google it. Anything else is fake.
- If he is under cover or on secret work he would never tell you unless you have a clearance and a need to know what he does. So that is a lie.
- Ask for a picture of his CAC card or have him take a picture of himself for you and have him write your name on a piece of paper for the photo. That is very simple to do.
- Scammers who lure women talk of love now and in the future. Scammers who lure men do so with promises of sex. Remember if the person is not acting like the opposite sex, it is a scam.
- Ask their name, rank, and social. Not classified and even what you tell the enemy when captured. If he wants you to show your devotion by sending money, well he can show his by providing information you can verify.
- I have checked out over 50 claimed soldiers for folks here. Only one was really who he said he was. The odds are that his claim of being a soldier is fake if you have doubts.
Thanks again kindly to MSG Robert Mclaughlin for providing us with this very useful information.
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Hi..Last month someone add me in skype named General Mark MacCarley…He was passionate nice and okey to talk but later on he said i have to call his son in Nigeria named Alex…After that he ask me send a phone to his son named Alex Ohwo which i doubt at first because of different surnames.He send copy of his passport and i.d and show himself in camera to make me believe.He was a descent man but i dont know who is real general mark anyway.He ask me send money to his son alex in Nigeria and later on he ask money to send to london his diplomat named James hodge so i can release his parcel in london custom.I lost 5,000 usd i was very sad when i work hard for my money.He had copy of my passport and id and my photos….he has photos of generals sharing money and this emergency document he sending me to evacuate his money.Its not just one person involve here i had even caught this alex ohwo in skype and hears that he talks to his boss and he has to block me…How can a man deceive a woman and asking money??? i was a victim my God please help me!
I don’t think I have posted here. I was communicating with a man, identifying himself as Sgt James Collins…stationed in Kabul….email address is ambless4040 gmail or yahoo. Send pictures of him in uniform. Seem legit…until just before Thanksgiving….ask me to send a computer and Iphone5 to his 8 yo old daughter living with friends in Ghana….I met him through IM on Match.com….last night I went on Match…and caught the same fish again….His ID is handsomejames542…..Watch out…he is a scammer. He will try to charm you…out of money…DON”T…..
Hello, dear women! I’m from Ukraine. Met in Skype with an officer from Afghanistan James Calvin. Was very glad of such an acquaintance. It seemed to me, he is such a dear and close, I was so happy. James Calvin told me about himself, he soon finishes the service and resigns. Wants to come to me, to create a family. I think all women want to have a family. I lived only a dream about a meeting. Every day watching the news Afghanistan. I went to Church and prayed for him, for all the soldiers of Peacekeeping Forces, for ???.? know how difficult it is to serve in Afghanistan, and what risk. Then James wrote a letter, that it is necessary urgently to pick up their documents, which are located in a warehouse in London, told me the address where I was supposed to send its address and passport data and pay for the services of the delivery. In the name of Alisha Spelman in London on MonyGram. is 4000 USD. I sent the money. But then received a letter that should still 8000??? to send these documents to me. I understand – it ?????.?? the great deception. The man, who does it, insults such actions of the true heroes, brave officers and soldiers,who keep the world.
Rhonda Starboard I sent you are friends request on facebook. Please add me would like to tell you details that I got from that Jason Schuester
To the person that was contacted by Jason Schuster he contacted me on that same day too.
HI ALL,
I WOULD LIKE TO KNOW HOW TO OBTAIN INFORMATION ON A BATTALION RANK NUMBER I HAVE OBTAIN FROM SOMEONE CLAIMING TO BE IN THE ARMY?
i have recently been conversing with a sgtmaj fredrick l walker he is stationed in gaza eygypt is he realllllll
TO JACKIE – YOU ARE RIGHT. NO SERGEANTS IN THE NAVY. IT SOUNDS LIKE HE IS A SCAMMER FROM WHAT YOU POSTED. HE ALSO IS USING ALL FIRST NAMES WHICH SCAMMERS DO.
I have been chating with a sailor on yahoo messenger and meet him on Tagged, He has not asked for any money however mentioned making me his benefinary and he had to change his paperwork to list my phone number so that he can call from the Phillipines, he has not asked for a phone but says he is using a mcp to communicate with me. I questioned him about his rank which sounded funny because they don’t have sergeants in the Navy, his name is French Bruce Kenneth…there is a site called Spokeo.com and its a paid site however I did not pay but placed his yahoo email address in and it came up as a scammer, Adarbierina A……this is the address he gave me to send mail …block17 lot 11 fairwood villas,hobrat village,brgy. kaligayahan,novaliches quezon cit, philippine….I will not send him any money, sign anything, I sent him two cards and a shirt he did not ask for. Its a shame because our men/woman are risking their lives for us. I feel foolish!
Angel…
Fake. Clue is two ranks listed.
Hi I would like to find out I’d this guy is a scum !!!!
Morrison Lopez Lt Gen staff sarg E6, non com works with junior military served in gulf 90- 91
Went to west point class 88
Hoover uni Stanford
Lives LA California
Sent pics and a military I’d sept 2008 exp sept 12 2012 active duty
Thank you
Angel
FOR NIKKI – JUST SEND HER TO THIS WEBSITE. IT SHOULD OPEN HER EYES HOPEFULLY !!!!
