Despite the efforts of Dr. Phil, Nancy Grace, various law enforcement officials, psychologists and sociologists, to warn women about the consequences of romance scams on the Internet, a surprising number of senior women are still sending their life savings to foreign men on dating sites who pretend to be in love with them. You would think senior women would be too smart for this, but apparently the desperation to be told they are attractive and loved overrides any common sense the women may have. And sometimes men are victims of similar scams. The romance scams have become so prevalent the romance scammers have been given the slang name of “Catfish” to distinguish them from other types of scams. Red flags that identify foreign catfish are: 1. The Catfish uses poor English. This doesn’t mean the occasional misspelled word or usual incorrect grammar we are all familiar with. It means a word or phrase that is so out of place it is unusual and appears to be from someone unfamiliar with the English language. 2. The Catfish is super attentive, writing every day with flattering words, love speech, and talk of marriage. The Catfish says he lives in the United States but is in a foreign country on business and can’t wait to get back to the States to meet you. 3. One disaster after another befalls the Catfish in the foreign country, preventing him from getting back home to you. This may be an emergency hospitalization, or being robbed of his passport and bank cards, or some business glitch that requires an immediate sum of money. 4. The Catfish asks you to demonstrate your trust in him by sending him money to cover all these emergencies and he promises to pay you back the minute he gets back to the States. 5. The Catfish is using someone else’s photo on the dating site or forum he is on and his profile information is completely false. After he gets all your money you never hear from him again and he is impossible to trace. Widow women and some men send hundreds of thousands of dollars to these Catfish each year and neither the money nor the Catfish are ever seen again.
I didn’t know about the catfish as you call it but I do know women in the USA spend thousands of dollars on legit agencies who promise to match ladies with their soulmate.
It's amazing that women and men are still gullible enough to fall for that. It must be awful to be that lonely.
Yup. And some American men do the overseas bride thing. Never in my wildest dreams did I leaf through a J.C. Whitney catalogue and think to my self "This would be a great way to order a wife."
This caught my eye because I once read an article saying that those emails saying "Your Nigerian uncle has died and left you $100,000 but I need $2,000 to process the paperwork" are intentionally written in poor English. It seems that writing these things in poor English weeds out people who might think a properly written communication is legit, but eventually astute people will smell a rat and then bail on the scam...this wastes the scammer's time. So these things are written so that only the gullible will reply in the first place...it's a [cynical] filter of sorts.
I just saw this thread and thought maybe a new way to cook and spice catfish. I would have been surprised that this thread was about online dating scams had my fake grandniece not warned me about the catfishers even though I had no intention or interest in online dating. They must have got the name for such a scam from the southern boys that wade out in muddy water and stick their hands and arms in a catfish's mouth. According to my savvy fake grandniece, the catfisher may be any age, either sex, and either domestic or foreign.
I don't want to drag this off-topic, but there are a ton of these elderly scams. Public floggings are in order.
Exactly what I thought, too, and was going to move it to food (or fishing hobbies) until I actually looked to see what it was about. Title is appropriately adjusted for better understanding of topic now, @Faye Fox .
Still fortunate enough to have hubby, don't know how I could live without him. Loneliness can lead people to make mistakes, so sad.
I was single for quite a few years before meeting hubby in 1986 I’m glad it was in the years before the internet really took off. We married a year after meeting ,he’s a year younger than me, but I’d he fell off the perch before me there would be not be anyone else. I’ve watched Dr phill shows where mature women have freely given their life saving to these crooks OMG I’d smell a rat as soon as I was asked for money let alone mortgage my home and give my life savings away. There was a man from where I live lost lotsa $$$+ after he traveled to Russia. He was kidnapped by the scammers when he got off the plane on the false pretence he was being taken to his 30 year old “bride” ( he was 60+ ) he had to be rescued by the Australian government cause he had all his money take out of the bank and he had no way of getting home.
Fell off the perch before you?????? LOL!!!!!!! I have never heard that!!! You little lovebirds... Oh my goodness, I am saving that one for the next appropriate occasion!!! Regarding that 60 year old man...the Russians have this stuff down to a fine science. There seems to be a degree of ruthlessness/cynicism to the fine art of love there. And I feel bad when I get used for an expensive dinner...