October 20, 2012













The world evolves so fast and so do online scams and romance scams. Criminals have developed more complex ways to trap victims through Facebook, Match.com, e-Harmony, Blossoms.com and others. Despite increased media coverage and government efforts, romance scams and internet fraud remains high, and the Philippines is a high risk country. 

A con artist spends time gaining their victims' trust. The goal of course is to steal your money or even your identity. Fakes profiles, false websites, pre- recorded videos and even stolen identities can be used to convince victims that the person is real. Skype numbers with area code numbers from the U.S. or U.K. are also often used to convince clients the scammer is honest. Scams have become so elaborate that even the most skeptical people can be fooled. Philippines PI and private detective services are increasingly in demand to mitigate risk for global clients.

These days when virtual life online can be a virtual lie, romance scammers in the Philippines are something more than just a poor girl trying to make a living. Experienced criminals are now running the scams as well, as there is big money to be made. Sad but true. The Philippines is a very poor country in which most people do not have access to full education and career development. Of course there are honest people online in the Philippines who are seeking real relationships and who don't care about money. Unfortunately, these are the minority of the cases.

Don't be a victim of romance scam. Verify the person of your interest first. Keeping your fingers crossed and hoping for the best can be a costly mistake. In countries like the Philippines, meeting someone in person is your safest bet, and even then there is a good amount of risk of scam and infidelity. Be skeptical and watch out for red flags such as money request, emergencies, situations that are too good to be true, and so on. Don't send money to someone you've never met, and contact a reliable private investigation firm to minimize your risk with new contacts.

Romance scams are a serious crime, and the number of victims worldwide is rising, not falling. Victims can be left in utter ruin, financially and emotionally. Some scammers may never even ask for money, but instead steal your identity, blackmail you, or install a virus on your computer to steal your passwords to access your accounts. Conduct a Philippines investigation and be safe.

All the best,

S. Birch 
© 2012 S. Birch

Different Themes
Posted by the Investigators

This copyrighted article was written and published by the editor and site author, S. Birch, or other guest private investigator, expert or contributor as stated.

3 comments:

  1. It's true that with the internet in the picture now, scammers have a much easier avenue. I'm curious to know how many private investigators in Raleigh NC have been hired for this kind of thing? Why do the Philippines have such a problem?

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  2. I found a girl in China working as nany and private English teacher from website called Fillipinocupid.com
    She tried to make me fool all the time she keep telling me i am honest.
    Then put pressure over me you are not servious if your are servipous you have to invite me. She never asked for money directly but indirectly she worked for travell agency.
    through this they worked together. How I found out because she asked me to contact them. When i contact them with different name and different email.
    they answered me with my emails that she had.
    Destination was in scandinavia but agency asked for over 2000 US and destination was in US.
    When I told my girl friend that i never met here. i do my way. i get you visa for fri and I buy you tickets by myself you need only RESERVE CODE like XVY700 then you can print the flight tickets. She said no no contact them because i made inquiry with them. if you go and choose u way so I am not interested in u any more leave me alone.
    I like to inform all PLEASE NEVER SEND ANY MONEY for girls that you never met them in person and not only that you shoulkd verify their identity.
    ------------------------
    SEE HER EMAIL
    to me
    Hello My Dear XXXX, good morning to you and I hope you had a beautiful night sleep with me in your dreams, well for me I am right here thinking about you and I have good news for us Honey.... My employer introduce me today to a travel agency that can help me get a schengen Visa and I asked them which they say no problem.... this is their website. www.skylinedragontravels.com and this is their e-mail address... contact@skylinedragontravels.com so feel free to contact them, I mean write them e-mail...... Tell them you have a girlfriend here in China and you want to bring her to your country to be with you..... ASK them how much to process Visa and Air ticket to your city... ask them, if there is any document I need to bring along with my international passport when coming to their office to start the processing... Please write them an e-mail so they can tell us all that we need to know.... when I have free time today or tomorrow morning I will go to their office and ask also the same question.... but I want you to write them e-mail first.

    I Love you dear and I will be so happy when we finally meet someday soon...

    Your future wife

    Jeny
    ..................
    When I told her Do you prfer TRAVEL AGENCY THAN ME?
    SHE DOES NOT ANSWER me
    she does not like my solution to get her visa and tickets by myself because all money is unders my control.
    she asked me to contact these agencies to get money from me.
    then my money after I send them it will be out of my control.
    But I never send any money for them.
    this is the reason that she send email after 10 minmuttes that i am not interested in you any more leave me alone.
    If she is real and get in love with me she never react very fast.
    PLEASE please be aware of phillipine girl
    never send them any money.
    her name is JENY GARCIA , 37 years old from cebu, phillipine, she never married workin as nany in china in city called shenzhen
    has email
    bjen73@yahoo.com
    she always says ur age is not important
    if you do not want kid it is ok
    when you asked them to show themself by skype or yahoo-messanger
    they try to say i do not have web.cam to hilde their identity.
    or they say i do not have pc.
    i used my employer pc.
    employer do not allow me to install webcam.
    but they are so active in chatting.
    put this comment in correct category please
    SVEIN OMME

    ReplyDelete
  3. Yeh, Jeny tried the same thing with me, thanks to a little research online I knew what was up right away and occupied her time and energy for a while before springing the bad news on her and the folks, I mean fakes, at Skyline Dragon Travels that no money was coming their way. Here's a little more info on Skyline Dragon Travels website: Skyline Dragon Travels website was created May 5, 2013, yet the site says they have been around since 2000. The company name also had no "Google history" which was very odd. The website indicates that it accepts Mastercard, but it seems they needed my money by bank to bank transfer or Western Union, pretty common for a scam like this as you can never get your money back with their preferred method. They also claim to be a member of PATA (Pacific Asia Travel Association) but they aren't a member under that name. They also have a "sitesafe" logo at the bottom of their webpage which should be an active link, but is just an image. There was more but all of this makes it clear as to what's up with them.

    ReplyDelete