Refugee scams.
The refugee scam is a mix of romance scam and trunk box scam. In these cases, the “woman” will have fled the country due to her family being brutally murdered or a wicked relative trying to control her after the death of her father. They will claim to be in a refugee camp, and in possession of the means to obtain a large amount of money. The camp will usually be in Senegal, as that’s where these scammers are working from, These scammers are easy to spot as their scripts are all very similar. Here are two examples, both taken from the same site:
Hello
my name is Sandra, I came across your profile and become interested for a serious relationship. please if you wouldn’t mind, i will like you to write me through my email; (
sandramazoba@live.com ) so that i can give you my pictures and tell you more about myself. age and distance does not matter, rather what i value most is the understanding and love. thanks till i hear from you,
miss Sandra
Hello dear,
I have seen your profile contact here, Indeed, I (
tinawalt@yahoo.co.uk) need a friend who is realistic, honesty and faithful in my life.. I quite believe that we can start from here since it takes one to know someone. I want you to understand that race or distance does not matter but loving and caring matters a lot in life. I am expecting your favorable response so that we can get to know each other better. On the receipt of your response to (
tinawalt@yahoo.co.uk), I will send my pictures to you. Yours truly, tina
As you can see, both claim that distance doesn’t matter, and one says that age isn’t imporant while the other says the same about race. Both also offer to send pictures if you reply. Around 50% of the time, there will be no avatar with their profile, or it’ll contain a flower/sunset photograph. They may claim that they have something important to tell you. The “important” thing will be that they need your help to escape the supposed refugee camp and collect the money, and that they’re willing to offer you a share in exchange for your help. There is of course no money, no refugee camp and no pastor that you can talk to. The “pastor” will be the scammer, and if you speak to a female then it’ll be his girlfriend/wife/sister/mother/him putting on a stupid falsetto voice in a pathetic attempt to fool you.
Another clue that this is a refugee scam will be the fact the email address is not only included in the message, but surrounded by brackets. Here’s another example that has the classic misspellings “remeber” and “alot” that we see all the time:
Dearest,
My name is Rose,i saw your profile today and became interested in you,i will also like to know you the more,and i want you to send an email to my email address so i can give you my picture for you to know whom i am.
Here is my email address(
roseidrissa@yahoo.com)
I believe we can move from here
I am waiting for your mail to my email address above.
Roseidrissababy
Remeber the distance or colour does not matter but love matters alot in life
(
roseidrissa@yahoo.com)
Another thing to notice is that a lot (or “alot”) will claim to have become “interested in your profile”. These wording patterns make spotting the scammers very easy.