I Had To Laugh A Little.

I knew it would happen. I have told enough people about my little e-mail writing to the Russian romance scammer that I knew I would get some kind of "threat" sent to me (profanity altered to protect innocent eyes):

hey you stupid from texas i hope you stop to wirte about my russina girl o.k.
she is my wife and tou just need stay away from her a$$hole .
i fly to u.sa. the next week and i will try to find you to talk and see your ugly face take care motherf&@%er.

Notice the wonderful typing and spelling. My guess is that the scammer sent it from another account, trying to "get even" for me sending the bogus e-mails. That is okay, I was getting tired of the ruse anyway. It had been almost a month since this started!

Busy Bee

I check my blog web logs every now and them just to see if anyone new is reading and to see what web searches bring people to my blog. In the past, the most popular searches leading people to this site centered on sciatica, the mattress my wife and bought from Ikea (Sultan Evje), or the con artist that I met a few years ago. When I started posting my adventures with the Scamette (by the way, she has not written in a few days...I think she finally got the hint...), incuding her e-mail and IP addresses, traffic on my web site went way up. It seems that my Scamette is a popular search engine topic...and all those people end up at my blog looking for info.

And it is not just Americans searching on her...I have had hits from Switzerland, Australia, Canada, Germany, and Sweden. Obviously our Scamette has been busy. I wonder how many people she has been able to successfully con?

I have received a couple of e-mails from people asking me how I found out all this info on Scamette. It is pretty easy...thanks to Google. IP addresses and e-mail addresses are sometimes quite easy to track. One person informed me that they gave the scammer their home phone number. Very. Bad. Move. With your number, they can find out quite a bit about you. Even changing you number right now won't help much.

The same person asked how they could get the scammer to stop contacting them. Well, do not answer any moer e-mails and put up a spam filter to weed out her messages. You could change e-mail account, but that can be a pain. I wish them the best on this.

No Reply At All

My Scamette has e-mailed me twice more since the last time I sent her something. I my last e-mail, I was very clear I needed some questions answered, but true to form, she didn't. This is just as I expected, since she is following a pattern of leading the conversation.

Scamette is still telling me that I am not getting all her e-mails and that I should check my spam folder. Unless she is trying to sell me natural male enhancement or a winning lotto ticket, I have not gotten any from her.

My county deputy friend stated that he thinks her e-mails are originally in Russian and she uses a language converter to put them in English, resulting in the scamglish e-mails I received. After examining the structure of the mails, I think he is right.

In one of the e-mails she sent, she indicated that she can get all the necessary documents to allow her entry into the US, but money would be a problem, hinting (but not directly asking) that she wanted me to send her some. However, being a poor dumb country boy, I did not catch that.

Scamette also states (in the same e-mail) that if she comes to visit me, everyone will like her. I am glad she is so modest. She really has all the traits a poor naive person would be looking for.

She asks me if I like to dance (I already said I did...Cindy Sue can cut a rug...) and tells me that as a child she danced in front of a mirror. Awww, ain't that precious? My heart is melting. {smirk}

Today I received another e-mail (the second I have not responded to) informing me that it is her birthday (she turns 27 today...she better hurry and land her a husband, she is getting old). I sent her an e-mail birthday card, just to string her along a bit. She plans on spending the day with girlfriends, but wishes she was spending it me. Scamette is so romantic.

Scamette tells me that she is sending all her e-mails to me from the computer in a library near her work place. I see that she is too poor to own a PC and internet access but has plenty of money for all the nice clothes she models in her pictures. Glad to see she has her priorities in order.

All of this scamming inspired me to write a parody called, "The Hook". It is based on "The Look", by Roxette. If you care to read it, go here.

Oh, I know someone will ask so...the video is just to be used as a reference for the song. Turn the volume down, so you only here the music and read the modified lyrics.

Sympathy For The (Scammer) Devil

Outside the people who read my blog (btw, thank you for reading), I have told very few people about my exploits with the Scamette. The few I have told have responded in ways from complete hysteria to sympathy. Not sympathy for me, but for the scammer.

Yes, you read that correctly.

