Online Dating Scammers Using Stolen Images

The Early Show: Emerging Form Of ID Theft Can Leave Women Brokenhearted, And Much Lighter In Wallet

(CBS)  Thieves are stealing faces to ply their trade. Well -- pictures of faces posted online, anyhow.

The crooks, based in Nigeria for the most part, use the swiped images in Internet scams. They try to bilk people looking for love, frequently breaking hearts along the way, adding hurt to monetary injury, reports Early Show consumer correspondent Susan Koeppen in part two of her three-part series, "Early on the Case: Stolen Identities."

Koeppen spoke with a man whose picture has become a favorite of online scammers. They claim his image is that of someone whose identity they create for online dating sites. When women looking for love contact the "person," they're eventually asked to send money to help him out. All too often, Koeppen reports, the victims do just that.

She also chatted with two women taken in by such fraud, and an expert on preventing it, then offered suggestions on caution flags that might alert you to such a scheme.

To see Koeppen's report, click here.

[gop_will_win]

These liberal faminists are good at making themselves victims. They should try to find rich successful men who will take care of them as God intended.

[rf35]

Any fool who would send money to that ugly mug deserves to get bilked.

[ybotheratall]

Who in the name of idiocy would send MONEY to someone they''ve never met at an online dating site? You cannot possibly expect ANYONE to have sympathy for someone so blatantly stupid. I''ll be they think that a dead king''s son is also sending $8,000,000 US dollars to their bank account after they receive their account numbers, name and social security. Dumb people in this world. Does ANYONE believe the photos on those pathetic sites?

[cricketmk3]

Even if a woman thinks a guy is good looking on a dating site, why would she send him money? If I ever go on a website looking for a date, the first thing I''ll check out is his income. Maybe it''s a lie and maybe not (I''ll verify) but I would never want to date a man who needed MY money no matter what he looks like!

[getoffmine1]

someone should send anthrax. that would teach them.

[observer2020]

gop_will_win...thanks for the hearty laugh. I find your posts absolutely hilarious. How do you keep coming up with the refuse that continuously comes out of your keyboard?

Being lonely (and in some cases desperate) will make anyone believe anything if frosted with enough sugar. Personally, I do not need anyone to "take care of me"...I take care of ME, MY animals, MY house, and MY responsibilities exceedingly well, thank you very much. God helps those who help themselves. And I''ve been helping myself for a very long time and doing wonderfully. I think God would be very impressed; I never assume what God would say or what He "intends" as I have not met Him face-to-face yet and it is not my place...nor is it others.

[inventagod2]

''These liberal faminists are good at making themselves victims. They should try to find rich successful men who will take care of them as God intended.

Posted by gop_will_win at 10:19 AM : Nov 18, 2008''

I noticed your insane attempt at raising hackles failed. You would probably get farther by changing your numbnutz screen name, too. Loser.

[capba1003]

Additional signs besides poor grammar and spelling that you are being pursued by a scammer are no punctuation; poor syntax and an inconsistancies between education and degrees listed and the inability to write a sentance in English. I had this happen 3 times - all different personal sites - they thought since I was old I must be rich and maybe stupid too. Report them to the site you are on and if they give you another screen name, report them to that site also. And, they fall in love with you much too quickly. If the word Nigeria appears in any of their e-mails - you must cut off all communication.

[credibility2]

Very sad commentary that people feel compelled to rely on things like this to even date, let alone hope to find a meaningful mate. Also smacks of insecurity.

[bobnjersey]

[When women looking for love contact the "person," they''re eventually asked to send money to help him out. All too often, Koeppen reports, the victims do just that. ]

victims? they''re sending money to anonymous people they meet on the internet ... and they''re victims?

[scambuster2]

Some of you people should be ashamed to say that a person is stupid or an idiot to be scammed, I have had people contact me that are very well educated that have been scammed,there are times when the heart over rules the head. and until you walk in someones shoes you can''t talk

[scambuster2]

scammers contact women via email, telling them they saw their profile and would like to get to know them better, now you may think that every scammer uses a models picture, but that is not the fact, the facts are any picture can be stolen and used in a scam, and I have seen them all ,men holding little kids to men who look like the are just hanging out with friends, so pictures are not the whole story here, these guys are taught well in how to romance a woman, they send candy, flowers and poems, even going as far as sending money to a woman and asking she buy herself something, but after they know the woman is in love the game starts to change, ..so don''t be a fool and think it''s always the womens fault just as many men fall victim ,the only difference is that the men do not want to be embarassed so they hide it....

[bobnjersey]

[Some of you people should be ashamed to say that a person is stupid or an idiot to be scammed ... until you walk in someones shoes you can''''t talk ]
[Posted by SCAMBUSTER2 at 02:36 PM : Nov 18, 2008]

sorry ... no need for the shoes ... or the walk. what''s to be ashamed of ... stating the obvious?

providing too much personal info to anonymous people/sites on the internet is a big problem ... and those who don''t know this are obviously living in a cave ... and should stay away from the medium to avoid getting burnt.

so clearly ... sending money to anonymous people you meet on the internet is another example of ''not a smart thing to do''.

it wouldn''t even be smart to give money to someone you just met (in person) ... but don''t know very well ... if you expect to ever see the money again.

if you''re saying that love makes them stupid ... fine ... but stupid it is!

