I just got done reading a pretty disparaging article about how big the Russian Mafia Online Dating Scam Industry is…
And it’s NOT a “Pretty Picture”…
Even if the entire scam process itself is launched with thousands of images of beautiful women floating around on the internet.
You’ve already heard the stories I’m sure but here’s what a major British Newspaper, the Daily Mail is reporting.
Thousands of people, including many lonely and gullible British men, have lost large amounts of money after entering into correspondence with women on websites, naively beguiled by their warm words, suggestive chat and the sexy pictures they attach to their emails.
When they were asked to send money, which the women claimed was needed for British visas or to buy tickets for travel to Britain, the men readily agreed.
They never saw the money or heard from the women again.
In a final humiliating twist, they found out, usually far too late, that many of the sensuous “women” with whom they had been corresponding were actually men – part of one of the many sinister Russian mafia rings making a fortune out of such scams
I posted an article about this this earlier about how this “boiler room” operation works. But it’s worth taking an additional look as to what the UK Daily Mail is reporting here..
In this case, the gang used a team of female students, fluent in English, to write to him and even chat on the phone, pretending to be besotted with him…
… No other business pays as well in this grim backwater.
…The capital of the Mari-El republic, Yoshkar-Ola, is 500 miles east of Moscow and is still suffering from the collapse of its manufacturing industry after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
Today it is estimated that as many as one in 100 residents in the city is involved in dating scams.
… At any one time it is estimated that Yoshkar-Ola has up to 500 scamming “offices” – mostly situated in rented flats fitted with banks of computers and a satellite link for high-speed internet connections.
Now what’s really depressing is understanding the driving economics behind this entire situation and how in my mind the situation is only going to get worse unless more Western Men wise up quickly as to what is happening and how to avoid it.
No wonder this new industry is said to be worth an incredible £40-£ 50 million a year to the city.
One fraudster, who poses as an attractive blonde called Anna Ivanova, said: “The average salary in my city is £75 a month.”
“The choice here is simple – either poverty or larceny. Now I earn £3,000 a month.”
Now although I believe this is an important article to take in it’s clearly only telling one side of the story.
And because of this I smell a bad agenda here.
I’m seeing a biased and slanted story on behalf of this newspaper because if the author wants us to think that all Russian Women on the Internet are con-artists then it certainly does a good job at that even if it’s obviously not true.
This is because there are no quotes from legitimate single Russian Women who will now have an even harder time trying to find a relationship online because of the damage that is done to their reputation in the West by these thugs and gangsters.
Instead we get the following quote from the scammer “Anna Ivanova”.
“People are fools if they want to find a wife on the internet.
“It is not real. I correspond with a whole division of Westerners – and they are all idiots.
“And I am quite successful in the business. I can wait to be noble and honest in my next life.”
I can only imagine what my own reaction would be if I was curious in learning more about Russian Women for the first time and came across the above quote.
I’m sure I’d probably run like hell away from this whole idea if I came across something like that.
And unfortunately this is exactly what I’m sure the author wants you to do.
Now if you’ve read my previous posts you will know that I’m not a fan of online agencies or English dating sites that are “dedicated” to showing off Russian or FSU Women who are “available” to you.
(And in case you need to revisit them here are some links for you.)
- Dating Agency Pitfalls
- The Merits of Living Out Here
- Why Feminism promotes Mail Order Brides
- How NOT to Meet REAL Russian Women
- How Stupid Can this Man Be?
- Please Boycott the following “Mail Order Bride” Companies
As I’ve said many times before I believe the economic incentives and logistical issues are weighted on the wrong side of the equation towards achieving success.
However I do want to be fair about this and at least acknowledge that yes I’m sure there are many legitimate women and men on these sites trying to find each other.
BUT..
Trying to discover each others true character and intentions solely through emails, chats or even phone calls is just plain dumb. These mediums are only good for introductions.. nothing more and nothing less.
For example..
Would you try to close any major business deal with someone you’ve never physically met and have no outside personal or historical reference on?
Are you kidding me?
Gentlemen, this is why airplanes, frequent flier miles, and conference rooms were invented.
GUYS ALWAYS REMEMBER THE FOLLOWING..
In Business or in Romance the 80/20 rule ALWAYS applies..
- ONLY 20% of your POTENTIAL Romance or Relationship depends on your initial correspondence.
- 80% depends on your ACTUAL MEETINGS with them.