One of the guys at work, "Larry" came in to my office the other day, right after I got done telling my TL about Scamette. Larry had his customary cup of thick strong, black coffee and plopped down in the spare chair we have for guests.

"What's so funny?" he asks. My TL is still snickering and doesn't say anything. I am not sure he can really...he is snickering pretty hard.

"Want a Russian girlfriend, Larry (Larry is European, but he has been in the US for 15 years or so)?"

"What?"

I then begin to explain to him what I am doing. He looks at me and says, "That's cruel."

My jaw hits the floor. "Cruel?" I ask.

"Yes, cruel. Taking advantage of a poor foreign person like that."

He was not joking. He honestly thinks that it is perfectly acceptable for people to attempt to scam other out of money or even harm them physically, but it is not okay to waste their time by "baiting" the scammers. This is what society has become...sympathetic for criminals.

My new neighbor across the street summed it up nicely:

Prisons are full of murderers, rapists, thieves, etc. Most of which are guilty and their crimes horrific. Put a pedophile in prison and all of a sudden the inmates think their crimes pale to those of that pedophile. I am not saying any one is better or worse than the other, but why is it that all of a sudden, there is a moral code in prison and pedophiles are the bottom of the food chain? However, I digress.

I tell Larry that before he judges me, he needs to understand what is actually happening:

Some group rents an office or an apartment in an inconspicuous place (in Europe or Africa) and furnishes it with 10-12 PC's with satellite internet access. They then hire one 18-26 year old person per PC to correspond with men (and women as well) in hopes that they can scam money from them. The payout for the young person is 10-15% of the take.

The scammer steals photos (usually of very attractive people) from photo sharing web sites and uses them to lure their mark in. If the person is naive enough, they may send money to the scammer or the scam may include getting the person to go to Russia or Nigeria where they will be robbed or even killed. This has happened.

"But El Gee, no one believes those things...everyon knows they are bogus!"

Not everyone. The web is full of stories of people who were ripped off by Russian, Brazilian, and Nigerian romance scams. It is big business and people fall for it. Evil people with evil intentions are hiding in the dark waiting for the right opportunity to pounce.

Consider me a spot light.

I have no sympathy for the people perpetrating these acts. I have friends that while they have not been ripped off, are lonely enough to possibly fall for something like this. I hope they read this.

Larry still thinks I am cruel but I do not care what he thinks. Yes I know some people think this is a huge waste of time and it is easier to delete than reply and bait. However, it is not about time. It is about people. Good people being targeted by cold heartless people hiding behind the pictures of pretty people.

Let's Talk About Sex (But Not Online)

I guess my scamette's subtle hinting for money was not working so she goes straight for the jugular...she wants to talk sex face to face but not via e-mail. Wow, an old fashioned scammer girl...I am touched. She has made it very clear she wants to leave mother Russia and is willing to live in sin with a man to do it. And to think, she started out sounding so wholesome...

Scamette sent two more photos, but she messed up and sent one that she had already sent before. I guess keeping all the scams she straight that she is running is pretty difficult. I also noticed that she never replies to the e-mail I send her...she always sends a new one. I am not sure what the significance of that is, but I am curious.

She had made a comment about me not answering some of her e-mails and that I should check my spam folder for them. I was not sure what she meant by that, because I had nothing in my spam folder from her. Then I realized (after I went through all her e-mails) that two of the e-mails were delivered out of order. Ahh...that makes sense.

I have been sending her pictures of "my" ranch, "my" ranch helpers (I hint that they are gay, but she has not commented on that), "my" black mother, "me" running on with a prosthetic leg, "my" dogs, "my" horse and my favorite one...a picture of a pig that I told my scammer that I named after her. Here is what she said about that:

"I have been very surprised when you have informed that you have named one pig in my honour. I am very happy to this. I hope, that it is the most beautiful pig."

I have noticed that the scammer rarely answers any of my questions (albeit pretty silly questions). I guess this is normal since they goal is for the scammer to get to know me.

The two guys who I BCC every e-mail to are rolling after every one. I cannot wait until this is over with so I can publish all the e-mails in chronological order, with the pics I sent her, on the web.

Freakin' hilarious.

