I have been conned

[ginny7]

I have been a victim of internet scam. I met a guy on Black Planet. He ended up chatting with me Yahoo messenger. I thought he was from the United States. He tricked me into wiring 29,000 with a fake check he had a friend send me.

I am so depressed and do not know how to overcome this.:cry:

[davenerven]

Hi ginny7,

Don't beat yourself up over and over again about this, please. You can recover. You WILL recover. Please have a read of this: http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/showthread.php?t=936&referrerid=21

And if you want to talk, just let us know in here, ok?

[John Fairheart]

ginny7, I'm very sorry to hear of your loss. :( The link that davenerven pointed out has some solid advice to help you recover from this awful mess.

Don't forget, if you need to talk someone davenerven has already offered. You do need to talk, don't bottle it up. Everyone here wishes you a speedy recovery.

[Aeval]

I am very sorry that you found yourself in this situation. Let me add some more pointers to what our other support people have posted for you earlier:

1. You can try to make payment arrangements with your bank. Because of the way the law is structured in the United States, you ineed owe the bank the money. The worst thing to do now is to do nothing and hope that it will go away. It won't. Get into a conversation with your bank about forming a payment plan. That can help you avoid having a collection agency come after you and can give you some peace of mind.

I suspect that your bank may be willing to let you make payment arrangements. It is more beneficial for them to receive at least small payments over time, instread of just being left with a large amount of money missing.

I understand in what kind of a position you are right now. I know it's depressing and scary. I also know that it hurts a lot to be used like that. But, now is the time to take some actions, and the sooner you take them, the better.

Hang in there and let us know if we can help you with anything else.

[tamma]

ginny7--I have been a victim of internet scam. I met a guy on Black Planet. He ended up chatting with me Yahoo messenger. I thought he was from the United States. He tricked me into wiring 29,000 with a fake check he had a friend send me.
I am so depressed and do not know how to overcome this.

