The Author is proud to have been the first in the dating anti-scam field to categorize the various ways that scammers use to rip you off. While scammers have grown increasingly sophisticated, especially in the technical aspects of the game, remarkably they continue to use the same general cons over and over again. Obviously, they remain successful so long as there are uninformed gentlemen who are not recognizing these common scenarios and taking effective counter-measures.

Presented here for your edification are the common scenarios of scamming that you will want to be on the lookout for:

Summary:

The Classic Scenario remains popular and is most effective on the gullible and uninformed gentleman. It is fading in usage because the underlying premise, difficulty in access to the Internet, is disissipating. The traditional approach was that the lady-correspondent required financial assistance for her Access or Translation or Printing costs of the Internet cafe and that may still be seen today along with, perhaps, requests for Gifts or any sort of appeal for financial support. Generally the hook is to use an extremely attractive profile so as to essentially overwhelm the senses and your natural precaution. The scam works on volume, not quality of the correspondence, and the scammer is likely engaged in widespread scamming with multiple correspondents. The profile, identity, name or email is likely in several different locations and may turn up using a web-search.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Most often encountered on the large Free-to-Post Personals (F2P) websites
• Detail: low attention to detail, often uses form letters and canned responses
• Email: Almost always uses one of the “free” email services/mailboxes, has access to Net only via Internet Cafe (“agency”)
• Pitch-timing: Medium-Range, she will ask for money after she (he) knows you are interested, usually about the third or fourth email
• Photo Quality: high quality photos used, very often of a model, no agency id/watermark
• Photo Variation: obviously all professionally done, no normal/candid shots, unable to provide unique photo
• Contact Info: Sparse, no real telephone or address provided
• Persona: often pretends to be naive, doesn’t understand Internet, plays dumb, new to net-dating, person will be above-average in beauty
• Reality: almost invariably this is an id-theft situation and very often the scammer is actually a man who may or may not be using a female partner to retrieve money wired
• Recognition: easy to spot
• Potential Damage: low, especially if you “stretch-out” the purchases/money

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info
• Stretch-out any money sent, buying smallest packages and sending minimal sums
• Gather as much info and verify
• Use Alter-Ego
• Demand alternative communication (address & telephone)
• Use Photo Request Tactic
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Mirage Scenario is not seen very often today. The gist of this scam was that a person, usually posing as an “agency” owner would post a photo of a very beautiful girl on a free-to-post website (or sometimes create a free-hosted website) and advertise that for a certain sum of money, gentlemen could obtain the girl’s personal contact info. Money was wired as specified and the victim received no contact info or sometimes, false info. The victim got no replies to email and no further response from the scammer. Very often, the profile listed would soon disappear either due to complaints or because it was withdrawn by the scammer and the email box itself would be closed. The only reason this scam works is because the girl profiled is drop-dead gorgeous and a guy can’t believe that he might have a chance to obtain her contact info.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Most often encountered on the large Free-to-Post Personals (F2P) websites; sometimes on free-hosted websites set up for this purpose (Tip: look for banner ads and use either Archive.org, Whois Directory or one of the Net registrars to see if the site has existed for a long time or only recently established.)
• Detail: none, no exchange of emails, except initial reply informing of prices and wire instructions
• Email: Almost always uses one of the “free” email services/mailboxes
• Pitch-timing: Immediate. The scam resembles an advertisement.
• Photo Quality: high quality photos used, very often of a model, no agency id/watermark
• Photo Variation: obviously all professionally done, no normal/candid shots, unable to provide unique photo
• Contact Info: none, no real telephone or address provided
• Persona: person will be above-average in beauty
• Reality: almost invariably this is an id-theft situation. Sometimes the scammer is a man but more often it is a woman who says she is the agency director/owner and it is in her name that the money will be wired to
• Recognition: easy to spot, look for only a single listing or girl advertised, also price for contact info is much higher than regular business perhaps as high as $30-$50 for just this single contact
• Potential Damage: low and usually just the one instance

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info before sending any money
• Understand distinction between this and a company that has as part of its business the sale of personals or contact info for numerous ladies
• Request additional photo (not provided already) before purchasing contact info
• Gather as much info and verify
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Large Scale Mirage Scenario was quite popular from the beginning of the online international dating scene up until a few years ago. It is not seen very often today perhaps due to the anti-scam forces and better communication today.