The success stories that you see posted on these agency sites happen because some guy understood this rule and actually got on a plane to check things out for himself. And he may have had to do it several times or more to get it done right.
And Gentlemen it’s no different in the business world if you are trying to close that one deal which can permanently change your financial and professional future. At some point you need to roll the dice on your “costs” and take the plunge.
So unless you are the kind of guy who believes in handing out employment contracts to people you’ve only gotten resumes from..
I would take EVERYTHING you read from a “potential” woman with whom you are only corresponding to with a grain of salt.
OK that’s all the bad news for now..
Here’s the good news..
This part of the world is LOADED with Fantastic Ladies who have qualities and charms that you can only dream of.
And yes the Mafia boys are trying to exploit this by painting an “easy picture” for you to get together with your “dream girl”.
They know your hungry.. so of course they want to try to be your express pizza delivery service..
Well guys it “don’t work that way”..
So literally, please don’t “buy” into it.
Just understand that there are truly many “Ladies in Waiting” here.
And Ladies in Waiting don’t ask you for money to fly out to you..
Ladies in Waiting are simply just that..
And the rest is up to you.
March 25, 2008 at 10:01 pm
Touching the subject of mafia and economic situation in many places in the FSU recently I heard a comment that grabbed my attention and find only prudent to ask. Your experience as a western man who took the plunge can be very helpfull to us. Again generalizing to start with is a bad thing, so due research is in order.
The comment I heard was that in many places western men are thought of as having money, therefore they become targets for thieves, scammers and many ill situations. So my question is what can we do to avoid that? Do we avoid big cities? Small cities? Have you ever been a victim yourself?
I know that when you travel to unknown places you always have to have common sense and care for yourself, but there are many pitfalls in many places, especially when you look like a tourist. So first things first, when in rome look roman. What else do you suggest?
T.
March 25, 2008 at 10:19 pm
Hi T,
Where ever I’ve traveled I’ve always made it a point to “do what the romans do” so try to blend in with your dress and habits.
This is just smart travel advice for anywhere in the world. A foreigner no matter what country he comes from is always going to stick out initially.. this can attract both good attention and of course bad as well.
You want to be able to be in control of the timing as to when you get to introduce yourself as a foreigner.. Typically this happens the moment you open your mouth to say something. You don’t want to not be in control of that recognition.
Yes in many places in the FSU there are people who will target any foreigner.. Americans or even people from a neighboring republic or even city can be fair game.
Your social network is everything..
Grow it and nurture it and you will be fine.
GL
March 25, 2008 at 10:25 pm
[…] Read more: The Russian Mafia and the Online Dating Scam Industry […]
March 25, 2008 at 10:59 pm
GL,
Do you feel that these types are mainly on the sites geared for english speaking western men? I’ve planned to learn Russian and try out sites like yandex.ru and mail.ru to build up contacts. I can only imagine that these sites are safer to a degree but I don’t want to be seen as a target. I’d like to say I’m American/Western but if it makes me a target I’d leave it out initially.
March 26, 2008 at 1:34 am
Well, threatening menkind with the Russian Mafia is indeed an exaggeration. It’s not the scale for “the Octopus”. But yes a fat catch for petty swindlers, starting from a couple of IT students.
GL, thank you for bringing forward that Yoshkar Ola case! It has become quite an anecdote. The first face in the row belongs to a most newsmaking Russian ballerina and glam socialite Anastasia Volochkova, unaware that her photo has scammed a German engineer of more than $33000. Several other celebrities were set up that way.
SunnyInSanDiego: Hope this helps.
I just found out that scam occurs within Russian sites for introductions, too, – provincial girls bleed city guys. (The source article is in Russian, and there’s more to translate from it for the general attention.)
T: Lest I abuse the hospitality of this site with too many links, welcome on this page for the following chapters…
Social circumstances
“Virgin Village & Smalltown vs. Babylon City? Russian Brides Background Effect
Methods of Meeting”
“Big City Girl: Who’s the Man of her Dreams? Russian jocular classification”
“How to Select Regions, Cities & Towns if you Want to Emigrate to Russia or Ukraine?”
