Hello. My name is Erick. I was born in the US, but grew up in Norway. My wife left me after 22 years of marriage. I'm a Christian man. Anyway, I signed up for a dating site a while after the breakup. I met a nurse who lives in Russia, she's an Orthodox Christian. We've had a very close and almost daily exchange of emails, photos and videos. Also a couple phone calls and video calls, but they were a bit limited due to the Internet quality. I'd say the communication is very good, and I don't really see many red flags. Except for possibly one. After communicating for about 9 months, we decided she should try to get a Schengen visa to Norway. It's difficult at the moment due to the war going on. She engaged an agency to do the work for her, and it turns out she needs to travel to neighboring Kazakhstan for the visa to be issued. I've checked and found out that this probably is true. She can't show me any kind of documentation, tickets etc in advance, because they're only available after being issued. Due to the visa requirement of mandatory health insurance, financial guarantees for a 90 day visa, tickets, agency fees etc, the total cost is quite a bit. I've already sent her money for the visa and tickets, but she needs to show proof of financial coverage for herself for a 3 month stay in Norway also. She doesn't have the means to pay for it herself, but says it's only a deposit until she has arrived. It sounds plausible, but I'm worried about scamming. There's very little chance for compensation since the money is transferred through MoneyGram to someone at the agency, who then transfers it to her. I also was given the agent's bank account number if I would rather send it directly there. She has tried countless times to reassure me that she's not a scammer and only wants to meet me and spend time with Her communication with me is not intense. She works 6 days a week, and visits her parents on weekends. She doesn't have internet at home, so most of the time she writes during her lunch break at work. I definitely don't want to geopradize what might become a very special relationship. Greetings, Erick.
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Trying to determine if it's a scam or not
- Thread starter Erick Eck
- Start date
@Erick Eck save yourself. This is a classic romance SCAM. Stop sending monies to this scammer. Everyone have very good internet connection in Russia. MTN or Beline have very cheap high speed phone data plans, I use either of these networks when I am in Moscow. I have visited the country numerous time and I am myself married to a Russian lady. If this person say they have internet conectivity issues, you are taken on a long scam journey.
Russians can travel to Serbia or Montenegro for 30 days without any visa, so do you. If this person is real, ask her to book a flight to meet you in any of these countries. Serbia may be easier as they have direct flights with AirSerbia or Turkish Airlines.
You may also consider instructing a lawyer/attorney of your choice (plenty English speaking lawyers in Moscow on a google or yandex search) to check the documents of this person on the pretext of visa assitance.
Hope this helps.
Russians can travel to Serbia or Montenegro for 30 days without any visa, so do you. If this person is real, ask her to book a flight to meet you in any of these countries. Serbia may be easier as they have direct flights with AirSerbia or Turkish Airlines.
You may also consider instructing a lawyer/attorney of your choice (plenty English speaking lawyers in Moscow on a google or yandex search) to check the documents of this person on the pretext of visa assitance.
Hope this helps.