I just came across a post on “A Soldier’s Perspective” discussing a rather disgusting and disturbing trend that has guys posing as soldiers on Internet dating sites. Here’s the quote from CJ’s:
The latest trend involves trolling internet dating sites and convincing women that they are honorable Soldiers who have fallen in love and would do anything to communicate with the object of their affection. But, because they are deployed to Afghanistan or Iraq, they need you to sign up for an expensive telecommunications service like “Military TELEX” in order to make that happen. They profess unending love as their motivator and, unfortunately, many women have fallen for it.
The BIG red flag here is that the guy is asking for money. NEVER fall for that con.
If you come across anyone on a dating site who is asking you for money, regardless of the reason; block them immediately from further contact and then report them to the internet dating service.
You can also check out who is really behind their email address…
AND / or their telephone number…
To read specific details about about one incident, read CJ’s post “The New Military Dating Scam”.
Meet REAL Military Singles at MilitarySinglesConnection
Started in 2002, Military Singles Connection is the premier destination for dating for the thousands of men and women who serve or have served in the armed forces. Other military dating services can’t compete with the number of quality members or features you’ll find when you join the top Military singles dating site.
Military Singles Connection provides online personals services, including online profiles and photographs of single men and women, chat rooms and an instant messenger – to enable others to communicate in real time, a private mailbox to enable others to exchange personal messages, a public forum to enable others to exchange messages and information… and more!
Join Military Singles Connection today!
ladies in the past three weeks ive had men calling themselves soilders
then within days asking for large amount money names are
benson jeff roberts
micheal
graham roberts he wanted me to buy gold
no such thing as easy money
these lowlifes are hitting on women also men
Does anyone know Id contacting authorities would do anything. Would like to make sure this scammers name is out there beyond Facebook and yahoo
How to trace an IP-address (if you receive any mail you don’t trust!)
Try to find the “message-header” in the mail you got. (check your mailprogram on how to find this information!!!)
There you will see all kind of information, your mailaddress (either sender or receiver)
and the mailaddress from the other party (either sender or receiver)
Find: if you want to know where the person who sent the mail over to you:
Return-Path:
Received: from mailout-us.gmx.com (mailout-us.gmx.com. [74.208.5.67])
Copy this number into a IP-tracker or IP-tracer:
(http://www.ip-adress.com/ip_tracer/)
Enter the 74.208.5.67 in the box and click enter :
The next thing you will see is:
74.208.5.67 IP address location & more:
IP address [?]: 74.208.5.67 [Copy][Whois] [Reverse IP]
IP country code: US
IP address country: United States
IP address state: n/a
IP address city: n/a
IP address latitude: 38.0000
IP address longitude: -97.0000
ISP of this IP [?]: 1&1 Internet
Organization: 1&1 Internet
Host of this IP: [?]: mailout-us.gmx.com [Whois] [Trace]
(in this case that is the @USA.com mailaddress server, located somewhere in the USA)
If there is another number in the messageheader(in this case there is a gmx.net!), copy that as well, doing exactly the same thing as I told you before:
Received: from 196.46.245.49 by rms-us011.v300.gmx.net with HTTP
Then you will see what’s below:
196.46.245.49 IP address location & more:
IP address [?]: 196.46.245.49 [Copy][Whois] [Reverse IP]
IP country code: NG
IP address country: Nigeria
IP address state: Lagos
IP address city: Lagos
IP address latitude: 6.4531
IP address longitude: 3.3958
ISP of this IP [?]: Vee Network Limited
Organization: Vee Network Limited
Local time in Nigeria: 2012-05-30 14:32
So, there was my proof: The scammer used a server that was located in Nigeria!!!! To be exact: Lagos
I hope that all ladies reading this, will find out for themselves (and if you do not know your way around computers or internet: ASK someone who does!!!) Better safe than sorry !!!!!
no eva i,m not stubborn, and yes i did read the post you sent, and no i dont want to speak to him, i want to speak to the commandant, and no according to his ip address hes in sunnvale calafonia, please dont make assumptions of me i,m not stupid, it was a simple question which i assume could have a simple answer, i just need to speak to him, thankyou.
Tara
I found the real soldier on Facebook. And he was so appreciative that I let him know what was going on. There are alot of fake accounts on there as well so just be careful it could be the scammer. I realized my fake soldier was a scammer because I saw the real pictures he was sending me with the real dates of when they were taken. The real soldier was pretty angry when i told him that someone was claiming to be him…but he was happy that I told him. Good Luck!
