Dealing With The Issue Of Scammers

I'd like you to take a closer look at the issue of scams and scammers. I want to call your attention to the article written on my request by Steve Williams, our Voronezh agency manager. In his work Steve has faced a problem of numerous cases of scam run by a woman or maybe a criminal group from Voronezh. Being British Steve wrote his article from the westerner's point of view. Hope it can help you detect a scam in communication with women through the Internet.

One of the less pleasant aspects of my job is the numerous requests I receive from men who are writing to women in my home city, Voronezh, but who are not clients of ours. Usually I am contacted to ask if I can check them out as the man has some concerns.

Before going into detail I think it’s important to provide a little background into how local Angelika agents operate. We are restricted to operate just within our geographical area, so in practice that limits us to our own cities. We see all of the applicants personally, actually here in Voronezh we interview each woman in detail before deciding whether we should accept her as a client or not, we check her passport to confirm her identity and marital status and we stay in regular contact with her to assure that she is still looking to meet her soul-mate. Unfortunately not all agencies are that concerned and the biggest group of scammers do not have to produce anything for they come from the number of women who contact men directly, usually answering ads the men have placed on-line. Most men that contact me have done just that, placed on-line ads and the women wrote to them first.

Now actually that seems like a good idea in theory, just sit back and have all these interested ladies write to you. But unfortunately there are a small army of people, they may not always be women, that are answering every profile…just like sending spam mail because they understand the ‘game’, they know no one is checking them. It should be understood that owning a computer at home that is connected to the Internet is not common here in Russia, PCs are still relatively expensive for an average person and we pay for the internet per kilobyte as well as for the phone call, so it’s rather an expensive luxury. But for these scamming women it’s a tool of the trade.

The letters that these men receive are roughly the same sort of thing, they are not very specific and rarely do they address things that the men have written about. But one thing is pretty common and that is the speed in which these ‘women’ develop feelings for the men. It is not uncommon to mention love after 4 or 5 letters. Now guys, get real, if a woman writes that she loves you after exchanging just a few letters….. run a mile. It might be good for the ego, but it is not realistic. But scammers play to men’s ego, they send sexy photos of themselves (quite strange behaviour for a genuine Russian woman), they write what the man wants to hear. It is normally at this stage that I get contacted, these guys also find such speed strange and ask me to check them out. About 40% of these requests are for one woman who is running her scam from Voronezh… her name changes, but her address is always the same. So that’s easy for me to clear up, I just send them ten copies of her letters all declaring her love for Bob, Jim, Jerry, Steve, Adam, Bill, Roger, Brian etc etc as well as the many photos I have of her. That’s easy. The other usually involve name checks, address checks, phone records and the best of all, a flower delivery with the pre-requisite confirmation photo as well. Scammers hate this, they love anonymity and they think that here in Voronezh they are beyond the reach of any man. It’s a big surprise when I turn up on their doorstep!! :)

So how can you avoid being taken? Well if you are reading this then you are a client of an Angelika Network member and that in itself is a big step in avoiding the sharks that undoubtedly are out there. But you could be writing to girls from other sources so this could still apply to you.

There are a number of things that one has to bear in mind. Firstly and most importantly, if you are searching for your Russian bride you have to understand that this involves a trip to Russia to see her…this is a given. The Embassies want to see that your relationship is real so showing that you have travelled to meet her and her family is always what they want to see. The majority of scams involve money for travel to the man’s country. Most single Russian women will not be given a visa to visit a man she has never met, it would be extremely rare

The next bit of advice is going to sound as if it was written in my own self interest…but it is not. I genuinely believe that to protect yourself you should go through a reputable agency, one that has your interests at heart. Here in Voronezh we operate a small agency, we don’t have thousands of girls, but we do know all of our clients and as a British man who was in your shoes, I know what you are going through and I look after your interests. My other Angelika colleagues also operate in this way and there are other agencies outside the Angelika Network that are genuine and will provide you with the support you need, we do not claim a monopoly on honesty :) Having an honest and reliable partner in your search is worth its weight in gold, believe me.

No self respecting Russian woman will ever ask you for money, they are a proud people and would not want to be indebted in that way. At Angelika we do not charge the girls for our services so that helps them enormously, they have no costs involved in communicating with you. I have been doing this for 3 years and I have never come across a situation where a woman has asked for money….never. Many scammers write about their terrible financial situation, looking for your sympathy, that is a big no-no, genuine women will not write such a thing, it’s not in their character.

Beware of women that declare their love for you before you have even met. This does not automatically mean that she is a scammer, but recognising scammers’ methods is always a good thing and this is a useful to have stored away in the back of your mind. Of course these ‘romantic’ letters stand out as different from the rest you may get. But I know Russian women, I live here and I see letters every day, and I can say that a Russian woman is usually reserved in what she writes to a man, so yes, they may appear not as ‘exciting’ as those from the scammer…but that is the character of a Russian women who has not met you yet.

Scammers send letters very quickly. Of course they do, it’s their job. A genuine woman has a life, maybe is a single mother, she has to work, travel (rarely will she drive) and while your letters are very important to her, sometimes they have to wait. We turn letters around the same day, but you should try and understand that your lady will do her best, but it’s not as quick for her as it is for you sitting at your PC at home. Are her letters specific to you? Scammers do not have time to tailor every letter to each man, so they tend to be generalised and about nothing in particular, except that she cannot live without you, how lucky she is, love is so special etc etc blah, blah, blah..

Is this journey you are on easy?.... No it’s not. Are the stories of scammers true?.. Unfortunately yes, there are always people looking to take advantage of someone else. But do not let this put you off, nothing of any value in this life is easy and I always tell people that the rewards of this process far outweigh the risks. Just remember some basic things and don’t let a pretty face over-rule common sense.