|
He sounds like someone you might want to take home to meet your parents.
An honest man with a good job- who wants a good, honest woman to be his soul mate.
Someone you know may be dating this guy right now - online- and he's got quite a plan- because he's not just one guy, he's dozens of guys, sitting in a room with a script- cashing in on romantic gullibility.
"He says he's from LA. He is a single man, raising his daughter- who is 12-years-old," says Krystene Tucker.
The single mother in Mukilteo wasn't even looking for romance, when a mystery man named Redden sought her out in an internet chat room.
He sent a picture and struck up a friendship. He said he was in the import-export business and traveled a lot. His 12-year-old daughter traveled with him.
"I wasn't suspicious in the beginning," she said.
Krystene says He quickly moved in- from friendship to romance to a crisis-
"Krystene- I really need your help. Can you just do this one favor for me?" My client needs to send me a check."
He gave her some convoluted but weakly believable story about being stuck in Nigeria with no way to cash the check. His "client" would mail it to Krystene.
"I would be depositing that check in my account, taking that cash and then going to Western Union and wiring that money to him. At this point I knew it was a scam and so I was looking to get something - proof of what he wanted done."
So she gave him a fake address and put on her detective hat. Searching the internet, she discovered Redden was using someone else's picture. A man who probably has no idea his photo is being used by scammers- not just once, but multiple times. Redden, is also James and at least half a dozen other men with the same picture. He doesn't live in LA. He doesn't have a daughter.
It's the newest evolution of the Nigerian money scam. Instead of sending spam sob stories in your email - these scammers are hitting chat rooms and online dating sites, targeting women looking for romance.
They say all the things a woman wants to hear- even send gifts of flowers, chocolates and champagne.
"Redden" even went so far as to try to influence what he thought was Krystene's daughter- telling the child her mother needed to send him money to help is own daughter in a Nigerian hospital.
He didn't know it was really Krystene.
When Krystene finally called him on the scam- he was evasive, defiant, and insistant that she had the wrong idea.
Then finally, something she was not expecting- a threat.
"I know where you live. I'm going to send a hit man. I have your picture", Krystene recounts his words. "Then, he threatened my daughter." she said.
Krystene says she doesn't take the threat too seriously, but- she's not using her real name in my report- just in case.
But sadly women are falling for this scam and losing thousands of dollars in the process.
If you're communicating online with a man who wants a relationship, don't give out any personal information like your address, financial information or personal information about your family. Wait for several months, at least to find out more about them.
If they start asking for money- or for you to send them packages to Nigeria for any reason- stop talking immediately.
| 