“Main problems of traveling to Former Soviet Union: Language Barrier, Service and Safety”
Meeting Methods
“Natural Dating vs. Matchmaking Brief: basic methods for men & women – advantages and disadvantages in a SWOT list”
“Finding a Russian (Ukrainian) Wife: Travels, not Agency or Online Dating? Advantages & Disadvantages, Mistakes & Success Tips”
Sincerely,
Comrade Natalia
March 26, 2008 at 2:05 am
Sunny,
I think what you are doing is an excellent idea. It would certainly make you scam-proof in these situations because you’d be going to the places that they’d never go to. Good Idea..
GL
March 26, 2008 at 3:05 am
Natalia, thank you for the tip, i’ll start reading and report back :).
T.
March 26, 2008 at 7:18 am
I think this plays in to the all too common notion that you can get a beautiful and young woman with minimal effort on your part. If it doesn’t work where you are, what makes you think it will work over the internet? I know a lot of guys that have fallen for this crap, and it is because they want to believe. The want to believe it can be so easy. Look around, how many guys that you know have hot Russian GFs or wives? It takes effort like everything else in life, and in this case a lot of effort. Risk/Reward.
The reason I got involved with this blog was because GL never once tried to act like it would be easy. His advice is solid and universal. The difference is he did something about it. You wouldn’t drill for oil somewhere that has never produced oil, you would go where the oil was. Is there oil in your backyard? Would you drill there? Or would you take your money, time and industry and go somewhere that oil?
There are no decent women in my backyard.
March 26, 2008 at 12:30 pm
Randall,
Your first line nails it. “I think this plays in to the all too common notion that you can get a beautiful and young woman with minimal effort on your part.” Americans like things easy. I’m sure you’ve heard of the office supply store Staples wither their “easy button,” where you push the easy button and your problem is easily solved with no effort on your part. These agencies know this and use it to their advantage.
March 26, 2008 at 5:51 pm
Hi Randall,
Your insightful as usual.. and yes what you are saying is the deeper issue..
Dating Scams wouldn’t be such an issue if guys were able to get out of the instant gratification mode that they are in with our Western Consumer Society.
March 27, 2008 at 2:09 am
Hello Gl et al,
Thanks for all the advice and commentary that you have taken the time to post. Regardless of whether or not the agencies are a bunch of scammers or not, I have found that communicating accurately and therefore effectively with Russian women via e-mail is no easy task. I thought I had some vague understanding of how important body language, facial expressions and the eyes are to the process of communication, but until I tried to convey my thoughts to women of another culture with just the typewritten word, I realized I did not know how important such “props” can be. Just this morning, for instance, a young woman from Chisinau, Moldova wrote and asked that I stop writing because, from what I could gather, she thought I was professing love after a letter or two. I do live in North Carolina, but things are not quite that desperate down here on the farm! At any rate, until I can get over for one of GL’s tours, I’ll just have to do the best I can. If you guys are ever in Chisinau, please tell the girls that I meant no harm!
March 27, 2008 at 2:20 am
Hello GL;
Having learned early of the scammers in Yoshkar-Ola I learned hard and quick to avoid that area.
This has been going on in so many areas for many years. The buyer must beware. It is no different than the crafty and clever used car salesman. Everyone after your money.
For some news reporter to make an issue of it is as silly as the person who starter the scam. REporters also have their piece of the pie to steal. You are correct as always. Someone feels they found some dirt, so try to make money using some sucker in Britain to stupid to take care of himself, or getting someone else to pay for his mistake. No pitty for the opened eye fool, eh?
Warnings are never enough, just keep getting the word out. Best of luck.
😉 Canajun
March 27, 2008 at 3:50 am
It all comes down to what your looking for. If your looking for a “Mail order Bride” then your going to be throwing yourself into the middle of this minefield. If your looking to either move to Russia to find “the one” or plan on spending a significant portion of your time in Russia finding “the one” the mail order bride sites are probably not even on your radar.
March 27, 2008 at 7:18 am
Greetings all,
I have to agree with Randall, but at the same time argue against the point made by SunnyInSanDiego.
GL, following all of your advice seems (to me) to be the absolute best way to ensure one meets the woman of one’s dreams in the FSU. On the other hand, practicalities of life often interfere. Moving, even for -just- a matter of months is simply not an option for some of us.
In my admittedly risk-averse mindset, career, mortgage, education, etc must be weighed against the possibility (it is definitely not a ‘sure thing’) of discovering true love. In this case, a reputable trustworthy agent can serve a real valued purpose.
In the long run, I think my chances for finding(making) true happiness lie in the more middle path: An agent or agency to facilitate ‘filtering’, initial correspondence and perhaps contact, followed by several trips to spend time with my future wife and her family.
