In today’s world, messengers like Telegram have become essential tools for communication. However, they’ve also attracted scammers trying to steal your personal information. This problem is becoming more urgent as criminals use increasingly sophisticated methods to manipulate users.
Why Do Scammers Want Your Account?
User accounts play a key role in our daily lives, from accessing social media and online banking to shopping and other services. But these digital identities are now a prime target for scammers.
Here’s why they want your account:
Account Value: Your account holds a wealth of personal, financial, and content-related information. Scammers can exploit this data for monetary gain, manipulation, or even identity theft.
Financial Gain: They can use your account to make purchases, transfer (or steal) money, or open new lines of credit.
Identity Theft: Your data can be used to create new accounts or obtain documents like passports or driver’s licenses.
Blackmail and Manipulation: Scammers might threaten to expose compromising material if they don’t get what they want, whether money or some other benefit.
Spreading Viruses and Spam: Scammers can use your contacts to spread malicious links, putting your friends at risk and causing more problems for you.
Understanding why scammers target your account is the first step in protecting yourself online. With cybercrime on the rise, it’s crucial to take steps to secure your information, especially in Telegram, and avoid potential threats.
Common Scams
Messengers have become more than just communication tools; they’re also platforms for business, shopping, and information exchange. But with the growing popularity of these apps, scammers have developed more schemes to deceive users.
Zero-Access Scams: In this method, criminals trick users into giving up personal information or access without needing to hack their accounts. They often pose as customer support or familiar contacts, offering help with fake issues and requesting sensitive data.
One-Click Access: Scammers send tempting offers, like giveaways or contests, to get victims to click harmful links. These often come through Telegram and promise rewards that seem too good to be true (e.g., winning a car or a large sum of money). Clicking these links may lead to phishing websites designed to steal your information.
Telegram: Security Myths vs. Reality
Telegram has gained popularity for its convenience, features, and community-building potential. However, it’s also been criticized for security weaknesses. Despite claims of strong user data protection, there are several issues that make it vulnerable:
Closed Cryptography: Telegram’s encryption isn’t based on open standards, making it harder for security experts to audit its reliability. Although Telegram offers features like “Secret Chats” with end-to-end encryption, this isn’t the default for all chats. Regular chats are only encrypted between the client and server, leaving room for potential access to your data.
Weak Key Management: Telegram’s authentication process relies on phone numbers, which can be easily intercepted or swapped. SIM card attacks are common and give hackers an easy way to take over accounts.
Data Retention: There’s no way to fully delete your data from Telegram’s servers. While you can reduce exposure, you can’t completely protect your information from being stored on the platform, which could be disclosed for legal reasons.
Russian FSB Access: The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has tools that allow them to monitor encrypted Telegram traffic.
Telegram’s virtual communities can also spread misinformation, radical ideology, and hate speech, putting users at further risk of manipulation. Despite its cool features and user-friendly design, these security weaknesses call into question Telegram’s reputation as a secure messenger.
Users should exercise caution and be mindful of what information they share on the platform. In today’s cyber threat landscape, no service can guarantee absolute protection of your personal data, so choosing a messenger should be done carefully, considering its real capabilities and vulnerabilities.
Scammers are increasingly using the names of celebrities to trick people into giving them money. This scheme works by playing on trust—since we’re inclined to believe public figures and their words. Scammers exploit this by creating fake social media accounts, sending spam messages, or organizing fake contests.
Cryptocurrency Giveaways
The world of cryptocurrency, which attracts millions with promises of quick profits, has become a goldmine for scammers. One of the most common and effective fraud schemes involves using the names of famous people to organize fake digital asset giveaways.
Scammers create fake accounts on social media, messaging apps, or special platforms, imitating the communication style, photos, and even videos of popular bloggers, businesspeople, or celebrities. The goal is to create the illusion of authenticity and earn the trust of potential victims.
The scammers, posing as a celebrity, announce a grand giveaway of a large sum of cryptocurrency to their followers. The prizes can range from small amounts of Bitcoin to entire forks of new cryptocurrencies. To participate, victims are asked to perform a few simple tasks:
Follow certain channels or groups on social media.
Like and repost the giveaway announcement.
Send a small amount of cryptocurrency to the given wallet as a “participation fee” or “tax on the winnings.”
Fill out a form with personal information.
Scammers stir up excitement by creating artificial buzz, posting fake comments with enthusiastic reviews, and warning that spots are limited or that the giveaway is about to end.
Fake Livestreams
Social media and livestreaming platforms have given scammers new tools to deceive trusting users and steal money. One of the most common schemes is creating fake livestreams featuring celebrities. Scammers carefully mimic the style, mannerisms, and visual content of popular bloggers, actors, or musicians. They create fake accounts on platforms like Instagram Live, YouTube, or Twitch.
During the livestream, the scammer impersonates the celebrity, answering questions from viewers and interacting in real-time. They often use pre-prepared scripts or even deepfake technology to make the impersonation as realistic as possible. During the stream, the scammers ask viewers to take certain actions, such as transferring money to a specific account, subscribing to other channels, or buying products. The promises are often irresistible: exclusive gifts, a chance for personal interaction with the celebrity, or participation in exclusive events.
Why is this scheme so effective?
Trust in celebrities: People tend to believe public figures and take their words at face value.