This scam is hybrid of the Mirage and the Agency Shill Scenarios in that the scammer sets up what is a completely "fake" website. The website, usually run off a free webhosting company or sometimes paid for, is set up to contain a good number of "fake profiles" which are nothing more than collected (id theft) photos and names of models. The contact or communication would flow through the free email address box of the website so that it might be something like Diana@fakecompany.com or her profile number at the address.

Gentlemen were fooled into thinking that they were in correspondence with these amazing and beautiful women when in reality it was just the same form letters or one or two (or more) individuals doing all of the correspondence. Eventually, when either the gentlemen wanted to meet in person or to tried to verify real identities, write real letters, send flowers, etc. the cover of the fake agency would be blown. If this became too well known then the website would have to be abandoned and a whole new operation set up using a different site and different profiles. Many of the well-known, infamous and early-reported Scam Agencies were these types of operations.

Today such operations don't keep their cover very long because of the Anti-Scam reporting and better communication, forums, and resources available to victims.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Would usually set up own website on free-webhost services and use the Parasitic practice of posting its profiles at F2P websites to lure victims.
• Detail: low attention to detail This scam worked on volume.
• Email: Always uses an "agency email" like Scammer@scamagency.net or 1234@scamagency.net
• Pitch-timing: Early. Like a legit agency it would demand payment for services in second or third email.
• Photo Quality: high quality photos used, very often of a model, sometimes tried to appear legitimate by using agency id/watermark
• Photo Variation: obviously all professionally done, no normal/candid shots, unable to provide unique photo
• Contact Info: none, no real telephone or address provided
• Persona: person will be above-average in beauty
• Reality: almost invariably this is an id-theft situation usually an operation set up by an individual.
• Recognition: easy to spot as they would stupidly not include Ugly Girls but rather all would be beautiful models, also refusal to allow non-Agency communication and real address is a dead giveaway
• Potential Damage: low to moderate

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info before sending any money
• Understand distinction between this and a legit company
• Demand non-Agency controlled communication
• Gather as much info and verify
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Agency Shill Scenario is similar to the Classic Scenario with the main distinction being that, as the name suggests, the lady-correspondent is actually partnered with the agency and is receiving some financial compensation for perpetuating correspondence and the false relationship. There are generally two varieties of this scam.

The first being where the ladies profiled are “not real” (i.e. id-theft situation) or they are real but unknowing victims who were lured into providing their contact info and photos under false pretenses, such as for a “beauty contest” or in response to an advertisement; or perhaps they were at one time interested in foreign-dating but are now unavailable, yet their info continues to be used. In this case, the correspondence is usually performed by the agency’s own staff, which, incidentally may or may not be female. This variety is more easily dealt with because the bottom line is that there is no girl to actually meet and any efforts to do so will be thwarted.

The second and more troublesome variety is when the girls are very much real – they are just not REALLY looking to meet someone abroad or to marry a foreigner. These girls are essentially employees of the agency and they may write their own correspondence, they may also talk on the phone (usually only through an arranged call with the agency monitor/translator on the line) and even in some cases, the ladies may actually meet with you when you visit on trips that are arranged through the agency.

Unfortunately, the only way to uncover the real situation is by demanding and obtaining a non-agency mode of communication, being on the lookout for any reports about the agency or the lady-correspondent, and making use of the Alter Ego tactic, and maybe, ultimately meeting her in person. Otherwise, it is very difficult to uncover these schemes. It is especially difficult to say with certainty if a girl “loses interest” after meeting her correspondent in person for legitimate reasons.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: The Agency’s website, but may be lured to the agency through a post on a host Free-to-Post Personals (F2P) website (the Parasitic practice)
• Detail: moderate to high attention to detail depending on the sophistication of the operation
• Email: Usually uses an agency based email (e.g. “natasha@theagency.net”)
• Pitch-timing: Early, the Agency or the girl will inform you of the agency and fees involved in the first or second response email
• Photo Quality: high quality photos used, very often of a model, no agency/id watermark for “Variety #1” but high quality, agency-marked photos for “Variety #2”
• Photo Variation: “Variety #1” operators may have trouble creating any unique or candid shots except some sophisticated operators can Photoshop in your name, etc. into a photo. “Variety #2” operators can have their girls do special photo-shoots and otherwise accommodate requests
• Contact Info: Sparse, no real telephone or address provided except that of the agency. The ladies’ personal contact info will be strictly disallowed (unless they are extremely trusted by the Agency not to break protocol or reveal the scam.)
• Persona: Beauty is usually above-average as normal or ugly girls do not attract clients/paying customers and these agencies are not interested in helping people find their partner. However, some average looking women may be profiled. The women will be sophisticated, not naive, and usually they claim to have been looking for a mate from abroad for some time which explains why there is little turn-over in their profiles or why they have been listed with the agency for a long time.
• Reality: It is her job to pretend to like you. You may never know for sure if it is real unless you meet her in person.
• Recognition: difficult to spot
• Potential Damage: Moderate to High depending on the circumstances and how quickly you can get to the truth.

