We will be sharing information on healing from experiencing a scam. You are welcome to post your feelings, thoughts, poems, prayers, or what ever helps you heal and move on.
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NO Shame
“I just want you to know that there is no shame being lonely or in wanting to love or be loved by others. The shame belongs to those who would use that wonderful attribute for their own personal gain.
As James Lee Burke said, “Our moral failure lies in the
frailty of our vision and not in our hearts. Our undoing is in our collective willingness to trust those whom we shouldn’t, those who invariably used our best instincts against us.”
Please know that you have nothing to feel bad about or be ashamed of. Desiring companionship is the most fundamental need that God placed in us humans.”
Rick J.
Romance Scam Victim
I feel relieved that everything is over,but at the same time its a very sad sensation having 48 yrs of age and realize that although i have been blessed with many spiritual, intellectual and material things in the search of a true and respectful companion i overlook all red flags that this scammer presented
The superficiality of his writing , bad grammar , unanswered questions,told me that he love me after three letters, emptiness in his messages and huge repetitive love letters i wanted so deseparately to believe that i didnt exercise good judgment and after all my former bad experiences to have this one in a different level hurts me very much and leaves me with uncertainty and lack of confidence
I have affected my self esteem and im very confused about my capability to trust and love and sense who is right for me
I thought i was above and beyond bad experiences or the feeling of emptiness and hurt but this fraud has affected me a lot
VB,
Know you are not alone. Many have walked in your shoes and continue to since these criminals cannot be arrested and punished at this time by our government.
Take time to care for you and heal. Visit our group and read other’s stories and posts. It can help just to know for sure you are not alone. Our group is available at:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancescams/
To your health and healing,
DianeG
Moderator/Peer Counselor
I too have been victimized. Being a 54 year old professional woman with so much to offer, I can’t believe I fell for this scam. On the other hand, I know it is because I am lonely and want so much to have a partner in my life to love. I too did a superficial search all along as I corresponded with my scammer who overloaded me with romantic letters, sent flowers, copies of his passport, false stories and requests for money. My search yielded nothing so I plodded on.
I eventually sent money via Western Union to a third party. The name turned out to be Nigerian, although my scammer’s name was Italian.
And the story goes on until I realized enough was enough and I was out $15,000. I have two promissory notes signed, so I felt I protected myself, but that was before I knew of the widespread fraud that was perpetrated upon me. I am sure they are unenforceable.
Every day I wake up to the unpaid state of my finances. It makes me sick. My children look at me in a different way. They found a copy of the promissory note in my downloads. I tried to explain to them that I am a victim and they understand that but still cannot understand why I went as far as to send money, why I kept this a secret from them. That hurts. But now is a time of healing and I thank this website for being there as a source for me to get my story out there and hopefully to help others with prevention.
I’m an educated, professional singer mother of two. I too was hit by a romance scam and I am completely humiliated that I fell for this. He was charming and British and made me laugh. Something I have not done in a long time. We have been talking for a year and yes I have sent him various amounts of money via Western Union over the past year for one issue or another. I was shocked at how much I had sent over the past year. He used my Christian belief and good heart to bank on; literally. Certain thinks did not add up and I started to feel used, well now I know why. Oh I did the research and found out that he existed or at least his name did in several hundred places. He is a contractor whom was left well off as his father was in the import/export business. He has several homes in the US. But the airlines lost his luggage when he got to Nigeria and one sob story after another. Being that I had traveled overseas on several occassions I know how different countries vary in what they require. But when the US Consulate would “not help him” then I started with my own phone calls. YEP I had been scammed. He sent me his passport and driver’s license. I checked them out and found out that they were fake. I’m just now dealing with the anger and hurt. Part of me still wants to believe in him, but I know better and it is a struggle. So if anyone out there has been in contact with a David Kimmel, let me hear from you. His writing is very eloquent, but when he gets mad then his language is rough and spelling is awful. I contributed that to the language barrier as he was raised in Britian.
[...] Welcome [...]