Emotional engagement: Livestreams create a sense of direct communication, strengthening the emotional connection with the celebrity and lowering viewers’ critical thinking.
Difficulty detecting fakes: Modern technology allows for highly realistic forgeries that are hard to distinguish from the real thing.
Anonymity of scammers: Livestream platforms often provide a high level of anonymity, making it difficult to trace and punish scammers.
Scammers also create a sense of urgency, claiming the offer is time-limited or that spots are running out, pushing viewers to make quick, thoughtless decisions.
Requests for Charity Donations
The worlds of show business and charity are closely linked. However, scammers often take advantage of this connection by creating fake charity campaigns featuring celebrities. They create fake social media accounts, mimicking the communication style and visual content of the celebrity.
Messages are then posted from the celebrity’s “account” asking for donations to charity. This can be related to a current issue (like a natural disaster or a child’s illness) or a personal initiative of the celebrity. Victims are asked to transfer money to a specified account to help those in need. Scammers may use fake certificates, charity logos, or even phony news about the campaign being supported by other public figures.
Investment Scams
Scammers skillfully manipulate people’s trust by creating the illusion of reliable and promising investment projects. They fabricate a story about how a celebrity is investing in a new, promising project and invites their fans to join.
They forge documents to back up the celebrity’s involvement, such as contracts, letters, and even video messages. Scammers then create artificial buzz, posting positive reviews and news about rising asset values. Victims are asked to invest, with promises of high returns and quick profits.
How Not to Fall Victim to Scammers
Using celebrity names to steal money is one of the most common online fraud schemes. Scammers skillfully manipulate people’s trust by creating the illusion of reliability and the potential for big rewards. Here’s how to avoid falling into their trap:
Verify the information: Before making any decisions, thoroughly check the details about the project, celebrity, and organizer. Look for independent reviews and analysis.
Be cautious with suspicious offers: If you’re offered something too good to be true, stay alert.
Avoid clicking on links from unknown sources: Scammers often send phishing emails with fake links to websites that collect credit card data.
Use strong passwords and two-factor authentication: This will help protect your accounts from hacking.
Don’t trust promises of easy money: If someone promises quick and easy profits, it’s most likely a scam.
Consult with experts: If needed, consult a lawyer or financial advisor.
Scammers are constantly improving their methods, so it’s important to stay vigilant and critically assess the information you receive online. By following these simple safety rules, you can protect yourself from these schemes.
Social Engineering – Manipulating People in the Digital Age. Social engineering is all about manipulating people, especially in the digital era. Interestingly, the term itself doesn’t have a negative connotation, nor does it imply illegal intent. It’s a set of specialized skills, knowledge, and psychological techniques that help individuals communicate more effectively to achieve their goals. For example, intelligence agencies use it for legitimate purposes to gather vital information. However, cybercriminals exploit these same methods to deceive and benefit from their victims.
Humans, unlike computers, are psychologically vulnerable. Our emotional weaknesses make us more susceptible to manipulation than even the most sophisticated security systems. This makes it easier to “hack” a person by exploiting their fears and insecurities, rather than breaking through high-tech defenses. It highlights the need for better awareness of social engineering threats and the development of critical thinking skills to protect ourselves from manipulation. It’s crucial not only to learn how to spot these attacks but also to understand how social factors shape our behavior in the digital world.
Humans: The Weakest Link in Cybersecurity
Cybercriminals increasingly use social engineering to steal money from bank accounts. According to the EMA association, these crimes make up the majority of cybercrimes involving bank cards.
Why Do People Fall for Scams?
Human Error: Inattention, trust, and the desire for easy gains make people easy targets.
Tried-and-True Schemes: Scammers use proven methods that continue to work time and again.
Lack of Cybersecurity Knowledge: Many people don’t know how to protect themselves from cyber threats.
What Information Are Scammers After?
Card Number: The 16-digit number on the front of your bank card.
Expiration Date: The month and year the card is valid through.
CVV Code: The three-digit code on the back of the card.
The methods scammers use to extract this information depend largely on how the victim reacts. It’s important to note that most successful scams play on human weaknesses like greed, carelessness, or inattention.
The issue of cyber fraud demands increased attention to security matters. Every person needs to be aware of the risks and more cautious with their financial information to avoid becoming a victim. While modern technology offers countless benefits, it also opens doors for cybercriminals. Staying informed and careful with your financial tools is key.
What Are Some Common Methods of Cyber Scamming?
Scammers often use various tactics to manipulate people and steal personal information. Victims unknowingly share sensitive details while communicating with individuals pretending to be from reputable organizations. It’s not surprising that people provide their card information to strangers claiming to be police officers, bank employees, or tax agents. In most cases, cybercriminals ask for identity verification to make their requests seem more legitimate.
One such scam involves bank security incidents where citizens provide their card numbers and other identifying information—this happens far more frequently than expected.
Common Fraud Methods Include:
Vishing: Phone scams aimed at obtaining card details and personal info from the cardholder for future fraud.
Smishing: Sending SMS messages to establish further communication by phone.
Scammers rely on emotions like fear, greed, and distraction. Victims often receive calls from individuals posing as bank security employees, informing them that their card has been blocked. To resolve the issue, the victim is asked to provide confidential information.
Another popular scam involves telling the victim they’ve won a large sum of money, property, or a car in a lottery. Cybercriminals offer the prize in exchange for card details, including the CVV code and expiration date. The victim is also asked to verify the transfer by providing a code sent via SMS.
