If you're considering searching for a lovely foreign lady, this will be the most important article you ever read!
FROM A RUSSIAN NEWS SITE:
"The scam was wonderfully simple. On the Internet were placed photos of beautiful girls that were claiming to look for foreign husbands. Gullible grooms were sending future wives from Yoshkar-Ola money for travel expenses. And this was the end of the correspondence.
"A citizen of USA applied to the Ministry of Home Affairs complaining that a Russian woman received from him more than 2000 US Dollars in a fraudulent way", - says the press-secretary of the Ministry of Home Affairs, Anatoly Platonov.
After receiving numerous complaints detectives of the department "K" arrested 4 people in Yoshkar-Ola. The most interesting thing is that it was not the women that were corresponding with foreign men but 2 guys. The "beauties" were only to receive the money transfers. They were paid $50 for receiving each transfer."
How Does This Happen?
Imagine an internet site that lures unsuspecting men, interested in meeting a gorgeous Russian pen-pal or fiancée, into posting their profile for a minimal fee, promising they'll be seen by the thousands of women who also subscribe to the service. Someone, perhaps you, will figure for $10, you can get great results and avoid those costly Romance Tour services which tell you time and again you must travel to meet the women in order for the process to work. You've got a tight schedule, and you hate to waste thousands of dollars when you can get the same results for only posting a $10 profile! So you bite…
Almost immediately the responses pour in. "Hello Dear !" They will say, "I saw your profile and handsome pictures on "Scam_You_Out_Of_Your_Money.com" and couldn't wait to write." "This is great!" you think, "So much response for a $10 ad!" So many letters! After several weeks, Tatiana talks about her mother's poor health and not being able to pay for medicines - but she doesn't mean to trouble you with that! No - she would rather talk about her dream of intense love last night with a mysterious stranger who fits your basic description and speaks with a foreign accent. From all your pen-pals Tatyana emerges as the front-runner, as her letters and photos become more and more revealing.
Ultimately you decide you are cursed for having met the woman of your dreams (just your luck - she lives in Russia) and you may never get the chance to meet! But the Love-Gods have smiled on you, as Tatiana writes one day that her sister's neighbor owns a travel agency that works directly with…could it be…the US EMBASSY in Moscow! And she can get Tatyana a tourist visa into the US! Never mind that you've never met, never kissed, never cuddled…you'll quickly take care of that when she arrives, she says! But wait! One problem - the visa costs $500…and then there is the airfare, $1000…she will have to buy a round-trip ticket of course because they won't let her leave the country without a way of getting back, right? Then there is her Grandma, who needs Tatyana's income to pay for medicines. And it's more money than she makes in a year…so maybe you could send the money to her, and here's the Western Union address, and her personal info. Of course, she will understand if you can't send the money or think it's too soon. It seems a pity, to have found the one girl you have always dreamed of, and to let the chance to be together slip by…
So off you go to the Western Union, and unload $1500 for the visa and airfare, and another $500 for her Grandmother's medicines so Grandma will be ok while Tatyana is gone. And you send Tatyana the Westrern Union transaction number. A few days later she has the visa, and sends you a copy of it in your email! But the Embassy, she says, tells her she will not be allowed to leave the country without money to live on while she is here. Please send her another $500, same Western Union address, etc, etc. You're so close now, what's another $500, right? After all, she did get the visa, right? So off you go to the Western Union for another quick transaction…
And you never hear from Tatyana again.
What's even worse? Tatyana was probably not Tatyana - but Boris, a Russian man, writing you letters while sitting at his kitchen table in his underwear drinking beer and laughing…at YOU! (see above news-story!)
YOU HAVE BEEN SCAMMED!
A large number of the men who receive this newsletter, will have lived this exact scenario in recent months, or may be getting set up to live it shortly! A Foreign Affair's scam counselors receive calls almost daily from men who have unwittingly fallen prey to the so called "visa-scam." As the international leader of Internet based Introduction and Marriage Services, we want this alarming trend to stop! But if it's going to stop - we're going to have to deal with the issue frankly.
Who's Really To Blame?
While it's tempting to place the blame for getting scammed on the whole internet match-making business as a whole, or on those unscrupulous people who post fake profiles and then troll the web-sites looking for gullible guys - the real blame lies with us men!! Why? The answer isn't very digestible, but it is true: We fail to operate from the ageless, timeless understanding of: YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR!
