Russian dating scammers are
people who attempt to cheat sincere, well-meaning
men out of their money. There are great
lists of such scammers published on the
Internet and the size of these scammer lists
continues to grow. I have compiled and published
my own personal Russian dating scammers
database which contains names, aliases,
photos, letter, email addresses, street
addresses and other info which I've collected
from individuals who have attempted to scam
me personally. Russian dating scammers are
known to use multiple falsified Russian
ladies' names and aliases as well as various
street addresses and multiple email accounts.
Some of the scams are run, not from Russia,
but from other countries as well, including
the United States. As often as not, Russian
bride scammers are not actually
Russian ladies at all but rather they
are men merely posing as Russian ladies.
This Russian brides scamming activity is
not only the work of individuals working
on their own. These scams are also carried
out by groups of individuals and by "dating
agencies" which appear to be legitimate.
What Do Russian Dating Scammers Do? Back
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Russian dating scammers attempt to defraud
men out of their money by representing themselves
as beautiful young Russian ladies (or ladies
from other FSU/CIS countries). The scammers
fake having an interest in relations with
men who are typically of western countries.
Their plan is to take money from men by
feigning romantic interest in them and then
asking them for money. Initial contact is
typically made over the Internet. Scammers
typically have sets of photographs of beautiful
young Russian ladies which they use to send
along with their written online correspondence
in order to encourage response from unsuspecting
men. Typically, after a man has exchanged
a few pieces of correspondence with a scammer,
the scammer will profess love for the man
and will soon ask him for money, offering
various and sundry reasons for the request.
Do Russian Dating Scams Actually "Work"? Back
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Yes! Millions of dollars (and other currencies)
are lost to Russian Bride scammers around
the world each year. In spite of the easy
availability of ample anti-scam information,
men still continue to get scammed repeatedly
with no end in sight. Some scammers succeed
in scamming unsuspecting western men for
thousands of dollars (and other currencies)
each! Are Russian Dating Scams Illegal? Back
to TOP
As reported in a California newspaper, in
one recent Russian dating scam case (see
article #1), a man named Robert McCoy pleaded
guilty in a California County court to fraud-related
charges for his part in a scam in which
he and his wife posed as sincere Russian
ladies in correspondence with western men.
Having been convicted of fraud charges,
McCoy was sentenced (see
article #2) to five years in federal prison.
As part of a plea bargain, McCoy, who admitted
defrauding more than 250 men, agreed to
pay back his victims $737,521. The number
of Robert McCoys victims who were positively
identified was in excess of 352. Anna Grountovaia,
McCoy's wife and the mother of his 2-year-old
daughter, was sentenced to three years probation
after having served 11 months in jail. Yes!
Russian dating scams are illegal and can
result in very heavy-handed legal prosecution
against perpetrators. How Can Russian Dating Scams Be Avoided? Back
to TOP
There is no substitute for good old-fashioned
common sense. A red flag should go up when
a Russian lady professes her love over the
Internet. Typically, scammers will begin
using love-language in their correspondence
letters and will assert that they love the
person with whom they are corresponding
before much time has elapsed. This may even
start happening by the second or third piece
of correspondence. Another red flag should
go up if the Russian lady in question fails
to respond to simple and straight-forward
questions. And if the lady indicates in
her correspondence that she has no phone
and can only access the Internet by using
an Internet Caf, this should also throw
up a red flag and is and exceedingly typical
scenario with Russian dating scammers.
NOTE: Sincere Russian ladies will not ask
for money. No matter how desirable Russian
ladies seem in pictures, never send money
to somebody you've never met! No matter
how compelling Russian ladies stories may
be, never send money to somebody you've
never met! No matter how sincere Russian
ladies may seem in writing, never send money
to somebody you've never met!
Additionally: Never send money to somebody
you've never met! Russian Love In Record Time Back
to TOP
Is it true Russian love or is it just rushin'
love? If you've dealt with many Russian
dating scammers, you've likely seen plenty
of the latter. Below is an actual letter
sent to me by a Russian dating scammer.
This letter, along with accompanying photos,
email addresses, etc., is one of many in
Russian
dating scammers database. In the following
letter, the person from whom I received
it has professed her love for me after only
four letters. I have substituted my real
first name with a mock-up name (Scotty-Claus)
which I use in each of the scammers' letters
I post here. Incidentally, the name Scotty-Claus
is similar to a pet name given to me by
a sincere and lovely Russian lady I know
and I've employrd it liberally on this website
in her honor. The following is a typical
standard letter that likely gets recycled
countlessly by the Russian dating scammer
who sent it to me. I am so certain that
the person who sent it to me is a scammer
that, as of the date of this posting, I'm
still corresponding with her! Within the
next letter or two that she sends me, I
guarantee she'll be asking me for money!
Check it out... Does she sound like this? After only
four or five letters?... Back
to TOP
Hello my kitten Scotty-Claus!
As always, I am very glad to your letter!
