New Twist on the Scam:

When the scammer is caught by the victim and admits the crime, the next thing they do is swear they have fallen in love with the victim. Some people walk away but others do believe what they are told. After all by this time, the victim has such strong feelings for the scammer, how in the world can he/she not have feelings for them? So the victims who believe and stay are drawn into a different scam which turns out to be a whole lot more dangerous. The scammer continues the work to solidify their victim's love and trust. The requests then start for a victim to visit the scammer in their home country.

The first visit is all about grooming the victim . The scammer will use this first visit to further solidify the relationship, so the victim "knows" this is real. After that the scammer will draw them in further ending up actually using the victim to scam other people.

We were informed by the FBI, about a woman they dealt with who has visited her scammer four times. The first visit was a dream come true. After that, she started getting drawn in to help her "love". When she came back from the fourth visit, she was petrified with all that was going on and went to the FBI. She is in this so deep now, it is hard to get out. She is facing felony charges for her involvement. Turning in evidence can get her a lighter sentence. However, she is now under protection as she is so involved in the scam that her life and the lives of her loved ones are in danger. As long as the victim cooperated, they were safe. Once she stopped cooperating, then she and her family are in grave danger.

Fake Investigators:

Source: http://www.romancescams.org/AboutRomanceScammers.html

We are aware of “detectives” or "private investigators" who are offering their services for a fee to track down a person's scammer. They promise to identify who the scammer is and for an additional fee have them arrested and bring them to justice. Many people have been contacted by these fakes asking for money to assist. We know this is a continuation of the scam.

There are some fake detectives/investigators that have set up web sites stating they are NET Detectives. There are some that are showing associations to different investigative organizations. We spoke with the FBI about the affiliations and were told that they are PAID associations and anyone can be a member if they pay the fee. It in no way makes them legitimate.

The FBI also has told us there is NO WAY for anyone to really trace who the scammers are from this end. They are cloaked behind phony names and identities. The most they can tell you is they are scammers, but then we can tell you the same thing right here and we do it for FREE. If the investigator is based in Nigeria or any other West African country (and more recently in Malaysia and the United Kingdom), they are also most likely a scammer. While these "investigators" make it sound good, after they have supposedly located your scammer, they need additional money to have them arrested and brought to justice. The truth -- it is another part of a scam and designed to further empty your purse or wallet. In any event, this "investigator" is either a scammer or someone who is willing to profit from the victim's pain and loss.

TOP

Steps to Take:
Immediately cease all contact with the scammer! Block their email address, ignore their instant messages, ignore their phone calls;
Contact Western Union to see if the payment has not been picked up yet (if not, cancel the transfer immediately);
Keep your email conversations and instant messages on your computer. Make copies of everything to give to the various reporting agencies, and keep all receipts and envelopes --anything that can be used as evidence;
Report the scammer to dating site you were contacted on, Yahoo Profiles, the FBI IC3 , police department (make a report) and our database;
Contact the bank fraud department and make payment arrangements if a check/money order has been found fraudulent and you owe money to them;
Contact the bank fraud department if you suspect a check you deposited will come back fraudulent;
Contact your Postal Carrier/Post Office and ask that no packages to be delivered at your home/ work. Also bring checks and money orders that you received to the post office to make a report and turn them over;
Contact your Postal Carrier/Post Office if you have been sent packages or letters to forward for a scammer. Keep the envelopes or shipping package for evidence;
Contact any companies that have sent you gifts or merchandise and inform them that they were purchased on a stolen credit card and make arrangements to have the items returned;
Contact your local police department. They may not do anything but it will help you to create a paper trail.

Roni's Story

 was caught up in a more elaborate scam than most, even law enforcement officials and US Secret Service were not that familiar with this one.

My situation has some of the classic traits, but the major difference is my scammer paid off my credit cards…and so far, everything has been ok, but I'll give it a few months to see if the
payments were made by fraudulent means.

I met this person on Yahoo, he immediately captured my affection and within 5 days he was asking me to transfer money. He requested I take cash advances on my credit cards and that he would pay the balance on the cards which he actually did, can you believe that? I'm pretty sure this was to gain my trust. He is using the name Phil Collins, white male, 45 years old, never married, has built orphanages, owns a Diamond mine and lives in Beverly Hills, CA.

Well, did that a few times and wired money to where he wanted it to go, but the stakes started to get much bigger. I even went as far as to hand a real person a large sum of money to take to CA, which I now regret. This is a twist on the normal scam since people don't usually meet anybody in person. I think this person was probably a "MULE" which is a person who is paid for the transport of goods but doesn't know much or most likely nothing of the scam.

