Innocent woman blacklisted by  dishonest man

Scammers can be a problem, but don’t let that scare you. Use your common sense to tell a lie from the truth. 

We have an instructive story to tell you. Recently, we received the following letter from one of our female clients. The names in the story have been removed for privacy reasons, but the facts are real.

The anti-scam lists are very popular, and in most cases they are a real help in identifying scammers, but not always. Some of the women whose pictures you can see in these lists are actually innocent, their pictures having been simply stolen and placed on the black list, or the women having been blacklisted by dishonest guys like in the story below. We are appealing to your common sense. Do not send money to women you have never met in person and know next to nothing about, but do not suspect every single person of being a a fraud who is after your money, either. Please take a moment to read the story.  

-Alliance International Team

Hello!

I need your advice because I have landed myself in a very unpleasant situation. There is a man in the catalogue on your website named (deleted) ID (deleted) that I started a correspondence with. I gave him my home and cell phone numbers, and he suggested that we should arrange a meeting. I proposed my home town as a possible meeting place, but he insisted on my coming to his own city of residence. I told him that could be problematic, but we could try to work it out. To get my papers in order and to purchase airplane tickets, I needed money, and he sent me $850.00. I submitted all the necessary paperwork to a travel agency which was to help me obtain a visa at the (deleted) embassy. But just then the notorious terrorist attacks in Madrid took place, and the papers submission schedule was postponed till the middle of April. By that time we had already been corresponding via Internet, SMS and phone. Then, one “fine” day he sent me a letter where he was threatening me, blackmailing me, and demanding that I return his money. I repeatedly tried to explain the situation to him, saying that there was no way I could speed up the visa issue. But it did no good; he either couldn’t, or wouldn’t understand me. Considering his recent actions, I doubt he is a reasonable person.

I sent him $500 right away. That was all I had at the moment. I had had to pay the income tax, which constutites 9% of the amount, upon the receipt of the money transfer, and I had also paid $225 for the travel agency services, and another $40 for the return transaction. I contacted the travel agency, and I may yet be able to recover that money. I wrote him another letter describing all this in great detail, but he showed no understanding and went on threatening me, which resulted in my seeing a doctor: I had gained some heart problems. I went to the police with my problem and gave them the complete account of the situation. I have nothing to be afraid of – I did nothing wrong. I gave him my phone numbers, my passport number, and now he is trying to make out that I had this scam in mind all along!

I received another abusive letter through your website where he threatened to publish my name on some blacklist. I need your advice – what course of action should I take in such a situation? Perhaps some of your female clients have already had problems of this kind and could share some tips with me.

If he puts my name up on a blacklist, I will have a hard time proving my innocence in future. I also wonder if there are any blacklistis for men, because I don’t know of any, just as I didn’t know of such lists for women before this day.

I’m counting on your assistance!

Best regards!