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	Create New Topic   My Posts   My forum buddies   Invite friends   Private messages Russian brides > Main Forum > Best way to handle apparent scam profiles? Author Post tribalogical Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/11/2009 7:23:49 PM   Hello all, I'm rather new to this, and seriously appreciate everyone's advice and guidance in these forums. I'm learning tons! I subscribed to Fiance.com less than a week ago, and am already having lovely conversations with a few interesting ladies. I have recently done quite a bit of reading and studying, and am using extreme caution (I could probably loosen up a bit here!). I got roped into a few weeks of (fortunately minor) expense and foolishness at the Anastasia Date website. I realized very quickly it was the "too good to be true" environment in spades... was writing two ladies in their late 30s (thought that was safe, being 52 myself) but the roughly 200 "first letters" in my inbox from hordes of 19 to 25-year-olds, and the identical nature of the two lady's responses to the idea of me visiting (both basically implied they might not be there, or "it's too soon", said "I don't have more pictures right now", or I won't give you my post address until I'm more sure about you, or you can always call me from this website - at $40 for 10 minutes...!) raised my red flags.. that, and finding so many great resources on the do's and don'ts, at places like this forum. Needless to say, I moved on, and won't look back. After being led here by many positive testimonials, I'm finding the profiles to be much more genuine, and the women much more responsive. I get replies within a day, instead of that crazy 5-day turnaround at Anastasia. I also have a much more reasonable and manageable (and believable) number of interest letters in my inbox... a half dozen or so over a week, and it's fantastic to be able to write freely and view all profile pictures without worrying about additional cost. Anastasia... what a scam!! Fiance... bless you! So by way of introduction, I also wanted to ask here: What is the best way to alert folks to what look like scam profiles? I've sent two notes to "Support" regarding these. Is it a good idea to also post here? Perhaps a "possible scammer" thread to throw into from time to time? I do applaud Fiance for looking into these and suspending them if they do look suspicious, at least until they get confirmations... it really eases the burden of our uncertainty! I think can be a great way to reach across the divide, and find a potential life partner. It only works if the scammers are kept at bay however... I'm writing because today, over a fairly brief period, a cluster of about 7 profiles appeared on the "latest" list... all glamour-girl photos, all from Nikolaev, all 21 ~ 25 (5 of the 7 are 21 years old), all posting "Age: doesn't matter", with two of them even having identical sentences in the profile info... It gives one pause! :) I don't generally pay much attention to the under-30 crowd of profiles... but looking at those, I noticed that they'd each gotten 5 to 10 letters already, and I worry for the poor guys who might be lining up to be sapped....... So, advice on the best way to handle these? Thanks all, and I look forward to sharing some of what I learn as I go along :) All the best! shaz444 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/11/2009 10:35:45 PM   Another victim,like me, well Anastasia is really getting bad press. I just wonder how many fools like me, takes to send & recieve letters after realizing the real story behind the fake profiles? I must have spent over $800 in the first 5 months easy. Take a look: No email addresses provided uptill now. No telephone number unless you correspond for 4 months. No postal address again if you correspond for 4 plus months & if she decide to give you. Videochats & phone calls amazingly high premium rip off prices(the internet is getting cheaper by the day & Anastasia is raising prices). Chats $.40 per minute !!! Oh my god can you believe this? What next the air we breathe also $$$$. Not to count interpreter charges by the hour. Man minimu wage in North America(Canada) is $9.50 per hour! Interpreter for Ukraine is charging $15. Shouldn't it be less for UKR interpreter? Mini Cooper Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/11/2009 10:48:35 PM   You should jump in and send them some expensive gifts... these women want someone that shows "up front" that they can take care of them... I would offer them all trips to resorts in Turkey and see what they say.! Live is short and you should not waste time! You will be amazed at the respons you will get!!!! Mini Cooper Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/11/2009 10:49:34 PM   responses jetmba. Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/11/2009 11:11:59 PM   tribalogical: Expedience in responses isn't neccessarily a good thing. A lot of FSU ladies still don't have home computers or access to the internet. Those that write back to you in less than a day likely fit one of the following categories. #1. They DO have home computers and internet access. #2. They access their emails through work. #3. They go to agency offices constantly (not likely). #4. The letters you are receiving are "introductory letters", prewritten generic letter sent by the agency for any inquiry. #5. The letters you are receiving are entirely written by agency personnel and the ladies may not even know you exist. Longer turn-around time may be more disappointing but also more legitimate. tribalogical Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/11/2009 11:31:45 PM   Thanks Jet... I hadn't actually considered it that way. :) Actually one of the women here on Fiance.com that I'm corresponding with and that has responded regularly and fairly quickly is 42 years old, has two grown girls, and hardly seems to fit the 'scammer' profile. She's been very straightforward (but not overly "familiar") and above board in all her letters. She's a live one, let me tell you! :D Pretty refreshing, frankly. But she is using agency mail, not private mail. I haven't yet asked for her private contact details... what's the rush? She didn't at all fit my initial "ideal" in terms of looks, etc... but she's winning me over with her directness and very genuine charm. I had actually sent her a "decline" letter (she wrote me first) with some fairly lame reasons for the rejection, and she called me on them playfully. I was compelled to write her back! :D We agreed that since we're both fairly new to this, and took an immediate liking to each other, at the least we can enjoy a friendship and "share notes" on what we experience here... So, we're writing and having fun with it. Wow, is this guy mini cooper going to be dogging me on every thread? What the hell?? peace. craigsutton Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/12/2009 2:51:49 AM   You should know what a scammer is jetmba, your've been wasting your money on them since 2003. tribalogical, Don't use any letter agencies, including fiance.com just yet. Have a look at free to talk sites first. Mamba.ru and lavaplace.com Have a look at these before you waste your money and i would'nt go for a woman more then 10-15 years younger. Don't try to kid yourself in believing younger women are interested in men your age ( no offence ) Be practical. It's just that you will end up like jetmba, chasing chickie babes and ending up being a sponsor.:)) devilmaycare Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/12/2009 11:14:13 AM   Its always going to be difficult using any pay-per-letter site. Although by no mean foolproof, generally speaking a letter invented by an interpreter will be "wordy", nicely written pros, and contain one of a number of stock open ended fluff questions like "what does love mean to you ?" "what is your typical day like ?". Where the letter is genuine it will tend be more a barrage of short comments and questions specific to your profile and previous letter. Harvey Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/12/2009 7:21:11 PM   When I first attmepted searching I was on a site and suddenly I was getting 'requests' from very many outstanding looking young - young being the operative word - ladies. What did I do? I ignored them all and resigned myself from the site. craigsutton Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/13/2009 4:28:06 AM   ' I ignored them and resigned myself from the site' Julian35, you go it right. But sadly most of these sites are all the same. Has anyone on here placed a profile on yourself stating that you are ONLY interested in a specific age group, only to be overwhelmed by younger women. Some even 18 years old? I find the free to talk sites the best. I ask the women what they think about these other agencies and profiles. The answers are always the same. Doesn't this say something about the crap, that somehow these business's are still going and owned by large American companies who think there are legit? devilmaycare, I was told by a wanker called jim@ jims agency scams that the first 4-5 letters sent out to the client that are pre-formed, is ok by him. Why TF would the first 4-5 be okay for when the man is paying US10.00 per letter?. This jerk is an idiot. Going to all that trouble to set up a web-site and say he doesn't get paid? Has anyone seen what this fool looks like? He's a fake who is being paid. tribalogical Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/13/2009 4:30:39 AM   This is all really encouraging input. Thanks to the lot of you... regardless of interpersonal feelings that are apparent here, between all you old-timers! :) The woman I mentioned that is here on Fiance.com is 42. I'm 52... I have no problem at all with that age difference... The two from the PPL site were late thirties, meaning approaching the 15-year-old difference. I think the impact is actually less severe from where I sit. If I was 40, looking at someone 25 or under.....? The lifestyle differences could be pretty substantial, and could pose some pretty big challenges, I imagine. Being 52 and looking at someone 37, 38 or 42 years old? A lot more common ground there I suspect... even with the same difference in years... I'm fortunate that I also look a lot younger than most of my peers... physically fit, very little grey, have all my hair, most people think I'm