When I went to Western Union and Money gram to transfer subsequent funds, they would often stop the transfer at their end, say it was suspicious, and then I would get my money back. From then on when he asked me to do that, I said I would, then the transfers were stopped by the agents and there wasn't anything I could do. I was so distraught, I was only trying to help him and then he would tell me to forget about dealing with those crazy people.

He had proposed marriage, which flattered me and I believed it….dumb, I know, but he is good at what he does.

Last Saturday is when I found out he was part of a Nigerian scammer ring….thanks to my neighbor and best friend…she truly saved my life. She searched high and low on the internet found this yahoo group and found him on this website:
http://www.romancescam.com/album/index.php?cat=6&page=17 – third photo on left, Mike Jones.

He asked me to send $27,000 directly to a Bank of America account, the guy was his tailor in Beverly Hills, CA. Said his tuxes for his and his best man were very expensive and that he wanted to look his best. I told him I didn't have that kind of money and they only way I could
get it was to take a 3rd mortgage out on my house…which he expected me to do….NOT!! I told him I did, to get him off my back, and have made excuses as to why the transfers couldn't be done. In addition to the large sum of money, he wants me to purchase 30 laptop computers, ship
them to a guy in London, who will then ship them to his orphanage in South Africa…yeah right. From Fed Ex, I discovered you can't send anything over 2500.00 without a Shipper's Export Document explaining what and why you are sending.

In the last week he has been in and out of the hospital for chest pains due to stress…scamming takes a lot of out him, I guess.

Yesterday 3/17/06 I called him out telling him I received an email from a friend showing me all of his pictures and he was even on the Nigerian scammer site I listed above. He asked me for the website's I found him on and I wouldn't tell him. He claims the ex-girlfriend has posted them and is trying to ruin his life. For good measure, I have been conversing with a person using "the photo" and how he loves me after chatting for about 10 minutes. I don't believe it is the same person I have been communicating with.

Yesterday, he was supposed to be flying home from South Africa, but there was a problem with the wing on the plane…flight cancelled. Today he has been admitted to the hospital for tests and observation because of his heart condition (he disclosed today he had heart surgery two years ago), so he will be there for the next 3 days at least.

His only concern right now is sending the computers to London and the
money to CA.

***************************************************************

After the scam was discovered, I wasn't emotionally scarred because I loved him, so getting over
that was easy...the deceit made me very angry.

As a 911 dispatcher, I can honestly give insight and compassion to people who have had similar things happen, telling them they are no stupid, only caring individuals someone has taken advantage of...then they don't feel so alone...that in itself gives my life and experience tremendous worth.

Roni

Crista's Story

I am pretty sure that I have fallen victim to an internet dating site scammer. I am new to the group, but have read numerous emails at this point. My story is like one that I read and it has just stayed in my mind since I joined and read this man's story. So, I thought that I should tell my story.

I had a profile on singlesnet.com. This man started an email conversation with me. I was flattered considering that he was quite handsome, and from Florida. My intention was that I would talk to him and it would go no further of course, due to geographical reasons. He and I began IMing each other. Soon, like within just 24 hours, he was telling me that he loved me and proposed marriage.

Yes, a flag sort of waved, but since he said that he was originally from the UK, I made the excuse that maybe things just worked differently there than here. We continued emailing and IMing each other. He decided that he was going to quit the job that he had as a marine engineer so he could move to be with me and my son. He had to go to Nigeria to buy oil for this new company that he was starting. Ever since then, he has had nothing but bad luck. Actually, I have had nothing but bad luck, including losing about $10,000, my home, personal possessions, and the only safety and security that I had built for me and my son.

I did all on the promise that he was coming to the states to make things right. I have no friends left because I didn't heed their warning, I lost my home, sold the majority of my personal possessions and am now living with my ex-husbands parents basement with my special needs son. I am embarrassed, and hurt. You are the first person that I admitted this too. I have to file bankruptcy to try and bring my life up to "zero" again.

I hope with all my heart that he hasn't gotten to anyone else. He used two supposed immigration officers, as recipients for the money. The other things that should have keyed me in were things like he didn't know his astrological sign, he didn't know his kids favorite colors, what they liked, and some other little things. I took for granted because the kids weren't with him was why he didn't know

Now I am lost as to what to do. This relationship has been going on for the last 4 months now, so there are a lot of details. I am in it emotionally and trying to understand and rationalize, and figure out how to start healing.

