For Love or Money

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I have watched a few of the sorry tales on BBC 1's 'For Love or Money', where both males and females have fallen for scams on dating sites and similar, where the BBC expose it for what it is - a scam. Many of them, at least those interviewed after falling for such scams, seem at least to be fairly intelligent. Likewise those who fall for the many other types of scams. It's simple - my simple rule is unless they actually live under my roof, they get zero access to my money and even then access is strictly limited.

My potential partner suggests she has been scammed a couple of times, but she comes across as maybe being slightly naive and a particularly easy touch for a good sob story.
 
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The scammers aren't daft, far from it. They target people that will be more predisposed to fall for the lies. People who wear their hearts on their sleeve and/or are vulnerable and/or lonely etc. The scams can also be very elaborate, involving teams of people across the globe.

It's proven that the scammers often target the correct people simply by watching tv progs like this. Even when presented with concrete evidence, the scammed person often remains reluctant to 100% admit the whole thing wasn't real. Denial, shame etc I suppose.

I don't think any ill of those scammed, however I do agree when the 'can you send me money for a plane ticket' stuff starts, surely the alarm bells should start ringing.

On one of the progs it started like that e.g. £££ for a plane ticket, however by the time the woman went to the police (on the advice of family and friends) she'd given the scammer in excess of £100k, had cashed in pensions etc. Sucked in hook line and sinker.
 
Even when presented with concrete evidence, the scammed person often remains reluctant to 100% admit the whole thing wasn't real. Denial, shame etc I suppose.

I don't think any ill of those scammed, however I do agree when the 'can you send me money for a plane ticket' stuff starts, surely the alarm bells should start ringing.

It is natural to always believe one has done the right thing for the right reasons, not like to be proved to be wrong and have faith in peoples honesty. From what little I could make out, she was somehow approached with a sob story of someone stuck in Africa and unable to get back to friends and family in the US. He was so convincing she borrowed the money £6k to help him get back, with a promise for him to repay has soon as he got home again. Of course there was no repayment, she then begged him to repay just half or she would be homeless, but still got nothing. I struggled to convince her that she was wasting her time and would not get anything back, that it was probably a gang she was dealing with, rather than the unfortunate individual she was convinced it was. Stupid she is not, but maybe naive and too trusting. She now seems to have found herself on a list to be scammed.

I would agree that I do find life a little lonely since my partner passed away and life would certainly be better/easier with some company living here, but I am not that desperate that I would fall for such a story as I see on the TV, where I would need to fund them to get here. I am aware that some people do, but I struggle to understand how people can spend a life living entirely alone for years, with no one to share anything with.
 
When I watch these programmes I start off by thinking they must be stupid but I always end always feeling sorry for them in the end as they must be very lonely and desperate for companionship to fall for these scams.
 
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Jeez

If one of my kids wants money off me there are forms to be filled in, information to be provided and verified and maybe an interview.
 
Unfortunately those scammed either can't (or don't want to) apply logic to the situation. I saw one case where the guy purported to be a successful businessman in the states. He asked his UK victim to send him $X for a plane ticket so he could get across the pond to see his love. His money was tied up blah blah blah. But wait a sec. If he's a successful businessman, surely he has at least some business associates and/or family and friends. So he can't ask any of them to lend him some cash?

Ok no doubt they have reasons to support their lies, however those scammed just can't or don't want to see the truth. Very sad when you think about it.
 
My potential partner suggests she has been scammed a couple of times, but she comes across as maybe being slightly naive and a particularly easy touch for a good sob story.

I think I have managed to work out what the second scam was... After the first scam, she was targeted by by the very same scammers again, claiming to be a company which could help recover the first lot of scammed money. They ask for a fee up front, you pay them, then they maybe ask for even more money.

Be careful out there, it seems the online world is full of quite sophisticated scams.
 
Wasn't one of the "married and dating" app sites reported to be run by Eastern European gangs who hooked you up with a hottie and then photographed your naughtiness to extort money from you?
 
Wasn't one of the "married and dating" app sites reported to be run by Eastern European gangs who hooked you up with a hottie and then photographed your naughtiness to extort money from you?

If they hook me up with a Hottie, can I ask them to send the pictures to all my friends......:giggle::giggle:
 
They target people that will be more predisposed to fall for the lies.
Reminds me of cowboy builders I've come across - often when they first meet you they drop a few crazy facts to see if you believe them. One builder told me once that they were the ones that brought brick paving to the UK, another that wanted to tarmac my drive did the old "how long have you live here? oh, a year, I did this drive originally for 15 years ago". Yeah, sure you did.

Probably the same with any scam, drop a few lines, see how people react, and if they believe a small lie start building it up.

Communication is a powerful thing, and many people are easily manipulated. Kind of explains the whole mess we're all in now really, we've all been scammed!
 
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Reminds me of cowboy builders I've come across - often when they first meet you they drop a few crazy facts to see if you believe them. One builder told me once that they were the ones that brought brick paving to the UK, another that wanted to tarmac my drive did the old "how long have you live hear? oh, a year, I did this drive originally for 15 years ago". Yeah, sure you did.

Probably the same with any scam, drop a few lines, see how people react, and if they believe a small lie start building it up.

Communication is a powerful thing, and many people are easily manipulated. Kind of explains the whole mess we're all in now really, we've all been scammed!
The ones that do stuff like charge £10k to fix a few loose tiles, maybe even 'helpfully' taking the customer to the bank, you know those ones?

I'd lock them up for a decade.

SCUM.
 
The ones that do stuff like charge £10k to fix a few loose tiles, maybe even 'helpfully' taking the customer to the bank, you know those ones?

I'd lock them up for a decade.

SCUM.
Yeah. One scam I heard recently is turning up to somebody's house in a pair, getting in, then one person distracts while the other pours water down a wall and onto the floor, then they exclaim "you have a leak, switch the power off, this is serious, we must fix it immediately".
 
Reminds me of cowboy builders I've come across - often when they first meet you they drop a few crazy facts to see if you believe them. One builder told me once that they were the ones that brought brick paving to the UK, another that wanted to tarmac my drive did the old "how long have you live hear? oh, a year, I did this drive originally for 15 years ago". Yeah, sure you did.

I sometimes get them at my door touting for work - I send them on their way usually not very politely.
 
Yeah. One scam I heard recently is turning up to somebody's house in a pair, getting in, then one person distracts while the other pours water down a wall and onto the floor, then they exclaim "you have a leak, switch the power off, this is serious, we must fix it immediately".

Nobody would even get past my door. Because I have very lively dog, I never open the front door to anyone uninvited, I speak to them through an opened front window.
 
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