Zoosk scam?

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Hello I'm New here! Joined: 23 Nov 2010 Posts: 1

First, let me apologize if this topic has been covered as I am obviously a noob. So I will get right to it. My late 60s, widowed, mother was on Zoosk a while back. She receive an unsolicited IM from a gentleman named "Thomas Turner", who claimed to be a three star general in the Army. Well after much back and forth and sweet talk this gentleman calls my mother. Still no signs of a "scam" in her eyes. More talk and he sends her a couple pics. It obvious these pics have been altered (after she forwards all email to her irate son!). Unfortunately my mother is heartbroken and still thinks the guy is real. My question is, have you guys heard of this one? He never asked for money but did mention sending a "metal briefcase full of Army paperwork and 1.2 million dollars" to her for "safekeeping". Any insight would be appreciated. Thanks

Posted: Tue Nov 23, 2010 3:24 am

We are seeing a lot of romance scammers posing as American soldiers these days. The story you describe is a fairly standard scam approach.

Romance scammers can be remarkably patient, waiting months to even a year or more before asking for money. The most successful ones will wait until they are sure that the victim is fully hooked. If your mother let the scammer know that you were in the background questioning the situation, he may have felt she wasn't hooked enough to move to the next level.

In the scenario you describe (briefcase), there are multiple angles the scammer may use. For example, he will "ship" the briefcase, and it will get stuck in customs, and she will need to send money to pay off the officials. Or he will be arrested because he sent her the box, and she will need to send money to bail him out. Sometimes the scammer will pose as law enforcement, and will send emails threatening to charge the victim with a crime related to the package if she doesn't pay some fee. He may use a fake shipping company, and she will receive notification from the shipping company--but of course once again she would need to send money.

If you can get an IP address from his emails, you may be able to show her that he is in Africa, not in Afghanistan or Iraq (where these scammers usually claim to be).

Posted: Wed Nov 24, 2010 11:10 pm

From memory (and I STRESS from memory) Zoosk doesn't have the option for headers, and I can't be arsed signing up for a new account. if he sent her a reqular email there might be a chance for headers, especially if lad is using a yahell account

Zoosk was horrible and I'm glad to see the back of it.

Sorry I can't be of more help

Posted: Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:51 pm

I apologize for necroing an old thread, but IMHO Zoosk in itself is a major fraud.

Posted: Sat Oct 20, 2012 2:20 am

It actually might be worth bringing up Kabuto, since I've just discovered that scammerland central, ie 4ppl.com is more.

So there will be an increase in scammers on other dating sites, Zoosk included. remember, these assholes will use whatever they can to rip people off, I have several facebook accounts just for baiting, and there's no shortage of scammers on them either

Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:38 am

What I meant is that Zoosk IS a scam.
They do their best to lure non-paying members to become paying (PREMIUM) members, including unethical practices like fake messages from other members, fake profiles, etc.
They have hidden fees. Does ACTIVATION FEE ring a bell? Who else demands activation fees?
Their support is almost non existent.
Many people had trouble cancelling their subscription, or were overcharged with no valid reason.
Last but not least, there are many credit card frauds reports linked to them.

I wonder why FTC does not investigate them...

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 27 Oct 2012 Posts: 8

Kabuto Sama wrote:

What I meant is that Zoosk IS a scam.
They do their best to lure non-paying members to become paying (PREMIUM) members, including unethical practices like fake messages from other members, fake profiles, etc.
They have hidden fees. Does ACTIVATION FEE ring a bell? Who else demands activation fees?
Their support is almost non existent.
Many people had trouble cancelling their subscription, or were overcharged with no valid reason.
Last but not least, there are many credit card frauds reports linked to them.

I wonder why FTC does not investigate them...

I'm convinced match does this too. I get random winks and when I click their profile, the account doesn't exist.