Crista

Mixed Scam Stories

“I have just been scammed by these people calling themselves Microsoft windows support. Exactly the same as above unfortunately I fell for it. They said there was an admin fee of £4.99 so I puy my visa card no in but as I could not see the amount I said I will not go any further until I see £4.99 they then said it was on the next page I said no I will cancel before I could do anything they authorised the payment as they were still in my computer. I immediately rang the bank only to be told they had put through an Alertpay authorisation for £199.99 I asked the bank what I could do they said nothing as I cannot prove anything. I emailed Alertpay.com but so far have heard nothing” (left as a comment 17/11/10)

“I have been a victum  of a moneygram scam fell hook line and sinker. Im ashamed I fell for it. Money grams from Anchorage Alaska ( Speedway Moneygrams drawn on Weels Fargo Bank.I went to thr Unitied Nations Scam place and filed a report and now they tell me they want to pay me 1.5 million for this I may have been scammed once but not twice. So please make people aware of this scam. Millions of people will get hurt I for one do not know what to do. I was so stupid. Now I have put my marriage on the line.” (emailed to me 16/02/10)

“I have ecived a lot of phone calls from DR. WILFRED ANDERSON, saying that I won 2500000GBP from Tagged annual draw. After sending the courier money he came back and told me the money cannot be sent because I need a certificate from the UN money laudering and drug abuse. So after getting my money for 250GBP. i THINK YOU ALL SHOULD KNOW ALL THIS BEFORE WE SEND OUT MONEY FIRST. SO I RELIASED THAT I BEEN HAD AND SCAMMED.” (comment left on 8 /2 /10)

“thanks for your response,no although im 40 years old but still i havent get engaged or married,about 3 years ago i was going to be engaged but that was the time when that scammer was working on my mind,i belive he knew many things about psycology so there are many people at risk now,during 2 years we exchanged about more than 500 emails,in first step he said i should pay 400 pound for registration so that process be legal,after that he said my funds going to be released but i have to pay 500 pound as a visa fee,then after one month he said everything was going to be right but a british chancelor named greenland janet told i should pay the tax of those funds and sent a form for me (british inland revenue)and required about 1200 pound but at last i payed about 1050 pound and he said i will complete the rest of that,after that he said because of political situation of my country chancelor is not interested in my visa so i have to pay something as a gift to make her kind about my self and then i payed 400 pound but at last he said she is requiring 10000 pound before my coming and w i told him i cant and i will never pay ,he said ok,wait after changing of chancelor maybe i can do somthing for you,in fact at first that was unbelivable for me that he is forging a lot of documents just for taking 400 pound from me but later i found thai it was the pace and technique of scammers specialy when i searched about william wilcox scams in google,i know i cant reach to my funds any more,but at least i want that my information can be used for other people who doesnt want to be scammed!!!!!” (16 sept 09. This victim has sent me some of the scammer’s emails and I have put them on a separate page on this site – A Victim’s Story – so you can see just how the scammers operate)

Please can you advise me on a possible scam.  My sister has recently hooked up with a man she met on a dating site who calls himself Michael Wigins.  He is aparantly in the USA Army serving in Iraq.  He is 47, widowed, has a six year ols daughter living in Canada.  This man is promising my sister the world he wants to marry her he is coming here in a few weeks etc, etc,.  Through this my sister who has some health issues that makes her very vunerable has sold her home in order to make funds.  I have written to this man via email asking releveant questions and he refuses to answer. I have also emailed my sister links on the website with scam stories which I may add are very similar to hers. I am at my wits end please can you offer some advice. (this was emailed to me on 14 Sept 09 – I am hoping that my reader’s sister can be prevented from losing her money)

I advertised i was seeking work in liverpool/manchester UK & i received an email asking if i would like to become a MYSTERY SHOPPER, I replied with my name & address, they then sent me 1000 euro’s in an american express traveller’s cheque & asked me to put it in my bank then to deposit money into the MONEY GRAM as a mystery shopper. I only became aware this was a SCAM when my bank advised me it was cheaper to go to the beureau de change place, so i did when i handed them in they told me these cheques were faudulant. I am now aware this was a scam luckly before it was too late, Im glad my bank didn’t take the cheque’s & advised me to go elsewhere otherwise i could of been scammed. This person is known to me as SCOTT MOSIER. (This person was prevented from becoming a victim because of the actions of his bank and local bureau de change)

