Tips To Avoid Being The Victim Of A Scam
Educate yourself before you start your search for a foreign bride or partner! If you have already started, stop, and come here! You cannot afford to ignore the issues at hand.
The best, brightest and smartest can get scammed. While the percentage of women running a scam is low, they are out there. Sometimes it is the woman, sometimes the agency and sometimes maybe a combination of both. But know that just because a woman from an agency may scam someone it does not necessarily mean that the agency itself is bad.
Visit anti-scam.org and you will educate yourself about problems and concerns with finding your Ukrainian bride. Find out about things that many marriage agencies don't like you to know about. This is still a very wonderful choice and adventure but if you are not aware of the issues you have a higher chance of being the next victim.
It is the responsibility of honest marriage agencies to present this information to you. We are concerned enough about this problem that we have joined forces with anti-scam.org. We think it is our responsibility to help get this information to any man taking this path.
We are proud to be part of this great effort. In place of listing scammers here, we suggest you go directly to anti-scam.org and view their central database.
Don't mention money and possessions - When writing avoid the mention of your salary, the cost of your home or all that you own. There is no immediate reason to share this information. If asked for any reasons mention that you make enough to support yourself, a wife and family. All you need to do is make sure she understands you have a stable job and can pay your bills. The rest should not be shared if you wish to avoid possible problems.
Look out for signals - Cries for help or money. These are often preceded by a warm up of sexually live letters, or photos and suggestive content. Trying to get you on the hook as it were. Then suddenly a sick mother, aunt or the appearance of lost relatives she must go visit and doesn't have the money.
A deadline for a request for money - Like a good salesperson a scammer knows that she must close the deal to get the money. So she will give you a deadline of sorts to get you to react quickly. The less time to think about your answer the better for her. "I need money this Friday or they will turn off my Internet connection" and "If I get the money for the visa tomorrow, they promise I will get one so I can come to be with you my love" are just two examples of this.
Never send money - If asked for money, DO NOT SEND IT! We suggest a polite reply and observe the response or possible disappearance act. If you like, you can tell her nicely you wish you could help out in her situation but are unable to at this time.
Miracle visa - If she mentions a miracle visa that will let her into your country but needs money tell her that is wonderful and you hope to see her but you don't have the money to help her at this time. Tell her you prefer to get to know each other over a longer period of time before doing that. If she stops writing consider that a good thing and do not go chasing. If, by the way, that miracle visa will be getting her into the US, forget it. Those visas are on the same shelf as those weight loss pills and Grow-me-hair tonics that actually work - They don't exist!
Mail forwarding - If she sends letters that are completely impersonal, and make no mention of questions you asked in your letters, you may have been sent a general form letter the scammers use and send out to everyone. If she uses "darling", "sweetie", and "my love" all the time instead of your name, this is very suspicious. They will only get personal after you agree to start sending some money, and after you stop, so do their letters. Write to her using a different name. See if her letters change or if she is indeed sending the same letter to everyone.
Don't rush the relationship - Take your time and get to know her. If someone, anyone is a scammer they would rather not waste time on long drawn out targets. They need to see some turn over for their time and effort. This does not mean they won't hang around for a long stretch. If they think you might give them money later.
Large age differences - Don't go chasing some girl that is 20 if you are 65. It doesn't mean she is a scammer but the greater the age difference the more you should consider her motives for continuing the relationship. It is NOT TRUE that they all prefer older men. Yes, many just like women in the US or other countries do appreciate an older man because of his experiences, stability and ability to share his love. But think three times about a 20-year difference or more. There are happy couples with greater differences but be cautious.
Run a general background check on her - For a little money you can verify her information. Make sure she lives at the address she says and that she is not married. Yes, sometimes the scammer is actually married. A background check is not a guarantee but it is a very basic first step that when taken may possibly save you a lot more then just money. It saves your time and emotional expense as well.
If you think you were scammed - Take a second and think about what may have just happened. This is a very important step. What did happen? Are you sure you were scammed? This might seem to be the dumbest question but in our opinion it should be asked. All of us see things differently. How many times, with work or family, has something happened that was completely misunderstood by others? Women write to many men because it is the wise thing to do. Whether they will admit it to you or not. It is because many men write; proclaim their love and two months later stop writing at all.
So they do what is best and write to others and learn about them too. Sometimes a woman is writing to several men and decides to stop writing to others because she has found her love and maybe it is not you. Don't think that your gifts sent to her or time invested means you were scammed. In love, just as in life, these stories play out every day. So while chances are if you think you were scammed - you actually were - step back and try to re-evaluate your situation. Once you proclaim her a scammer you could effectively eliminate her chances of finding love abroad.