Online romance scam - advice needed!
 

I need advice fast, a month ago my sister in law in TV has gotten sucked into what we believe is a typical online dating scam with a man who is very sketchy: an American living in Aleppo, Syria working for our government as a secret photographer on a ten million dollar contract. His wife died in childbirth and his daughter is in a boarding school in Texas. (This scenario is the exact same story I have read about that many other women who have gotten scammed describe) Now his “daughter” is now emailing her asking her to be her mommy, and the guy, “John” says he wants to marry her when he returns to the states. Yesterday a third person, his “Assistant” emailed her to say John had been shot and is in the hospital. My sister in law was sobbing with grief althoug it turned out he is okay. I know this is part of the scam, the injury comes right before the plea for her to send money. Before this happens and she totally falls for this, we need to intervene! She is very headstrong and argumentative and cannot see that this whole story is sketchy and creepy. I am trying to find anyone with experience in this area who might be able to talk to her. Any suggestions from anyone? Thank you

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So ridiculous that anyone would ever fall for anything like this. You can check up on things so easily with the internet.

What happens when you Google the guys name????? Or look on Linkedin etc etc etc....

If your sister-in-law thinks this is legitimate, I'm surprised she has any money left.

Contact Seniors Againest Crime. Report it to their online site (state location). Does your sister live in The Villages? Wherever she lives can you have a type of intervention with several who know her well??

This sounds like a sad situation that requires support and not criticism. I would call the Sherriff's office and ask if there is a woman officer who could go over and speak with her, show her some of the links on the computer, and talk about being financially scammed, as well as emotionally. I would expect the woman in this situation is lonely, maybe has some psychosocial issues, does not have a supportive circle of friends, and is feeling captured by the attention and "love" being promised to her. In desperation, one can believe anything if it fills a hole in the heart. I hope the Sherriff's Office/Seniors Against Crime can assist.

:agree:

Ask the photographer for his job series , if a Federal employee, if a contractor what is his contact number? He would certainly know these. You can Google to verify the numbers or post them here. In a milisecond I can tell if they are genuine

It is amazing that people fall for these scams....gullible? Or so desperate for love.

Do you really need that information to call this a scam?

Thank you, this is a great idea. I have already contacted seniors vs. crime. We will take this advice.

What do you mean by job series? My sister in law would be insulted if we asked her to get a contract number but since she lives with us and we are concerned for ourselves as well, I think we may be able to insist on it.

The question was how do I convince someone that this is a scam. Yes you do need evidence to show someone who has not already recognized it as a scam.

I think he was referring to a contact phone number for the photographer's employer, not a contract number. A job series is a number defining a Government job, such as 0810.

A job series is just like a military occupational series. Everyone has one, you know it from the day you are hired. A scammer would not think about that.

A contract number is not private a contractor knows this. Ok just ask for the first six to eight characters, that is enough. It is not remotely like a social security number, again this is common knowledge.