The Geese That Lay The Golden Eggs

After the roses and flowers, we can expect an ill-fated event

Contact between Henry and Silvia is interrupted for about ten days. She doesn’t get in touch with him. After all, apart from the flattering declarations of love, she’s not really interested in him. Or at least, she’s not interested enough to go looking for him or get worried about his absence.

Henry suddenly gets in touch again, telling her he’s been mugged shortly before returning home. Without beating about the bush, he asks her to help him out with some money, because he’s been left high and dry. He has nothing. He tells her the details of the armed robbery that he’s suffered at the hands of two thugs. Frightened of being killed Henry gave them everything he had on him: his wallet, his credit card, his gold watch.

Silvia answers that she is sorry. Henry insists on asking her to send him money. She doesn’t have money and tells him so, but Henry continues to describe all his trials and tribulations. He says he has nothing, not even the minimum to be able to eat. Silvia advises him to make a complaint to the police. He answers he’s already done that, but all the same, he’s still without any resources. Only she can help him.

«No.» replies Silvia. «I don’t have money to give to anyone. I can barely cover my own expenses!»

«You’re heartless!» the man rants, «I need the money for my children!»

So, she starts questioning him. The usual questions that would come to mind to anyone. She asks him where his relatives in the real estate business are. She wants him to explain why his children are in Ivory Coast and not in France.

Henry gets cross, he tells her she hasn’t understood a thing of what he’s told her. He makes excuses for his contradictions. Then he changes tone and asks her for a lower figure. A thousand euros will suffice. «Can she send whatever she can! He’ll pay back every cent.»

Silvia interrupts the conversation. Embittered she does some research and discovers he’s a scammer.

She was about to fall for it too, but in this case, she’s always kept a level head. She didn’t let herself be enchanted, a little thanks to her personality, a little because basically that unknown man never really seemed completely convincing to her. To be precise, let’s say the romantic talk on his part was fake, there never was any on her part.

Daria

«It happened to me as well. Two months of really loving letters and sweet words that any woman would love to hear».

This is how Daria’s story begins; she calls the person who scammed her a shady individual. She says she used to think these things happened to old-age pensioners or to little naïve, lonely women, and she specifically uses derogatory phrases to define the individuals in this story, because she’s full of contempt for herself. She feels stupid, with no excuse, just a poor, weak woman. Daria tells her story on Massimo Cappanera’s blog, the clinical psychologist who is an expert on web scams and invites people to tell their stories of what happened to them, so those reading are warned and don’t fall into the same trap.⁷

I spent two months living in the clouds

Marcello says he’s Italian when he approaches Daria. But from how he expresses himself, it’s clear that he’s not. She points out that his written Italian is not very good, and he justifies it by explaining that he was born in Italy, but his mother is German. His father died when he was a child, and on the death of his father, his mother decided to relocate to Great Britain where they lived for many years.

Daria speaks several languages and she tells him to choose whichever he prefers: Spanish, English, German.

«I’m a widower, and I have a twelve-year-old daughter - he explains - I travel a lot on international business. I take my little girl and the baby sitter with me because I don’t like leaving my daughter alone. It’s just the two of us all alone in the world.»

At this, Daria starts to nourish compassion and understanding for this widowed man with his sweet daughter always at his side.

«I’m based in Bristol for work - continues Marcello - but my business takes me everywhere. I organise big expensive tenders.»

«That’s quite a demanding job!», observes Daria.

«Yes, but I’m used to the work and to travelling. I’m happy with the way business is going. The only thing missing in my life is a woman to sweep me off my feet. I’m happy because I’ve found her now, but my happiness will only be complete when I can embrace you.»

«Will that day be soon?»

«Sooner than you think!», Marcello assures her emphatically.

«When?»

«I hate talking about money, but I can tell you. I chose a tender for 7.5 million instead of 12, because the first is shorter and we can see each other sooner. I can’t wait to meet you. You’re so beautiful, lovable (the man starts to list her qualities and the feelings he has for her). Sweet Daria I do nothing but think of you!»