Hello, I have just recently, I believe has been scammed. I never went to dating sites nor was I interested in a relationship. On my inbox of facebook, I got a note from this guy who says his name is Henry Norton and he is from Dundee, Scotland. At first I was skeptical and asked him how he got my name. He was very sweet and told me if I ever got uncomfortable with talking to him that I could just stop. He told me was not comfortable with facebook, that he didn’t understand it and had me go to Yahoo Messenger. We started ‘chatting’ and he also emailed me. He seemed like a dream come true. We did this for over a month when a job offer (he says he is a building and road construction engineer), sent him on contract to Malaysia. He and his daughter, Rosabel, went and he was there for what he was a few days, when he supposedly lost his wallet (or it got stolen?) He was stressed out and for a few days, kept fuming about what he should do. Out of the blue he asked if there was any way I could help. I have been divorced from an abusive marriage and my ex left me with alot of debt which I had finally paid off by my own working and scraping. I told him there was no way I could ever get that money. He kept on until I felt so bad for him and his little girl and I went to a bank and got a loan (surprisingly) for $5,000. I sent it to him like he asked via Western Union. One of my sons discovered what I did (he worked at the grocery store where I sent the Western Union). He told my other 4 kids and they took me to my brother, who is also my pastor. They told me I was never going to see that money again. I told him that he was different that he promised he would go to Scotland in a week and withdraw money from his account and pay me with interest. They finally convinced me (by showing me scam websites) that this was a con. I am now still talking to this guy (the week will be up next Monday, Aug. 1) until then acting like I didn’t suspect anything. He is now asking me for $1400 for a plane ticket to Scotland. I am praying for that money back. I put my car on collateral and I cannot afford payments. I really was convinced that he was paying me back. I want to know if he really is a con or if there was any way I could get him jailed and my money back. I am desperate. I have been literally ill since this happened last Friday (the 22nd). Can anyone help me? I feel like a fool and at the same time, my heart is broken. How could I have been so gullible or stupid? Any advice will be appreciated. Thanks so much!!
Hello again, Karla, I just replied to your first post.
Regards,
DianeG
Moderator/Peer Counselor
Romance Scams
DianeG@romancescams.org
My name is Carmen Fron I believe that I have also been scammed by a man named Henry Antonio Norton from Dundee, Scotland. I met him around july 13, 2011 through facebook. He didn’t initially email me or message me through facebook however he had sent a message to my sister who is visiting me and she shared his picture and very nice message about him and I was so impressed that I sent him a message telling him that I really liked his profile and his picture and thought that we might have some things in common he had said he had lost his wife and had a 7 year old daughter named Rosabel and I am a widow and know how it feels to be lonely so if he would like to be friends and maybe talk sometimes that would be okay. So I sent him this message through facebook. He immediately replied the next day and insisted that I install yahoo messenger because he didn’t do facebook to well. So that was what I did. Eventually after about talking for a couple of weeks we exchanged phone numbers and started talking on the phone. He told me that he had got a job as a contract engineer site in Kuala Lumpar, Malaysia and he would be there for about a month to finish his project and that he would come to the US to meet me and my family. He asked me to marry him and I have been so blind to all the romantic letters and the way that he spoke to me over the past two months that I said yes and then after he supposedly went to Malaysia and started his job there he sent me a message on my phone telling me his wallet had been stolen and he had lost everything. He started asking me the next day if there was any way that I could help him so I sent him 1000.00 the first time and then 500.00 the second time. He still kept telling me that he needed about 20,000.00 to pay the tax office for his equipment for his contract that he is working on and he started pressuring me the next few days that if I could send him 5000.00 that he could take care of his bills at the hotel that he was staying in and get a flight ticket and then he would pay me back because he supposedly could not access his bank account information in Scotland from where he was in Malaysia. He said that the only way he could take care of his bank needs was to be there in person so they could verify his signature. Now where I am from all I have to have is a password to access my account. I have never heard of such a thing with any bank like that. I started to become very suspicious about him and asking me for money after I sent him the 5000.00 and didn’t hear back from him until almost a day and a half later he said he was not wanting to tell me that the hotel he is staying at wanted more money before they would schedule his flight reservation back to Scotland. So now he is telling me he needs 6500.00 for a flight ticket back to Scotland and that when he gets back he will western union 10,000.00 to me to take care of all of my bills and pay off my car and take care of anything that I need. I have been keeping all this information about sending him all this money over the past month from everyone and I finally just broke down to my sister who is still staying here with me and she immediately started recommending that we do some kind of search or background history on this Henry Antonio Norton. So I typed in his name his age and where he said he is from which in this case is Dundee, Scotland, and to my surprise was a story about this same man almost identical to mine about him. I am still in shock. I am so ashamed of myself for what I have done and the fact that I have been so blind to all the warning signs about this guy. He had me believing that he loved me and would do anything for me once he finished his contract in Malaysia. He also told me that his aunt is raising his daughter while he is working. His aunts name that he gave me is Donna Nelson. Now I don’t know what I am going to do I am broke because I just sold part of my property just to be able to send him this money that I have sent and I just feel like the biggest fool. I hope someday he gets what he deserves. I would love to see him go to jail for what he has done to me and obviously no telling how many other countless women he has preyed upon. My heart is so broken right now I don’t feel I will ever trust ever again any man for as long as I live. This man Henry Antonio Norton does not know that I am onto him either so I am hoping that there is someone who can help me out if you know anyone who can help me in this situation it would be greatly appreciated. Sincerely Carmen Fron
Hello Carmen,
Please immediately cut off all contact with this criminal. Absolutely everything he has told you is a lie. You are involved with a young man from either Ghana or Nigeria who may or may not be in Malaysia but has never been in this country. He has stolen your money and what you have sent will never be recovered. Don’t believe anyone who tells you they can get it back for you. The money is gone. His government has no interest in stopping this crime. It feeds the corruption and lines pockets.