So now I am wondering how I go about searching to find the real soldier in all the pics I have. I am sure it can be done but am not real sure how to go about doing it. is anyone knows I would love to be able to attempt to contact the “real” soldier and let him know his info and pics are out there being used by some idiot in nigeria. Would not matter to me if I even got a response just knowing I made him aware would be enough for me.
Thanks
to Julie Gunn
here we say, a donkey never punch his head twice @ the same stone, so listen to all the good advice
to Julie Gunn,
did you even read the story’s on this site, or are you that stubborn??
who do you wanna call anyway? Your scammer? Than you better try Ghana, where else???
dear sir/madam, i wonder wether it is in your power, to find me the email address or telephone number of the base camp in kabul, Afganastan, the one i have is just not sending and the phone number is dead, this is rather urgent and i dont know who else to ask, if anyone could help i would be very grateful, thankyou very much julie.
Hello I started to chat with a guy named Owen seeley shanahan he said he’s in afganist and ask me do a phone call request which I know I have to pay, but I refuse to pay. After reading all the posting I feel bad for the real guy because an scanner is using his image
I was approached over a year ago by someone who claimed to be a Lt. Colonel. After I figured out he was a scammer, I Googled his name, a corrected one cuz they always flip things over, and their were tons of photos of this poor man. And I say poor because he was dead. He was one of the highest ranking officers killed in Afghanistan during a tour with other officers & dignitaries on the second day he was in the country. His oldest son was in the service as well & had been deployed to the Middle East & got a chance to escort his dead father back to the States. He was a West Point grad and left 4 other children with the youngest 5 yo. Now what kind of scum steals this identity. I have been approached 5 times in all. I was just approached thru FB by a moron w/the same MO. A British officer and photos of him in uniform meeting w/other officers in fatigues obviously in the Middle East. The FB page was minimal & just recently set up. Not a lot of info — not like a true officer would do. And one of the clues: Virginia as a location (I don’t remember in reference to–I was in a hurry to block the scum waffle). Now why would a British officer have Virginia on his profile. I don’t know maybe there is a town named that in the UK, however I doubt it. My point: the photos are out there for anyone to use and of course, photo-shop. The name on the uniform = Hogan. Real name: McHogan. This is just an example. Bottom line: If it sounds too good to be true, then it IS too good to be true. How much would I LOVE to meet a British officer at this point in my life and explore the world or at least the UK? You have no idea. But I blocked him as quick as you can say: Liar, liar pants on fire!
Tara
You are not crazy! I know exactly how you feel. I really liked my guy too. I am totally heartbroken as well. I actually found the real soldier that my scammer was using and contacted him to let him know what was going on…No response! I know exactly how you are feeling. I find myself in tears quite a bit…pretty sad considering that I now know this guy was not real, it still hurts though. My “soldier” never got the chance to ask me for anything. I am so grateful for this website!
Ok so am I crazy. I am completely heart broken over this. I really liked this guy. I can’t help but feel sorry for the “real” soldier who is protecting this country risking his life like he is. He must have no clue that these thieves have his information or that it’s bring used to do such horrible things
to unsuspecting people. I have thought about contacting authorities but do not know if i should or who to go to. I am just greatful for this website and my gut at this point or I could have lost a lot of money.
Thank you thank you thank you. This person is good yesterday I attempted to make him think I got robbed. They were able to tell me I did not get robbed craziness. I will be using the spying site when I get home this afternoon. He is expecting me to find and send money today. I am going to email him again today and tell him that I know the healthcare in the uk is free. See what he has to tell me. I also explained that I know when military pay arrives it is twice a month as my bro is in the service. He states army regs do not all video chat again I know my brother used it. I am not letting my heart over take my mind or gut at this point. So I just spent over two hours chatting with him on messenger, and I checked spypig yup he is out of nigeria. like I knew and thought.