FOR RHONDA STARBOARD – Your intuition is right. He is a scammer . They can give out their .Mil ID. No security is involved. He is stalling. If you notice on this website MSG Robert Mclaughlin keeps advising everyone and says ASK FOR .MIL EMAIL ID !!!
thankyou for the advice she met him on a dating site i think as she is being very cagey with details . will try and advise her .thanks again
TO NIKKI – YES THIS IS A SCAM. THIS IS HOW I WAS SCAMMED ALMOST 2 YRS AGO. I LOST $3000 BEFORE I LEARNED THE TRUTH. MILITARY PEOPLE DO NOT PAY FOR LEAVE. IT IS EARNED.
For Nikki..I’m not sure how your sister met this guy but chances are ..YES ,she is being scammed! Do not let her send any more money and NEVER,EVER let her open an account for anyone which gives them access to everything she has financially AND can lead to her being charged for theft in some cases….
Nikki,
It’s a scam. Military pays nothing for leave.
hi i think my sister may be getting scammed does anyone know if you can pay for someone to get leave from the us marines so far it has cost her 700pounds now they are asking for another 1200 i just dont want to see her hurt but i do not want to lend her the money unless its for real is their away of finding out
Alice,
I managed to get MORE than 30 !! Facebookprofiles closed on McMasters, but they keep “popping up” a few days later…. I keep reporting the profiles and Facebook closes them, but Skype: NO answer sofar: He had over 23 skypenames, but skype doesn’t respond to closing the accounts, even when stated this is identitytheft. Mc Masters is still married, has 3 Girls and is Commanding officer at Fort Bregg since juni 2012! Don’t fall for the scam… When I busted his ass, he had to “stop contacting me because I was a security-risk!!!!!! (LMAO)
Hello again I think I have another scammer he said his name is Jason Schuster in Afghanistan I fell for one of these before and do not ever want to again, This one says he needs to speak with me on the phone before he can give his heart to someone and that he knows I have no money when i do and I am ready let him know I would have to send $300 to his divisioin in Beijjing, China? I read on here that US soldiers can call home and also get calling cards. I am so sick of these scammers and I need to stop accepting their friends request. He sent me a lot of info about the Military but I think he just copied it off of something, he said now do you believe I know a lot about whats going on here? It was just a lot about differnent bases in Afghanistan and that they get to play ping pong etc…. When I asked for his Military e-mail he said you want my Military ID? And that he doesn’t know me well enough to give it to me for securtiy reasons. I don’t believe him.
TO KAREN – I think he is a scammer. I think he asked you not to go online, that what you would read would upset you…and this is probably why. I googled the name James Fay Griffin and a page full came up on this name. The very first article states James F. Griffin Obituary, and that’s enough to upset you I’m sure. Scroll down the page to article seven and you have “Scam Artists using the identity of our military personnel in dating scams”. Google his name, you should be able to find what I did.
They usually will not ask for anything if they think you are in any doubt of them. They know you can’t label them a scammer unless they do ask for money or something financial. So he may have picked up on your feelings. Who knows. He must know what is out there on this name. I would forget this one.
TO CARLA – First I want to say someone contacted me using the name of Kelvin Smith. So your person could be the same scammer. I say scammer because it most likely is one. I have only met one real soldier out of over a 100 I have had contact with in the last year and a half. Then he was in the reserves and not oversea’s. ALL HAVE BEEN FAKE. I took the liberty of putting in a question to google “is there a rank of Brigadier General” and this is what I got off the Internet.
A Brigadier General is a commissioned military officer who ranks above a Colonel. They have a single star. In order to achieve the rank of Brigadier General, a commissioned officer must generally have given several years, usually decades of service. His pay grade is 0-8. He is also considered an OF-6. They are considered career officers. They are expected to maintain a very high standard of personal and professional behavior.
Please read MSG Robert McLaughlin’s advice and take it. Pass this information to her. This gives her some info she can bait him with and see what happens. Sadly, they all turn out fakes. Usually when they can’t give a .mil email, that is usually your answer. Proves them fakes every time.
Carla and Karen,
Ask them for their email address, the military one. it will end in .mil. It will not end in .com, .net, .org, .ru or anything but .mil and in very rare cases .gov. No it will not be classified even if they say it is. In fact I even have an email where I get secret stuff, I can give you the address, that is commonly printed on business cards even. You would not be able to send to it though. But everyone has an unclassified e-mail address ending in .mil. Demand it.
Hi, my mom has been speaking on email with someone claiming to be a Brigadier General in the 25 infantry in Kabul, he says his name is James L Kelvin, he has sent her photos. till today he has not yet asked for anything but I don’t want her to get hurt is this is all a scam – please can you find out for me if this person is real – thank you so mich
Hi! I believe I’ve met a fraud. His name is supposedly James Fay Griffin. He claims to be in Kabul. I met him a month and a half ago, and he never asked for anything. Just enjoyed the conversation. Then I didnt hear from him for a week, after either emailing or speaking everyday. I told him I was worried about him and was reading what was going on in Afghanistan. Today he asked me to promise not to go online because what I read may upset me…hmm….How do I find out if he is a fraud or not? If he is a fraud how do I find out whose pics he is using? Thanks!