There’s also a threat from fake sellers offering goods and services in exchange for upfront payment. These scammers lure buyers with tempting prices, only to disappear once they’ve received the money.
The unauthorized use of a financial number allows scammers to intercept passwords and verification codes sent by banks to that number. However, this method is less common since it requires significant effort and resources.
The number one rule is to be extra cautious when it comes to your bank cards and personal information. Remember, bank employees will never ask for confidential information over the phone. If someone does, it’s most likely a scammer.
If you haven’t entered any lotteries, be wary of any messages claiming you’ve won something. Scammers often use this trick, relying on people’s tendency to believe in unrealistically big rewards.
When purchasing goods or services online, it’s best to avoid making advance payments, especially if there are alternative options without such requirements. If your data does end up in the wrong hands, there are ways to minimize the damage:
Contact your bank to block the card.
Set a $0 limit to prevent unauthorized online transactions.
Report any unauthorized withdrawals to both your bank and the police.
Change the phone number used for banking verification and update your PINs and online banking passwords if necessary.
Remember, your financial safety depends largely on how mindful and careful you are. Stay alert and protect your personal information. By taking these issues seriously, you can reduce the risk of falling victim to fraud.
In today’s fast-paced digital world, cyber threats are becoming more sophisticated. One such threat is spoofing—a sneaky method where scammers impersonate real people or devices. This can lead to serious issues like identity theft and financial losses.
What is Spoofing?
Spoofing is when an online scammer disguises themselves in various ways, like faking IP addresses, emails, or even ID documents. Here are some common types:
IP Spoofing: The scammer fakes their IP address to mimic another device on the network. This is often used in attacks like DDoS, where they flood a target with traffic, making it hard to trace the source.
Email Spoofing: The scammer sends emails from a fake address that looks legit, tricking you into clicking on bad links or giving up personal info.
ARP Spoofing: This happens on a local network, where the scammer sends fake messages to link their device to another device’s IP address, allowing them to intercept or alter data.
DNS Spoofing: The scammer alters DNS records to redirect you to fake websites that look real, often to steal your login details or other sensitive info.
GPS Spoofing: Here, the scammer tricks GPS devices with fake signals to change their location, causing issues with navigation in cars, planes, and more.
Why Spoofing is Dangerous
Spoofing is hard to spot because it mimics legit activity. Email spoofing, for example, can use real domain names, making phishing attempts look convincing. Plus, the tools to do this are easily available, and scammers use real data from victims to make their schemes more believable.
Spoofing on Social Media: How It Happens
Spoofing on social media often involves fake accounts, bogus profiles, and misleading info to manipulate users or steal their data. Here’s how it might show up:
Fake Profiles: Scammers create accounts with real names, photos, and info, making them look like genuine people, or they steal details from real people to create fake profiles.
Fake URLs: Scammers use links that look legit but lead you to fake sites.
IP Address Spoofing: Scammers hide their location using VPNs or other tools, making them harder to track.
Social Engineering: This is when scammers trick you into giving up personal info, like through fake messages from “friends” or “support.”
The Impact of Spoofing
Spoofing can cause big problems, both for individuals and online communities:
Identity Theft: Scammers can collect personal info like logins and passwords, leading to financial losses and other scams.
Stress: Losing control of personal data or being manipulated can cause significant stress.
Trust Issues: Spoofing can make people lose trust in platforms, which can hurt those companies financially.
Money Scams: Posing as real people, scammers often ask for money for things like buying tickets, making donations, or paying for lessons, with the money going straight into their pockets.
How to Protect Yourself from Spoofing
Protecting yourself from spoofing requires being cautious and critical. Here are some tips:
Verify Profiles: Before interacting with an account, check its info, posts, and activity. Fake profiles often have few followers, odd photos, or restrict access to their content. Use other social networks to verify someone’s identity.
Use Two-Factor Authentication: This adds an extra layer of protection to your account, making it harder for scammers to access.
Be Careful with Suspicious Links: Don’t click on links that look sketchy or come from unknown users.
Understanding how spoofing works and its potential consequences can help you protect yourself from scams. Online security is a shared responsibility between users and social platforms, which should keep improving their systems to fight spoofing and other cyber threats.
Protect Yourself from Fake Accounts!
Your online identity is more important than ever. Fake accounts are a real danger, and we’ve got a solution. On our site, you’ll get access to a huge, constantly updated list of fake profiles that our experts have identified.
Not sure whether to trust someone new online (potential partner on dating sites)? Use our easy tool to see if a profile is on our public blacklist of fake accounts from Ukraine and Russia. It’s quick and simple. Protect yourself and your loved ones from fraud and deception.
Fake social media profiles have become one of the most pressing issues in modern digital communication. They can be created for various purposes: from jokes and pranks to fraud and manipulation. They often disguise themselves as real people, making them difficult to detect. Users may encounter fraudsters who use fake accounts to lure out personal information, money, or even to spread disinformation.
The most common social networks with fake profiles
In recent years, social networks have become an integral part of our lives. They allow us to communicate with friends, share moments, and receive news, but at the same time, these platforms have faced a problem: fake profiles. The most common social media platforms where fake profiles are found.
