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But he sounds so sweet, how could any of you ladies not go for a scammer like that?
1 replies
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@kduhtoe:
He does sound cute. Might be fun to have him neutered & kept in a cage under the big screen tv.
But he sounds so sweet, how could any of you ladies not go for a scammer like that?
@kduhtoe:
He does sound cute. Might be fun to have him neutered & kept in a cage under the big screen tv.
I know these people are con artists and thieves but using the identity of a dead soldier is really low.
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i get this stuff a lot, like in the included text below. i have no problem putting the email address on here since it was in the text of the message sent to me on a free dating site that allows communication with no restrictions - clearly an attempt to get me to reply from my regular email address
\"Hi
I am Mido 22 years .. living in Egypt right now & studying for medical school ..
I am preparing for the USMLE ( Us Medical license ) to be ready to be a doctor in USA
& get the License next year or 2011 at most ,,,
I saw ur profile & I really like it
I wish we can be friends
I am looking forward your reply
this is my Yhoo : a7medreda2010 \"
@catastrophegirl - brand new homeowner:
Next time:
\"You're a doctor? Can you help me out and look at this?
: insert goatse pic:
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-410094-100x100.png\")
My dead grandmother could tell that's a scam, do they honestly think people will fall for it? Why do they bother? It's like how you get spam in your email box from China about cheap pills. Do they honestly think they'll get a response?
I don't get scammers. :/
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@Eldritch: People DO fall for it, and the scammers get rich. You only need to find one sucker (hence why they bait thousands of hooks), and there is one born every minute.
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what hapened to meeting people the old-fashioned way, going out to clubs and bars, and meeting people at the store? (then again, i'm a young 20-something, so things might change as you age... honestly, if someone can explain the allure of dating websites, please do inform me)
@gStein: What happens is that after you get to be a middle 20-something and above, you realize that there are no quality people to be found hanging out in clubs and bars. Once you realize that, then no one needs to explain the allure of meeting people who state right up front whether they're looking for marriage or long-term or just hooking up, and who tell you right up front that they are never, ever going to be willing to sit through a romantic comedy with you, or spend Sunday afternoons with your grandmother, or eat Thai food 3 times a week with you.
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@gStein:
I'm trying to date again after a LOOOOOOONG dry spell, and seriously, at my age (44) there is NO ONE good at those places. People around here get married very young and stay that way, and they go everywhere with their entire family and if you are alone, they look at you like you're some kind of freak. Forget married friends setting you up; they don't have time to even SEE you, let alone introduce you to anyone they might know. And I'm not churchy so Christian groups don't work for me, and going to two different churches of my own denomination (Catholic) didn't work either. No one even WELCOMED me!
I signed up for OKCupid recently and so far, have exchanged messages with one person, and zapped a bunch of others who didn't seem like a good match. I think I got one of these messages!
I'm going to give it a little bit of time and if I don't meet anyone, I'll cancel it and go downtown and sit in the coffeehouse with an interesting book. I might do that anyway!
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@gStein:
The allure of dating websites is not having to deal with the club/bar scene. That may be fine when you're in your 20s, but it gets old really fast. Also, my mom always told me that if you meet a guy in a bar you can't really complain when he continues to drink and spend time in the bars.
I met my honey online, and it's the best relationship I've ever had. Don't let a few horror stories scare or prejudice you. I know lots of folks who met spouses, boyfriends, companions, and friends via the net.
@gStein: Some people don't actually like going to bars and clubs, believe it or not.
I hate going to dance clubs or loud bars. They are not fun for me, and good luck attracting someone of the opposite sex if you're having a miserable time. Plus, why would I seek out people who are participating in an activity I dislike doing myself? That's like someone who hates baseball deciding that going to baseball games is a great way to meet someone they'll have a lot in common with. The stigma of meeting someone online is long gone for most people.
You mention \"meeting people the old-fashioned way, going out to clubs and bars...\" Isn't the \"old-fashioned way\" really meeting someone at church or at a bake sale? Or maybe an arranged marriage? It's not as though bars and clubs have been the established, mainstream way to meet people since the dawn of time.
I understand you were asking an honest question. The short answer is that the allure of dating websites is that you might meet someone you like. There are dozens of ways to do that. So the real question is why are any of those other ways more valid to you than dating websites?