I firmly agree that it is a journey not to be undertaken with the ‘easy love(r)’ mindset, but from a similar view as we have seen from Mascha et al: A quest for a true ‘partner in life’.
GL – Thank you as always for this great forum of discussion.
-orn
March 27, 2008 at 12:05 pm
I can sort of agree with some of this, but it seems the point RWman is trying to make is the press capitalizing on the misfortunes of some, and trying quote a fictitious woman who cannot be found to verify she is as they portray her.
Sure it’s great to further the discussion of where one may find a true woman with honourable intent, but the battle is being lost to unscrupulous news people who make money from a stopry that no one can verify or counter. I think that is the point of this message. Am I off the topic GL?
🙂
March 29, 2008 at 12:06 am
I totally agree with Jacque on this, and he sums it up well.
When you prey on people’s dearest hopes and dreams, you are probably willing to do anything for money. Combine that with a general predesposition to marginalize both these women and the men that are looking for them.
To be clear, no one is going to be sympathetic to looking to the FSU for women.
March 30, 2008 at 5:48 am
Hi Sam,
You hit on an important point.. And yes being able to read the body language and facial expressions of these ladies here is very important indeed.
Especially given the fact that their communication style is COMPLETELY different from what we are accustomed to in the West.
I wrote an earlier post on how aware they are of your physical cues because they say significantly less in conversation then their Western Female Counterparts..
However they seem to communicate more meaning but in order to appreciate that you need to be face to face with them for sure.
Obviously drop any accents, idioms or regional ways of communication that you would normally do with your buddies. Keep it very straight and simple.
Here’s are the earlier articles.
Thanks GL
March 30, 2008 at 5:53 am
James thanks for pointing out that comparison between some reporters and used car guys.
Negative Agendas in any Reporting for Russian and FSU Women is way too common. Obviously we can expect to see much more of that in the future with the mainstream media as the international marriage movement gains more traction.
If any of you guys see “hit pieces” against this subject then please make your thoughts known and post comments on them.
Hopefully the trickle of information we are trying to get out will become a flood someday.
Jacque,
You are certainly not off topic so no worries mate.. 🙂
GL
March 30, 2008 at 8:52 am
Shall we consider this Russian isolationistic propaganda? )
Original article in Russian
Translated
Sinc., N.
April 2, 2008 at 6:48 pm
Hello,
This touches nicely upon the darker side of internet dating. I’m editing a book project on real-life stories about internet dating on WEbook.com, a user-generated
book publisher. I read your posting and I thought you might be interested
in contributing. There are plenty of people who’ve had awkward meetings as well as ones that have turned out wonderfully, but this brings the concept to a different level, and I’d love to hear your voice in this project.
If you’re interested in writing your story please check out webook.com (the title of the project is “Internet Dating”), or you can contact writers@webook.com.
Best,
Tahra
April 4, 2008 at 7:24 am
Sam, I’m in Chisinau quite often, and will be happy to contact your girl, and say hello for you if you would like.
RW can give you my contact details.
My girl is from Kishinev (how they pronounce it), and I am meeting her this weekend in Odessa.
April 5, 2008 at 5:45 am
Great article. I’m actually one of those men who made the trip to Ukraine (3 times) and the investment in all the endless visa paperwork. I am now married to a WONDERFUL, traditional, sexy blue-eyed beauty. Make no mistake about it, IT’S work! But the rewards are so worth it. Be careful and use your head, THE BIG ONE!
April 14, 2008 at 1:51 am
Tahra,
I hope your book is balanced and explores why the reasons why this “industry” is thriving in the first place.
Yes everyone knows there are tons of scammers out there..
But does everyone know that there are incredible numbers of happy stories out there as well?
I’ll leave it up to you to be balanced on that so good luck to you on your book..
GL
June 3, 2008 at 8:48 pm
Cool article. I was thinking of setting up a legitimate dating site pairing Colombian women with American men. Does anyone know the legality of such a project?
cheers,
brian
June 4, 2008 at 12:40 am
Hi Singleabroad..
I think legal issues are all dependent on your location and so forth.. Good luck with your Colombian dating project.
GL
July 24, 2008 at 5:24 pm
Why not post your experiences ont his website. You can anonymously warn others, link your post to the website that this scammer is operating on. Lets put an end to these online scams
August 29, 2008 at 1:05 am
I have no sympathy for those men.