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info
• Stretch-out any money sent, buying smallest packages and sending minimal sums
• Gather as much info and verify
• Use Alter-Ego (but expect that the Agency may catch similarities, so make sure to use completely different data, email, photos of a different person, identity, etc. You might even have to enlist a buddy to help you make any phone-calls (use a calling card) as your Alter Ego.) (But note: a girl profiled on an Agency website can be expected to have more than one suitor and can’t be “claimed” until she is seriously engaged.)
• Demand alternative communication (address & telephone)
• Use Photo Request Tactic
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Visa Scenario occurs when the lady-correspondent, after first gaining the victim’s trust, requests money to pay for her visa or visa-related expenses (either a fiancee visa or a tourist/visitor’s visa) so that she may join the victim in his home country. Sometimes, it is used in conjunction with the Travel Con Scenario.

The Visa Scenario is one of the most costly in terms of both monetary and emotional damage; and yet, is one of the easiest to avoid by following two simple rules.

First be informed about what the visa requirements really are so that when she tries to blow smoke up your ass you will know what the heck the real deal is. This is a very good idea anyway if you are interested in marrying a foreigner.

Second, always go meet the person in their home city. Only after you have actually met in person can you even begin to think about building a life together at home.

The Visa Scenario only works because you are absolutely convinced that she is for real. The use of the Alter Ego tactic can be a silver-bullet in this situation.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Usually F2P site or an agency that allows remote submission
• Detail: Correspondence is extensive, highly detailed and personalized.
• Email: May use a free email, work email or school email address.
• Pitch-timing: Later. The scammer will not reveal the visa opportunity until she is confident that you will pay such a high price to meet her. She will work on creating the illusion of trust and a relationship first.
• Photo Quality: Varies. Expect some real and normal photos.
• Photo Variation: High variety. May provide unique photos and even display objects that you send to her.
• Contact Info: May provide a valid address – that is one which may be validated and used to write to her or send her flowers, etc. but not necessarily her permanent address. Phone talk is part of the scam.
• Persona: Very sophisticated, generally a bit older woman. She is ready to drop everything including school, work and family to “come to you.” She may wait to say: “I love you” until the eighth or ninth email but will build towards that. She expresses no doubts about you or reservations about being with you and doesn’t disagree with you about anything. She has no sense of reality or caution. She is carefree but needs you and wants you.
• Reality: She is very good at playing this game and you will lose unless you are a better player than she is.
• Recognition: Difficult, unless she happens to be profiled on an anti-scam site; but once she mentions a VISA, then it all becomes very easy by knowing the real visa regulations and by insisting on going to meet her first
• Potential Damage: High, both financially and emotionally.

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info she provides to you
• Gather as much info and verify it
• Use the Alter-Ego tactic as the silver-bullet, there should only be one person that she is “crazy about” at a time
• Learn the real Visa requirements
• Insist on going to meet her first and watch her squirm. Remember if she is willing to come to you, then she ought to be more than willing for you to come to her.
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Travel Con is similar to the Visa Scenario, and sometimes played in conjunction with that scam. Played by itself, however, the Travel Con tends to be a little less intense emotionally and the opportunity to “suddenly travel” to meet you (and thus the request for money) tends to arise slightly sooner than with the Visa Scenario. More often than not a third-party is involved who is the means of the travel opportunity either as an individual or as a “travel agency.” Very often the requested money is to be made payable to this third-person.

