dateline scam

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Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 2:06 pm

This is not a new scam, I guess millions of naive people like me have fallen into the trap. The typical on line dating, in this case Tango Wire. Man seems very very interested in me. Exchange of personal emails, next step great plans for the future. Problem: he's in Benin doing oil rig work, is about to finish and wants to start a new life with naive woman. Africa is a dangerous place, cannot use his credit card, needs money to be wired to a third party, he calls "the postman", the name of the postman is George Ugor and the scammer calls himself Thomas John Greaves. He says he works for Turner Construction company in Boston. Half English, half American. Money wired through Western Union, more than 4,000 euros and manages to obtain one of my credit cards number. Supposed to turn up to meet me after a series of Indiana Jones type events. Never shows up, does not pick up phone. Does not answer emails. Have got his photos, in case he's the same person.
I would like Interpol to find him and have him arrested so he never does this again. Does anyone know if this is possible?

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 2:57 pm

Interpol doesn't have any arrest powers - it's purely (AFAIK) an office for sharing information between agencies.

It's a shame you went through this, but I'm afraid there's little chance of this turd being caught. You might want to take this case to Scamwarners, where it could be used to help stop other people from being scammed.

Posted: Sat Sep 19, 2009 11:38 pm

As Yastreb has said, Interpol are little more than secretaries in the LE field.

The sad reality is that the only way this scammer is going to get caught is if the authorities in his own country (Benin, did you say) go after him, and there's a very slim chance of that happening. Furthermore, the photos you have of him are not really of him. Love scammers always just send photos of people they've found on the internet. The names he gave you aren't his either, so that falls through. The truth is that, even in the highly unlikely case that Benin authorities decide to try to catch this guy, they'll have a pretty difficult time doing it.

Sorry to drown your hopes like this. The truth is pretty uninspiring.