early to mid 40s... bless those genes!! ;) @ devilmaycare: Interestingly, the two ladies at the Anastasia site that I settled into some correspondence with were writing exactly the "good" kind of letters you mentioned. Clusters of rather unrelated comments and questions, all directly addressing the letter I'd last sent... almost like a random selection of quickly translated notes from an interview. I didn't get the sense they were being written by someone on their behalf. But then, they didn't give contact info (can't according to the site rules). Oh, correction, one did give me her postal address. I suppose I could drop her a postal outside the whole Anastasia thing, and see what happens...? I suppose there's guarantee it'll go to an actual home though.... Bottom line is, once I find one or two that are interesting enough to actually meet, I'll just go there and meet them. I've traveled a ton, and lived half my life abroad. I know how to take care of myself re: travel arrangements, booking hotels, and so on... I wouldn't go expecting to come away engaged or married. Hell no! :D :D I need a damn sight more than a few hours or days with a person to commit the rest of my life to them.... If they feel any different (hurried, or even willing), they'd have to settle down or have the plug pulled. I'm not rushing into anything as important as a choice of life-companion... I do like the idea of going to live there for a few months. Is that a crazy challenge or outrageously expensive in the Ukraine? It couldn't be more than what I spend in Southern California! Oh, and back on topic: Fiance folks answered my inquiry about the cluster of 21 ~ 25 yr old ladies from Nikolaev recently signed up all at once... said it's a new affiliate agency there, and they posted them all at once. A single translator is doing the translation, thus the similar profile verbiage. A reasonable enough explanation except... it wasn't "similar"....... it was *identical* (at least in two profiles). Slightly different typos, but unique enough concepts to easily spot... Listen, how many women say these exact words in their own description of the guy they're looking for?: "...Man who enjoys the quietness and at the same time can lose himself in the lights of nightclubs and its noises. One to cuddle with when it is rain outside..."? On a lark, I wrote one of the "older" ones... got a reply... same profile stuff pasted into the letter as well...... basically a rehash of her profile, and a few good lines cherry-picked from a couple of other profiles, pasted into a letter with a few extra bits.... I don't know, but if I was seriously going after a 25 year old like this one, I'd really have to reconsider this particular one. If it's all the agency's doing, they're not doing her any favors! figgis Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/13/2009 4:45:10 AM   In all honesty you have to go by the rules, Get her phone number, get her address, talk to her on the phone, get her away from the agency. Also be aware that if a wonderful young lady 15 years or more younger suddenly thinks you are gods gift to women be very cautious. Stay away from agencies that have model quality girls on their site its too good to be true is the most accurate analogy. Its a dirty game, for some women finding a man is what they want for others being in an agency is no more than a way to make some money. Harvey Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/13/2009 9:30:25 AM   After a couple experiences with agencies that bombarded me with silly girls. I checked out elena's models. The name itself was very questionable to me. The word "models" throws up a big flag. But after looking at the site I realized they were all not models. And the fact some ladies had the audacity to turn me down gave them a big thumbs up for me. And one of the things I put in my profile was that I was NOT rich but lived a humble life. I did this to weed out the money grabbers from the start. I recieved quite a few invitations from ladies. If I wanted to spend a couple years travelling I could have visited many. But I tried to keep within a certain location. The lady that is coming to the US to live with me I met on EM. One thing about EM is that the lady will give you her personal email immediately. And shortly thereafter you will get her phone number if she likes you. I 'met' some I consider scammers but it was only a hunch. And I did not waste time if any red flags came up. I think my advantage in this process is that I was by no means desparate. tribalogical, I have never dealt with fiance.com so I cannot comment on the site. I have heard things about anastasia that were not appealing - not my own experience. The advantage of EM is that you immediately know if there is a connection with the person. And you will get personal emails. Searcher619 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/13/2009 1:40:21 PM   I have dealt with fiance.com before. I would say the scammer to legit girls here is in favor of the legit girls but you have to keep in mind the only women from FSU who would be willing to leave their home to be with you are usually those seeking a way out of their impoverished lives there. Most of the men