The set-up is simple: a false sense of a relationship is established and then out of the blue the opportunity to obtain a plane ticket (sometimes a tourist or business visa is mentioned or just in general “papers”) will present itself and the girl will ask you for all or a part of the necessary money.

As with the Visa Scenario it pays to know the rules for traveling to your country and also when the girl expresses the excitement to meet you, it is a great opportunity to turn the tables and inform her of your plans to visit her instead.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Usually F2P site or an agency that allows remote submission
• Detail: Usually good attention to detail, but not always to the same degree as the Visa Scenario scammers
• Email: May use a free email, work email or school email address.
• Pitch-timing: Later but a little earlier than with Visa Scenario. She will work on creating the illusion of trust and a relationship first; but these scammers tend to work more on volume so they may see if you fall for it and if not they will move on to their next mark.
• Photo Quality: Usually high quality. Some of the more sophisticated scammers do use normal photos of themselves but a lot of these operations are using a false identity and some model’s photos. • Photo Variation: Modest amount of variety. Usually the pitch comes much earlier so there is not enough chance to request and obtain unique photos.
• Contact Info: Phone talk may be part of the scam. Generally, no address or other contact info is provided.
• Persona: Worldly, may say she has traveled quite a bit already. Sophisticated person but not particularly revealing. Will be crazy about you from the start and ready to leave it all behind by about the sixth email.
• Reality: Generally this is an id-theft situation. It is the agency or the person who the money is “made payable to” that is really behind the scam.
• Recognition: Medium-difficulty. The real scammer’s name or travel agency is likely to be profiled on an anti-scam site. Once the travel opportunity is mentioned it all becomes very easy by knowing the real travel regulations and by insisting on going to meet her first
• Potential Damage: Can be High if one falls for it of course. Tends to be a little less emotional than Visa Scenario or Travel Diss Scenario due to less personalization and less time of correspondence before the pitch.

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info she provides to you
• Gather as much info and verify it
• Use the Alter-Ego tactic, there should only be one person that she is “crazy about” at a time
• Learn the real travel requirements
• Insist on going to meet her first and watch her squirm. Remember if she is willing to come to you, then she ought to be more than willing for you to come to her.
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Travel Diss Scenario can be pretty devastating and embarrassing and is a particularly nasty combination of the Travel Con and the Visa Scenario.

The scam is essentially this: The lady correspondent happens to (or claims to) reside in a small town or rural province away from the big cities. After a long correspondence where she has gained your trust, you agree to fly to one of the major cities, Moscow, Kiev, etc. and to PAY for her travel from her city (by rail or air) to the destination city to meet you. You go and she doesn’t show and instead laughs heartily all the way to the bank with the money that you sent her. Attempts to contact her or find her are futile.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Usually F2P site or an agency that allows remote submission
• Detail: Usually good attention similar to a Visa Scenario scammer
• Email: May use a free email, work email or school email address.
• Pitch-timing: Sophisticated scammers wait until you suggest meeting in the destination city but will continuously hint about the distance and possibility of travel to said city
• Photo Quality: High quality and will provide some unique photos.
• Photo Variation: Good variety.
• Contact Info: Phone talk may be part of the scam. Generally, an address or other contact info is provided but it will turn out, after she has taken your money that these were just a cover that she used to convince you that she was sincere. She may receive mail at the address or it may be an address of a P.O. Box, relative, friend or co-conspirator.
• Persona: This one will play a little bit shy. She will not be too aggressive about meeting you like the Visa or Travel Con scammer. She will dissuade you from visiting her in her own city and make all sorts of excuses.
• Reality: This Scenario is not too common, but the scammers doing this one are truly heartless. They do not care about you or the money that you spent coming to their country.
• Recognition: Difficult to recognize unless they are profiled on an anti-scam site. Because the travel seems to be your suggestion, you might get fooled by your own sincerity.
• Potential Damage: Can be High if one falls for it of course. This one can be emotionally devastating because of your efforts and your trust in traveling to her country.