Facebook
The undisputed leader among social networks in the world and, therefore, one of the main places where fake profiles “live”. Here, users can create accounts, use false names and identities, which facilitates manipulation. Facebook is actively fighting fake profiles by using machine learning technologies and user communities to identify suspicious accounts. However, despite these efforts, the number of fake profiles on social media is still significant.
Instagram
This is a platform focused on visual content, and unfortunately, it adds a new dynamic to the problem of fake profiles. Fraudsters can create accounts with attractive images and non-existent biographies to attract users’ attention and request personal information or money.
X (Twitter)
On Twitter, fake profiles are often used to spread disinformation or manipulate public opinion. With the help of automated bots that are created to retweet or interact with other users, the spread of false information can be coordinated and accelerated.
TikTok
The platform for short videos has also become a target for creating fake profiles. Many users try to copy or imitate popular accounts, creating fake profiles to gain money or popularity based on other people’s content.
Tinder, Badoo, FDating
Dating social networks are the main medium for spreading fake profiles. Users looking for a date are the most accessible “victims”. Fraudsters take advantage of this and skillfully manipulate conversations and photos during chat.
Protecting yourself from fake profiles
To avoid problems associated with fake social media profiles, you should follow a few basic rules:
Check the person’s identity. Check whether the user has verified data (for example, verified accounts on other social networks).
Be careful with personal information. Don’t share personal information with people you don’t know, even if the account looks realistic.
Report suspicious accounts. Most social networks offer features to report fake profiles.
Use two-factor authentication. This step will help you protect your account from unauthorized access.
Check and be 100% sure. There are many services that check your identity. In particular, on our website https://ukrainian-passport.com/ you can check the identity and be sure whether it is real or a bot.
Nowadays, fake profiles on social media pose a serious threat to social media users and can lead to various consequences, from personal information leakage to financial losses.
How to recognize a bot?
In the modern world of the Internet, bots can perform many functions: from automating routine tasks to interacting with users on social media. However, some are created with malicious intentions, such as spreading disinformation, spam, or manipulation. So how do you know whether you are dealing with a bot or a real person?
Monotonous and patterned responses. One of the most obvious signs of a bot is the lack of variety in responses. They often use predefined templates, which makes their answers look monotonous.
Incorrect understanding of the context. Bots, especially those that don’t use sophisticated natural language processing algorithms, often fail to correctly interpret the context of a conversation.
Too fast reaction. Bots respond to messages almost instantly, while humans may need time to think about the answer.
Primitive or inappropriate jokes. Complex jokes, playful insults, or irony may not be available to a bot, especially if it is based on simple text analysis algorithms.
Lack of emotional response. Humans are able to show empathy, joy, sadness, and other emotions, while bots often react neutrally to events.
Mechanical behavior. Bots often follow a given program and can perform routine tasks, but are not able to act spontaneously or inventively.
Incorrect grammatical constructions and typos. Although modern bots are getting better at language processing, they can still make gross mistakes. Incorrect sentence structures, inappropriate use of words, and atypical spelling mistakes may indicate that the text was not generated by a human.
Limited knowledge and factual errors. Bots sometimes do not have access to up-to-date information and may provide outdated or incorrect data.
With the development of artificial intelligence, bots are becoming smarter and harder to detect. Therefore, any identity verification will always be appropriate.
What should you do if you see a bot in your friends?
Sometimes bots can be useful, but most often they are not interesting and can even pose a threat. Here are some tips to protect your account and personal data from fraudulent bots.
Delete and block. This will prevent further interaction and protect your account from possible spam.
Privacy settings. It will reduce the likelihood of bots. Restrict access to your profile and check your friending settings. Set restrictions on who can send you friend requests.
Reporting a bot. Social networks such as Facebook or Instagram provide users with the ability to report misconduct. If you think a bot may pose a threat, be sure to request its removal.
Use of additional tools. There are various services and browser extensions that can help identify bots and unwanted accounts. For example, some of them analyze user activity and provide reports on the likelihood that an account is a bot. Use such tools to be more confident.
Having bots or fake profiles in your friends list can lead to unwanted interactions and even threaten the security of your personal information.
Beware of fake accounts
The best way to protect yourself from being scammed is to verify the person’s identity. Our Ukrainian Passport service provides identification services for any person from Russia and Ukraine. Constant vigilance, as well as checking accounts and the accuracy of information on our website are important steps to protect yourself and your data. Do not forget that on the Internet, as in life, you should always doubt what seems too good to be true. Remember that your safety is in your hands.
Romance scammers are increasingly using online dating to deceive unsuspecting people. They pose as attractive and caring partners, only to trick their victims into giving up money and personal information, like credit card details or Social Security numbers. Victims, convinced of the sincerity of their online love, often don’t realize they’ve been scammed until it’s too late.
It’s More Than Just Money
Romance scams aren’t just about stealing cash—they leave deep emotional scars and can lead to serious financial trouble. Recovering money sent to scammers in places like Ukraine or Russia is extremely difficult. The problem is huge: over the past five years, people worldwide have lost more than $1.3 billion to romance scams, making this one of the most lucrative schemes for criminals.
Why Do People Fall for It?
Social media and dating apps make it easy to meet new people, but they also expose us to potential dangers. Scammers are master manipulators who play on our emotions using lies like:
“I’m crazy about you.” They’ll create the illusion of deep love, talking about a future together and giving you hope for a happy relationship.
