Editorials & Opinions On Scamming

ACCUSATIONS AGAINST PERSONS IN STOLEN PHOTOS

For some time, there have been a number of die-hard believers in the idea that all, or most of the people in the stolen photos are in league with the scammers, or that they themselves are the scammers.

This Is Living In DenialDenial Denial is a refusal or unwillingness to accept something or to accept reality. Refusal to admit the truth or reality of something, refusal to acknowledge something unpleasant; And as a term of Psychology: denial is a defense mechanism in which confrontation with a personal problem or with reality is avoided by denying the existence of the problem or reality.

There is evidence, held by Davin Rosenblatt that Yuliana Avalos and her boyfriend have been connected to African scammers. Either in selling their photos and / or other collaboration. Davin posts his evidence on his website for all to see. It certainly appears compelling. Here is the link: http://www.davinsden.com/avalos/

However, this is the only evidence we have seen regarding the pictured persons and a direct connection to the scammers. However, there are REAL scammers that use their real photos & identities – that is different from what we are talking about here.

We do not defend anyone when there is compelling evidence to identify someone as a scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer.. We also need to be cautious, especially when it comes to persons in the U.S., Canada, and Europe, where slander & defamation laws are strong. We do not make allegations without supporting evidence or reasonable suspicion, or where someone has reported them to us.

In addition, in the U.S. & Canada, public persons are protected by what are called “Right Of Publicity” laws. So our use must be in compliance with the permitted uses.

We are also more cautious with what we post on our website, as opposed to Facebook, since web hosting companies are more concerned with these issues than is Facebook.

These are the rules that we abide by in how and what we publish, and how we describe the people pictured in Fake or Scammer Profiles.

The fact is, that we have only seen compelling evidence of just one MODEL / WEB CAM GIRL / PORN STAR colluding in any way with scammers in our 27 year history. We have never seen evidence of a member of the military engaged in this. If we had such evidence, we would have done two things: 1) turn it over to law enforcement for prosecution, since such collusion would make them a co-conspirator or accessory to the crime; and 2) publish it.

Remember, we have called out real scammers around the world using their own photos and identities, but we are talking about stolen photos and fake identities right now.

We recently received a rather rabid comment from someone that we will not name (to protect his identity).

This is his comment …

your other site, romancescams.com states ALL THE PICTURES ARE STOLEN FROM INNOCENT THIRD PARTIES, then states THE PEOPLE ON THE PICTURES ARE NOT ASSOCIATED WITH SCAMMERS IN ANY WAY. so how come KENDRA HARRIS,(Valerije ktowa) FLORA BENSON (dorcas agyeman, belinda osei) and LINDA GRANT (Linavine roman, mary anna lane) according to your other site !! ARE INNOCENT PEOPLE, yet according to SCAMMERS IN GHANA & STOP-SCAMMERS.COM they are SCAMMERS ? Flora is on the main profile of SCAMMERS LOVE ACTRESSES MODELS & PORN STARS ??, and is the most famous scammer of all, i would advise anyone on your site, BE VERY CAREFULL ABOUT WHAT ROMANCESCAM.COM & ROMANCESCAMSNOW.COM state as fact !!! IT IS INFACT FALSE. as they are trying to convince you that the scammers are genuine people who have been victims of identity theftIdentity Theft Identity theft is when someone uses another person's personal identifying information, without their permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. In both the U.K. and the United States it is the theft of personally identifiable information. Identity theft deliberately uses someone else's identity as a method to gain financial advantages or obtain credit and other benefits, and perhaps to cause other person's loss. The person whose identity has been stolen may suffer adverse consequences, especially if they are falsely held responsible for the perpetrator's actions. Personally identifiable information generally includes a person's name, date of birth, social security number, driver's license number, bank account or credit card numbers, PINs, electronic signatures, fingerprints, passwords, or any other information that can be used to access a person's financial resources..