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info she provides to you
• Gather as much info and verify it
• Use the Alter-Ego tactic, there should only be one person that she is “crazy about” at a time
• Insist on going to meet her all the way to her home city and do not agree to meet in an intermediate destination. If she is willing to travel to meet you, a sincere girl will welcome you coming all the way to her home-town.
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Accident/Illness Scenario occurs when the lady-correspondent, after first gaining the victim’s trust, requests money to pay for a sudden accident or serious illness that occurs to her, or sometimes to a close family member. This is a scam that really tugs at the heartstrings and those gentlemen most prone to being rescuers or white-knights have been susceptible to this con.

The best advice is not to fall for this scam at all, however, if you simply cannot resist sending some money, then you should offer to send only a tiny fraction of what is requested as a sort of a test. A sincere person in such a situation will be happy to receive any help at all, while the scammer will deride the gentleman who only offers to send $25 when $250 was requested.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Usually F2P site or an agency that allows remote submission
• Detail: Correspondence is extensive, highly detailed and personalized.
• Email: May use a free email, work email or school email address.
• Pitch-timing: Later, depends upon the scammer. Some wait for a very long time and others who are working on volume pull the trigger early and will just move on if you don’t fall for it. Most will work on creating the illusion of trust and a relationship first.
• Photo Quality: Varies. Expect some real and normal photos.
• Photo Variation: Some variety. But probably won’t ever provide valid address so no opportunity to send item for unique photo.
• Contact Info: May provide a valid address – that is one which may be validated and used to write to her or send her flowers, etc. but not necessarily her permanent address. Phone talk may be part of the scam.
• Persona: Falls for you quickly of course. This scammer will play up both the victim role and the “lady in distress” role from the beginning by talking about her poor circumstances, lack of opportunity, etc. Your positive responses will tell her very early whether you might fall for the scam or not and if you are too cynical or clearly unable to help her financially she may not even bother to pitch to you and simply move on to troll for her next victim after only a few emails.
• Reality: She is very good at playing this game and you will lose unless you are a better player than she is.
• Recognition: Difficult at the very beginning because of the person paying attention to detail but usually you can see the scam coming and it isn’t a surprised when the sudden accident or illness occurs.
• Potential Damage: High.

Counter-Measures:

• Adhere to the Prime Directive
• Web-search all data/info she provides to you
• Gather as much info and verify it
• Use the Alter-Ego tactic as the silver-bullet, there should only be one person that she is “crazy about” at a time
• Learn the real Visa requirements
• Insist on going to meet her first and watch her squirm. Remember if she is willing to come to you, then she ought to be more than willing for you to come to her.
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The High Roller Scenario is essentially a scam that takes advantage of you while you are visiting your correspondent. This scam takes advantage of those gentlemen who do not make their own arrangements or who rely upon the “agency” or correspondent totally. The scam is not about the girl or whether or not she is interested in you, most likely she is not sincerely interested and may have a boyfriend or even be married. The scam is to see just how much you can be overcharged for everything from accommodations, to travel, to meals, to entertainment, to expensive gifts for the lady. (These charges are far beyond a reasonable profit for quality services provided by a legitimate agency.)

The problem is that the girl herself will seem real and normal and you will not realize what the scam actually is until you are in the situation. In some instances, the circumstances might even be dangerous if you are traveling alone, don’t speak the language, and at the mercy of the private driver, so be extremely careful.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Usually an Agency profile
• Detail: Very good, just like a real sincere person
• Email: Usually an Agency email, but if the person is operating only with a few co-conspirators, then it may be a free or private email
• Pitch-timing: The scam happens when you are already visiting
• Photo Quality: Normal, they will use photos of the real girl you are going to meet
• Photo Variation: Very good variety. She will take unique photos for you.
• Contact Info: May provide a valid address and telephone number, but not necessarily her own.
• Persona: Normal but materialistic. She will scoff at any bargaining or suggestions to take public transportation or any “cheapness” on your part. If sex is what it takes to get you to spend money on her it will be about as emotional as with a prostitute and if she can get away without putting out at all then that will be even better for her.
• Reality: It's nothing personal. It's just business.
• Recognition: Extremely difficult to spot prior to the scam but once it starts then it is easy to recognize
• Potential Damage: Depends on the degree of your gullibility and the depth of your wallet.