Tell Me What You Want

Well, my corny e-mails to the scammer have not stopped her/him from continuing correspondence. She has informed me that her name is "Tatayana Sorokina", but I can tell you the pictures are not hers, they belong to this woman.

I have a friend in law enforcement who is aware of my exploits and he says the ploy used by my little scammer is the classic "bar room stripper" shake down:

* She wants to see what your worth
* She wants a phone or face to face to prove you are real.
* She wants to do this without having to use sex directly but will if she has too.
* She needs more personal information about you to help her get a plan of attack on you.
* She will send you a list of thinks she likes to do/eat/read/etc... but she will not give strong opinions and will have two choices like --- I like rock music but listen to country when I'm in the mood. You would respond by telling her what you like in music and she will magically be convinced by you that your kind of music is now her favorite too.

I guess we shall see.

By the way, she stated in her last e-mail that she did not have an apartment. Does she look like she is homeless to you?

She also is interested in travel, possibly to Turkey. Somehow I do not think she would fit in very well there.

Of course she is playing the "I want to be a good wife and mother" card pretty hard. I guess it seems natural for her to do that since I am not portraying a playboy type.

More info on her:

* Nicks used : Maria, Mashka, Marra, Tanya Sorokina
* E-mail addresses used: marrra1@yandex.ru, marrra@list.ru, mari33lo@rambler.ru, sorokina.tanya@gmail.com, tanysha.love@gmail.com, belletanya@gmail.com
* IP addresses used: 217.107.237.205, 207.226.45.246, or 207.226.45.254
* Resides in Mari El Russia, but says she is from Vologda, Sokol, Russia
* The pictures are stolen from a model named "Malvina"
* Read the Wiki entry for organized crime in Mari El
* The first e-mail (from Outlook Express) was from "Tatyana" but all the rest (Gmail) are from "Tanya".

I am not going to post any more pics since I have linked to the web page that hosts all of them, but I will keep you posted...

Burn, Baby, Burn

"That is possible in the last letter you have not understood my expression. I wished to speak, that it will be pleasant to me to receive sunburn with you on seacoast and to float together with you."

Yep, that is my idea of a fun time...floating on the coast, getting sun burned.

My little Russian scammer sent that to me today. Her Scamglish is getting easier to read (maybe I am just used to it) and she is showing signs of modesty:

"I try to send you a photo in each letter. I have already touched all photos in an album. But the majority of my photos are made in it to year. I shall send certainly to you different photos. But a photo in bikini or intimate photos. I shall not send you. I hope, that you do not take offence at it."

I would have thought that she would have caught on by now, but maybe scammers really are stupid. I have sent pictured of "my" ranch, dogs, ranch hands, me, my mom, and my two best friends. The stories I wrap around the pictures are enough to make my con-conspirators laugh...I take that as a compliment.

"El Gee, why waste all the time on a scammer?"

If I was not "baiting Skippy", I would be writing and to be honest, writing the e-mails to the scammer is much more fun than writing short stories. Maybe one day, I will put this in my memoirs.

The Hook

Well, after 5 e-mails, my little Russian scammer is hinting she needs $100:

"When that I wished to move to live to Moscow. But I understand, that it for me would be difficult, because rent of an apartment costs there expensively. And it is very far. It about 1000 kilometers. And the ticket costs about 100 dollars. Probably it for you is not a lot of, but to me for this money to have to work about half of month."

Notice she tells me the distance in metric, but uses American currency when she hints at what she wants.

One thing I notice about this is that she uses a Gmail account, but she is never logged on to Gmail. Obvsiously she is using an e-mail client... the header info would lead me to believe she is using Microsoft Outhouse Express:

X-Mailer: Microsoft Outlook Express 6.00.2600.0000
X-MimeOLE: Produced By Microsoft MimeOLE V6.00.2600.0000
Received: from COMP1 (nat.spectrumsat.net [207.226.45.254])

Of course all her e-mails are in Scamglish, but they are mostly readable. She has already told me that I am her friend and that she wishes we could lay out on the beach together. Gag.

Stay posted.

Too Fast For (Tanysha) Love, Part 2

I feel a little guilty. Not a lot mind you, bit a little. A while back, a Russian scammer sent me an e-mail (which I blogged about) and I entertained the thought of toying with her, but gave up. Well, she contacted me again using the same format as before. Since I knew it was a scam, I decided to play along. She sent the same pictures (below) and after I sent her a response, she sent me more. I am sure I am going to have a ton of pics before this is over.

