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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No way I will give my banking information to any of those scams….
I just wonder if it would be of any use to inform the police about that, but I guess it wouldn’t lead to anything…
I had further checked the IP address of this James Brian, and guess where he finally is located…. right: GHANA!
Asked for his dot mil address and some proof like photo with my name on a piece of paper in his hands, but surely he CANNOT supply that. All I got was a copy of a fake military ID, that’s only slightly resembling the real ones.
If I had the guts and wasn’t afraid of what this all might end with, I would give HIM a fake address and see what’s really in this package… if it ever was sent….
Sigh. I feel like I am talking to myself sometimes.
IF THEY DO NOT HAVE AN ADDRESS THAT ENDS IN .MIL THEN THEY ARE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE.
Got it? No .mil address means fake.
FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE FAKE
To Susanne : The new thing they seem to be trying lately is about sending you a large sum of money. They either are trying to get rid of and hide illegal money or they are trying to get your personal banking information which if given could give you much havoc in your life. I have had several scammers the last couple months trying to do this to me. Your instincts were right. Anyway if he says he has a large amount of money he can’t keep on base, that right there says something smells.
Hi,
anybody heard of a military doctor James Brian, 55 yrs old, stationed in Kabul and getting ready for retirement at the end of the month? Started writing to me about 2 weeks ago, talking about marriage already … never trusted him from the beginning, and it looks like I was right. He’s not asking me to send him money, he is indeed wanting to send ME a large amount of money, which he is not allowed to keep on the base… the IP address does not say Kabul, it say US.
Has any one. Heard of a scammer that goes by Gen.randy Williams?
TO LIZ; Ask him to send his dot Mil email id to you. Most likely you will not get one as 99 percent chance they are scammers. The dot Mil ends in dot Mil , not yahoo dot com, or anything else. The chances you were picked by two ? easy, they are scammers. Don’t get a .mil email, forget them, delete and block and save your time because then their fake.
To Liz You have a scammer on your hands. Don’t talk to him anymore. He’s just going to give you a sob story to get money. Run away from him.
i’m sorry guys, his email jeffrey_hall37@yahoo.com, thanks..
hallo guys..
i’m glad ‘coz i finally find this site which might be able to help me. sorry if i can’t speak english well. i come from asia, we don’t speak english in our daily activities.
2 guys claiming as col. jeffrey m hall as commander of savannah district and gen. trogdon james both now are in afghanistan. I accepted message from “col jeffrey” in march and in april i got from “gen trogdon james”. they said they’re top us army officer want to make relationship with me after seeing my pp on the social media facebook. It’s strange for me ‘coz my pp isn’t what they meant. It’s only a green door picture.
curious i tried to know who they are so i searched their name on google. and yap i got it. they’re real, the handsome colonel and his reputations, awards and good positions and so as gen.trogdon james. but i still doubt and don’t believe why me? is it reasonable if 2 guys in very good position suddenly send you message want to make long lasting relationship. i told them they might be did wrong target ‘coz i’ve had no pic and am a housewife only. Gen james said it might be but he’s really sure his heart goes for me and want to make me as mother for their daughters after he divorced 4 years ago.
from a website i got info that if we think that it is scam ask him his AKO email not yahoo, gmail or hotmail. then i asked col jeffrey. as i thought before he only gave me his yahoo, jeffrey_hall@yahoo.com. he said that he’s widowed after his wife left him and 2 daughters (gabriella 10 and cameron 9) when he was on duty in iraq. from the 1st day (i’d already read their message in the last week of may) i’ve searched things about scams and their victims and what to do.
now i want you to help me who they really are. thanks so much for helping and replying..
TO ANNA; You had a scammer for sure. I have already listed JAMES COLE on here as a scammer. He has contacted me on and off for about two years trying to get small things from me. I just kept telling him no, and then he would just turn around and ask again as if I had said nothing. Did not seem too very bright.