OUR RESPONSE TO HIS COMMENT

First, Romancescam.com is NOT our website. We are RomanceScamsNow.com They are an unrelated and completely separate – we are a division of the Society of Citizens Against Romance Scams [SCARS]. They are a couple of individuals running their website and have certainly not been in this as long as we have, but they have been operating for about a decade. We cannot speak to what they say or do not say about the subject, but if they say that, then they probably have not seen any evidence to the contrary. They have demonstrated only high standards in the display of their information, and we treat them as reliable.

We have had contact with MANY of the people pictured in the photos, some who have filed police reports over the theft of their images. Certainly, not all of them to be sure, but many. We cannot speak to the individuals named in the comment above, since we have not had any contact with them, and have no proof of any wrongdoing on their part.

However, we have received countless comments on our website and other forums over the years by people that TOTALLY BELIEVE THE PERSON IN THE PHOTO WAS WHO THEY WERE TALKING WITH and that they were the scammer. Or at the very least, that the scammer had to be in partnership with that person.

We recently had someone who had become a muleMule A money mule sometimes called a "smurfer," is a person who transfers money acquired illegally (e.g., stolen) in person, through a courier service, or electronically, on behalf of others (usually criminals that they are knowingly or unknowingly affiliated). Typically, the mule is paid for services with a small part of the money transferred - but not always. Mules may or may not be aware that they are performing these actions. Money mules are often dupes recruited online for what they think is legitimate employment, not aware that the money they are transferring is the product of crime. The money is transferred from the mule's account to the scam operator, typically in another country. Similar techniques are used to transfer illegal merchandise. Mules can be prosecuted for numerous crimes. for a scammer who was using a stolen U.S. Army General’s photo, who would not believe he was not real. This is truly tragic, and wrong in all cases except where there is proof otherwise, and as we said at the beginning, we only know of ONE case. By the way, proof is something the police will act on, not mistaken belief. This person just KNEW the General was the scammer and would not accept anything else.

Romance scamsScams A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime -  is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. and scammers triggerTRIGGERS A trigger is a stimulus that sets off a memory of a trauma or a specific portion of a traumatic experience. deep emotions that many believe are a form of addiction. People believe strongly in the fantasies of the scammer, and once they learn the truth it is very traumatic. Many people have great difficulty believing the reality, that they NEVER had contact with the person in the photo, and will continue to believe irrationally. We are sorry, but this is madness.

If you have such feelings, we encourage you to seek assistance from a competent professional with working through these feelings. After you become a victim, you need to work on letting go, and never becoming a victim again. Everything else is secondary.

As a professional publisher, we have to be cautious and careful. But if there is compelling evidence of a person being the scammer or connected to the scammer, we promise we will act on it.

Since we try to be a fairly transparent organization, our motives and goals are public record. So we wanted to share this with you, because it does matter, even if this person is wrong, we know that this belief is a powerful one. You wired that face in the photo into your brain just as if it was a real person, and you will feel a real sense of loss afterward.

The best thing for anyone who has become a victim of a scammer to do is to focus on letting go. Watching the anti-scammer drama can be useful in transferring the hurt into action, but don’t let yourself go too far down the rabbit hole. Your mental healthMental health Mental health, defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is "a state of well-being in which the individual realizes his or her own abilities, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community". According to WHO, mental health includes "subjective well-being, perceived self-efficacy, autonomy, competence, intergenerational dependence, and self-actualization of one's intellectual and emotional potential, among others". From the perspectives of positive psychology or of holism, mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and to create a balance between life activities and efforts to achieve psychological resilience. Cultural differences, subjective assessments, and competing professional theories all affect how one defines "mental health". is more important than buying into conspiracy theories.

There are a few out there that will feed you their radical irrational beliefs. Think about yourself first, and don’t become the Crazy Scammer Lady or Crazy Scammer Man (Crazy Cat Lady or Man is ok! At least you have real cats!).

Yes, we like cats too! Dogs are good, but cats actually are scammers in our opinion – we have proof of that!  ;)

That is what we believe! What do you believe or think?

Cheers,

RSN Team
Miami Florida USA