“I’m in a tough spot.” They often invent stories about unforeseen circumstances that prevent them from meeting in person: business trips, family problems, financial troubles, or even natural disasters.
“I urgently need money.” This is a classic tactic—asking for financial help for a sick relative, to pay off debts, buy tickets, or other urgent needs.
Scammers prey on our compassion, desire to help, and fear of losing a loved one. They create a sense of urgency to pressure you into making quick decisions.
How Scammers Operate Online
Romance scammers use various tricks to get your money. Here are some common schemes:
Fake Profiles: They create fake accounts on dating sites, using stolen photos and made-up identities. They quickly gain your trust and then ask for financial help.
False Promises: They promise to meet soon, talk about marriage, or a shared future to lull you into a false sense of security. They might mention an inheritance or a large sum of money they need to spend urgently.
Requests for Money: They often ask you to pay for services or goods (like gift cards, tickets, or medical bills). They may even send fake receipts to “prove” their story.
Malware: They might send malicious links or files that infect your computer, giving them access to your personal information.
Phishing: They send phishing emails that look like they’re from real people or organizations, asking for your personal details or to click on a malicious link.
Phone Calls: They might call, pretending to be someone else—like a bank employee or law enforcement officer—asking for confidential information or money transfers.
Remember: Real love doesn’t come with a price tag. If something feels off, don’t hesitate to talk to friends, family, or professionals. It’s better to be safe than sorry.
Protect Yourself on Social Media
Unfortunately, online romance scams have become all too common. Scammers skillfully manipulate people’s emotions to swindle them out of their money. Follow these tips to stay safe:
Don’t fall for flattery: If someone online is too quick to shower you with compliments, be cautious. Scammers often use flattery to win your trust.
Keep your financial info private: Never share your bank details, credit card numbers, or other financial information with someone you don’t know well or who seems suspicious.
Be wary of perfect relationships: If everything seems too good to be true and the relationship is moving too fast, it probably is. Scammers create the illusion of a perfect relationship to manipulate you.
Verify their story: If someone claims to be in the military, a doctor, or another prestigious profession, check their information. Scammers often use fake identities.
Take your time: Don’t rush into anything. Give yourself time to think before sharing personal information or sending money.
Trust your instincts: If something doesn’t feel right, don’t ignore it. Your gut is often your best guide.
Too fast, too soon: Scammers try to gain your trust as quickly as possible.
Money requests: If someone asks for money, especially if you’ve never met them in person, be on high alert.
Reluctance to meet: They often make excuses to avoid meeting in person.
False information: They might lie about their age, job, marital status, and other life details.
Romance scams are complex and can affect people in different ways. While they might seem like a source of excitement and fleeting happiness, they can turn into dangerous traps that cause deep emotional harm. In today’s world, where technology brings us closer and opens up new ways to connect, the risk of falling victim to a romance scam is higher.
Remember, love and trust are the foundation of any relationship, and you should approach them with caution. Knowing the signs of a scam, setting personal boundaries, and relying on trustworthy sources of information can go a long way in protecting yourself and your emotions.
Romance scams can serve as a reminder of the importance of honesty and openness in relationships, and that behind every exciting “romantic” experience, there may be serious risks. Ultimately, understanding this will not only raise awareness but also help build healthy, sincere, and respectful relationships.
Again, by way of background, I have spent a lot of time and money on AnastasiaDate (“AD”) at this point, and been approached by and conversed with many, many ladies there. The numbers are actually somewhat staggering. I have probably spent some $20,000 to $30,000 on that site now alone. The number of letters from ladies I have received has been enormous. Once I blew past 15,000 letters received on AD, the site started deleting the older ones for reasons of storage, and that was some while back. Now, many ladies will send multiple letters, so the number of unique individuals is smaller, but still a huge number. At its peak, I was regularly receiving more than 300 letters a day. And I have interacted with quite a few ladies, at varying levels of depth. So what I’m describing here below is based on a pretty robust sampling of what you’re likely to find on the site.
There are two basic theories of what the site really constitutes. I don’t know what the truth in fact is, and I make no assertion. But I discuss the possibilities and the evidence I have seen…
One, the entire operation might be a huge, coordinate fraud. It could be a large company which employs skads of attractive women on an independent contractor basis. In this scenario, the ladies would be getting a kickback, a percentage, of all the revenue they generate for the site from the paying customers, namely the men. So an attractive lady who manages to get a large number of men ensnared in lots of chats, video chats, cam shares, exchanges of gifts, etc., and keeps the men there on the site, and is not willing to off of the site with them to start communicating via a messenger like WhatsApp or Telegram, will generate a lot of revenue for the site and a lot of kickbacks for herself. There is an enormous amount of evidence which points in precisely this direction, as I will describe below.
Two, the site might be entirely innocent, it does its best, it’s a premier league site, and if a lot of ladies on the site don’t have genuine intentions, that’s hardly anything the site could know about or control for effectively. The “gosh golly” side of my personality has wanted desperately to believe this is so, to the tune of tens of thousands of dollars. But I grow jaded as time goes by and my experience piles up.