Marcello goes on to explain his plans for their meeting which will take place on his return from a trip by ship to Cyprus where he’s about to go to buy equipment that will be used for the construction of a bridge.

«Everything was going marvellously well - says Daria - even if there were a few small contradictions in his words which however, having decidedly thrown caution to the wind, I didn’t pick up on».

And here are the incredible aspects of this story

Marcello often speaks of the mystical dimension of their meeting, it was without doubt God’s work. It’s the fate of two hearts which resemble one another and seek each other to achieve happiness. They meet with divine intervention and love each other for life.

All fine, then! But here too - as in a tried and tested screenplay - a catastrophe occurs. Daria is informed of something unexpected and unusual. Marcello is in the port of Cyprus when pirates storm a ship that left before theirs. The captain is dead, having been killed, while shots ring out wildly, and blood flows everywhere. The pirates take some hostages. Marcello has a container full of cash and the precious documents for his tender.

«My darling - he tells her - you know I’m alone in the world without you. You’re the only person I trust. Do me the immense favour of looking after the package I managed to hide, until I arrive in Italy.»

«Okay,» replies Daria.

«Give me your address!» says Marcello.

Daria sends him her address and phone number. He explains that he has already paid eight thousand euros for transport and there should be a small fee for domestic taxes which the company cannot estimate before the arrival of the package at its destination.

The woman spends two distressing and very long days almost without sleep because of the anxiety this unexpected situation is causing her. She thinks of Marcello’s safety, of his incolumity. She’s afraid. She doesn’t know what to do in the meantime, until late at night she receives a delivery note by email from a transport company called Turkiye Diplomatic Security Company. The note is full of stamps and has the appearance of something very important and official. However, something is missing for the delivery to be made. For the company’s security agents to deliver the parcel to Daria’s home address, a payment of 2500 euro must be made for domestic taxes and VAT. The sum must be paid by bank transfer before delivery. Daria, terrified by the weight of the responsibility, does not know what decision to make. She calls Marcello on the phone, but there’s no answer. So she tries calling his company and nobody answers there either. She searches for the company on the Internet but cannot find it. Then she really experiences a state of conflicting anxieties. She’s tempted to pay the money, but she hasn’t got enough. Then she thinks of asking her sister for help. She goes to her. «I’ve got a really serious problem,» she tells her agitatedly, «I need 2500 euros urgently!»

«What?»

«Yes, I need it to release a shipment!»

«Sit down a moment and tell me everything from the beginning,» her sister orders her.

«Well, I met Marcello chatting online. He does business deals…»

Daria talks to her sister and, as she tells her about those incredible events, she realises that her foggy brain is starting to clear.

«She saw the light by herself! - she says - I couldn’t believe my own words as I talked and listened to myself».

Daria’s story ends here. With her sister, who luckily helped her open her eyes and consoled her sorrow a little.

But she wants to end her story like this:

«To finish, let me tell you, that even if we’re smart, intelligent people, these things can happen, in the heat of the moment. One very important thing is not to keep everything inside us. We enter a tunnel where reality is easily confused with fantasy unless we share it with someone. I hope I haven’t bored you with this long story, and I also hope I’ve been of help to someone, like you’ve been to me, thanks!»⁸.

Serena

This is Serena’s story, freely adapted from the blog on World Romance Scams⁹. The site gathers countless testimonials from anyone who wants to share their own experience to help other women, before they fall for a romance scam, or after they’ve been left heartbroken to show them the way back towards regaining their self-esteem:

«My name is Serena and I’m 31 years old; one day I met a very handsome and dashing man on Facebook who sent me a friend request. I’d never heard of the existence of fake profiles, so I trusted him. He was polite, romantic, attentive; he often told me he thanked God for having made us meet. I couldn’t see anything wrong, so I carried on. He told me what he did; he was at sea on an oil tanker. He was a widower and had a daughter. Slowly I became infatuated with him and I asked to meet. He said he couldn’t come ashore but would do so as soon as possible.

