Female MySpace users beware

[Deerobe 10]

I have been on myspace for a while now and during the past seven days I have started receiving messages from men declaring their undying love for me. When I check their profiles they have very little information on and all their friends are female or they have only two friends.

 

Anyway what has this to do with Sheffield you may ask?

 

I am alerting you to this because these men are scammers. Fortunately I have had Financial Crime training so knew what to look out for. They are most likely either money laundering or trying to steal your money. They write telling you that they love you or offering you some work and asking if they can chat with you on yahoo or msn. First question is "Do you live alone?". They then start asking if you would receive some money for them.

 

I chatted with them to get their email addresses then told them that current banking systems are excellent and they could do all of this in their own name. Then I rang the Police and have reported the incidents and provided the email addresses they are using.

 

These men are particularly nasty as they prey on vulnerable members of our community in the worst way possible. Fortunately I am suspicious of just about everyone who approaches me like that.

 

I would not want any Sheffielders to suffer as a result of not knowing about these scammers. The penalties for being involved in money laundering are severe in the UK and indeed in every G8 country. As you know "I didn't know" is not a defence.

 

South Yorkshire Police tell me this is happening on all the social networking sites so it applies to sites like Face Book, Bebo etc. as well.

[Classic Rock 10]

Ha, knowing this, if I get one, then I'll wind them up! http://www.quatloos.com

[clea_4eva 10]

i get em talkin 2 me alot i just ignore em

[spyro2000 10]

You have to be extremely thick to fall for any of that crap.

Common sense.

[mr chris 10]

You have to be extremely thick to fall for any of that crap.

Common sense.

 

Common sense..... on the internet?

[spyro2000 10]

Common sense..... on the internet?

 

You make a good point.

[Deerobe 10]

You have to be extremely thick to fall for any of that crap.

Common sense.

 

I disagree. Someone who is lonely or someone desperate for money would be tempted.

 

There was an item in the Star about a girl who just filled in the Western Union forms for one of these people. He bought her food and mobile phones for doing it. She is now awaiting sentencing. She was young, naive and vulnerable. It is not only her that has been convicted. The newsagent who was wiring the money has also being sent down.

 

When I was working in the bank we were told that we could be personally prosecuted for handling large amounts of cash if it were found that it was from a criminal source.

 

People do make mistakes out of ignorance. Not necessarily because they are thick.

[spyro2000 10]

Stuff......

 

Yes I agree it is naivity and ignorance, but it is the lack of common sense which makes people fall for this type of thing.

 

This is not too dissimilar to the 419 scammers.....

I find it hard to believe that someone can fall for a con where they get an email from a 'Nigerian Prince' who promises the person plenty of riches in exchange for them first transferring over a hefty amount of money. Its the same thing.

 

Anyone with an ounce of sense would see straight through it.

[mrteabag 10]

you did right

by the way can anyone cash a chq for me

[Deerobe 10]

Yes I agree it is naivity and ignorance, but it is the lack of common sense which makes people fall for this type of thing.

 

This is not too dissimilar to the 419 scammers.....

I find it hard to believe that someone can fall for a con where they get an email from a 'Nigerian Prince' who promises the person plenty of riches in exchange for them first transferring over a hefty amount of money. Its the same thing.

 

Anyone with an ounce of sense would see straight through it.

 

No no they are being more subtle than that. They know we are on to those scams now. They are becoming a bit more savvy.

[spyro2000 10]

No no they are being more subtle than that. They know we are on to those scams now. They are becoming a bit more savvy.

 

Fair enough. I still think it just takes common sense not to fall for internet scams, but I take your points on board.

[Deerobe 10]

Fair enough. I still think it just takes common sense not to fall for internet scams, but I take your points on board.

 

On MySpace they are targeting women who are older or very young and alone and who probably have something missing from their lives and/or are struggling with money problems. Promising the prospect of a relationship, marriage and all sorts. They are sending smooth talking messages begging to talk to you.

 

They search for divorcees and single people. I suspect there are probably female counterparts also targeting older men.

 

I ignored the first two but then I got more persistent messages from others. Probably the same person at the end of the day.

 

So I thought I would get the evidence and report to the police. It has crossed my mind that some lonely old soul might be taken in by this. I just think that preying on people's vulnerabilities in this way is just sick and they need to be eliminated by everyone becoming aware and telling them to **** off.

 

How many people have been taken in by the lovely and convincing Georgina? A lot I think or she would have stopped it by now but no every weekend I see her walking around the city centre asking people for money. Are they all thick and lacking in common sense? They think they are helping someone out. Many have helped her out but now she has been advertised on here we all know about her and don't give her any money. Yet she still preys on people because she can get a lot of money doing it.

 

If you don't know about Georgina's scam search the forum.