So the basic, plain vanilla fact pattern that I have faced countless times on AD goes something like this…
To begin with, just for understanding where I’m coming from in case if affects your own analysis of the situation, I have an unusual and distinctive background, in terms of my beliefs, characteristics, history. I am also looking for a very, very rare type of lady in terms of her beliefs, something so rare, it is almost impossible to find in modern society these days. I am also looking only for a lady of child-bearing age, so in her 20s or early to mid 30s. And I’m looking for a lady who could inspire a gent in the bedroom. She doesn’t necessarily have to be a “10”, but I have generally been responding to ladies who are toward the upper end of the attractiveness scale, or at least in the upper half of the attractiveness scale. So someone who is looking for a different type of profile than I have been might well have a very different experience than I have.
The basic pattern is this. Due to the number of letters I have been receiving, I don’t actually approach any women myself first. I look through ladies who have sent me letters, and respond by letter to some of those where I think there might be promise. I typically ask if they have had a chance to really read through my profile, as I put a lot of information in there about myself and whom I am looking for.
They then reach out to me, either by response letter, or with chat invites. And we have an initial chat. Things generally go well, and both of us express interest in each other and in more chats, and often we arrange our next chat day and time, etc.
We then have a series of chats over time, getting into not only lighthearted but also truly substantive matters and those of the soul. But communicating via the site has some downsides.
Principal among them is the cost. The man (not the woman) gets billed for every minute of chat. Video chat, where you can see her but she can’t see you, is billed at 2x the rate. Cam share, where you can both see each other simultaneously, is billed at 6x the rate. But in none of these options can you actually speak with each other in real time audio. You always have to type your communications back and forth to each other via text.
So what, you might say to yourself, who cares? Aren’t text messages good enough? Yes and no. The site does have a built in translation program, which works fairly well, and is fairly quick. But it’s not perfect, and sometimes gives translations that are off, in ways that can actually adversely affect the couple’s ability to understand their true emotions and intentions. Second, there is always a time lag in the translation, so that by the time you see her text to you, she is responding in it to something you wrote a few texts ago, and you are already typing your next thing to her. It’s crunchy, and again can lead to damaging misunderstandings. Third, each little text you type to her is sharply limited in length. To really tell a story, for example, of personal history, the long list of sordid events leading to your divorce from your prior wife, whatever, it’s very tough to do so in lots of tiny little bites. It’s like trying to write War and Peace using nothing but Twitter texts. Doable, but tough.
Worse, and truly devastating, is that I have a number of times now lived through situations where I’m pretty darned certain that the lady herself isn’t in fact typing. That is, there’s some 350-pound hairy guy sitting in soiled shorts in his mother’s basement in Hamtranck, Michigan, or somewhere in the suburbs of Kyiv, who is actually reading what you type and responding to you. The girl is just a pretty face sitting there, trying not to screw up, and listening to the actual correspondent telling her when you have asked that she smile at you, or wave to you, or do something specific that you think might verify that she’s really a part of this conversation. I have seen this not just on AD, but also more than once on the UA Dreams dating site as well, so beware!
But many of the ladies on AD are real ladies, having real conversations with you themselves, and that is reasonably evident from what you can observe on the video of them.
But that doesn’t mean her intentions are true.
So, because of the horrific cost of comms via the site over time, and so that I can see the lady and speak with her real time, both for verification of her authenticity as well as to gauge our ability to communicate effectively with each other in English, and for the quality of the conversation in terms of real time reactions and responses, and in order to be able to pre-prepare blocks of text which I can send to her efficiently, or to send her articles, photos and memes of potential mutual interest, I ask her if she would be willing to start communicating with me off the site, either through direct personal email, or via a messenger like WhatsApp or Telegram.
And here’s where things go south.
The lady doesn’t want to. She prefers the site. Why?, you ask. Because she feels safe there. OK, maybe there’s something to that, the site does only show you her first name, and city she lives in, and some basic profile type info. The guy doesn’t know her last name, or where she works, or her email address, or phone number, etc.
So I work with her. I say, well why don’t we just do personal email at first? Then at least I can write something longer, and attach files and photos, and not go bankrupt paying huge fees to the site all the time. No, she doesn’t want to do that. Wants to get to know more about each other on the site first. OK, I say. Even though she could set up a fresh, dummy email account, no problem, and communicate with you that way, without ever having to disclose her real last name or any other identifying information. But she doesn’t want to, doesn’t feel comfortable.
And most certainly she doesn’t want to go on a messenger. She doesn’t trust those. And she would have to use her own phone number (or, of course, a new one set up for the purpose of not contaminating her normal phone number), and who knows what horrible things could happen to her then! And don’t you know that Telegram is owner and run by Pavel Durov, who is Russian and a former member of the intel services there, so of course we can’t use that. So let’s use WhatsApp, I say, I use it all the time. No dice, she doesn’t want to.
And don’t you trust me, she asks? Our relationship has to be built on trust. Why won’t you trust me?
And so I ask again, I try to explain how expensive the site is. And she comes back at me with, “You keep pushing at this, and that makes me only more uncomfortable.” In other words, bring it up again, bud, and it’ll never happen.