back in August i to was contacted by someone name vinnyloves4u , itsnot out of the ordinary for meto recieve yahoo messeges from people i dont know and thats not only list, thinking it was just another perv messege i waited till he asked my a/s/l then i layed into him ,, told him straight out im happily married my age was not of his bisness and my location was that i was currently in a house in the USA some where and i clicked the box closed,, well he came back allsweet talking saying he was just looking for friends becuase he was in the Military and was feeling home sick for the States, i sympathized because i have alot of friends and some family in the military,after some friendly chit chat he proceds to tell me His house was sold and his finacial advisor needed aplace to send his money so when he returned to the states he would be able to get his money and start his life all over, he then asked if he could have it sent to me , yes i was leary about it but he also told me there would be some paper work and i was just holding the check, not cashing it because it would be in his name,, so i said fine and gave him my address ,, now this didnt happen on the 1st day talking to him ,, every day for over 3 months he came online and talked to me as a friend ,, actualy as a good friend and made me feel we had known each other for years, when he started to ask if the check arrived i told him no ,,because it hadnt , he then gave me a UPS tracking number, i checked it out ,, the trackign number showed where the package of papaers andcheck where currently at , so i called the UPS thinkign i had missed them when they arrived,, seems they lost the package,, sent me some papers to file for a lost package ect , by this time my family life was over turned and thigns went down hill rather fast,, too fast ,, and i tossed the UPS claim form into the trash ,, a few days later this vinny comes on yahoo agien askin if i got his check , agien i said no and told him to find another address because i had my hands full with alot of developing problems i was tryin to solve ,, he tells me instead of having the full amount ( which was over 60k) sent that he would send me 10 thousand dollars made out to me as a gift for being his friend and helping him , i said ok,,all the while thinking yeah right what ever i wont be holding my breath , this all happened back in November/December before the Holidays, with my husband off work from a serious injury that almost took his life and our daughter living back home pregnat and other family problems going on when the check arrived Feb,28th,2006 it came in a bisness sized security envelope , no paper work to sign and the check was made out to me , it was like a god send, our bills alone ran over 8 thousand and on the verge of having everything shut off , before takign the check to thebank to make sure it was a good check , i took a digi cam picture of the check and the envelope, my daughter and i share a savings account so we went to the bank and i gave the check to the cashier,, she told me the bank would have to hold the check for 9 days to make sure it clears and if it does the money will be placed into our savings account, ok this was fine , if the check was bad the bank would find out with having the check for actualy over 9 days you woudld think they made sure it was clear before they put the money into our account,, on the 14th of this month we checked the account because we where walking a fine line on having the electric ect all shut off and with it being winter time this was not a good thing and to top it all off our refridge litteraly died on us and left us one big mess of thawed out meats ect ,, so still thinking the check is good since the bank obviously cleared it ,, we pulled out 8 thousand ,, got all the bills paid in the nick of time becuase they where litterarly knocking on our door to shut everythign off ,we got all the major bills paid even found a cheap refridge since the Appliance stores said they couldnt repair ours.
this week we went to pull out a lil money to and the bank tells us the check was " recalled" , recalled we asked? how is this posible if the check was cleared ? after all they did hold it for over 9 days to make sure it would clear,,, now today my daughter , pregnat and on bed rest gets a call saying that the check was fraud ect and that they will file charges on her and i. we have already set up payment arrangements with the bank this mornign before this called was recieved and after i recieved a call from a Paul Brady ( not sure of last name spelling ) from Ireland who talked to me yesterday gave me address for Fraud Watchers and for scam vitims united, he also gave me this Vinny ( Vincent's ) last name which i didnt have before and was not located any where on the check or envelope , ( the check came form MO and the envelope came from GA ) when i had asked this vinny about this before he said the GA addy was his sisters and the check was form his financial/friend from the sale of his house.
other then making payment arrangements theres not much more we can think of to do , ive told my daughter not to let it bother her because of her and the babies health.. ginny sunds like we met up with the same man and im sorry if my post is long winded,, i tried to cover everythign for the full story , now not only am i fool and am embarresed and very ashamed that i fell for a scam once agien ,, i was scammed by a so called Visa company based in Arizona few years back for $100.00 that was reported but now my family is under a even bigger financial bind becuase of this check,, granted its only 8 thousand we have to pay back when we barely make it pay check to pay check as it is and that 10 thousand came like i said it was a blessing because i dont exagerate when i say we all would of been living out in a cardboard box , why didnt the bank catch this before hand especially if they held the check for 9 days to make sure it would clear before depositing it and if it wasnt clear why did they deposit ? as of now other t hen makeing a payment arrangement we are at a loss as to what will happen next .

[Shamfien]

now not only am i fool and am embarresed and very ashamed that i fell for a scam once agien
You do not understand how these people work.
They have been scamming people for years.Before the internet they used fax,before that they used post.They have made scamming an art form (if you can call it that)
They make a career out of convincing people to part with their money.
I mail hundreds of them to waste their time and every so often I feel guilty because I come across someone who I think [B]might [B]be genuine.
I would be also fooled if I didnt know as much as I do about these scams.
On here ,and on www.scamvictimsunited.com, you can read stories like your own.
Read as much as you can on the subject as knowledge not only protects,but also helps you come to terms with what has happened to you.
If you have any questions ask them on this forum or click here (http://www.fraudwatchers.org/forums/sendmessage.php) and Paul Brady will reply to you personally

[FW Admin]

Hello, tamma, and welcome to FraudWatchers.

Please don't feel embarrassed or ashamed at your ordeal (for that is exactly what it was) - the fault lies squarely and fully with the criminal who, as Shamfien says, has mastered this form of fraud and deception over several years.

We all are truly sorry at what you have experienced, and can sympathise as we have all known people who are close to us who have suffered the same traumas. We will try to help you, and others in the same position as you, as much as possible, and by telling your story, you have already begun to lighten your load and will help others to avoid the same traps.

Please do not hesitate to ask any questions you have of us, and we will do our utmost to answer you.

[Nyla]

Just echoing the sentiments above and adding a few more details.