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@gStein:
Maybe some people use dating websites because the clubs and bars are full of dimwitted twenty-somethings like you.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-143777-100x100.png\")
@KarlB: Well said. I actually met my guy online, though we live in the same town and even knew some of the same people. We'd both just gotten out of hideously bad relationships and figured online meet-ups would introduce us to people. Emailed and talked on the phone only a couple of times before meeting in person. Worked for us - in August it'll be 6 years, and we're living together as we prepare to get married.
Oh, and by the way - we were \"twenty-somethings\" when we did this. Neither of us wanted to meet people in bars (or stores, for that matter.)
Point is: different strokes for different folks. I'm not saying it's without dangers, but so is meeting someone any other way.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-938525-100x100.png\")
@SybilDisobedience: There's also the tried and true method of having your parents hook you up. Really popular in some parts of the world (and some people really do ask their parents to find them someone). I know, there are a million reasons why it doesn't work well with our society (generation gaps, geographic separation, you know your parents, etc). Just sayin...
@gStein: One sign of Alcoholism is drinking by yourself. And no, God does not could as a person.
I have met all of my past GF's in either work or college. Sadly, I work in an office with two older women who are either married, or getting within the year, and neither have daughters my age. As for clubs, I tend to make horrible first impressions. I'm kind of like George Costanza/a jingle. I grow on people.
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@gStein:
You'll find that most middle-aged women don't go to clubs to find a relationship. They go there to escape one.
If you're looking for damaged goods or maybe a one-night deal, fine. Otherwise, forget it.
@gStein:
Because going to clubs and bars by yourself feels weird. Plus, if you live (recent move, etc.) where you don't really know anyone and most of your immediate social circle isn't the club going type anyway, either from lack of inclination or having a family, it can be difficult to meet new people when you end up in a new place. Once you're out of college, it gets harder to meet new people, especially if you aren't the churchgoing type.
@gStein: I'm not single but I can figure this one out. It's easy for a 20-something to find 20-somethings in clubs and bars because they are full of single 20-somethings. Not so full of 30, 40, 50+ -somethings and even less full of somethings that you'd actually want to meet there. And that's assuming you have the time and inclination to go to a club or bar. There's nothing wrong with finding friends and companions using any method that works for you. Even clubs and bars have their scammers and whack jobs.
@gStein: The short answer is that it's easier to get to know someone online than by shouting over Lady Gaga.
Also, you go to the store to meet people? You must have a high tolerance for disappointment.
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I got contacted by a fairly obvious scam artist supposedly from Russia through Match, but I played along for my own amusement. We exchanged something like 5 emails each before she got down to it and asked me to wire her $1,000 for a plane ticket to the US. It was then that I sent her the fun email, although I kept from her the mistakes that I had found (tracing emails is a new skill that I have now).
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Heck these guys are on Skype too.
Last week I got a call that I rejected from a strange name. When I refused their call they started a chat and said they didn't know me, but I'd know them if I answered the voice call and that it was a very important matter and I'll lose my chance forever if I don't answer their call.
The \"important matter\" he said he could only say in voice. I answered with LOL and blocked them and changed my settings so that only people on my list can call me.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-86807-100x100.png\")
Wow, I get about one a month. Is it newsworthy? Does Consumerist want to hear about it???
D y KNW hw mny ppl wll fll fr ths nd thn cnsmrst wll wrt bt t? 'm fndng mr nd mr tht th rtcls n cnsmrst r thr nvrfbl r thrws bgs. Sr, thy r rprtng \"nws\" rtcls bt ftntms nly ftr thy hv bn rprtd lswhr.
xctly wht s th pnt f Cnsmrst f ll thy d s rwrt cpy frm lswhr r thrws hwk vr nd vr gn, \"Fr 30-dy trl t Cnsmr Rprts.rg\"?
@sanjsrik: Take note, this is a blog, not a news site. Consumerist isnt about news, its about sharing information to people with similar interests. Often, they will put news on the blog because its related, but they are not strictly a new service. If you want news, go turn on CNN.
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Man, talk about NEEDY!!
that gut just came on way too strong. no man on earth looks for a woman with strong shoulders so that he can cry on them.
he's gotta play it cool...
\"Hey baby, I'm B1663R, what's your sign?\"
\"awww, c'mon baby! don't get mad!\"
like these dudes need to watch some early 80's tv shows and study under the masters like Lee Majors
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-21984-100x100.png\")
So just where HAVEN'T scammers infiltrated?
