Another Scam Story...
by Irina Timchenko
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This story was written as my response to a question in the fiance.com forum. I mentioned it in connection with another discussion, and receiver this reply by a forum visitor: "I guess your story about the chap being scammed for 3 and a half thousand dollars could be true, but it just just defies logic-what did the man do to lose that amount? give her his credit card and pin numbers? some details on this scam incident would be helpful." I thought the story deserves some discussion and can be beneficial to may people. It shocked me when it happened, and it still has some trace in my memory today.
The person who is drawn as a poor victim of Lugansk scammers in today's description, is a great man - a well-educated, calm, very open, sincere and very kind person. Unfortunately, with these qualities he, who might be a perfect match for another well-bred, honest and kind woman, had to become a victim of a group of smart but shallow-minded people.
After the guy called to my Kiev associate from an unidentified phone number in Lugansk, we had to investigate what was going on very quickly. He was calling to say that, by his third day in Lugansk, he had lost his phone, his romance was over, and all of his money is gone; so he would like us to help him get on the first flight to Kiev and then to assist him in changing his New York flight ticket for an earlier day. We did not know the details of the story then.
We immediately contacted our Lugansk associate. As our US guest could not tell us the street address in Lugansk, our associate had another phone talk with him, and managed to guess about the apartment location from his description. Our associate met the poor gentleman on a bus stop outside the apartment, took him to the airport and helped him to get on the evening flight to Kiev. I remember I even spoke with our company lawyer that day, to ask for his advice about the situation, for some episodes of it sounded like a detective story.
Here is the story of that scam.
Everyone who ever dealt with marriage business in Ukraine, knows that Lugansk has become notorious as a Ukrainian capital of dating scammers. There has been lots of publicity to quite a few ugly scam stories that marred the reputation of individual women and of some dating agencies.
In our story, the marriage agency seems to be the most innocent participant, though! Our investigation proved that the whole performance was acted out by a group of adventurous girls (of 19-21 years of age), who opened a «hunting season» for men's wallets by registering in a marriage agency catalog, and by using it to «hook» men on the bait of their beauty. They only needed the marriage agency to «hook» men. Then, their task was to drive the man away from the agency step by step, and establish active person-to-person correspondence with him «via Her sister, or Her best friend, who knows English». This way, each girl would keep corresponding with a whole bunch of men via an agency; she would develop an image of a naive angel who is deeply in love and is waiting impatiently when her dear friend will come to visit her.
At the stage when the man would start planning his visit, she would intensify side communication by inviting him to use a forum or talk on the phone. She would do everything possible to bypass the agency (or at least combine the agency correspondence with side-communication).
She would communicate passionately and draw colorful pictures of their little «paradise for two» in a small but cosy rented apartment, and about a romantic dinner with candles in a restaurant, and about a morning taxi ride to a lake in the outskirts of the city, etc.
When the victim is well-prepared to «swallow» the next pill of lie, she would announce that her best friend (or a sister) has volunteered to interpret for them free of charge, and that the three of them can have wonderful time together when he arrives.
The next «pill» is to find a way to announce him that her agency is becoming a bit too pressing, so she would like to make all his trip arrangements by herself – the Paradise-apartment will be selected by her to her own taste. Then she'll share that she dreams to visit a romantic restaurant in central city, where her friend works, and that there is a taxi driver (who is positioned as her childhood friend or a former classmate). All these details would create a feeling in the man's heart that everyone out there cares so much about him, and that during the whole trip, he will be surrounded by most reliable and hospitable people.
The man is thrilled with greatest expectations, and approximately a week before his arrival to Ukraine, he refuses from the marriage agency services, and terminates his preliminary agreements with any tourism companies or other people he had contacted earlier.
REMEMBER: By doing so, the man is making the biggest mistake. From this moment and on, he loses control over the situation. From this moment, it is not him, it is HER who sets up his total time in Ukraine, and his every wish or decision will be carefully moderated by her and her «support group», acting as interpreters, taxi drivers, restaurant waiters, apartment owners etc.
Well, I will not provide the name of the poor guy from our October 2007 story here. Let us just call him Mr. N.
On his way to Lugansk, N. made a call to my Kiev associate, asking to assist him in the airport between his flights. They spent a couple of hours in Borispol airport, and N. preferred not to request any services in Lugansk. Though he had a few little concerns (their contacts were terminated for a few days right before his arrival which made him a bit suspicious), he confirmed that his Lugansk arrangements had been all made, and he was ready to dive into his romantic adventure.
After a few days of mysterious silence, his girl contacted him all of a sudden on the day of arrival, to check whether he landed in Kiev on time that day. Via her English speaking friend, she confirmed that all arrangements were made, and that she would definitely meet him from his flight in Lugansk. When she found out that he was meeting some «side» person in Kiev airport (I mean our company associate), she demanded to talk with him by phone and confirmed in a very strong voice (her tone did not sound like angel's at all) that her dear future husband does not need any services, and that she will take care of him in Lugansk.