They want things fast and easy for no effort.
They are not a catch themselves and yet they are only intrested in youth and beauty – not personality etc.
Even if they found a real pretty and young russian woman, why do they think things will work out? A pretty and young woman is only after two things in an older western man. Passport/money. It is the same anywhere you go.
September 22, 2008 at 5:28 pm
True dat. I was thinking the same looking at these gorgeous 20 something girls that ready to give themselves to 60yr old men while looking for a “true love” and “their half” is such a bullcrap.
no intelligent young man would respond to a girl that puts desired age of men 30-65
I bet those pictures arent even real.
September 22, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Hi DBosch,
I’d have to agree with you on that. Any site that tries to portray these women as mere commodities to be picked up is just full of it..
As I’ve said time and time again the only real solution is just to get over here asap and start creating your own social network and go from there. Most guys are scared to do this because they want to go to Russia or the FSU thinking that they have a “sure thing” first before they go. But there is no such thing as a sure thing especially when you’ve never met a girl for real and have only communicated with her via voice or email.
I know it’s completely counter-intuitive but coming here in general is a much more effective way to get started in my opinion PROVIDED that any Gentleman has decent social skills, appearance and cultivation.
GL
September 24, 2008 at 2:17 am
Russian girls truly value a brave and courageous guy. Going to Russia, even without having met a girl before you left, is a very surefire way to prove that you are a very brave and courageous man to them. They will appreciate that you were simply able to make the trip happen and it will have a very substantial impact on them. You start out with a big positive simply by being over there. There were so many people that were simply just amazed that I was there in Siberia. There were many people (espically girls) who were simply just curious about me and wanted to get to know me.
Most guys are going to be making 2-3 trips over there anyways whether they are already talking with a girl or not. The first trip over is mainly just to check for compatibility and to get a feel for eachother, so knowing a girl beforehand isn’t all that much of an advantage. Not to mention that there are many many girls out there who will not post on the international dating sites, but who are open to heading to the USA with the right guy who just happens to show up in their town. So if you meet a girl on your trip and spend a few days together you will be on the same page as someone who has been talking with a girl beforehand.
In other words just go, you will NOT regret it 🙂
March 30, 2009 at 6:31 am
Hello everybody,
I think is a great article with great notes. Nice job!
Economic development of each country is directly related to the level of crime it has.
Actually, right now the biggest scam activity is going on in Ukraine.
I think it is the capital of online scam in the world.
Just go to any online Russian dating website, and you will see more than 50 percent of girls are from Ukraine. The economic situation is so bad there, that people are willing to do anything to get out from this country.
Also, I want mention that all these dating scammers always create different new ways how to get money from their victims.
For example, this scammer Jim, he created his websites agencyscams.com and jimslists.com to get the trust from American people. He tells his visitors to go to ElenasModels.com and find a “real” wife. This is such a joke! But you know, people actually believe him and begin to spend money and waste their time.
In 6 months, they are telling me that they were ripped off….
So sad to see these, but nobody can help them with their lost money…
June 30, 2009 at 7:48 pm
Hi everyone, I am writing to a girl in Dzerzhinsk. Does anyone know if there are alot of scams coming from that area? Also, what’s the deal with ElenasModels. Do they just take your money and not produce anything? Any info will help
August 22, 2009 at 9:08 am
I’ve noticed that most every Ukrainian woman is not an ETHNIC Ukrainian; But an ethnic Russian residing in the Ukraine. I think there are chances for success in Russia. I think that most men are unrealistic about the level of commitment necesary in the sense of cultural, historical, and language skills though.
August 22, 2009 at 12:46 pm
Eastern Ukraine is mostly ethnic Russians, while the western side of the country is overwhelmingly Ukrainian. This is in large part a result of borders being moved over 200 miles during the aftermath of World War II. Before the war, my dad’s hometown was in Poland, after the war it is now in Ukraine. Some 20 percent of Ukraine’s population are actually Russians living there. Be aware there’s a lot of anti-Russian sentiment now in the country, especially in the western side of the nation. I can’t blame them considering how they died by the millions from the Holomodor during the 1930’s, then WW-II.
Taras
Taras
November 2, 2009 at 6:36 am
how does someone know for sure if, is there someway to contact country officials on a woman, mine is from chisinau and have talked for 2 months now. should I go there first? HELP!!!! Please!!