I am so very sorry this happened to you and that you did not find us before you lost more than some time. You are not alone and please do not feel ashamed. This happens, unfortunately, to many people every day. There are over 17,000 of them who are members of our support group. Please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/romancescams/.
Read the front page and join, if you would like to. If you are not ready to join, you can still read the messages. We are here for you to support you through this. There is nothing you can do about the money right now but work your way through it month by month. You can block, delete and ignore this criminal. If he has your phone number and begins to call, use a whistle or block his phone number. Again, I hope you come join us and ask for help. You don’t have to tell your story until your are ready but it will help you begin to sort out your feelings and to heal.
DianeG
Peer Counselor/Moderator
The man I spoke about is now still trying to get 6500.00 from me for a plane ticket to Scotland. I told him absolutely not and he became very vulgor with me and hung up so I am certain he is doing this with other people and scamming him I hope that he is caught someday and justice is served. Thanks for replying to my letter I may join your group someday just not sure what to do right now I am very hurt and very confused as to how someone could go this far with anyone and act like nothing is wrong with this behaviour. I will never trust anyone ever again on the internet and especially him. Thanks Carmen
Carmen,
It is very important that you cease all contact with this criminal. Block and delete and ignore him everywhere you communicate with him. If you can block his phone number(s), do so. The longer you stay in contact, the greater the danger to your computer and the continued attack on your emotional state is not healthy either. Please visit http://groups.yahoo.com/romancescams/. You will find support and help to walk through this.
DianeG
Peer Counselor/Moderator
Carmen,
He contacted me on face book also and talked me into signing up for yahoo messenger and gave me the same line about his wife dying and having a young daughter named Rosabel. And after a few weeks he felt god sent me to fill the void in his life and he wanted to come to the US and meet my family and take me back to Scotland and marry me. All was just great until I asked his wifes name and then things changed. He became very cool in his e-mails and writing. Thanks to you coming forward I had the heads up and was prepared. You probably saved my life, because I don’t have money to send since I am on disability. Thank you for being brave enough for coming forward.
Feeling foolish lady
Cathy,
Please don’t feel foolish. This type of scam can happen to anyone who is online and looking to meet others and is unaware they exist. I’m glad you found information before it was too late.
Diane
Ladies beware, in a e-mail he sent me the other night he called me Jennifer and when I corrected him on that he actually was mad at me and claim that was Italian for “my princess” but in another e-mail he signed off as Edward. So keep your guard up and if there is a Jennifer out there checking, watch yourself.
Cathy,
I am so glad that you found this site and my letter about this criminal who was trying to scam you. I am also glad you didn’t send ‘it’ any money. I am sure ‘it’ that is what we call scammers since they are not really a real person they are criminals who steals peoples names and their pictures and uses them to make people like you and me think that they are looking for love. That is such a joke. Anyways I am sorry that you had to go through this with ‘it’ and thank God that you found my letter about him. I hope that my letter about this criminal helps others before it is to late because unfortunately their will be countless others.
Stay with the Romance Scams group and keep learning all that you can. This group of people in here will be there for you whenever you need them I know they have been the most awesome group of people that I have ever known. Take care
Carmen