As soon as N arrived to Lugansk, the group of his «caring assistants» was up and ready to start the performance. In the airport, his dear Russian bride kissed him passionately and pushed him into a dirty old-looking car, telling that her friend taxi-driver could not come, so she had to hire a private driver. She quickly established friendly dialog with the «stranger-driver», and chatted with him in Russian all the way from the airport, as if she forgot about her dear foreign friend. In the end of the 10-minute ride, the interpreter (who was sitting silently in the same car) announced that the taxi costs $100. N. was shocked to hear the price, but he did not want to spoil the impression of the first meeting; so he «swallowed» the pill and paid the driver.
The apartment owner was waiting for them in the apartment. What was expected to be their little paradise, turned out to be a small flat of two rooms and a small kitchen on the 5-th floor of a shabby-looking building. The owner was smiling nicely and talking a lot, but all in Russian. She requested the payment for a whole week ahead. It was $100 per day... As soon as the money was paid, the owner disappeared immediately. She only paused in the doorway with our charming bride to hiss something into her ear and quickly put something into her purse.
Though N. was very tired by this time, he was requested to go to a restaurant and have a dinner with his charming lady (and the interpreter). The ladies informed N. that the taxi driver was still waiting outside.... Well, while he was thinking over his polite refusal, she gave him her magic glance once more, so he said: «OK. Let's go».
... A dinner for three that cost another $250 did not last long. The waiter was very welcoming and the girls chatted with her as if they had known each other very well. When everyone was leaving, the waiter paused in the doorway to talk with our charming bride again... and quickly put something into her purse.
Back in his apartment that night, N. realized that he had just spent more than a thousand dollars in one evening. He felt cold in his back. But the vision of the charming eyes of his beautiful fiance made him feel a bit relieved, and he went to sleep.
The next morning he woke up and found out that he had lost his cell phone. He suspected that the phone could slip out of his pocket in the taxi, but there was no way to check this or to find the night driver. To hell with the phone. The worst thing was that he'd lost all his contacts.
But he did not have enough time to think this over, for his girl's interpreter came right to the door to deliver a terrible news – his bride's mother is in hospital and they are going to operate urgently. The charming bride is not coming to see him today, and at this moment she is with her mother, in hospital. He would not be allowed in, but the problem is that the surgery is going to be quite expensive. The family members have contributed everything they could, but there is not enough money to pay for treatment, anyway.
Only one having no heart at all could refuse to provide help in such situation. Certainly, N. took out a thick bunch of his cash and gave it to the interpreter. She took it gratefully and disappeared.
A few minutes later, the entrance door bell rang again. This time, it was the apartment owner. She said she was asked to entertain N. while his beautiful bride is taking care of her mom, and to go out with him. Though she did not speak any English the night before, this time her language was quite decent. She definitely could communicate and entertain. What's more – the good-looking apartment owner apparently flirted with N. all this time.
Uh-h-h. Another couple of hundreds was spent in the same restaurant (the same waiter served the lunch), and then there was a round of drinks and some billiards, and some bowling, and some dancing.
In the end of his first full day in her city, N. realized with amazement, that he had only spent a few hours with her, ands did not get to know his charming bride a bit better than he had before the visit.
The next day started with the visit of the pretty apartment owner. This time, she was apparently determined to crash things with N.'s charming bride, distracted N.'s attention all the time. Finally, his bride arrived. But she was not that charming at all. She made a scene about him being inattentive to her life and problems. She reminded that she'd waited for him for half a year and never asked for anything, so now, when a tragedy happened to her mother, she needs someone to rely on. And so on, and so forth. The things got even worse when N. mentioned that his cash was almost over, and that he could not cash his cards... She became less and less attentive to the talk. She left him early that afternoon and said that she needed to spend the evening with her ill mother.
In the evening, the pretty apartment owner desired to have a dinner at some place. N. refused and asked her to leave him alone for that evening. He wanted to think everything over. He went out of his apartment into the central street and walked into a night club to have a glass of wine. At the entrance to the club, he noticed a familiar car which looked very much like that taxi from the first evening. The driver was not there. N. walked into the club. There, near the bar, his charming bride was sitting on the knees of a man who was speaking with strong southern accent. The taxi driver was sitting across the table and interpreting for them fluently. Everyone seemed very happy. N. left the place, found the telephone/Internet service office, and called to the phone number of our associate, which he found on our website.
Sorry for the long narration, but I guess there are many little details which can be very educative to the first-timers.
The most striking thing in all this story is... the legality of everything that happens in it. My lawyer told this to me with amazement in his voice. These scammers cannot be pursued by law, he told me. All the performance that happened, was thoroughly planned and brilliantly acted, but no one did anything against the law. There is no violation of law in taking money from someone who gives it to you by his own wish. Nothing is violated when services are required at a high price and you agree to pay it. Even the loss of that phone cannot be regarded as theft, once it has not been proven.
Poor N. had the most upsetting experience in Ukraine. But I guess this was a good lesson. Next time, he'll come with a new approach and hopefully, the scammers will not take control of his time and money any more.
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