But I’m persistent. Then she rolls out the heavy guns. She had a bad experience in the past. That is why she is uncomfortable getting off the site. She doesn’t want to get into any of the specifics of what that bad experience was, just that she had a bad experience. This kills any further discussion of the subject. I have heard this precise line so many times now, bad experience, means won’t go off site, but won’t tell you anything about what that bad experience was, that it’s like a get out of jail free card, or a trump card. You’re not getting off the site. I keep wondering who all these monsters are out there, all these horrible men who have been contaminating the entire pool of available women with bad experiences. I don’t think I know any guys like that. Maybe a handful, here and there, but so many that every single woman you talk with had her life ruined because some guy knew her email address or cell number? It doesn’t make any sense. On email, you can block someone. And on your cell. And if it’s a really bad situation, you get a new cell number. None of those involve disclosing to you her true last name, or where she lives. So who are all these monsters out there? I don’t know. It sounds to me like a pat excuse fielded by the ladies like kryptonite against Superman to get him to shut up about communicating outside of the site.
So OK, I’ve been shut up. But I have to reproduce. So I have to find a lady. And this is a real lady, willing to at least interact with me via the site, and she’s hot. And she’s otherwise acting quite interested. So I keep blowing fistfuls of cash on chats, video chats, etc. etc.
Also worth discussing how to leave the AD site if you in fact find a unicorn lady willing to do so with you. The site very aggressively and very successfully uses an AI system to block any and all attempts you might make to communicate to a lady via chat what your cell phone number is, or your email address, or your home address, or your last name, etc. You’re in a lobster trap, and you can’t get out. The site carefully gatekeeps so that there are two ways out, only two, and each of them involves you paying a stiff toll for the right to tell the lady your name and cell number. One, you can schedule a “Call Me” cell call with the lady. This can only be done via the auspices of the site, the site lines it up, and calls you on your cell, and a translator is on the line with you to help with linguistic understanding, and the site has promised that it will not censor what you say to the lady, including your real name and cell number. It costs 100 credits to do so, so $40.
So you propose this to the lady. Never once have I had a lady agree to the Call Me option. “No,” she says, “there have been electrical outages, there are problems with cell phone communications.” No problem, I say, let’s schedule it anyway, and maybe we get lucky, maybe there’s good reception and no power outage. No, she says, too uncertain. And she won’t budge. No matter what. She’s more dug in on that position than Japanese soldiers on Iwo Jima in WWII.
OK, I say, there is one other option the site offers, namely I send you a gift. It’s much more expensive for me ($200 minimum, or higher, like $350). But she’s worth it, right? She’s hot. She says she likes you. The site makes it easy to send a gift, they have a menu for that. You never learn any info about the lady, but you can write your gift card that accompanies the gift, and you can write your full name and cell phone number on there, and she will get it. And it’s a high quality gift, not garbage. It is, in fact, something you can be proud of.
Now the delivery time is not what the site says. The site says 3-5 days. Not true. Probably due to wartime conditions, and this is no slight against the site whatsoever, they’re doing a good job here, it will take typically 10 to 14 days to arrive. But it will arrive, and they take a picture of the lady receiving it, so you know. And now she’s got your contact information.
So you mention the gift option to her, you offer to send roses (there’s a minimum number that guarantees the site its revenue). If she’s gracious, that’s great. But time and again I have mentioned roses, and she then asks me to send her one of the gift cards instead, for food, or cosmetics, or lingerie, or household wares. You send her the gift, she gets it, and she keeps sending you chat invites and letters on the site, and doesn’t use the direct contact info. I have scars all over my body from this fact pattern.
So to boil it down, even if you can, like pulling teeth, finally get her to agree to try comms off site, she will steer you away from the cheap, quick Call Me option, to the gifts, and specifically to a gift with enduring monetary value rather than the beautiful and romantic but ephemeral roses.
I, however, like Sisyphus, keep pushing the boulder up the hill every day, and have succeeded in getting precisely 5 ladies to actually communicate with me off the site. It has been a Herculean effort, but now I am in the promised land, right?
Not so fast. Even if you get her to communicate with you via a messenger, you have some exchanges there, and then you start to see her sending you chat invites and letters on the site again. Why? You haven’t been a monster. You didn’t ask for any risqué photos of herself. Nothing like that. A true gentleman. But here she is, migrating back to the site. And this is even for ladies with serviceable to even very good English, so the built in translation program on the site plays much less of a role in dictating preferences. So why? Well, here the little green man in your head, the red who lives under your bed, in the immortal words of the Kinks, starts to clear his throat. Maybe, just maybe, the lady earns a kickback off of all the comms you have with her on the site. That doesn’t apply when you communicate off the site…
Or, and I’ve had this twice now, the lady, after being pulled and pushed and prodded into finally doing something, anything, off the site, still won’t use her cell to look you up on a messenger via your cell. Instead, she sends you only a direct personal email. And it’s not from a real email account in her own name. It’s obviously a new dummy account set up for the purpose of concealing her true identity. Or appears to use her real name, but it turns out that’s not her real name. And she asks you now for money. For the trip to visit you that you had been discussing, to get a visa, to pay expenses for her family that she can’t afford, and don’t you care about her family too? And no, you can’t wire it to her, or send her a check, because that would involve her disclosing her actual, real name. So she wants you instead to wire the money via PayPal to a “friend” of hers, who will in turn, for sure, give her the cash. Riiiight.
Or, I’ve gotten the straight out sugar daddy request, could you please send me money for my exercise classes, and by the way, don’t I look great in this sheer fitting bra over my ample chest?
So when the request for actual cash money finally bares its fangs, I always go to Andrij at Ukrainian Passport, and ask him who this lady really is. And the results have been amazing. And have saved me piles of cash, and countless hours, and immeasurable heartbreak. They can sniff out—and prove up, with hard evidence of staggering depth and breadth—a fraud two miles against the wind like an Alabama hound dog in its prime.
