SCARS™ Psychology of Scams: The Face In The Photo Is NOT Responsible
Many Times After A Scam, Victims Are Unable To Accept That The Person In The Photo Is Not The Real Scammer!
Today we received a complaint from a romance scam victim who blamed a person who had his photos stolen by scammers. Her argument was that HE HAD A RESPONSIBILITY to explain himself to those who lost money. She even believes he was the real scammer, or at least working with the scammers – giving out his photos for a piece of the winnings!
What nonsense is this?
The person in the photo is every bit as much of a victim as the person that sent money to a scammer. However, some victims let their irrational anger completely block their common sense.
This is such a case.
We are sharing this, not to blame this victim, but to illustrate the flawed decision making that happens to some victims after a scam. While this victim appears unable to address the real situation, we hope this will help others correct their thinking as it applies to those who had their identity stolen and were impersonated. They are victims too!
Here Is A Portion Of The Chat Transcript:
FROM THE VICTIM: Ive had so many people contact me through the identity of Dr steve Gregory jones for five years now and they won’t leave me alone every day of my life
FROM THE VICTIM: Ive even been to the police about this situation myself but they haven’t done anything about this situation im in now
- WE ADVISED HER TO CHANGE HER PRIVACY SETTINGS SO SHE WOULD NOT BE CONTACTED BY SCAMMERS
SHE REPLIED: Thank you but I really think the real person himself Dr Steve Gregory jones should face the people who have been hurt and lost their money over this situation
- BY “FACE” SHE MEANS BE LEGALLY RESPONSIBLE
- OUR REPLY: Why is that? How is he responsible for what scammers do with his photo? That is like saying a real manufacturer is responsible for what happens to someone who buys a “knock-off” product!
HER NEXT REPLY: He has the responsibility to face the people who has lost all there life saving money and one person who lost her husband over this he end up killing himself over this situation.
- IT WAS AT THIS POINT that we advised her that she was defaming a real person who was also a victim, and that we would be unable to help her further.
This person firmly believes that the person in the photo is the real scammer.
Over the last few days, we have published articles about victims living in denial. This is another form of denial – the delusion that the face in the photo is responsible – that it was that person that harmed them, when in fact it was not.
This is a dangerous form of obsessive delusion that can lead to more serious mental illness. We strongly recommend that people in this state seek competent psychological professionals to help them.
Sadly we cannot help such people since we do not provide mental health counseling services – and no one on Facebook does legally either.
However, it points out the fact that you must be very cautious about your mental state following a romance scam. The trauma can be severe and depending on your personality can cause deep psychological issues for you that only professional help can resolve.
Always take a look at your own assumptions and see if they make sense before you move from one set of bad decisions to another.
SCARS™ Team
A SCARS Division
Miami Florida U.S.A.
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FAQ: How Do You Properly Report Scammers?
It is essential that law enforcement knows about scams & scammers, even though there is nothing (in most cases) that they can do.
Always report scams involving money lost or where you received money to:
- Local Police – ask them to take an “informational” police report – say you need it for your insurance
- Your National Police or FBI (www.IC3.gov »)
- The SCARS|CDN™ Cybercriminal Data Network – Worldwide Reporting Network HERE » or on www.Anyscam.com »
This helps your government understand the problem, and allows law enforcement to add scammers on watch lists worldwide.