As it is you can \"work\" at a scam job, \"buy\" a scam car, \"rent\" a scam house, and \"date\" a scam profile...
Aren't most dating scammers looking for US and UK addresses for reshipping goods to Nigeria? That was what it seemed like for the Dateline MSNBC \"To Catch an Identity Thief\" show...
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Foreigners. First they were taking our jobs and now they are taking our women.
I was once given a love letter in high school by a guy with that literacy level. As he had a girlfriend already, I felt hugely embarrassed for myself and him. Several years later, I get emails from a guy I met volunteering and the situation repeats itself, except this one didn't abbrev. everything like he was writing a txt msg on ppr. And no, it wasn't a scam - he talked like he wrote, and also had a girlfriend. I can't blame anyone else for their capacities, but it's so painful to see. But for God, there go I.
Unfortunately, there are Americans that write like this, but thankfully, they do know where they are from. And any staff NCO would at least know that \"bible\" does not come in \"lake,stream or the ocean\" varieties. And if I was trying to take care of a child living with me in Iraqi barracks, I would want a shoulder to cry on, too.
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\"I like candles and flowers... music and reading bible... (whether it be a lake,stream or the ocean)\" I love it. It's like a cliche factory exploded onto his letter.
Wait! Are you suggesting that all the 22-year-old hottie nymphs who email me through dating sights are really not interested in a 46-year-old guy who is as old as their father? For real?
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@gttim:
\"Ur so Hott! Id luv 2 meat u! but I cant email u from
my puter, so u need to check this website to get my # [www.suckerisborn.com] call me soon hotttee!\"
I love craigslist!
![\"user-pic\"](\"/mt-static/support/assets_c/userpics/userpic-369596-100x100.png\")
yeah, I've seen a couple obviously fake profiles like that on yahoo too. It's kind of a disappointment because yahoo was always much better than match. But the ads are funny. Some random, obviously professional photograph of a hot model along with some horribly broken english describe what someone from Africa assumes an American man would want in a woman. I think they'd have better success if they didn't even try to emulate Americans. Talk about how you love ugly, poor men and how you live to cook and clean for them and it's pretty obviously fake. That's no American woman I've ever met. Just come right out and your dad will give me three goats if I marry you and I might be inclined to read further.
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-872073-100x100.png\")
ummm.. duh?
![\"user-pic\"](\"http://consumerist.com/assets_c/userpics/userpic-1014852-100x100.png\")
\"music and reading bible... (whether it be a lake,stream or the ocean)\"
I love reading the bible in a stream too!
Actually, men on dating sites tend to be the ones that write lengthy emails to people. The women are the ones that are socially allowed to sit back and use the \"Wink\" feature. If a guy sends a short email, it's clearly because he didn't put any thought into it. At least that is what the ladies say. guys are the ones that will put up current photos (and usually several photos) and are typically the ones that will put as much detail into a profile as they can. Women tend to just put up what they think are their best photos (regardless of whether or not they're current) and will put up briefly worded profiles.
(source: used to work for a company that ran a dating site, did lots of market research and studies into it as well.)
And yes, scammers are everywhere. Certain sections of Craigslist have been completely overrun by spammers & scammers.
@ Eldritch
It is a combination of the economy of scale and the law of averages. I once got a spam about hiring them to send spams. They charged around fifty dollars (I think, it's been a few years) to send a million spams. If only one in a hundred thousand respond, they make money.
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Thank goodness for illiterate Nigerians.
@geoffhazel: ESL ≠ Illiterate.
@geoffhazel: I don't know if it counts as illiterate when it's not their native language. My Nigerian is a lot worse off than their English.
@geoffhazel: That's only an alarm bell for us literates.
@geoffhazel: I almost feel like if your grammar is that bad, you deserve to get scammed.
Of course scammers suck and should be shot on sight, but it should be obvious with that kind of writing who's behind it (to anyone with a high school diploma).
@geoffhazel: Unfortunately, there are so many illiterate Americans that don't realize his spelling and grammar is all wrong.
BTW I always wondered where Nigerian scammers picked up the \"Am\" thing. Am Mark Edwards, am interested in meeting you. Am needing you to send me $1000 for travel expenses.