Keep in mind that these people make their livings at this. Quite successful livings. They've mastered how to be convincing, how to harass, sweet talk, and manipulate others into doing what they want. They know about the weaknesses in banking regulations and practice, which few people are aware of, and know how to take advantage of them. Just as you wouldn't blame yourself for being carjacked or having your purse/wallet snatched on the street, you shouldn't blame yourself for being the victim of a scam. The only difference is that in the first case, violence is usually used. In the second, they use your own trust and even your own better nature against you. Fake check scams often hinge on the victim wanting to do the right thing, or to be a good friend.

Unfortunately, what we often call "clearing" a check is not really, truly clearing it. The bank simply makes the funds available to you pending clearance. At that point, they are actually loaning you the money, against the future clearing of the check. When it formally clears, the issuing bank hands over the money to your bank, and everyone's even. This can take weeks, even months, as copies of checks are often physically shipped from bank to bank in order to be cleared. The money and the check may pass through a dozen branches by the time it clears. Banks really can't afford to wait for full clearance before giving the customer the money.

Banks do this for the convenience of their customers, and 99% of the time, it's a fine system. But it largely relies on the speed of banks and the honesty of people sending checks. Most customers assume the money being made available is a sign of clearance. Sadly, it isn't. Banks really need to do a better job of educating their customers on the difference, before the customer finds themselves getting stuck with a debt they don't deserve.

By all means, if you have proof of any kind that you were sent the fake check by someone else (chat logs, email exchanges, the envelope or package it arrived in), file a police report. That does help protect you from prosecution, and being able to prove you were victimized can help convince the bank to work with you on repaying the debt in manageable installments. Even if you don't have much proof, see if the police will still accept a report. And do talk to the bank, probably the fraud department, if they have one. Being proactive and working with them to get the situation resolved will really work in your own favor. It helps convince them you are responsible, willing to make amends, and were the innocent victim in all this.

[ehw8588]

This is a response I gave to Mr. Brady after his call to me...

Hi, Mr. Brady. I do appreciate your phone calls. This is a picture of the man who calls himself Vincent Tapley, or "Vinny". I have at least 3 other pictures of him. He claims to be in the USArmy for 16 years, now... stationed in the UK & he's the single father of an 11 yr. old son named John Tapley. The email address he uses is vinnyloves4u@yahoo.com. I had actually sent him the money through Money Gram a few weeks ago. Vinny called me wondering why he couldn't pick up the money when he went to get it (he said the reference #s that I gave him were incorrect, although I knew they weren't). THANK GOD for the man at Money Gram in London!! He's the one who informed me that this could be a fraud & allowed the lady at Money Gram here, to give me back the $10,000 and redeposit in my account. I went straight to the bank and told them what happened. Then, the check looked like it was written from a business account from the company "Edward Jones". I went to a local Edward Jones and spoke with people there. The tracking # on the check was not valid. Also, the check # had already been used (as Edward Jones doesn't duplicate check #s) and that check # was written for a different amount on a different date, etc... Then, I knew. I told Vinny all of this. So, he's GOT to get the clue that I know what he's doing. Anyway, he doesn't actually have a "website". He has a "page" on a website. It's www.myspace.com and you type in his email address to see his page. Just in case, his phone # (nigerian) is 234-802-827-0567. He uses Yahoo Messenger with the screen name vinnyloves4u.

[ehw8588]