I have recently been the victim of scammers. There were at least two and it was the usual stuff, one guy hooks up with me through a dating site, chats for a few weeks and then supposedly goes on a business trip with his young son to Ghana where he is robbed of his wallet, so he has no cards or cash. He does his business deal and names me as a trustee to receive some of the money so that I can send him some to come home as for some reason he can’t access his bank account (which I question on several occasions, also if he goes on business trips abroad regularly why can’t he claim on his insurance). It is at this point that the supposed bank manager takes over and there is tax to pay on the money he is sending me and a fee for this and that with me questioning all the time why can’t they take tax etc out of the money they are supposed to be sending to me. Of course this can’t be done for some reason or the other. I know now that it’s a classic scam. When I said no more money and they realised that I meant it Mr Bank Manager rings and tells me that my “friend” has been taken into hospital with a heart attack and he needs money to pay for his medical treatment. I tell him to contact the British High Commission in Accra who will help. For some reason he’s not very keen to do that, I wonder why. At this point I have already informed the British High Commission about it all anyway, informed the dating site where I first made contact, informed the Bank that they are using as a front, told my bank etc, etc.  What is strange is that I have still had contact with one of them ( the “bank manager”) and really riled him by telling him what  low-life’s him and his friends are as up until two days ago they were still using the same mobile phones! Extraordinary.

I still have the photographs that the first guy sent me and I’m wondering who it is. I suspect that they’ve got them by nefarious means as part  of an identity theft but I would love to post them all over the internet and see what happens.

By the way I’m a 57 year old disabled woman living on benefits, something that they were fully aware of, so I didn’t have much money to begin with and I don’t know how I’m going to pay back the money I borrowed on my credit card.

But as I said to “Mr Bank Manager” at least I’ve still got my self-respect and can look in the mirror without feeling shame which seemed to upset him. I think he may be in the wrong profession! (this victim sent me their story by email on 3 Sept 09)

i m winner of texco mobile lottery draw .and i have paid to elite fleet courier all charges but still now i did not got the my parcel dispache oficer mr,gleen carlton pho-+447017742771please inform me via email parcel dispatched on 17-08-09 1 :45gmt for 120 hrs. but still now over the 120 hrs i did not got my parcel tell me via email thainki you (comment left on 25 Aug 09)  I had to write to the commenter and tell him he had been the victim of a scam.  This is his reply:

DEAR SIR ,

PELASE FIND THE ALL RECIEPT WHAT EVER HE SAID I PAID

PLEASE HELP ME SIR VIA EMAIL WHAT I DO PRESENTLY BECAUSE I HAVE LOST SO MUCH AND HOW CAN I GET THE MY RETURN MONEY

PLEASE HELP ME  - I have told him to go to the Police (but I know that they will be unable to help him)

Saya juga dapat email yang sama tapi saya sudah mengirimkan apa yang diminta bagaimana solusi dari anda? memang saya semula ragu! Tapi sudah terlanjur dikirim maaf karena saya orang miskin jadi berharaplah kalau memang benar menang.

I put this through an online Indonesian translator – this is what is says in English“I also could the same email but I have sent what was asked for how the solution from you? Indeed I originally hesitant! But has been already sent sorry because I the poor person so hoped if quite true won. (22 Aug 09.  I used the same online translator to advise the commentor to ignore any further emails.)

I, too get many mails of scams , though I, been victims in past and lost almost 300+ thousands $$$,

But, now I, am careful ?? (comment left on 6 Aug 09)

Nancy Williams from Nigeria and I have been e-mailing for about a week. She wanted me to send her $90.00 dollars for a phone which I did Sat. 08/01/09.She then wanted me to be her beneficiary, her father had passed and was worth alot of money but she had to be married to get her inheritance. Last night 08/03/09 she said she had to have $800.00 dollars sent to her lawyerBarrister_chris@hotmail.com I then realized this had to be a scam.

