I wound up corresponding with a "lady", supposedly from Ottawa, Ontario, over on Big Church (a dating site I will not recommend). Much to my amazement - she wrote back!!!
....with a whole pile of mispeeling, grammar bad, missed capitals, etc... And she claimed she was working as a secretary in Ottawa!
But I figured, "alright, well she does say she's an immigrant from Haiti, and she's learned multiple languages - so I won't hold that against her - BUT..." her speeling and grammar on her profile was near perfect. Her replies seemed well thought out and quite convincing - but I still had some suspicions, so no prob, I continued corresponding, asking her for her testimony, etc...
I also then informed her there was a scheduling mixup, and I didn't have to leave for Alberta for another week and a half. I only live two hours out of Ottawa, so it was pretty obvious where i was going.
Lo - suddenly, the next day she writes back and says she's going to New York for several days - and gives me her MSN handle and tells me that after we chat, she'll want to talk to me on the phone too!
oh how exciting.
Being a graduate from Lynne's scammer school (See the post "So ya think ya gotta scammer" in Dating and Relationships), I wrote back "Hey cool - hey, do you mind doing me a favour? I'm sure you're aware there's all kinds of scammers and fakes on these dating sites. Would you mind taking a picture of yourself in New York? Just a picture where I can see that it's you and see some of the city in the background, with you holding up three fingers? I'll be glad to do the same, to show you I'm a real person, and to give you my phone number then."
i have been on cdff for about 2 weeks now and i really had a good time talking to people from about everywhere! but since about 3 days there are people on here i could tell right from the begining they were scammers thanks to lynne�s detection system and to ian�s advise with the pics(holding some fingers up)!!!!! thanks alot, you guys are great help!!!
since i can�t msg you because of your mail setting here it is:
Think ya gotta scammer?
Posted : 6 Jun, 2009 12:07 AM
Good site, Ian - Here are some other things to watch for: (I posted this to another question, so if you feel like you've read it before, well, you have. Lol)
When someone writes "hello pretty" or wants your personal email address right away, they are a scammer - I'll guarantee it. You'll get pictures from them - not OF them, but most likely of some model somewhere. If you're not sure, ask them to snap a picture with their phone of them standing next to a blue car or holding up two fingers. Then ask them to download it and send it to you. If they are a scammer, they won't be able to do it - they'll make up some lame excuse, but they can't do it because they don't have access to the person in the picture on their profile.
If you do start talking to someone and suddenly their English doesn't seem nearly as good as it was in their profile, that's also a warning sign. They most likely took the profile from another site, slapped on a gorgeous picture, but aren't able to actually speak (or type) much English. This is another warning sign that they aren't who they say they are.
When IMing, don't be afraid to ask questions that you already know the answer to - if they say they're from Dallas, TX, say "I should know this, but I'm drawing a blank - what football team is from Dallas again?" This is of course, an example - but if it takes them a few minutes to respond, they are looking it up and are probably IMing you from a different country. Feel them out - you can tell in a short amount of time if someone is for real if you know what questions to ask.
And the age old rule - if someone asks you for money, they are either a scammer or very tacky. Either way, they aren't someone you want to be with. And beware - these scammers are trained to play on your emotions. They will tell you anything from they need help with a disconnection notice to their child is very sick. DON'T fall for it. If they really had a disconnect notice or a sick child, do you really think they'd be running to the internet to try to find money? No - they'd be going to family, friends, their church, social services....not the internet.
And just so you know - I've never fallen prey to a scammer. I just like to play with them. I think it's only fitting that they get a dose of their own medicine from time to time.