here seem to be on th eold side. It cracks me up when they really expect to find a twenty-something who would be interested in them for who they are and not for what the men can do for them financially. tribalogical Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/13/2009 10:16:53 PM   searcher, you should go to womenrussia dot com (I think that's the right URL), a free informational website maintained by the woman who runs (or at least started) Elena's Models... she dispels a lot of myths there, and one of them is that the women over there, looking for people like us, are mostly impoverished and desperately trying to get out of their country. It just isn't typically so. and, the truth is most of the "older" guys like myself (52) around here aren't that interested in young 20-somethings, other than enjoying the eye-candy... it'd be pretty unsatisfying trying to enjoy some long, deep, emotionally mature and stimulating conversations *after* sex with someone barely out of high school, right? I'll take an older, mature woman any day! but that's because I'm looking for a lifetime partner, not a quick boff. most of the guys posting here fit more into my category from what I've seen so far. tribalogical Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/14/2009 7:04:15 AM   well, searcher, I wrote a nice reply to you, and it was "not approved"..... I think I made the mistake of putting a webby addy in there.... anyway, I was just going to suggest you go read the excellent EM cyber guide at womenrussia... it will poke holes in your mythology about all those poor russian women desperate to flee their countries. I know more than a few stories of guys who would only get their girl if they went to live in her country! so far, Fiance.com has been great. I'm almost getting to a point where it's more interest than I handle, though. And it isn't floods of 19~20 year olds either. So far, only one of the girls who I wrote to first politely declined. But she actually wrote and let me know why. Seems an awfully polite environment. So far, it's a really different experience from my couple of weeks at Anastasia... You know, when every letter you read, and every one you write costs $7 each, you don't just go exploring. You wait, consider, hesitate... spend wisely. It sure does the girls no good if they are real. I basically have a month of unlimited email at Fiance for the cost of three letters each way at Anastasia. 6 letters for $50, or unlimited letters for a month for $50... hmm, let me think. :D There was a girl at Fiance.com that's also on Anastasia. I exchanged a letter with her early on at Anastasia, half the reason so I see her pictures and decide if she was my type or not (yeah, you pay $7 to see pics there too). The same pics were free here! She doesn't answer here though. I think her agency is ignoring her profile here because they don't make as much money. Well, and I've had a profile on EM for quite some time. Never "subscribed" though... and tonight, on a fluke, I sent an "expression of interest" to someone, and she replied.... with mutual interest AND two emails... So, I dropped for the one-person email pass..... and read her mails. Two identical messages, and all they said was, "DO YOU WANT TO MEET?" OK, loony toons! I've got plenty to look at where I am now... EM has a great rep. They're a bit costly though. Minimum for an 'open pass' is $100... for corresponding with up to 50 ladies. You do get more direct access to them, and I've noticed there are a lot more per capita at EM that can speak decent English... devilmaycare Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/14/2009 11:57:08 AM   EM is fundamental different to anastasia - its more like a "Normal" dating site with the women using the site themselves directly. Maybe 5% of ladies on EM are through an agency or use an interpreter. Its probably the best site on the net to find serious women, hence why they are generally more real looking that the army of anastasia super models and why their required age range is usually 5-10 years older. Basically it represents reality rather than anastasia fantasy. baron555 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/14/2009 1:27:56 PM   They're a bit costly though. Minimum for an 'open pass' is $100 Nothing personal, but if this minor cost is an issue, you probably don't have enough to actually go through with an international relationship, especially one leading to marriage. nasfan6 Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/14/2009 6:54:37 PM   No danny Ukrainians can spot an easy mark when they see one, especially ones that have been scammed. Your bias against Ukrainians is well known here. They aren't any more impoverished than the average Russian. Secondly I highly doubt that you had that many responses. ragingbull Member send PM   block PM add to buddies Send: 10/14/2009 10:22:51 PM   If your wife is self respecting at all, you better look after her. She'll be looking for someone who is not a hypocrite. Your Reply: Your name:   New Registration Password:   Forgot password?   refresh Code:   Russian brides > Main Forum > Best way to handle apparent scam profiles?
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