Counter-Measures:

• Web-search all data/info
• Gather as much info and verify
• Use Alter-Ego tactic to see if she is planning to entertain anyone else. It may be fun to suddenly create a scheduling conflict for her.
• Learn the real rates and costs of things before you go.
• Stress before and during your trip that you are on a budget and don’t worry about appearing cheap.
• If you want to give her a gift, take it with you. In case she doesn’t want it, or it doesn’t fit, you can return it yourself.
• If possible visit any competitor agencies in the city to compare rates.
• Make friends with the locals who may be able to tell you something about your girl’s reputation.
• Travel with a friend if possible.
• Ideally, arrange before you go to meet with more than one of your lady-correspondents, so that you can still have a good time and not waste the trip and minimize the amount of time you spend with just this one girl.
• Above all, make all of your own travel and accommodation arrangements using good reputable and competitive providers
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

The Deep Visa/Marriage scam is the most difficult to detect or uncover. Many cases are legitimate differences or break-ups in relationships. The real scammers are only uncovered because their profiles are continuously used (as they set up their next mark and NOT due to the Agency's own use without her permission) even when they are supposedly engaged or “married” and due to exposure on the Net.

In this scenario, the scammer will go so far as to actually complete paperwork, sometimes even obtaining the actual fiancée visa all of which follows having met in person and creating the relationship. Thus it is virtually impossible to avoid until the damage is done, unless they happen to be profiled on an anti-scam site.

Characteristics:

• Net Location: Free-to-Post Personals (F2P) websites and some Agencies and some use the Big Tour companies as a way to meet men
• Detail: Extremely detailed, just like a real person.
• Email: Usually a free email box or an agency email box.
• Pitch-timing: Not until the day she suddenly disappears will you realize it was all a scam.
• Photo Quality: Normal, photos of the real person will be used.
• Photo Variation: Very good variety. She will take unique photos for you.
• Contact Info: Might provide her real address. Phone talk is part of the relationship.
• Persona: Just a normal person, but may not reveal a lot about her past relationships. A lack of ex-boyfriends is actually a warning sign.
• Reality: The reality is that you may never figure this one out. Why she did it, why she does it, what she really wants in life, all of these will be a mystery.
• Recognition: Extremely difficult to spot.
• Potential Damage: Usually Devastating – depending on the length of the courtship, and the amount of support, the financial cost could amount to thousands of dollars. But the emotional toll can be even higher. Therapy may be needed for you to deal with it and to trust this much again.

Counter-Measures:

• Web-search all data/info
• Gather as much info and verify
• Use Alter-Ego prior to see if she is telling others that she loves them.
• When you visit, try to meet with persons that know her outside of the circle of friends she has arranged to meet you. If possible try to meet with any ex-boyfriends.
• Make friends with the neighbors of her or her parent’s house, they may be able to tell you about the other foreigner who was courting her just the year before.
• Before actually getting engaged to anyone from abroad, it may be well worth it to have her background fully investigated by a private detective.
• See Tips & Tactics for more

Summary:

Identity Theft and Masquerade are generally part of another Common Scenario and so I am not really breaking it out as a separate scenario. I only wish to point out that Identity Theft and Masquerade occur quite frequently in facilitating these Common Scenarios.

Both Identity Theft and Masquerade involve someone pretending to be someone else.

For purposes of Scam Alert, the distinction that I will draw is that IDENTITY THEFT involves the use of a celebrity identity or the use of someone else's profile or information such as in the case of a Male pretending to be a Female or a Female pretending to be a different Female.

Whereas MASQUERADE is when a person pretends to be WHAT they are not (instead of WHO they are not). So for example, this could be an older woman using outdated photos of when she was young and much more beautiful. A married woman, saying she is single. A woman who has children claiming not to have any children. A clerk claiming to be a doctor. And so forth.

Again, for purposes of Scam Alert, there is no need to make such fine-line distinctions in the Alerts themselves but keep it in mind when you are making your reports that you know these differences or if this is the situation, then please relate the situation.

Summary:

There are a few not-common scenarios that also float around from time to time in this field. There are a few versions of the Nigerian Scam involving either the transfer of money or the provision of your banking information. And there are a few other random scams involving currency exchange, and sometimes investment opportunities. Treat all of these with the derision and caution they deserve.