I don’t know what else to say. She had me convinced that she was a really true person. I just want everyone to be aware of her so it doesn’t happen to them!(Comment left by a victim on 4 Aug 09)

Dear sir

Thank you so much for your caring and i didn’t really beleive that i was going to have a reply from united nations as i know how you all very busy in very critical problems,and i want to tell you for my very bad luck i was trapped with Niegerian person who took from me six thousands dollars and he used to send to me documents from the bank that every step is legal inorder to conveince meto send more money for the transaction and i knew that everything is over when he asked me several times to send money and i told him that iam finished from that time when i called him back a friend of him told me that he is prisoned.His full name is Alhaji Muhammad Badamasi Babangida ,his phone no 00234803383953 but ofcourse he will not answer but his friend will,i want to execuse you that iam going to forward you the email that i received from the person that said that he from the united nations to resolve the problems to the people who had spam.He called himself Mr Sam Daws  (May 2009 – this victim emailed to ask if a scam he’d received was real.  I advised him to delete the email as it was a scam.  The paragraph you’ve just read was his reply)

frankmysteryshopagent77@gmail.com has changed his email tofrankmysteryshopagent4005@gmail.com be aware he is a total scam artist he scammed. Do not open any emails from this freak he will send you a check for $3500 and ask you to go to the nearest Western Union and send him back $3200. i found this out the hard way. (Comment left 18 May 09 on a post about scam mystery shopping assignments)

I have received at least 50 scam phishing things from Nigeria. They have all become the same with a few twists. I have a check in my possession for $4250. It was sent by postal mail which is strange. The FBI nor the local authorities want to investigate the E=mails I printed leading up to the check. It is on Sun Trust Bank and looks official. I investigated it myself. It is an actual account number and was originally one of those keep 10%. and was sent from Mississippi. My Banker and I checked it out as it said OFFICIAL. Why do authorities not want to investigate even with hard evidence? Nigeria has become a country where scamming is actually a profession and children look up to and respect those who do it well. (Left on 29 April 09) (I share the writer’s frustration.  I tried reporting one to my local Police force last year.  It’s a loooooong story.   Cutting it short – I explained to them that I ran this blog and was submitting a particular email as it seemed it might be traceable. I received a phone call from my local Police force – who tried to explain to me what a blog is and tried to tell me that as anyone could post on a blog I had no idea where the email came from.  Try as I might I couldn’t get the person to understand that this is my blog, I had personally received the email in question and I had personally posted it to this blog.  I gave up in the end!)

“I have the same problem! I applied for this job and then what happens? £1000 is in my bank account! Then I look in the internet and see this and the same letter and name. I contacted the person that sent me the £1000 and told him that he cant take the money out as I wont send the £900 back to him, then what does he said to me? He says that I must sent the money to him or I will get a custodial sentence in jail of 4 years. I insisted with him that he can take the money as I wont touch that money of my bank account then he keeps insisting that I am a thef! I am not not thef! I seen tthis post and i acted upon it and he wont take the money out of my bank account! So what do you guys think I should do”.  I tried to reassure this reader that they would not be sent to jail, but should go to the Police and report the scammer. (19 April 09)

PLEASE HELP ME TEHY AMPTY MY BANK ACCOUNT ,NEED A HELP. (left on 28 Mar 09) I advised the commenter to contact their local Police.

after being sent an e-mail on how i am surposed to have won in a lotto the shock and the horror being told ye you have won but you got to pay us first £650.00 damn how dum do i look i never give money away,, thats like paying for my phone before i get the bill… well all i can say is .. well the shock of how i got took in on this.. i could understand a bill after getting the money but not before so because of this i will now go and investigate the irish lotto to see how this has come about.. plus cant get hold of anyone even after the so called win,, if this was a so called win never pay out before you get the money in the bank.(a comment from January 09)

I  fell for this scam and I feel sick to the stomach for it.They transfer money,as soon as it has been paid to them they recall the payment and there’s nothing you can do about it!!!Police can’t help me,my bank either.I now have to repay the bank £1000 because I was an idiot and believed something that sounded brilliant really was,when actually its a pile of rubbish.Don’t be as dull as me..delete it or report it. (a comment from February 09)

Hi there i have been back and forth with a lady Julie Hughs from Alliance and Leicester Bank out of the UK im not sure if its a scam, weve been emailing each other for over a month for a loan that i was approved for but i have to make a down payment of 700.00 western union im not sure what to do. I get scam mail everyday but this is a lot diffrent then the past (a comment from March 09.  I replied and just hope I answered in time to stop the commenter from falling prey to the scam)

My son was taken by a scam last year and it cost me

over 3000.00 dollars.

