I lost $40k to a friend I met online

Anonymous | 16 Sep 2021

Internet Love Scam

Got to know this guy from Facebook dating app. Only after chatting for a day or a day or two, they will advance super quickly to ask you to chat on another platform, like WhatsApp or telegram.

told me that he is a Singaporean, but was raised in the us. Father is like a nomad, always moving around countries to countries. First to the UK, then to the us and settled down there. He will share with you sob stories of how his parents died in a car accident few years back, his fiancee broke up with him just before their wedding because she found out she is at the final stage of some cancer, does not have any family members around because their relationship was not good. Only have 1 best friend who is currently serving the army in Afghan. He is an oil rig consultant. Works offshore, and operates independently. Got himself a place here in Singapore. Told me that he has to travel to Houston for a submit conference, even screenshot to show you the content of his last minute invitation. Told me he has an oil rig contract to fulfil in Ukraine in 2 weeks’ time.

Things started escalating quickly, he will just suddenly and randomly drop you a random WhatsApp call, and try to guilt trip you that you are avoiding him. And shortly after chatting, they will say they love you and ask you to be his partner. Even if they haven't seen you. Their reasoning is, they know that you are the one for them.

i requested for a video call. But he gave quite a number of ridiculous reasoning like he can't do video calls because of where he is. But promise to call me on a certain day when he goes back to Baltimore.

Scammer will try to sweet talk you and make you believe in him. Once he got to Ukraine for his contract, 2 weeks later, he will call or send you a text that his mud pump is faulty and he needed financial help. I was sceptical at first, but the way they speak to you, is so believable that you will think is true. And he sounded really desperate that all i wanted was to help, which I eventually did. And reasons for him asking for more money became more ridiculous, like paying his supplier and his workers, or having no money to eat, and needing to take a private jet back to the USA, so he can pay everyone that he has asked to borrow money from. When i suggested to him to take a commercial flight, another stupid reason came out again, and he will guilt trip you by saying you don't understand what he is going through. This was the time when i started to suspect that i got scammed, and made a police report.