Tara
Tara: HE IS A SCAMMER. I wouldnt call you dumb, as I fell for the whole sob story deal with a scammer, but woke up to myself after only a little bit of research. The UK has a fairly good universal health care system, which wouldnt require you to pay for chemo. The information supplied on this site is a life saver, for some it comes too late, for others, it comes just in the nick of time, either way this information is not only coming from victims, but also those in know. Such as serving military personnel. As an experiment I created a Facebook profile (or 3 to include ‘Friends’) and not only found enough photo’s to appear legitimite, but managed to fool a scammer into thinking I was a perfect catch. Its not hard to do. One of my pointers to my girlfriends in this regard is to go to a little site called SPYPIG.com (IF YOU ARE IN REGULAR EMAIL CONTACT), follow the instructions and attach a little blank box to include in your next email. When they open the next email it will automatically send you an email to say that your email has been opened and it will tell you where they are sending email from. Like other women here, after I called the first scammer out on his deceit, it became much easier to pick them. In the last 12 months I have been contacted by numerous scammers posing as soldiers, none of them were real. I don’t even have to read their emails to know, just a quick look at their online profiles tells me all I need to know. They are usually ‘widowed’, with a child or two, or ailing parent, they often confuse first names and surnames (reversed), often with long winded profiles about how they are God Fearing and looking for their SOULMATE. They make basic grammatical mistakes and dance around giving you a .mil email. Their profiles are usually taken word for word from unsuspecting military personnel and the pictures are very easy to copy from online. My scammer was very good, but when the alarm bells start ringing and you get a gut feeling that something isn’t quite right….ITS BECAUSE THERE IS SOMETHING FISHY. HEALTHCARE IN THE UK IS FREE. Soldiers don’t pay for leave. Try using SKYPE. Be wary, don’t let your heart overrule your common sense.
What gets me if he is Infact a scammer. Where is he gettin the pics that he has. Especially if it is a true soldier fighting for this country and their info is being used (identity theft). Without their knowledge. All I keep thinking is this man for real. Or is someone thinking im dumb enough to fall for this
Thank you for the info. I did know about the Facebook as I am a friend on there. He sends me pics regularly and they are always the same person i am just at a loss as to
Whether to believe what he is tellin me. The other night he asked me to help pay for his mothers chemo in the UK so now I am very Leary. I continue to chat with him. But at the same time am avoiding talks about money. He assures me that he is who he says he is. Just not sure what to believe. I have asked for his APo address ako email. As well as his social and les. I am going to wait and see if he can provide the info requested.
TO TARA; I googled the name and a lot of stuff came up. There is one on Facebook, but shows no friends. There is a pic on Facebook. Try to get him to give you a pic if he hasn’t so you can compare but avoid giving him one of yourself as scammers use them. I don’t know if any of the posts pertains to your guy. Start asking him questions, things you can check out. Guard your personal information.
TO SANDRA COLEMAN; Most likely he probably is a scammer. Doesn’t sound like you have been online with him very long. You were sharp in picking up on his little mistake in words. You need to ask him also to email you , using his .Mil email ID that is issued to each Military person. They all get one and don’t let him say he can’t for security reasons, that is not true. If you can go through the posts on this website from MSG Robert McLaughlin, he outlines many things you can ask. I get the feeling this guy your chatting with is a clever one, but it is just a feeling I’m getting so be on guard . Keep us posted and don’t be a victim.
TO JESSICA; Well first I would like to say I’m sorry one of them was able to enter into your life. I’m also sorry for your pain. I know exactly how you feel. I was online with my first one for 15 months . I went through 3 different “life” scenarios with him, each one filled with drama and his being desperate to stay alive, needing shelter and food, and so on and so on. All lies of course. With each scenario he found reasons to demand money . After losing the initial $3000 to him I wouldn’t send anymore, telling him I was trying to find it but then would end up telling him I just couldn’t find any money. He tried for a very long time and all along telling me how much he loved me. Lol – oh he was good- and so finally on April 24th I got my last message online from him, telling me he was waiting for me to send him money so he could stay in this hotel. I waited a couple days and then left him an offline message I could not find any money and he has never responded. I suppose he has finally given up. My story with him is quite long, involved and detailed, which I have told to some extent on this website already. I will tell you that during that 15 month period I learned everything I could on the internet about scammers. I will tell you how they keep their lies straight. I will make it short, and just tell you that when they pick you, usually from a dating site, and they like Facebook also, a file is made up on you, a profile, and they keep a script on the conversations made with you I think to some extent. It also is not always the same one chatting with you. If they should be one that is in the syndicate, your file is rotated. They usually have many women at one time their working on. One ring was found in Malaysia and found to be Nigerian students going to school and this was how they were paying for their education. It is a profession, and is world wide. We have to educate ourselves on them and stay one step ahead. He broke my heart, left me in financial ruin, and I still have moments I just break down in tears. It’s painful but I know I am better off he is gone. I also had to come to terms, he was not the person I thought he was in my mind. I’m glad you found this site and could be spared some of what a lot of us were not. I sincerely wish you the best.
Hi ladies. I need help. I met a man on a military dating site. Goes by Robert Meeker and is in the USMC. His letters are so awesome but he made one mistake and Im starting to think he may not be real.