I think, you not against, that I have named
you a kitten, only do not take offence It
I wanted to name you as it is possible more
tenderly. Girlfriends speak, that I became
absent-minded, speak, that I have fallen
in love I do not know what to answer it,
because I do not want that they were deceived,
but it seems to me, that I have already
found the male of the dream, and this is
a male - you! So it seems to me, what you
too to like me, or it not so? Tell me please,
it should be mutual, and I very much would
like, that the our love was mutual! I do
not know how it explain, but you like me
very much, also your letters bring to me
great pleasure. In your letters so many
heat and cares, that it forces my heart
to beat faster and on this, my feelings
to you grows many times over and if further
so will proceed my feelings will leave from
under the control and I can not live without
you. But I am very much concerned with that
if I shall love you you will not to feel
those feelings, which I am to feel to you.
I want, that these feelings were mutual
and we could enjoy our love. Yes though
I and hesitate slightly, but I should you
tell all: I LOVE YOU ! I with alarm in heart
shall wait for your answer, but now my soul
has calmed down I have stated that at me
was on soul!
I love you!
Your Irina
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= = Man Pleads Guilty To Russian Ladies Scam Back
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The San Diego Union Tribune
April 8, 2004
Lonely-hearts scam on Internet results in
couple's guilty pleas
Nonexistent Russian women were the bait
By Marisa Taylor
STAFF WRITER
April 8, 2004
A San Bernardino County man pleaded guilty
yesterday to using the Internet to dupe
more than 250 men into shelling out money
for Russian wives and girlfriends who didn't
exist.
Robert McCoy, 40, admitted in U.S. District
Court in San Diego that he and his wife
used the Internet for at least two years
to pose as Russian women seeking companionship.
The couple would strike up online romances
with unsuspecting men and then ask for money
to travel to the United States to meet them,
according to his plea agreement filed in
federal court.
In a separate guilty plea, his wife, Anna
Grountovaia, admitted she persuaded four
San Diego men to wire $1,850 each. The victims
sent the money to a fictitious Russian dating
agency, believing it would pay for the women's
visas and travel expenses.
BACK TO TOP McCoy also solicited money from
the victims by claiming the women needed
$1,500 in cash to meet the requirements
of a new U.S. Customs Service policy.
Authorities believe the scheme netted at
least $1 million and may have involved other
people in Russia or Ukraine.
McCoy faces up to five years in prison and
a $250,000 fine at his June 22 sentencing.
Prosecutors, however, have agreed as part
of Grountovaia's plea agreement to ask a
federal judge to sentence her to only a
year in prison.
Grountovaia is originally from Russia and
could be deported as a result of her guilty
plea. The couple, who have a 2-year-old
child, remain married despite their legal
troubles, their attorneys said.
U.S. officials began investigating the couple
after a Baltimore man tipped off a London
newspaper about the scheme.
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= = = Prison Sentence For Russian Ladies Scammer Back
to TOP
The San Diego Union Tribune
Man gets prison for role in Russian bride
scheme
By Onell R. Soto
UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER
June 23, 2004
A San Bernardino County man was sentenced
to five years in federal prison yesterday
for cheating men out of more than $1 million
in a Russian bride scam.
The sentence was imposed from an April plea
bargain in which Robert McCoy, 40, of Rancho
Cucamonga admitted defrauding more than
250 men and agreed to pay back his victims
$737,521. Prosecutors dropped other charges.
Investigators positively identified 352
victims, but there may be more, said San
Diego-based federal prosecutor Richard Cheng.
Anna Grountovaia, 32, McCoy's wife and the
mother of his 2-year-old daughter, was sentenced
to three years probation after having served
11 months in jail.
Grountovaia, a Russian who met McCoy through
the Internet before moving into his home,
said she posed as a prospective bride in
telephone calls with some of the victims,
including several San Diego men. She pleaded
guilty to fraud and may be deported.
She met him after the scam was already under
way and didn't play a big part in the scam,
filling in when he needed a woman with a
Russian accent, her lawyer said.
Most of the victims spoke with women in
Russia, lawyer Timothy Scott said in court
papers.
McCoy is a drug-addicted felon who sports
gang tattoos and has earlier convictions
on assault, kidnapping and weapons charges,
according to court papers.
In court filings, prosecutor Cheng detailed
the scheme this way:
McCoy met his victims through personal ads
he placed or answered on Web sites including
America Online and Match.com.
In each case, he wrote e-mails posing as
a Russian woman seeking love and sent pictures
of a pretty model.
Eventually, a visit would be arranged, and
the victim was told a Russian dating service
needed about $1,800 to pay for a visa and
plane tickets.
On the day the victim was expecting the
woman to arrive, McCoy would write as an
official from the fictitious dating service
and said there was a problem: A new regulation
required the woman to carry $1,500 cash
to enter the United States.
The service would lend her $500, but the
victim needed to wire an additional $1,000.
The men learned they were taken days later,
when their e-mails were ignored or bounced
back because the accounts were closed.
The FBI began investigating the scam after
a Baltimore man told a London newspaper
about the scheme.
McCoy regrets what he did and plans to use
his prison time to get off drugs, said his
lawyer, Arthur Greenspan, who blamed the
drug addiction as a big reason for McCoy's
behavior.
A Web site on Russian scams tells prospective
suitors to beware any woman who asks for
money after an online meeting.
The information from
a site: meet-russian-ladies.com