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Not all scams are the same. I was scammed by the person in the photo because i video chatted with this person. Her pictures all of them were never found anywhere on the internet when sending through 3 reverse image sites. It is a correct fact that victims do open their wallets to send money but its not always a 60 year old woman being scammed by a 30 year old soldier or person posing as one. Im in my 40s and was scammed by a woman approaching 30 we talked for nearly a year on the phone every single day. I thought this person loved me so i helped her get her career off the ground so we could pursue a life together. I actually gave half of the money to her out of love from my heart and to help her break free from depression this was an elaborate scheme setup to take months to achieve their goal. She had conference calls which i didnt quite understand at the time. I do agree and ask that other victims dont harrass the ppl in the photos but not all cases are the same and mine is exclusively different from any others ive read about because it happened from our own country, georgia to be exact. How i know this is because in the mess of it all, i was under the impression that money i gave was used to get her contractors license as a cerner analyst and that she would be having others working for her under this contract. Well these others had w2s that were going to be sent to her supposedly and since she was said to be moving here with me, she used my address to receive letters which i thought were legitimate. These letters were sent to an address in Georgia which was determimed to be a place of residence and not a medical facility as she had mentioned. The reason i had to send the letters was because her first contract that was up for her to bid on she lost and i was to send these letters to the company that had won the contract. After a second set of letters arrived having the same names as some of the first batch i realized that she was attempting to defraud our government by collecting unemployment funds using my address. Then i find out im on a govt watch list. I took out a loan to try and help her raise enough money to land her first contract and this was the money she agreed she would pay me back. So i paid for her license and for a plane ticket without wanting the money returned but took out a loan to help her kickstart her career with idea she would pay me the loan amount in full within 2 months. So i would appreciate it if others including victims who had their identity used in a scam, not assume all sxams are the same and not something others should take lightly. When a person has no clue what any victims entire story is and how they got to the point of sending money. They shouldnt assume that someone just opened their wallet for a person theyve only seen in a picture. Also, some ppl are even emotionally attached because they were sharing in relations over the phone which cannot be discussed on a comment on this website. But some victims were led to believe that there is a real connection when watching a movie together with their scammer while on the phone together also and talking together for hours some days. When a man believes that a woman is his woman he opens his wallet to take good care of her and i didnt fall in love with a person in a picture and ive talked to my scammer on video chat so validations were made to confirm that the scammer was in fact a real life person. The victims both scammed and identities stolen are victims and should be handled carefully without assumptions to each victims individual case. I pray for anyone that has had to face an incident and tell them to remain strong life will get better. Money comes and goes throughout our entire lives. Im broke and work just to try to survive now with limited amount of food and necessities. Ppl are resilient and dont be too ashamed to ask for help its out there and thats what its there for. Find your passions again and pursue them to help you once again find that your better than you may be feeling at this moment. Because you are so much better than how you feel after getting scammed.
Many of what you say is correct. Not all scams are the same, and victims are of any age. You are also correct, in that a comment is not the place to discuss the issues that a victim has, that is why we provide professional managed support groups for scam victims. If you would like to contact us, you can reach us at support@againstscams.org
Estou muito contente com as publicações deste site. Gostaria de sugerir ou ter informações sobre algum artigo que nos mostrasse páginas exclusivas de fotos se scammers para consulta.As páginas do Facebook me pareceram confusas ou eu não sube consultar. Obrigado
Wonen and men the people you think you know in the pictures are has much a victim as yourself why would you send money to someone that you’ve never met you chose to send that money. So you have to take responsibility for it. I have a friend who’s in the military I found 16 profiles on him he was devastated because he had no idea how many women had been scammed using his ID I’m in engaged to a military man I also saw his face under another. Profile I mean come on you meet someone on social media within an hour of meeting them they love you your there Queen there going to come home and marry you say everything you want to hear but you choose to send them the money you know in the back of your mind something is off there not texting like Americans there falling in love with in minutes of speaking to you your 50 or 60 and some hot solider who’s in his 30s is coming home to you to start a relationship Really I’m not saying that there aren’t some hot 50 or 60 who aren’t hot.But to blame the people who you think your talking to is just stupid there as much a victim as you .So to end this I’m going to say you choose to open your wallets and bank accounts to people you have never met or spoken to on the phone you have to ask yourself why would you do that then you want to blame the person in the picture who is just as much a victim as you are so think before you send money To somebody you have never met .Use common sense.
Thank you Dainty!
When they try to “friend me” on FaceBook I run a GOOGLE image search of their photo first, then I post a “LADIES BEWARE” message outing the scammer. I post the photo and say from whom they have stolen the photo. I also contact the real person whenever possible to let them know their photo is being used to scam women.
For me, they are easy to spot. I then report their profile to FB sometimes they block the account and other times they could care less!
If you are interested in reporting scammers on Facebook – this is the place to be: https://www.facebook.com/groups/RSN.Army/