Gorgeous People in Trouble - The Damsel in Distress
Gorgeous People in Trouble – The Damsel in Distress
The Setup: An American man meets an alleged American woman through an online dating service. After a successful online courtship, the two agree to meet. However, before they do, she must travel to Nigeria to attend to some important personal business. While in Nigeria, she befalls an unexpected tragedy. She is now feeling lonely and vulnerable, and is counting on him to help her through this difficult time.
The Tragic Circumstances: The traveler allegedly becomes a victim of a violent crime, and is robbed of all of her belongings. The manager at the hotel where she is staying has seized her passport and is refusing to allow her to leave the premises until she pays her outstanding bill. Alternatively, her mother who was accompanying her on the trip has suddenly fallen ill. She is unable to pay for the unexpected expenses, and needs assistance taking care of the hospital bill. Often, she claims that she has contacted the U.S. Embassy, but has been refused help.
The Expected Payoff: If he is sympathetic and assists her through her sudden crisis, the boyfriend stands to gain a large degree of gratitude from the young lady. If all goes well, her gratitude for his emotional support will translate, he hopes, into significant goodwill and affection from her when they finally meet.
The Financial Catch: Part 1: Eventually her needs change from emotional support to financial assistance. The tragedy that befell her entails monetary costs – she must pay the hotel bill or take care of hospital fees before she can return to see her new beau. The financial needs range from $500 for the hotel bill to $2,000 for the hospital. The unfortunate traveler ends up having serious problems on her way to America. Even after her American boyfriend pays her visa fees and contributes several hundred dollars toward her plane ticket, there are still many more unforeseen expenses.
Part 2: She discovers the Nigerian government has a requirement that all departing Nigerian citizens must prove that they have sufficient funds for travel. This requirement – called the “Basic Travel Allowance” (BTA) – means that the traveler must have the equivalent of $1,000 US Dollars before Nigerian immigration officials allow her to leave the country.
Part 3: To make matters worse, when she finally overcomes all the Nigerian bureaucratic hurdles – thanks to the boyfriend’s largesse – she has trouble in transit. During her stopover at Heathrow International Airport in London, she is allegedly detained by British Immigration authorities who believe her visa to be fake. Now she needs additional funds to pay a fine before embarking for America.
The Emotional Catch: In an effort to move the on-line relationship forward, the scam artist is quick to identify herself as the victim’s “girlfriend,” or even “fiancée,” some times with promises of marriage as soon as she can return from Nigeria.
The Bottom Line: The above-described scenario is particularly effective because it is not random spam, but is targeted at a specific victim. This scam has innumerable variations. Sometimes the young woman – or man, in some cases — in distress claims to be an
International Financial Scams - February 2007 Page 4 of 24
American self-employed businessman, or Nigerian-American (thus the need to return to Nigeria for family reasons), a British citizen, but occasionally not even American at all. Sometimes victims hear from a Nigerian “doctor” who claims to be treating the victim’s friend. Often the victim claims to have been kidnapped in the Niger Delta (oil-producing region). What all the alleged unlucky travelers to Nigeria have in common, of course, is that they are all very attractive, and they all need money. Women become victims in about 20% of the cases. The scam artist may not even be the same gender as his/her on-line identity. Some victims speak on the phone with their on-line friend/scammer. In rare cases, a few victims have stated that they had already met their on-line correspondent in person once or twice; other aspects of the scam remain identical.
In all, the American citizen victim can lose any or all of the following: $200 for visa fees, $800 for supplementing the plane ticket, $1,000 to supply the BTA [ requirement that no longer exists], and $500 for the fine at Heathrow.
Given the amount of time and effort spent by the perpetrator laying the groundwork, many American victims have trouble believing they are being scammed. Victims often report that they had been corresponding with the love interest (a-k-a scammer) for several months, and only grudgingly recognize the scam for what it is after an American consular officer makes them aware of the economic realities of life in Nigeria.
Victims of this scam should notify the administrators of the dating website that was used.
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