In 2005 my friend was contacted by a handsome biracial guy on a dating site called Book of Matches. They shared long intimate conversations about their day to day lives thru IM and phone calls. After about 6 months he began to send her big bouquets of roses and gift baskets. She was very touched by his gestures. Shortly thereafter he said he was planning to come back to the US from Nigeria but just needed her to cash a $2000 check and wire the money to him. It is a good thing my friend mentioned this to me because my red flags went right up. She told me a bit about her friend Collins Davis who used the name soblod on the dating site. Apparently he was from Irvington, NJ but had family from Nigeria. He was doing business in Nigeria when he had trouble getting the funds to return home.  I did a little research on our friend Collins. What I discovered was that there were about 30 different dating sites using the same picture he gave her but none of the details matched. I compiled this into an email and sent her the details. Her heart sank a little when she realized that this was all a farce.  He did send her the check however she sent it back to him. It is a good thing I am her friend.

Since then I've helped many victims with researching their scammers. My tools are simple: google.com and persistence. No one likes to hear that they have been fooled. These scammers are cunning con artists and social engineers. Never EVER send money to someone you met over the internet. If the countries Nigeria, Ghana or Cote d'Ivorie are mentioned just drop contact with this individual. Not all people from these countries are scammers but be rest assured everyday people don't need to waste their time chatting online with someone they will need to meet.