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I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

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131–140 of 263 posts

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#131
post #69

One thing I never quite understood. These "Nigerian prince" scams can originate from any developing nation where the exchange rate makes for very lucrative prospects. Ie, Chile, Egypt, Romania, Kazakhstan, China, India, Thailand, etc etc. Why do a disproportionate number of these scams seem to originate from Nigeria?

You mean cost of living / purchasing power disparity, not exchange rate?

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#132

My mother in law is currently $150,000+ deep on a Facebook romance scam. I believe she's about to send him another $200k or so when her house is sold. Instead of living out her retirement in relative comfort, she will be scraping by on social security. Adult services can't help, because moonshot-level stupidity is not a mental disorder. She can't live with us, as she can no longer be trusted. She can't live on her ow…

Is the scammer in the US our outside of it? If he is in the US, can you press charges?

If he is outside of the US, can she articulate the wedding plans in more detail? Has she looked into immigration law and things like that? Does she have a passport? Have they met? If not, how does she intend on meeting him? Which country are they going to get married in - and will the marriage be legal both places? I mean, I met my spouse over the internet (non-scammy) and the details really are somewhat of a pain, but was worth it for us... and we met a few times before marriage.

The gist being more that thinking realistically might help snap her out of it some.

If she comes around, are there laws that help victims of scammers that would allow for things like debt relief?

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit I'm confused now. I think , but I'm not entirely sure, that you are making fun of the reply, thinking "that guy got a job, what more do you want?" As I read it though the point was > Although they have not met each other again since, followed by > she continued to provide him with financial assistance the last part > until he completed his degree a few years ago and got a job in the American oil sector. is co…

> is completely unverified, and given that the whole thing was a scam to begin with IMHO certainly does need verification in order to be believed. That would mean he's also scamming the BBC.

Did they verify it? They only seem to report it. So you downvote me for raising this very valid question? I am asking, I'm not alleging anything. But there is no proof being shown and that's just a fact. I don't know why you bring the BBC in, nothing I read indicates they personally went there. It seems like they only talked to the woman, so what the BBC knows does not go beyond to what she believes. Is asking about an issue already offensive?

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#134

My mother in law is currently $150,000+ deep on a Facebook romance scam. I believe she's about to send him another $200k or so when her house is sold. Instead of living out her retirement in relative comfort, she will be scraping by on social security. Adult services can't help, because moonshot-level stupidity is not a mental disorder. She can't live with us, as she can no longer be trusted. She can't live on her ow…

Why don't you submit this as a blog post or pitch it to a news agency as an ongoing reality news story? It is quite detailed, informative and could help prevent future scams.

You (and involuntarily your step mother) would be doing the public a service and all this would not be for naught.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#135

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I admit I'm confused now. I think , but I'm not entirely sure, that you are making fun of the reply, thinking "that guy got a job, what more do you want?" As I read it though the point was > Although they have not met each other again since, followed by > she continued to provide him with financial assistance the last part > until he completed his degree a few years ago and got a job in the American oil sector. is co…

> is completely unverified, and given that the whole thing was a scam to begin with IMHO certainly does need verification in order to be believed. That would mean he's also scamming the BBC.

That would mean he's also scamming the BBC.

The BBC reports tweets as news these days, they are not assigning their top Panorama investigative journalists to fluff pieces like this.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#136

My mother in law is currently $150,000+ deep on a Facebook romance scam. I believe she's about to send him another $200k or so when her house is sold. Instead of living out her retirement in relative comfort, she will be scraping by on social security. Adult services can't help, because moonshot-level stupidity is not a mental disorder. She can't live with us, as she can no longer be trusted. She can't live on her ow…

Have you considered that your mother probably has all the information necessary to impersonate you and acquire debt on your credit?

That is a a terrifying if not reasonable statement.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#137

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you a geek? Is there no way you can start impersonating him and telling her you've been lying to her etc

Or get her to start sending money to a different account, one registered in her name. Aside from the fact that you're impersonating someone, what would the legal ramifications be of "stealing" from someone only to deposit the money in an account they nominally control, but aren't aware of?

the cynical side of me thinks some regional prosecutor would love to make a name for himself my throwing the book at you for doing such a thing...

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#138
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you talk more about when and how many times they've met in person?

I imagine she has almost certainly not met anyone in person, that's how these scams work.

No, she met someone in person, which made the whole thing a little more scary. They went out to dinner, twice in a single week.

From what I can gather, she met someone, but I doubt it was the same guy she's talking to over txt.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#139
post #111

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is also how the JW's started, and frankly continue. The simple, sad reality is: People mostly believe what they want to believe.

You could argue the same thing about Christianity in general; didn't Jesus prophesize his return to occur within a very short time after his death?

Who knows. It's hard to tell at a 2000 year remove, when it's known that various scriptures have been heavily edited, redacted, etc. Mostly it seems like he was an early version of "Reform" Judaism that turned into a cult.

Re: I went to Nigeria to meet a man who scammed me

#140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

No, they won't. We can take over her finances if she is declared mentally incompetent . She's not mentally incompetent - she understands everything, but she just disagrees with the crucial bit: that the dude doesn't love her and is scamming her. As the judge told us yesterday : we are walking a fine line, taking over another person's autonomy, but it's not illegal to fall in love and do colossally stupid things.

I guess the jurisdiction depends. In the UK you'd stand a very good chance of intervening. Indeed oddly enough there was an article about just this yesterday in the UK, i'll see if I can dig it out

If signed Power of Attorney paperwork exists already, the Court of Protection will grant it unless another family member objects.

You can literally buy the paperwork in supermarkets. Get it signed by the donor and witnessed by anyone at all, and you're set.

If there is no signed Power of Attorney paperwork, you have to persuade the Court that the person is no longer mentally competent to look after their own affairs.

Handing all of their money to a scammer counts as evidence towards that. But it's not absolutely guaranteed. There would probably be lawyers involved, and the Grant of PoA would be subject to messy and potentially expensive oversight by the Court.

Basically it's a good idea to get the paperwork ready well ahead of time, so you're not in a situation where you have to apply for a grant against a very confused person's wishes.

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