One day he wrote to me saying that the ship had a leak and they had to dock. He told me they had problems with the insurance which didn’t cover the damage and all their jobs were at risk. He asked me to help him by sending him five thousand euros. I believed him and did it. Then he asked me for more money for further work on the ship. He explained they were making a collection and he needed another five thousand euros. I sent them to him. I was starting to spend too much money and by chance I saw an advert on Facebook for the “World Romance Scam” association. I clutched at it. I wrote to them. Dr Ansaldi replied asking me to call her on the phone. Since then she has been helping me. She helped me understand what trouble I’d got myself into, and she sent me photos of the fraudster proving to me that this person had already targeted other women.

I followed her suggestions blindly to get through the tunnel leading back to reality. I blocked all contact with him. I no longer answered his calls; I cried, I couldn’t sleep, I felt awful, but I knew I had to succeed and Dr Ansaldi was always there for me. In the end he disappeared and for me that was the end of a nightmare that could have caused a lot more damage if I hadn’t found “Worldromancescam.org". Now I know what fake profiles really are, and I’m vaccinated against them. I just wanted everyone to know that you can heal from these addictions and I’m living proof of that».

The associations, the media, the institutions that deal with this problem which has now spread beyond all expectations

The World Romance Scam association does a good job in disclosing information and prevention. On its website and its Facebook page, women interact who have fallen prey to romance scams and want to actively do something to safeguard and help others. Their introduction on the site’s home page is this:

«Association against romance scams, assistance and advice to victims; investigations, information, prevention; reporting according to the Budapest Convention on Cybercrime of 23/04/2001 and subsequent updates».

Looking at the posts published on their Facebook page you can see an infinity of pictures found to be fake. One carries this warning:

«This is another fake using the photo of an Italian model; he calls himself Jean Marck Venus.»

The answer from one member is the following: «He told me his name was Oliver Perret!».

Scrolling through the page, many personalities have been cloned by the fraudsters. There’s a picture of a highly decorated and oblivious naval officer, with a strong-willed and interesting face and the fictitious name of Ken Scaparotti. Further down a video with the warning: «New fake who says his name is Miguel Pazamini or Jean Marc Riviet.».

The comment underneath is by a certain Marta: «Last April this person was called Sebastien Perrot!».

So, the search continues, on the site, to find the real identity of the fraudsters and to expose the photos linked to the lies that the cunning scammers tell about themselves. There are pictures of many different types of men; handsome men, not so handsome but interesting men, sportsmen in modern clothing, officers in high uniform, teachers, doctors.

Going on to examine the posts we find pictures of women, mostly young ones (also unwitting clones) that are posted on social spaces with fake profiles and minimum information, invented to set up - like a bait at sea - profitable romance scams. Sole purpose: to get money out of victims found on the web.

The photographs are all real but stolen from men and women who are unaware they are so loved for their real likenesses and for a fake personal history diligently performed by downright thieves.

Rossana

Rossana also tells her story on Cappanera’s blog. She writes that she finds the stories of other women and the advice on the web very useful¹⁰. In turn she wants to talk about her story, to help anyone reading not to fall into the scam:

«I recently started doing web marketing for my business and looking for contacts and friends on Facebook I ran into this man ... note that I sent him a friend request among many others that I sent. Shortly afterwards he contacted me on Facebook chat».

The man who answers her appears to be suspicious because Rossana’s profile doesn’t have a picture, but a graphic image. He wants a photograph to accept the friend request. She sends him one and a daily correspondence begins. The man’s name is Fred and he tells her he’s English, from London, single, 40 years old, a civil engineer. He’s what they call a good catch. He’s also a handsome man.

