Advert.

Do NOT tell your scammer he is posted here, or report their accounts as it puts others at risk!

Scammers abusing stolen photos of Jeff Remas

This section deals specifically with online romance scams. The images used by the scammers are stolen from innocent people, usually from their social media pages.

Scammers abusing stolen photos of Jeff Remas

Unread postby firefly » Wed May 22, 2019 5:07 pm

split from viewtopic.php?f=17&t=74452, where the fake websites used in scam are reported.

Posted on behalf of the victim.

I have read several posts on scamsurvivors.com the past week trying to make sense of what I have been through the past 10 months. I read your post about "the post-scam stage - waking up to reality" this morning and that seems to be where I am at. I am trying to be honest with myself that it was a romance scam but a small part of me is still in denial. It morphed over time and I think he ran me through multiple scams, including a version of sextortion/blackmail. I went to the police when that happened, and unfortunately they didn't take me seriously and I got sucked back in by the scammer and took further damage. I have lost tens of thousands of dollars and feel like my entire identity is compromised as well.

Here are the basics your post mentioned to share:

Scammer Name:
Mike Bradley

Email addresses:
mikebradle876@gmail.com (his primary)
support@xpcouriers.com (a courier company involved in transporting his property)
support@expcour.com (courier company changed emails part way through, this is newer one)
jamesscott9856@gmail.com (someone claiming to be a doctor at Vedic Lifecare Hospital in Lagos Nigeria)
wisdomwesley8@gmail.com (the sextortion emails came from this one)


Phone number:
914-529-5058 / +19145295058
Non-Fixed VoIP (e.g. Skype or Google Voice)
Original carrier: Telcentris Communications, Llc - Ny

Some of the pictures received:

Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image
Image

Note: the stolen pictures used belongs to Jeff Remas, US Professional Photographer. The real owner of the stolen pictures used has nothing to do with the scam.
Help yourself by helping others - report your scammer here.
Google can be your best friend;use it if you have doubts about someone met online. If someone met online only asks for money, no matter what reason, it´s 100% scam.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=26504
Image
User avatar
firefly
"Nut job" admin.
 
Posts: 70956
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:27 am
Location: in a parallel universe

Re: mikebradle876@gmail.com

Unread postby firefly » Wed May 22, 2019 5:12 pm

The very short version of what happened:

Mike Bradley friend requested and messaged me through Facebook. It was a random request and we had no friends in common. We struck up a conversation chatting online in messenger. After a few days he asked me to move to using Viber, and the majority of our conversations were texting through that app. He also connected to me through Google Hangouts, but we barely used that. There were some emails exchanged later on. We also talked on the phone a lot through Viber. We had one video chat early on, but he said he was not allowed to use video recording where he was so that stopped. Sometime after we had switched to using Viber his FB profile got deleted.

Mike claimed to be from Germany, working as a surgeon and medical consultant for the US Navy. Originally said to be in New York on a 2 year contract. Later claimed to be transferred to a Naval ship in the Gulf of Mexico, and then a few months down the road transferred again to a Naval ship near Nigeria. He also mentioned oil rigs and drilling near Nigeria. He claimed to be very wealthy. Early on he had 2 checks mailed to me to hold for him until he returned to shore. I contacted the companies they were from this week and they both confirmed someone stole their bank info a year ago and had been issuing fake checks.

Mike promised several times to come meet me in the US, and of course never showed up. He started out asking for small amounts of money and as time went on came up with larger requests for various dramas and emergencies. Sometimes I sent money, sometimes I would refuse. Most funds were sent through Coinbase as Bitcoin, other times he requested iTunes or other gift cards. The couriers were involved when he claimed he had property with a security company that closed down and needed it shipped to the US for him to come pick up here. Nothing was delivered because they demanded a bunch of customs fees. I paid some of it, then stopped when they demanded $106,000 and said it was for the IRS, which does not handle US customs.

I broke up with him at the end of September and a week later the sextortion emails hit me. I had sent several nude photos of myself over the prior months. The blackmail emails included 2 of the photos as attachments and demanded enormous sums of money of $500,000 and $2,000,000. I have never had that kind of wealth and it was just bizarre. I went to the local police and reported it. They basically took my report, asked me to forward them all the emails and then did nothing with any of it. The person emailing me created fake accounts on FaceBook, LinkedIn, and Twitter and harassed me through them. I spent many sleepless nights tracking the posts and having them taken down as fast as possible. I kept screen shots of all the online posts in case the police needed them, though the officer showed no interest in investigating any of it.

I got back in touch with Mike while the blackmail emails were coming and he convinced me he was innocent and wanted to help me. He offered to pay the blackmail demands on my behalf. I refused to send any money to the sextortion contact and refused Mike's help with it. He really didn't do anything helpful, but if he was behind them then at least he got the message loud and clear that I was not paying out any money for this scam. Eventually the emails just stopped and I've heard nothing further about it.

Mike continued to come up with other reasons to ask me for money and I sent him additional funds when it played on my emotions. He also offered to pay my credit card accounts off for me and then asked me to take advances on them and send him money for expenses. He sent some online payments, and they later were reversed by the bank back out of my accounts, leaving 2 of them over the limits by thousands of dollars.