I started talking to this bloke his name is jasonmillerand comes from texas and he was 45 and he told me he was a military man.we started talking for a few weeks and how he loved me and he was coming to marry me and we can have a military wedding I thought to myself have I hit the jackpot after a few weeks gone by he asked me for money to leave iraq where he was so he can come home to me I asked how much he said around 70 pounds and he can get the rest for the plane .my sis tells me they get flights for free so I asked him why do u want this kind of money from me he tells me its for his brother who is sick and needs food I asked where his brother lives I thought to myself he probably lives in texas like him so he sent me the address it was in mongolia io asked him why is he in mongolia he never answered me so I asked can I have ur address he said to me I’ve just been deported to nigeria I thought no way this doesn’t sound right I got my sis to email him to get info and he told her that he was protecting the people he didn’t use the word cilvians so I saidto him u trying to scam me he replied no and went off line a few hours ago he asked me are u going to sent the money plz I said no way I’m getting the police he replied I was a bad women and been very rude and never to contact him again so later on he came on and he tried again so I blocked him now another has turned up has names james cole. Just block
Ladies dont be sooo desparate that you get taken in by these pro scammers if they want money or phones or anything from you they are not military – just plain scammers preying on women . they definitely dont pay for leaves they earn them by time serveds and they all have mil addresses . wake up !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TO ERENA : I have yet to meet a person on any dating site that claimed to be in the Military to be REAL and I have met tons of them in the past 2 1/2 yrs. ALL WERE SCAMMERS. Civilians do not pay for Military leaves or retirement, NEVER. Leaves are earned by the amount of time they have on the books and is granted by the Military service . Civilians have nothing to do with it. Most scammers apparently do not know this, so they try and scam you this way. Any person who ask you for money or ask you for your personal information, like address, copy of your id, or your personal bank info over the internet is trying to scam you in some way. Never give out your address,unless you would like a criminal at your front door.
Hi ladies, I am trying to find a military man and settle down. Please help me to find if military men need special information for transit leave. What are the rules of transit leave and which of mine info is needed. Do I have to send any money to him? ( tickets, fees?)
If you know somebody who actually got married through military dating services? Please write me.
Hi,
I am talking to this guy who claims to be sergeant william scott steill, he says he does not have the email address there is only one from the customer service uses to contact all the soldiers but why is there customer service for the army, also he says he is in afghanistan but he has constant internet access because he is a mission specialist. but that just sounds wrong to me when I asked him about it he just kept going on about didn’t i trust him I just need some help right now this is driving me nut cause I can’t work out if he is telling me the truth or not
hi.. its me again, its been a while i stop being online and for two weeks i have this 2 guys who chat seriously to me but in middle of last week i found out that the other one was a scam because he told me about some money things though this one guy i kept is quite different from the other military guy because he told me whats the process of filing a leave without asking him.. so i was kinda convinced but im still doubtful.. so far the way he chats to me.. grammar is there and sometimes uses new words, anyhow he was really nice, sweet and always updates me all the things they do whether on a meeting, or if they need to go to a combat.. and he even told me that he files a leave to visit, iron out all issues i have in mind and to settle down with me but he’s still waiting for the approval of his co.. i told him if he’s sure about that and he answered he’s more than prepared and even told me that hope his injuries during there combat will not affect my feelings for him… Guys.. is this a scam? Let me know..??? He told me in few weeks time he’ll inform me when papers are ready and will ask my information (name,add,postal code)… im so confused!…
What does one do if they have been taken by this scam? Is there some way of reporting it? And if so where do we report it to?
To Khin: I googled the name Joel Clinton Romesha. I found on the internet there is no such person. I DID find a Staff Sgt. CLINTON ROMESHA who left the Army in Ap ril 2011 after nearly 12yrs of service. Lives in Minot, North Dakota, with his wife and three children. He was awarded the Medal of Honor for courageous action in Afghanistan in 2009. This information was not hard to find. YOU my dear have a scammer.
Hello i tried to google the name but it didnt work out for me. It will show some pictures but not the picture that im looking for. kindly help me check this photo.
http://www.confirio.com/profile.php?photo=509822
http://www.confirio.com/profile.php?photo=509753
=> kindly email me.
Hello guys,thanks a lot for all the info. I track one and actually the ip add is from ireland. Now, i ask other guy to send me his name, rank and militray email –he only provide me his name as sgt. joel clinton romensha but she wont provide his military email. The weird thing is that his ip address is from United States and he told me he is on a camp right now. Is this person also scamming me?
To Khin : Ok – hard to accept but it’s been laid out here for you by us all. Ip says Singapore? then you have an asian scammer. They exist. The scamming syndicate is all over Asia, and West Africa. Do yourself a big favor, Delete, block, and run.
Dear khin,
Definitely a scam. Trust me, I learned it thru the hard way.
GO TO: http://aruljohn.com/info/howtofindipaddress/
There is step by step instructions to find someone’s ip address.
Khin,
Let’s look at the signs. His English is not very good. Punctuation and spacing is terrible. He talks like a GIRL. Yep, he says what you WANT to hear but as a guy, we do not talk like that! Unless we’re gay I guess. but this is a fake, trust me.