I am so sick of this happening to people, I intend to

follow this to the end to try and catch whoever is

doing this. No I won’t give them any information to

use to get money from me but I am surly going to try

to catch them if possible. (comment from mar 14 09)

dr gerrard why icalll you mailbox and mr henry jones whe my legalization wiining certificate nuril really and iam wish you contact me my phone or my email (a comment from mar 09)

guys iam receiived email 22 december 2008 same iam take myrekening bank iam waiting but iam not give 800000ueros 3 month iam waiting because iam want dream rich but is t bulll shit mrs arturo rosii world is crisis global not dreamers for peoples (a comment from Feb 09.  As I am writing this, I realise this was left by the same person that left the comment above)

this person is so cool on his stool that i even had my attorney get involved and he out rite lied to him my attorney asked him for his barister licenses number and when he came back with a number it waqs to a pearson that was retired and did not mach his name (a comment from Feb 09)

hi, I am abhijeet and i received the mail by antonio guzman on 26th jan. 09. and i reply it and i send the scan copy of the mail and ID(PAN Card). Now what did i have to do now plz tell me (comment from Jan 09.  I asked an Indian contact to advise on the correct course of action and replied to this commenter)

She almost got me she wanted me to pay 1681.71 i reserched he name on the net and found this.but now i am scared because i gave them my picture and my address if any one Knows what I should do please email me at (email address removed for privacy) this will be greatly appreiciated thank you

(comment from Jan 09)

Dear Mrs marina

I hope that you are well health, I to read well your lette well on the site in internethttp://www.scamtypes.com/scam-email-reference-alexander-litvinenko.html andI am ready really to help you of transfer this money has my country but before one needs that I present me to you and speaks with you frankly;

I am Name removed of xxxxxxxx

My age 28

I am no work now

My number phone : +xxx xxxxxxxx

Address; Removed for privacy

thus veiled all my information I am ready to help you frankly but it is necessary that to be the responsibility for all the expenses which can paid on business And I want to tell you a thing which i dont have account number for transfert the fund i dont speak englich good i speak french I am really very serious and dynamic pls sent me your copy passeport in this waiting I await your answer more quickly possible want approved all my greeting and my respect

best regard

Mr. Name Removed (this comment was left on Mar 11.  I haven’t published it as a comment and have emailed the commenter to tell them not to publish their phone number)Edit  - fortunately the commenter heeded my warning and sent me this reply:”thank you very much for this consiel that God always bless you and thank you also deleted my ad thank you very much”

"CAN I GET MY MONEY BACK?"

The sad answer is no. Once you send money to a scammer, then there's no way to retrieve it. At this point it's worth pointing out another scam that a scammer may approach you with an offer to get your money back for you. This is called a recovery scam, and here's how it works. The scammer realises that you're no longer going to send money to the character he used to scam you in the first place. It's time to bring another character into play. This one will write to you and claim to be able to get your money back. Who wouldn't want that, right? After all, it was your money in the first place before it was stolen.

They may claim to be from the police, the EFCC, the Nigerian government or even the FBI. They may even make their emails appear to be from these organisations. In this digital age it's easy to fake anything. So they write to you and offer to get your money back, but explain that you will need to pay some small fees. Procedures need to be followed, bribes need to be paid and all this costs money.

Of course there are no bribes to pay, nor are there any procedures to be followed in order to get your money back because the scammer has no intentions of giving your money back and has likely already spent it. All you're doing is giving the scammer more money and throwing good money after bad. Don't be fooled by anyone claiming to be able to get your money back, especially if they ask you for more money to be able to do

"MY SCAMMER PROMISED TO PAY BACK MY MONEY IF I REMOVE MY REPORT ON HIM. WILL HE?"

Not a chance. Really, not a single chance. We can't say this enough. All he's doing is lying to you in order for you to remove his details and prevent others from seeing it. The only way he'd ever send your money back is if he gets another person to send it to you as part of his scam on them. The moment they realise they've been scammed, they have one person's details to take to the authorities.

That's right, all he's done is implicate you in the scam of someone else. Once your money has been sent, then all you can do is accept the fact it's gone and you'll never see it again. Arrests are way too rare and scammers don't suddenly turn over a new leaf and send money back to people. The other stories you need to look out for as well are "Well I WAS trying to scam you originally, but after a while I genuinely fell in love with you and want to be with you" or "I'm only doing this to try to survive in this terrible country. If I didn't do this then I'd starve".

Let's look at this with objective eyes. He's paying to spend hours in an internet cafe, which is far from cheap, likely has a phone so he can talk to you and he claims he's starving. Really, do you believe that? Once you realise he's a scammer, treat everything he's ever said to you and ever will say to you as lies solely for the purpose of trying to part you from your money.