Possible scam?

foreign_correspondent

they are all widowers or divorced (usually in very sad circumstances) with a son, who is often adopted - it all maeks them look like a good, genuine bloke... does she have photos of him?

The name will be fake, but the piccies may well be of someone who is actually serving...

MrsTinks

Does she seriously not see through this?? I can't believe that she's this naive and desperate that she can't see through him...
The US btw look after their own too - very well in fact in the main. My baby's godfather to be serves in the USAF and I can promise you that they won't let anyone "buy their way out" whilst in frontline duty either! If he wanted out it would take him 5 seconds - smoke a joint whilst serving and you're out!
If he's serving out at the front however then he should have an address out there that family and friends can send him things to - it won't be "geezer in bunk 3, tent 5 etc etc" but a proper US army address which won't give away much about what he does etc out there and therefor no security risk. The US army would direct the mail internally themselves so he can't use the security risk excuse. If he can't give her that so she can send him " a special gift from her to him" then he's not serving (it's basically their equivalent of a BFPO that you want) and then send something to him and see if he gets it doubt he'll even provide the address to be honest

ICATQ

Classic. Now that he is changing stories is a sure sign that he is up to no good, IMO. Ask what Unit he is with. All that information is freely available under the Freedom of Information (US version) so there wont be any security issues with disclosing it.

It is a matter of public record what units are or have served in any theatre of operations. Probably say he in the special forces or in the Norwegian Ski Corps or some other rubbish.

z1985m

Hmmm, when my fiance was out there on his second tour he went on the webcam once to me...... maybe that's not allowed but thought it was worth saying.

MrsTinks

z1985m - I think that depends on where you are back when I was young free and single (oh those fun years lol) then I used to web cam with several handsome serving young soldiers - can't recall where they were but it was front line stuff. If they are back where there is regular internet access then there is little stopping them both camming and generally communicating online figured it cheered their day up and it made me smile lol oh those carefree years...

pelirocco

I am not allowed to post links , but a search of romance scams could prove useful

BillTrac

Result!!

our friend received a form to fill in(which luckily didnt ask for bank details..phew!). When she returned it(I will hopefully find our where she sent it over the weekend) the request for money to enable him to come and see her became £5000 NOT DOLLARS

fr a few subtle pointers she asked a few pertinent questions and caught the b****d out.

She has even found out that he has started e-mailing her dad asking for money.

I am going to get all the details I can and let people know every bit of info about this scumbag that I can. Even if it stops him using one name and prevents another lonely vulnerable woman(or man for that) then its worthwhile

thanks for all input from everyone

swood016

Just wanted to address the claim that he said he 'cannot access his money in Iraq'. Please tell her that he clearly has access to the internet, therefore can access internet banking. There is also admin support and a cashier out there where he will be able to cash cheques up to the value of his monthly pay. (Which will be WELL over £1000 whilst he is in Iraq with all the allowances you get).

Not that any of that is relevant anyway, as has already been said, it is just impossible to hand over £1000 cash and get to come home from Iraq. If it was everyone would be doing it!!

BillTrac

Finally, I managed to get a copy of his original email to our friend, read below.

I wish I could have seen this before she started responding because this is a total fabrication, and I have seen too many posts on the 419 sites to even start to believe anything. He has attached several photos, supposedly of the himself.

goes like this, check the spelling, grammer etc......

Dear ,

I will like to tell you more about myself. I'm Frank, I'm 46yrs old, Father of 1 kid, My Son is 8yrs old. I'm 5'9' Ft Tall, I'm currently serving the US Army, i had been in the service now going to 18yrs. I am currently on my deployment term in Iraq. I own an appt at the Military Base at Fort Rucker Alabama. I'm new to this dating site. I was introduced to the site by my friend who is a British Army.Am a caring, passionate and affectionate, I treat my woman with love and respect. I do hope to find my soul mate on here soon.

I lost my wife when she was giving birth to our first and only child, I have been single ever since the Dead of my late wife. I lost my Dad 15yrs ago. He was a nice father and brother to me, My dad was a successful business man before he die, My dad real parents were from Malaysia, his Foster parents are from Australia but they move to Scotland and they brought my dad along to the Australia. My mom was an orphanage, according to what she told me, Her biological parents are from Australia but she was born in PA, Both my dad and mom had no relatives. I'm the only child of my parents. My dad told me the story how he and my mom met when he was on a business trip to PA. He said my mom was working in the hotel he lodged at.....He told me was walking down the street in the evening of a fateful day and he saw my mom walking down home, he saw he have sight her from the first day he checked into the Hotel cos my mom was the Receptionist, he said my mom showed him places in PA and they decided to settle down there.Thats was how my parents got married. I lost my dad 15yrs ago....I missed him so much cos he is a good friend to me and he made me to believe in myself. My mom and son lives at Malaysia , Cos that’s where my dad's biological parents are from and my dad dies there.

I want you to know am a man of one woman, i treat my woman with respect and care. Am an affectionate and passionate man. I love kids and pets. .. What do you seek in your idea man? Am a caring man, who show my woman what true love means, i work according to word of God. I'm a romantic man, I love going to the beach, listen to music, love taking a walk, love going to the movies. I would describe myself as very caring a gentle and positive person Very generous and like life and like meeting people. Have a good sense of humor. Do not like dull moody people. Life is too short not to be happy and enjoy.

I think that it speaks you more. My opinion on the type of woman that I want to be with in the future is someone who is caring and considerate, someone I can trust and who will trust me and will always be honest with me, someone who enjoys laughing at the silly things that happen in life. Someone who is willing to share the work to make our home a comfortable place. Someone who likes to live in a tidy house too, I do not like to have things very messy. . I am happy to share in all of the work required to keep the house nice .If someone was like that and loved me for who I am too, I would be a very happy man.

I do hope to read from you and know more about you.

Have a nice day,

Peace!!!

Frank.

anyway when I googled [EMAIL="sgtfrank.d@live.com"]sgtfrank.d@live.com[/EMAIL] first hit was 419scam.org. And on their main page they have a longgggggggggg list of live.com addresses.

Thankfully, she is now shot of him, he has also stopped emailing her dad. And she is now a bit warier of too-good-to-be-true contacts.

But now I am going to have some fun with him!

Thanks to all the posters.

foreign_correspondent

ha ha ha -

these fellas are all over the place - the sob story of the dead wife, him being a lone parent, romantic and 'god fearing' are all typical of a nigerian scammer!

As are the grammatical errors:

my friend who is a British Army

My mom was an orphanage

his friend and mother were institutions?

ever since the Dead of my late wife

I lost my Dad 15yrs ago. He was a nice father and brother to me

...inbreeding perhaps??

Well done, glad your friend wasnt scammed, lots of people are apparently!

A relative of mine almost was, but clicked on in time luckily - she is now very wise to them and she can spot them a mile off... the style of writing is a giveaway - writing "Am serving/god fearing/romantic.." rather than "I am serving/..." is also a typical nigerian writing error apparently