He said he was a sergeant major then on the next letter he said major sergeant. He is not married, no children and currently deployed in Afghanistan.
Last night I finally asked him for an APO address. Waiting on his email tonight. Is there anything else I can do to make sure he is real? Someone help. Ive never experienced this before.
Hello was wondering if the name Jason Arp is a name anyone has heard of yet
Just met a few weeks ago not real sure if he is legit just covering myself at the present time
Thanks
TO YALANA: I just read your story. THAT is exactly how they work you. He used all their tricks and methods on you. He is definitely a scammer which I can see you know that now. I just hate the fact he was able to get your money. They are such low-life scum and that is being nice. They have no morals, and care ABSOLUTELY NOTHING about how they hurt people. I think they would rob their own dead and I’m not kidding. He used the old child in need trick, which I have had a couple of those tried on me in the past, but I knew what was going on and just came out and said no. They will leave eventually if you don’t pay out but if you do then they become voracious Parana’s. The best thing to do is report them, delete them, and block. They are like a disease, and remember they are not who they claim to be.
Well Margaret I was just contacted by another woman who read a post about my scammer that I have on another site. He gave her many different details about his “life” than he did me. How do these scammers keep track of all their lies? Well he asked her for money.( didn’t ask me) Needless to say we busted him together,not before he tried to convince me that he swears everything he said was true and someone was putting his name out there on the internet(me) and he was glad that he got to me before some one else told me what was going on….haha i knew days before he told me because I was the one that put his name out there. Anyways havent heard from him since…good riddance! Im glad these sites are out here for people to see …may save woman alot of money but certainly not the heartbreak. I still feel heart broken even though I know the guy is scum! Thanks again for the help!
These Africans are really something else. I met who i thought was an African-American soldier, Andrew Handy on an on-line dating site recently. We started chatting off-line and he told me to “romove” myself from the dating site as he was a “one-woman man”. Almost immediately he started the terms of endearment, “sweetheart, baby” etc., and said that he was a christian who loved God and was looking for the right woman to settle down with.
He immediately sent pictures of himself and his young daughter who he said was staying with her grandmother in Ghana, as his deceased wife (she died in a car accident visiting her family in Ghana) was a Ghananian. He even had his “daughter” e-mail me calling me mom and wishing us to be a family. All the while he kept up his show of interest.
I did notice the poor grammar and the changing styles of how he “spoke” his words but I played along. Within two weeks he was saying that he loved me and had been looking for happiness since his wife died four years ago and had finally found it in me. When i asked about his siblings, he said he was born and raised in Tampa, Florida, had no siblings and lost both parents in a vehicle accident. Three weeks into speaking with him, he started to say that he did not want to ask me but he had no one else to turn to and he needed money to send to “Mandy” his daughter in Ghana as she was going to lose her place in school. At first i ignored him as I was not going to part with my hard earned cash but he kept up the nightly badgering before leaving to go on patrol, saying that he would return the money to me and that he was in a ‘war zoon’ and had no other choice but to ask me for help.
I eventually assisted with $1,200 U.S when his “daughter” kept e-mailing and begging, telling me that she was missing out on her schooling. I am a sucker for kids, so my heart got soft. The money was sent via Western Union to a Gloria Adeti, who is purportedly his kids grandmother, she collected the money.
A week later “Mandy” writes him stating that she needs more money and her grandmother is very sick in hospital and will not be attended to until $1,750.00 U.S is paid. Needless to say, I smelled the rat right away and told “Andrew Handy” that I had to acquire the funds which i did not have it at my immediate disposal. The guy badgered me almost nightly until i told him i would block him and stop communicating if he continued his harrassment. A week he e-mails me and tells me i can $800.00 as they were able to raise some of the money for her treatment. I ignored again.
A week later, he then tells me his daughter is lacking food in Ghana and could i assist.
He did not use a yahoo or g-mail address. His pictures were of him and his daughter, dressed in his camouflage and one in casual wear.
He then said that he was due to retire from the Army in May 2012 would collect a large sum of money which i needed to assist him in obtaining by paying a diplomat based in Ghana a sum of money (1500 Euros), the diplomat would then meet him in Afghanistan for delivery to my doorstep.
Needless to say i have totally ignored this request.
I dont believe the real U.S soldier is involved, I think his identity was stolen by these African conmen and the poor guy is none the wiser.
These people are brutal and evil and women we have to protecct ourselves as the best profile could be the excellent work of these African con artistes.