[colt8881]

I have gotten SCAM e-mails at work and at home. Some saying I have to send $$$ to release a large lump sum in my name. I have also been sent a check in the Mail from Montreal Canada asking me to cash it and send them the $$$ for a larger lump sum in my name.

If you get any of this stuff just GOOGLE the Name of the Bank or the Phone number and all kinds of info will come up. Both were scams from Africia.

I played around with one scammer & sent them a Fake Name and my Debit Card # but I had changed the last 8 digits on the card when I sent them the info. I am sure they tried to drain my account in minutes. I got an e-mail less then an hour later saying I must have made a mistake on my card number and please check my credit card and send the info again.

So I sent them my fake name again and my card number again but changed the last 2 digits on the card so it looked like I had reverded the numbers by mistake. About 3 hours later I got another e-mail with an attachment a PDF file and I am sure it was a virus they sent me. So I deleted it and sent a reply and told them they were scamers and I had been jacking with them and told them to FRACK OFF ! and typed, Hahahahahahahaa at the end with XXXXXOOOOO.

[zgriner-2009]

Ah yeah... Someone getting scammed by sending money to someone they''ve met on the Internet? How different is that from anything else you do on the Internet. Just because someone lovesick, *****, etc. does not excuse them from using their head. They''re thinking with the wrong part of their body.

[walkshe]

I have been contacted by many of these Nigerian scammers via multiple dating services. The first one became very obvious in a short amount of time. After that, it was extremely easy to spot them. The same sob story of love lost, but more than that, the way they wrote, lower case letters where they shouldn''t be, inappropriate punctuation, ect. And no....I didn''t fall for it. No money lost and no feelings hurt, other than the scammer, who didn''t make any money from me.

[egoob]

It is crazy I have got a ton of them. I love to email and watch the response

http://www.prlog.org/10130831-classified-sites-fill-with-scams-egoob-steps-in.html

[bobgee_1999]

Signs that you''re talking to a scammer are poor grammar and misspelled words? Yeah, either they''re a scammer or someone commenting on a CBS news story, babbling on YouTube or posting just about anywhere else on the Internet.

[scienceman1-2009]

I am utterly amazed at how gullible/stupid people are. I don''t even waste my time reading any mail from anyone that I don''t know period!

[kiki4short]

I met my scammer in a chat room not a dating site. We talked for several months before I realized what he really was. So you all can see scammer are not just on dating sites, they are also in chat rooms. I was fairly new to chat rooms and have met a few great friends this way. I tried chatting in rooms to meet new people as we all do. I was not looking for love, just friendship then I met him. He listened to my every word and come back with the right response. He did not come on strong and gave me my time and space and he asked about my day to day life, and shared his (what I did not know at the time) made up world with a little of his real life (basic Information). We had normal conversations just as the ones you would have with a friend. Then our past relationships came into the conversation. Then what we thought we where feeling for each other. We shared pictures and this is when it all hit the fan. From the minute I seen him pictures I started having doubt. I google his name, and email address over several sites some I ever paid for and came up with nothing. Then I searched model pictures and after several hours and days I found the picture. Con''t below

[kiki4short]

I google the name with the picture and it took me to a romance scam site where I found his email address under Robert Frost Picture. So I change my search and eventually contacted the real Robert Frost. After a few email back and forth with Robert I really realized that the man I was talking to was a scammer. Robert, from the little I know of him is a kind and patients man who life has truly been turned up side down behind all this. There is so much more damage to his life then the show showed. They asked him in this interview %u201CWhy did he think his photo was used so much%u201D. I believe I have an answer, in his photos he gives the impression of normalcy. His photos that are used are not the drop dead model type there the average Joe type, yes he looks good as good as the friend next door. The information I received was and is still so hard to swallow. You can always work and get your money back, but you can never imagine how hard it is to mend you heart after giving it so freely and completely. For you out there that criticize, may this never happen to you. I will tell you I was one of you, but now know that it%u2019s easier to criticize then to admit how far this put me in the darkest place I never thought I would find myself. This scammer has confessed all to me, and has now told me the truth but it does not make it any easer to deal with. I fight everyday to go on with my life and rebuild the wall around my heart.

[scambuster2]

wow I see so many people who think they are just so smart and can''t be scammed, ha it can happen to anyone. so don''t be so fast to put down someone who was hurt, they go through enough shame with out you passing judgement on them too.

[vizmill]

I was contacted by someone using Robert Frosts picture on myspace. I thought he was a player and didn''t respond. Thank goodness! I recognized his picture on The Morning Show right away.

[birdlady2008]

I knew him on Tagged as ADAM SMITH, Yes, talked to him. But he never got to the point of asking me for money, I knew he was a scammer, I am a victim. I know what to look out for. I talked to him just a few weeks ago. His profile is still on Tagged, but I have reported him after seeing this story. THANK YOU CBS. I have been trying to warn men and women of these people. I have done alot of research on these scammers.

[treefroggy]

If you would like to know more about Identity theft, stolen pictures or Romance Scams, please visit: www.romancescams.org

This website will leave you very educated in all these areas and more. Plus there is a group you can join to get additional help or advice.

Blessings,
Treefroggy