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With Internet romance having rapidly become one of the most likely ways to meet a future partner there are of course those people out there who are willing to use and abuse such things. Those who meet via the Internet, particularly in long distance relationships with those from distinctly different cultures, need to take that extra bit of care in protecting themselves from the very small minority that are abusing it.
A very sad case of this in Brazil recently hit international headlines. A US musician, Raymond Merrill, had got in contact with a Brazilian woman, Regina Rachid living in Sao Jose dos Campos in São Paulo state, via an undisclosed Internet dating site. Merrill had already visited Rachid in Brazil several times, lavishing gifts on her including a car, and back in April came for another trip after being begged to return by Rachid. Unbeknownst to Merrill, Rachid had been planning to rob and murder him, with the help of her actual boyfriend. Rachid managed to obtain the PIN numbers to Merrill‘s credit cards after drugging him for several days, then strangled him to death with a cable. Rachid and her boyfriend then dumped the body and burned it, in an attempt at disguising the crime.
Merrill‘s sister alerted US police after a month of frantic communication attempts with her brother, but although an investigation was launched and Merrill‘s bank accounts were found to be drained, neither the body was linked to the crime or Rachid was identified. Purely by luck Rachid was apprehended in São Paulo when committing another robbery in June, and Merrell‘s credit card was found on her. Fortunately Brazilian police made the connection and she was arrested for the murder, and the body was exhumed for DNA tests.
Of course Internet dating scams are nothing particularly new, nor are romance related scams full stop. Rio de Janeiro is one area in Brazil, particularly in places like Ipanema and some particular bars/clubs there, where garotas de programa (prostitutes) scam arguably naive foreign men who come to Brazil for work or tourism. Although the scam is well known to Brazilians, it‘s not known at all to the foreign men who often frequent the areas. Typically the prostitutes come from poor areas of Brazil, and are desperate to escape their lifestyle. Unlike traditional methods of prostitution they will try and spend as much time with the men, being wined and dined, and then eventually suggest they get engaged, meet their family etc. The women can often be doing this between normal prostitution work, as well as meeting up with other foreigners. Of course most single men can find it hard to resist the charms of a young attractive Brazilian girl, and no doubt often can‘t believe their luck.
In terms of advice on avoiding problems, the golden rule to remember is to use common sense. If you travel to Brazil make sure friends and family know where you are and arrange to contact them regularly. Make sure they know where you are staying, and get the address and contact details of the person you‘ve arranged to meet. If they‘re less than forthcoming that should already be a warning sign. If friends and family don‘t speak Portuguese, try and find someone else in the area they can contact who speaks a suitable language as a backup. Even arrange to meet up with other foreigners so you have contacts in the local area should they be needed. Make sure you have backup plans on where to stay if there are relationship problems, and that banks and credit card companies are advised of any withdrawal limits while you‘re away. With Internet based relationships, keep an eye out for other warning signs as well, such as requests for money and gifts, or erratic and volatile behaviour. Although it can be difficult in the initial throes of a relationship, try and take a step back and think about whether you feel things are making sense.
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