I ended contact with Mike again on January. Since then he has only attempted to contact me once through Google Hangouts. I have blocked him in both Viber and Hangouts. My online profiles are all set to block being tagged by anyone or having any public comments posted.

I have reverse searched all of the photos he sent me and found no hits through Google. Many I also searched through Tineye this past month and also nothing there. I have searched the email addresses, phone number, and every shred of info I can think to search, all to find nothing online of him. The only thing I have not found a way to search yet is the NY driver's license he sent me an image of. It is clearly photo-shopped, but he was adamant that if I had the police scan it I would have confirmation of his identity. He sent it to me after the sextortion issue because I stopped trusting him. I have no idea how to verify if the ID is real or not.

Image

I realize there is likely no way this person, or persons, will be caught, and my money is long gone. I hope I can reach a point of courage over this that I can post more details that help other people avoid these scams. I feel like the biggest idiot on the planet. I have told some friends and family parts of the story, as well as the police, but no one stepped in to help bring me to my senses and they were all extremely judgmental and shamed me for what little I told them, making me unable to get the help I needed to untangle myself from the scams. At certain points I did research romance scams, but none of Mike's info was out there and his details were just enough off from the posted stories that I kept convincing myself he was not a scammer. That's what really makes me want to share the story because if just one other victim had mentioned him then I would have bailed on this much earlier.
I am willing to do whatever I need to in order to put all of this behind me but I am not finding much help out there to clean up the aftermath of it all.
Help yourself by helping others - report your scammer here.
Google can be your best friend;use it if you have doubts about someone met online. If someone met online only asks for money, no matter what reason, it´s 100% scam.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=26504
Image
User avatar
firefly
"Nut job" admin.
 
Posts: 70956
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:27 am
Location: in a parallel universe

Re: mikebradle876@gmail.com

Unread postby firefly » Wed May 22, 2019 5:20 pm

Other fake documents used in scam:

Image
Image
Image
Help yourself by helping others - report your scammer here.
Google can be your best friend;use it if you have doubts about someone met online. If someone met online only asks for money, no matter what reason, it´s 100% scam.
viewtopic.php?f=11&t=26504
Image
User avatar
firefly
"Nut job" admin.
 
Posts: 70956
Joined: Sun Apr 22, 2012 12:27 am
Location: in a parallel universe

Craig morgan - craigmorgan0147@gmail.com

Unread postby SlapHappy » Sat Mar 13, 2021 5:00 pm

Form received 2021-03-13 04:24:42

What name did the scammer use?:
Craig morgan

How old did the scammer say they were?:
53

What site/app did you first meet the scammer on? Please provide a link if
possible.:
Connecting single

Who made the first contact?:
They contacted me first.

If they asked you to leave the site/app and go elsewhere, where did they
take you?:
Whatsapp

Any other social media profile links used by the scammer.:
Email

Scammer's email address if you have it.:
craigmorgan0147@gmail.com

If they gave you a phone number, please add it here.:
+18433218239

Scammer's Skype name.:
We never used skype

Scammer's Skype username (right click their photo/avatar and click "view
profile").:
No communicating via skype

How much money did they demand?:
90000 USD

Name you were told to send the money to.:
So many

What country/city were you told to send the money to?:
Turkey

How were you to send the money ?:
Western Union and bank transfer

What steps, if any, have you already taken to block the scammer?:
Block him

Are there any other details you wish to share? Anything you say may help
prevent someone else from being scammed.:
Well..i never think negative about other people. I trust easily.
Attachments
IMG-20210313-WA0065_jpm6st.jpg
IMG-20210313-WA0021_vvbwsp.jpg
If anyone asks you for money on the Internet they are always a scammer, 100% of the time.
Blackmail Scammed? Go here: https://www.scamsurvivors.com/blackmail/#/
FAQ viewtopic.php?f=3&t=19
Victim of a scam? Go here: https://scamsurvivors.com/forum/viewtop ... =3&t=26504
User avatar
SlapHappy
Retired admin/co creator
 
Posts: 44968
Joined: Tue Apr 17, 2012 5:18 am
Location: Just a face in a magazine, watching you post your scammer's details.

Re: Scammers abusing stolen photos of Jeff Remas

Unread postby Angie007 » Sat May 15, 2021 3:34 pm

The photos were stolen from american photographer Jeff Remas on facebook. So sorry.
Angie007
New survivor
 
Posts: 1
Joined: Sat May 15, 2021 3:31 pm

Re: Scammers abusing stolen photos of Jeff Remas

Unread postby Big Al » Sat May 15, 2021 6:16 pm

Angie007,
Is there any scammer information you can add to this topic?

E-mails, E-mail addresses, Photographs and fake documents, phone numbers, & places you were asked to send money are all helpful.
"Look for the lies."
Being Blackmailed? Go here and do this first: https://blackmailscams.com/
The information you supply can help others from becoming Victims.
Image
User avatar
Big Al
"Little pee nut" admin.
 
Posts: 84945
Joined: Fri Apr 27, 2012 10:48 pm


Return to Romance scams.

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 60 guests