Dateline ID theft and love/dating scams specific

By joining our community you will have the ability to post topics and access other forums reserved for members. Registration is quick, simple and absolutely free. Join our community today by clicking here.

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:30 pm

Not sure if this is being discussed anywhere else, but...

Last night 20/20 was about ID theft, stolen credit carts etc.

They set up a fake online store and shipping company to see where the goods were going.

I was surprised to see that many of the recipients were love/dating scam victims. They were receiving packages in the US and forwarding them to their �romantic partners� wherever.

Part two is next week. 20/20 took over one of the vics email accounts and are going to fly over and meet the scammer in person.

Edit: I stand corrected, it was Dateline.

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 1:59 pm

Yeah, that pops up particularily with nigerian scammers you meet on chat.

They come up with some excuse to ship something to you, paid for with a stolen credit card.......then want you to reship it to them.

It actually happened to a relative of mine.

He met some 'white businesswoman hottie' on YIM. She was going to be in his area 'soon'. Wanted to have some sales samples shipped to him so she wouldn't have to lug them through the airport.

HE accepted a bunch of bizarre parcels, all from online retailers....clothing, etc. Multiples of the same item. "6 pairs of white mens tennis shoes, size 9', etc.

All paid for with stolen CC.

I found out about it before the next step happened. Not sure any of the stuff was worth shipping to Africa. All parcels were worth maybe $150 US each.

I'm guessing they were testing him to see if he'd accept packages, and send them on, then order a bunch of expensive stuff???

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:00 pm

I think you are mixing up 20/20 and Dateline, unless of course it was on Primetime...

Posted: Wed Mar 28, 2007 2:27 pm

It was Dateline. I saw parts of it last night

Not quite a Newb Joined: 14 Jul 2005 Posts: 41

The Dateline thread is here:
http://forum.419eater.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=105408&start=50

edit: Since this is specific to this forum and a different episode, it's fine here.

Carry on, Luckey Very Happy

Hello I'm New here! Joined: 26 May 2006 Posts: 17

Those poor women (and that guy) had no clue they were being duped by their "fiancee's"

and to anyone who saw it, I have a question:

The guy, Jeff, lived with some woman who I assumed to be his wife. Then, he said he planned on marrying "Wendy" the scammer who was sending the packages. That made me assume the woman he was living with was his sister, but then the narrator of the show said something like "...this scam was causing Jeff to be duped out of thousands and threatening his marriage"

What marriage? Was he married to the woman he lived with, and if so, that would mean he was planning on leaving her for "Wendy" the scammer, all the while having his current wife active in picking up the packages from "Wendy" and sending them to Africa.

Posted: Thu Mar 29, 2007 1:31 am

^^ I think you have it right. I don't know what will end his marriage, his imaginary affair with his imaginary girlfriend, or loosing 40k to his imaginary girlfriend. But either way, it�s all gone now.

That guy clearly had some problems. But here�s this simple guy, living an otherwise quiet life in a remote, sleepy little town, and he gets gutted by someone he�s never even seen from halfway around the world.

Dateline ID theft and love/dating scams specific	View next topic View previous topic