As Americans, we are the worst in believing we can buy whatever we want. Even love over the internet! We're real suckers for the fantasy marketing that so many International Dating Sites are guilty of! How many times have you read the words "Mail-Order Brides!" We're sure Russian women are so desperate, they will leave their families, come half way around the world, love and marry a man they have never met, and just be thankful every day to have a roof over their heads and clothes on their backs - and it's all possible through placing a $10 add on Yahoo or Kiss.com! Do you see where this is going? WE can be our own worst enemy in this process.
A scam doesn't have to be for a large sum of money. Some women (and guys named Boris,) will find it easier to convince 5 or 6 different guys to send her $50 each month to "cover the costs of correspondence." Sincere Russian and Ukrainian women choose to write to only a few guys at a time, because time just doesn't allow otherwise, and they wouldn't ask for money to cover correspondence - it's not that expensive, and asking for money in this culture is real taboo. Don't fall for this more subtle type of scam!
The fact is, THERE ARE THOUSANDS OF SINCERE, LOVELY, KIND LADIES IN RUSSIA, UKRAINE AND LATIN-AMERICA WHO WOULD TRULY LOVE TO MEET A ROMANTIC, GENTLE, FAITHFUL FOREIGN MAN. AND THERE ARE GOOD HONEST INTRODUCTION SERVICES WAITING TO INTRODUCE YOU TO THEM. AND IF YOU REALLY WANT TO MEET A FOREIGN LADY, FALL IN LOVE, GET ENGAGED AND MARRIED AND LIVE HAPPILY EVER AFTER, YOU CAN DEFINITELY DO IT - BUT THERE IS ONE REALITY YOU CANNOT ESCAPE:
YOU HAVE TO GO TO MEET HER!
I met my lovely wife, Viktoria, on an A Foreign Affair Romance Tour, face to face, and knew instantly I had met a very sincere and terrific person - who was incredibly ATTRACTIVE! We corresponded, got engaged, married - and I did NOT get scammed! This would not have happened if I had never traveled with AFA!
With the onslaught of Russian-Bride and dating services that sell and resell addresses without any knowledge of whether those profiles are current, or if the women are even still available - how do you know which web-site is legit? How do you avoid getting scammed? Here's our advice:
AVOID GETTING SCAMMED!
1. Don't try to find love on the cheap! You may save money up front with a $10 personal ad, but you will waste a lot more after months of correspondence with less than sincere women…or men! YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR.
2. Be realistic about love. Accept that while friendship can begin through correspondence, love takes time and interaction to build! BEWARE of women who claim to be developing feelings for you before you have even met. Russian and Ukrainian women are very practical, and DO NOT profess love before you've met!
3. Be prepared to travel. Start with the assumption that if you are going to succeed, you are going to have to travel to another country. And when you travel, go to meet more than one lady! This is the topic of a future newsletter!
4. USE AN AMERICAN INTRODUCTION SERVICE THAT CONDUCTS ROMANCE TOURS! Why American? Because they are at least somewhat accountable to you as an American consumer. Check their history with the Better Business Bureau, ask them for referrals of men who have succeeded through their services! Using such a service will not protect you from getting good advice and not listening to it, but you can at least call them and talk about that information. Why Romance Tours? Many dating services post profiles and sell addresses with NO guarantees for accuracy, and no protection from scams! If the company actually conducts travel to the cities from where their profiles are posted, chances are they have met a lot of the ladies personally, and can be trusted with information about profiles and cultures.
**IMPORTANT NOTE: TOURSIT VISAS ARE NEXT TO IMPOSSIBLE TO ACQUIRE FOR YOUNG SINGLE WOMEN FROM THE FORMER SOVIET UNION. THIS INCLUDES RUSSIA AND UKRAINE! THE US EMBASSIES IN MOSCOW, ST. PETERSBURG AND KIEV ARE THE ONLY BODIES THAT CAN ISSUE THE VISA, AND THEY ARE DOING SO WITH ABOUT 1% OF ALL APPLICANTS. THERE ARE NO TRAVEL SERVICES THAT CAN ACQUIRE THE VISA FOR A GIRL - THIS IS A SCAM! A US VISA CAN BE SCANNED INTO PHTOSHOP, AND THE DATES CHANGED TO LOOK REAL - THE EMBASSIES OR CUSTOMS OFFICIALS DO NOT CARE IF A LADY LEAVING RUSSIA OR UKRAINE HAS A ROUND-TRIP TICKET, OR MONEY FOR TRAVEL EXPENSES. THIS IS ALWAYS A SCAM!
CALL A FOREIGN AFFAIR (800) 576-3367 EXT 220 BUD PATTERSON, OR 203 JOHN ADAMS WITH YOUR QUESTIONS OR CONCERNS.
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