This is the message "Vinny" (vinnyloves4u) wrote to me when I confronted him as being a scammer. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Funny your email was great this is just the begening okay you have noit seached the internet enough to find out about me okay seach deeper okay when you have secahed deeper when you have found out so much when you have waited so much today is 23 rd and you going to send my money what ever way you feel it scares me no more because i remeber when you saaid when the bank said it should clear on the 23 you said every one thinks it wont because you have made up your mind to think this is a scam its great i see where all your thought are very funny you could feel this way thats why you never sent the money and you ****inglied to me ghiving me fake numbers and telling me the money weas there im going to wait till my friendgets home and he will come get the money from you i really thought this was a great time to love some one and you sent me an email i have never known who theperson was and i have never asked any one to help me for any thing but you after my sister ledt oklahoma i see what you have in mind its great you feel this way i respect your feelingit shows how you wish good for other people thats why you have never been so happy because you spend your time trying to make people feel bad i give you today to send that money other wise you and your son will never see 30th of this month do what you like i know what ill do to you **** you okay im not scared any more if i lose my ttansfar i was wtong to have thoght i could make a good lady out of you i just give t\you today to send it go to any part of the usa you want to go to ill get my money good day **** you and **** all yoiur ****ing body okay and ill kill you and your son if i have to okay you one ****ing woman i know every time i get close to geting my money you come up woth storries do yout hink im a baby **** you so bad okay lets see what happend.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Whoever's reading this, just be reassured that you're not the only one he's talking to like this. I've been assured by Mr. Brady that our Vinny is stationed in Nigeria and is only interested in getting money. If you get a message like this, just be sure to ignore him & eventually, he will go away. He's not interested in wasting his time chasing down someone who he knows he's not going to get anything from.

[Arrowhead]

EHW,

I read your posts with interest. Of course, you already know that the pictures and descriptions you have of this so-called "Vinny" are fake. Most of the scammers get their pictures by copying them from model agency websites, private home pages and other internet resources. This is a Nigerian lad sitting in an internet cafe or computer room someplace in Nigeria, probably Lagos, pumping out email after email and spending a lot of time in chat rooms looking for and working victims.

You are extremely lucky that you didn't lose money in this transaction. Many have and some victims of this scam have even been arrested for passing bad checks.

Since this thread is mainly concerned with romance scammers, let me also mention our associated site, www.internet-love-scams.org. This site specializes in support for victims of internet romance scams. You might consider visiting it and telling your stories there as well. There is a staff there that can also lend a friendly shoulder for victims of this type of scams.

[ehw8588]

After Vinny threatening to "kill" my son and me yesterday, this is what he sends today~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My heart is hungry for your love, but my mind is aware of what it cannot have. I know we belong to different worlds so then why did you come and change everything around in my life? I thought I didn't want to love again, I thought I wouldn't be able to since my heart has hurt so much. To even say I do - it's a scary thought, but you came along and I became fearless of it.
It's hard to explain myself or to put it together in one, the only easy thing to think of is loving you. For just one look into your eyes makes everything in the world and in my life seem to disappear. You make me want to see the sunrise every day, to know it's another day where I can maybe have you by my side. I know faith can make this work someday if I just keep up my hope, 'til then I'll think of you just like now; your touch will forever caress me with tenderness, and your kisses will keep the flame in my heart alive in hope that one day you and I will be together,
I am still on my knees begging for love, not to a stranger but to one I know ... you. I've been in love and know it's fun. Each night and day I hope and pray that you'll be mine forever more. I know it's hard to trust a man - giving your heart, body and soul, but know it's me that's on my knees swallowing my pride, begging you, please ... once again I say please; be mine. and ill always be yours till my dieing day you have changed my life and im so happy about you and every thing that has to do with yoiu all my love always.

Love always,
Vinny
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

OMG... can you believe it?!!

[topcop]

Like most of these jokers, they will say or do anything to seperate you from some cash. Time for him to go (unless you intend to "bait" him.) Be careful .... Also, many banks are glad to stop these frauds before you take a loss. Almost all of the forged checks sent by the mugus are on "real" banks in the U.S. and Canada. For the small amount it will cost, call the bank on whom the check is drawn. Ask to speak to their security / fraud person. They can tell you right away if the check is a forgery and / or if it is any good. A buck or two on a long distance call is well worth it.... This also goes for postal and other money orders.

[poirot]

These criminals often work in small gangs, each member working a particular level. The person you are communicating with can change along the way depending on the stage of the scam.

Note the incredibly bad grammar in the previous email:

you okay im not scared any more if i lose my ttansfar i was wtong to have thoght i could make a good lady out of you i just give t\you today to send it go to any part of the usa you want to go to ill get my money good day

now, compare that with the last one and you see that it's a different person with a much improved grammar and spelling. You've just been handed over to Vinny#2 or maybe Vinny#5. Probably trying to see if there's any chance of continuing the scam with you.