This has been going on for about 4 days now. "Tanysha" has been pretty predictable by writing to me once a day or so. As with most con artists, she/he is pretty skilled at getting info, but I have not given anything that is real. What I have done was create a cowboy personae to feed her/him. I have redneck friends, live on a ranch, and have two Latino ranch hands. I even served in Iraq during Desert Storm.While I am sure that my charade will fall through soon enough, I plan on having fun while I can. If I can waste enough of the scammers time, maybe they will get the idea. I wonder how many people get taken for a ride by the romance scams each year?

The scammer, "Tanysha", has asked me a lot about my family, friends, and my life as well as for pictures. If you read the scammer's e-mails closely, you will she/he NEVER answers any of the questions I ask. That is a great sign that this is really a scam.

According to A Romance Scam Busting Web Site, the scammer is hijacking are the pictures of a model from here. The funny thing is in her e-mails she keeps telling be (in "scamglish") how hard she has had it, but anyone who is thinking could see she the subject of the photos is not wanting for anything.

This is not the only Russian scammer to e-mail me. I had one other that was bold an sent me pictures with the intro "hook" e-mail. She was not a stunner (as a matter of fact she was kinda plain) but she was not in Russia. She had a US IP...and that is a little to close for El Gee.

Anyhoo, Rycherox and Knightmare Duck are BCC'd on every e-mail so if anything does happen to me, at least they have copies of IP addresses and what is said. I like to be prepared.

Calling Doctor Love

All the Russian ladies want me. I have had 3 different women e-mail me...this is just too funny. All three of there names start with "Ta" (Tanysha, Tatyana, and Tatanya). Going through my mail has never been more fun!

Odd thing is that Gmail does not recognize them as spam...so it would appear that they are sent to just one e-mail address at a time.

Too Fast For (Tanysha) Love

Okay, I am giggling to myself. I am giggling because SPAM, while annoying, is funny sometimes.

The other day I got an e-mail (in my generic catch all account) from "tanysha dot love at gee mail dot com". The way it was worded made me believe that it was sent to me by mistake, so I responded to the sender and told them so...nothing more, nothing less. The next day I received another e-mail in the same account with three words in the body, "Your Feet Stink". Thinking that this was a joke from the BSOB boys, I responded with, "You Hurt My Feelings". Again, nothing more, nothing less.

A few days go by and I get a long e-mail (with photos!) of "Tanysha", who lives in Russia, likes Italian food, hates Uzbeki food, and enjoys playing billiards (proven by photo). The e-mail is in "broken" English and reads like a bad Babelfish translation. In the e-mail, she tells me she wants to know more about me, my likes and my dislikes, my full name and a phone number. I realized at this point BSOB was not playing a joke on me but this was a scam. This type of scam is common but I have never gotten any like this before. Most of "date mails" are ads for adult web sites or adult dating...and I have no idea why I get them...but not to worry, the SPAM filters do their job well. I did a little research and have found that the "Russian singles" scam preys on lonely men (strike one) who are looking for love in a foreign land. Some of these scammers only take money. They usually have a man (a big strong Ruskie) waiting in the wings to help muscle money if offers of sex and attention are not enough to elicit cash. Some people have been kidnapped or even killed over this.

I had initially thought of playing along but for safety's sake, I chose not to. When I did an IP trace, it was obvious that the person was in the US, working behind a router in a home or an office. If the person was in the US, it would be too easy for them to "come a calling" and hurt my family. If I were single and had the backing of my BSOB brethren,I might have played along. I have done so with the Nigerian scammers a few times, only because they are not local and the odds of them wasting money to fly to the US to find me are slim. if the scam originates in the US (I always check IP's), I ignore it.

A point on the phone number. In the e-mail she sent me, she told me her phone was broken, but wanted my phone number to call me. With the rapidly growing use of IP telephony (Skype, etc), scammers can spoof any phone number and ANI code they want...making a trace very difficult. If you are going to "bait the scammer", PLEASE be careful.