The Different Types Of Dating Scams & Scammers

Someone recently asked the following:

————————————————
How common is it that scammers have partners in crime ? Sometime ago I chatted with a very dishonest possibly mentally ill filipina using the user name Ping she turned out to be a liar and a fraud. How ever about 5 hours ago I sent friend request to both of her brothers. One of them the oldest Vincente Jose also known as Otik accepted my friend request we chatted for a while and asked him a couple of questions about the town he lived, and his family and such he avoided every question I asked him about it. But just like his sister that asked me if I had plans to visit the Philippines within 5 minutes so did he after that started to recommend traveling locations in the Visayas but he told me to avoid Mindanao due to the war inbetween multiple terrorist groups and he even told me that the city of Iligan was a hot zone. I have encountered enough scammers to recognize one when I chat with one. But how common is that family members of a scammer are just as involved ?
————————————————

It is important to understand the fundamental different between Philippines scammers and the other TWO SCHOOLS.

In the world today, there are:

FIVE FUNDAMENTAL TYPES OF ROMANCE OR DATING SCAMMERS:

1. THE AFRICAN SCHOOL
2. THE RUSSIAN/UKRAINIAN SCHOOL
3. THE PHILIPPINES SCHOOL
4. THE AMERICAN / CANADIAN / EUROPEAN SCHOOL
5. THE CHINESE SCHOOL

We use the word “school” to describe their philosophy or style of scamming.

THE AFRICAN SCHOOL

This is a very large scale disorganized approach to scamming that relies on the most spectacular lies. They steal photos and make up identities, selling these to their victims. They are spread throughout the world from the UK to Malaysia, but all essentially use the same approach. If you understand the approach and the techniques they use, they are somewhat easy to spot. Most dating scammers fall into this school of scamming. They do this to both men and women. Men are shown the porn stars, and they love to steal military men to target women.

THE RUSSIAN / UKRAINIAN SCHOOL

This is real organized crime. This is a real business, not in the broad sense, but in actual fact. These are real businesses in their countries in one form or another, and they are connected and powerful. They use real women, usually with their real identities – because their goal is for a foreigner to come and visit the woman as the closer to the scam. They run various dating sites and placement businesses – some do the full “tour” for their candidates, handling travel and setting up the interviews (dates), but in the end the guy never gets the girl, they just spend a fortune. There is a darker side to the Russian School that happens after the girl comes home with the guy, involving extortion. In Eastern European dating, you have to be extraordinary careful, because ultimately you will be on their home ground and there is the potential for physical risk – we will write more about this later.

THE PHILIPPINE SCHOOL

This is one of the more agonizing for its victims, since it is all real, except for one fact – the women have no intention of being romantically connected with you. This is a form of prostitution – meaning that the women “rent” themselves to their dater. Here women use their real names and share themselves openly. They share their family story, children, everything. Usually they have a boyfriend or husband that is their “pimp”, but it could also be a brother or father or mother behind the scenes too. They ask you to support them, and invite their victims over to the Philippines to visit them – many times offering sex as a way to secure more money. These scams can go on for a year or more, but in the end, the victim usually “wises up” and discovers the truth, that there was no real relationship – they were just being used.

AMERICAN / CANADIAN / EUROPEAN SCHOOL

These are dangerous on a personal level. They are local and target certain types of people. We used to call these people “Con-artists”, but they are out their. Their scams are all about getting money – as much and for as long as possible. They work alone and in small teams. They depend on various forms of guilt or fear in the end to keep victims silent. The good news is that local police take this seriously and will act!

THE CHINESE SCHOOL

The Chinese school is relatively new, and is a variation on the Philippines and the Russian models. Mostly using real women with their real identities. Except that they really don’t want you to visit. The scam is almost always done long distance, because in China they have real police and take crimes against foreigners very seriously. The scams are run out of dedicated Chinese dating sites to find victims, run by real businesses in China.