But let's see how Rossana’s tale continues:

«The conversation was always in English which I know quite well… Initially, to test the waters, I also tried writing a few sentences in Italian, but he didn’t understand. We chatted happily for a day or two, but in the meantime - with great class I have to admit - he started to become "friendlier" and began using affectionate names for me such as "dear", then "honey" (and take note, the first time he used this nickname he apologised for having done so). I must admit, I liked it a lot. He made me feel looked after, thought about, at what was, I have to admit, not a very happy time in my love life (and when I say time I sometimes forget it’s been going on for years now…) so I let him carry on».

After about a week Fred tells Rossana that he intends to go and see her during the Christmas holidays. She’s surprised at the suddenness of his decision, but he nonchalantly replies that he has a good job and can afford it. Then the «I love you’s» begin and phrases like «Darling you’re always in my thoughts.» And «I thank God for making me meet a woman like you.»

The purpose of the announced trip is to get to know Rossana, but not just that. Fred tells her he has decided to buy a house in Italy, to marry her and live together, happily ever after, like in the fairy tales.

At this point a vague suspicion begins to worm its way into Rossana’s mind, but she doesn’t think of a scam, rather she fears she may be dealing with a deranged person, a fanatic, someone who builds castles in the sky with a woman, with the idea that love is a one-sided thing, that doesn’t need acceptance and confirmation.

Rossana starts to put the brakes on, to assume an inquisitive stance. She asks questions, she asks him about his family. He starts sending her photos of him with his father, his mother, his sister. Rossana invites him to explain the work he does once again, which company he works for. Fred tells her the name of the company he works for, but all her internet searches return no information on that name. There is no evidence of Fred’s business. However, Rossana maintains contact because she wants to understand where this man is going with all this.

The online love story continues. One day he telephones from a number with a British country code +44. But another day the number is an American one. Rossana remembers that his family - according to what Fred has said - live in the USA, so she lets it go.

The man’s perseverance in contacting her is constant. He shows great interest in her, he asks her questions about how she spends her time, what she likes to do for fun, what she’s wearing. He informs her they’ll see each other soon and that will be a wonderful day for him.

One day he tells her that he’s booked his trip to the USA, where he must go to sign a contract. After which he’ll come to Italy where he intends to buy a nice apartment, to invest some money and above all to have a house to live in whenever he wants to see her. He asks her to enquire about the cost of houses in her city.

He doesn’t speak of marriage, like he used to during their previous discussions. Doubtless he’s understood that Rossana finds his haste to confirm a new relationship, that’s only just begun, unusual. This clearly shows that the seduction method used by online scammers can be adapted while it’s still ongoing. It’s usually a sort of fictional script. Love phrases are copied-and-pasted from romantic books. But not everything can be predicted. There’s also a little ‘Commedia dell’Arte’ involved, with things being played “by ear”, depending on how the situation unfolds.

For her part, Rossana finds her online suitor’s interest in buying property, unconvincing. Fred’s behaviour is inconsistent, and without doubt there’s a purpose behind it that she’s unaware of. So, she decides to play along. She considers some real estate offers, reads the sale announcements, sends him some proposals based on the budget which – according to what Fred has told her - can be up to six hundred thousand euros.

This email exchange with the information on house prices, seems a good opportunity, to Rossana, to make enquiries about him through his email address, but the only thing she finds out is that it’s the same email address as the one linked to his Facebook account.

The house Fred is interested in, is one of the most expensive of all those up for sale. He thanks her and tells her he’ll go and look at it personally when he’s in Italy.

Once again, nothing happens that is any different to the usual script used in Romance Scams. Fred warns Rossana that he’s sending her 700 thousand pounds from the USA and a courier will deliver a package to her home, which will also contain a gift for her.

We already know the ending. There’s costs to be paid for shipping, stamp duty, notary’s fees, and who-knows-what-else!

Rossana, who had smelt a rat right from the start, tells him she hasn’t got the money for these costs. Then she goes and checks the websites and blogs which have stories of romance scams on them, and there she finds confirmation that the so-called Fred is a good-for-nothing crook. She shares her story to help other women and begins to collaborate with one of the associations that fight these vile scams.