But here I sit, broke, and brokenhearted, with a huge stable of gorgeous ladies on the site, none of whom is willing to communicate with me outside the site. In the few cases where I have finally dragged one by main force into comms outside the site, in three of five of those cases, it has turned out to be, again, a financial fraud. So two dogs left in the hunt, off site with me. One great lady on the site who has thrown every conceivable objection up against comms outside the site, but I have persisted, and she says she’s going to try to figure out how to get a messenger to work on her computer… And that’s it.
I’m happy to have direct conversation with anyone who would like more granular info or to run fact patterns by me. Just let Andrij know, and he can run it past me to see if I’m free to do so.
In today’s digital age, the convenience of online shopping has revolutionized the way we purchase goods. From everyday items to rare collectibles, nearly everything is just a click away. However, this convenience comes with its own set of risks, especially when it involves large transactions and international sellers. Here’s a real-life story of an individual who learned this the hard way, shedding light on the perils of online antique scams.
The Lure of a Unique Find
Barry, an American living on a modest disability income, was thrilled when he stumbled upon an antique clock listed on eBay in January 2024. The clock, priced at $1260 with an additional $100 for shipping, seemed like a perfect addition to his collection. Unable to pay the full amount upfront, Barry was relieved when the seller agreed to a four-month installment plan. He made the payments directly to the seller, bypassing eBay’s secure payment system to save on immediate costs.
A Suspicious Turn of Events
All seemed well until Barry completed his final payment. The seller, who had been responsive and accommodating, suddenly went silent. Emails to the seller’s address (mikhayil.ua.ltd@gmail.com) went unanswered, and Barry’s anxiety grew. The tracking number provided (CQ062892515UA) indicated that the clock was held at Ukrainian customs, but with no communication from the seller, Barry started suspecting foul play.
The Financial and Emotional Toll
Living on a small disability income, Barry couldn’t afford to lose the $1360 he had already paid. He changed his debit card to prevent further unauthorized charges but was left with a sense of helplessness. The absence of direct communication with the seller and the lack of a phone number made the situation even more daunting. Barry’s attempts to connect via international calls were futile, and he preferred handling the investigation through email due to his limited resources.
Seeking Justice and Assistance
Determined to find a resolution, Barry reached out to various authorities for help. He contacted local law enforcement in the United States and sought the email address of the appropriate police department in Ukraine. Barry’s primary goal was twofold: to confirm whether Ukrainian customs were indeed holding the clock and, if not, to ensure that the seller faced prosecution.
Protecting Yourself from Online Scams
Barry’s story is a stark reminder of the vulnerabilities associated with online transactions, especially those involving international sellers and significant amounts of money. Here are some key takeaways to protect yourself from similar scams:
Use Secure Payment Methods: Always utilize secure payment platforms like eBay’s official system, which offers buyer protection.
Be Wary of Installment Plans: While paying in installments can be convenient, it also exposes you to potential scams. Ensure that any such agreement is documented and verified.
Communicate Through Official Channels: Maintain all communications through the platform where the item is listed to ensure there is a record of your interactions.
Report Suspicious Activity Immediately: If you suspect a scam, report it to the relevant authorities and the platform where the transaction occurred as soon as possible.
Conclusion
Barry’s unfortunate experience serves as a valuable lesson for all online shoppers. While the allure of unique finds and great deals can be tempting, it’s crucial to remain vigilant and cautious. By following the above tips and staying informed about common scam tactics, you can safeguard yourself from falling victim to online fraud.
If you or someone you know has experienced a similar situation, don’t hesitate to reach out to local law enforcement or consumer protection agencies. Sharing stories like Barry’s can help raise awareness and prevent others from becoming victims of online scams.
Just like in any other country, there are scammers in Ukraine. Their goal is to make money by deceiving or exploiting trust. However, scams involving romantic manipulation seem especially prevalent in Ukraine. But why is this the case?
The Impact of War and Economic Hardship
Currently, Ukraine is at war, and the population is struggling financially. The lack of money and opportunities pushes some people towards crime. Many have lost their savings, property, jobs, and homes, leaving them with nothing to live on. The government spends almost all its funds on defense, so social issues often take a backseat. With many men either fighting in the war or having left the country, women are often left to fend for themselves.
Weak Legal Enforcement
Another factor is the lack of a strong system to punish fraudulent actions. International police cooperation typically focuses on solving serious crimes, leaving many scams uninvestigated and unpunished. Additionally, money transfers usually happen voluntarily, with the victim trusting the scammer, making it hard to prove criminal intent. These cases often have little chance of leading to prosecution.
Beauty and Brains
It’s also important to note that Ukrainian women are known for their beauty and intelligence. Their attractiveness is admired worldwide, and they know how to use this to their advantage, often overpowering “cold logic” with emotional appeal.
Scams from Abroad
Many scams are carried out in the name of Ukrainian women, even though the actual scammers may not be Ukrainian or even in Ukraine.
In summary, the combination of economic hardship, weak legal enforcement, and the allure of Ukrainian beauty makes Ukraine a hotspot for romance scams.
As someone who has now spent several months and thousands and thousands of dollars on AnastasiaDate.com, I thought some of my recent experiences might be of use to other men using that dating site. On that site, I have also received thousands upon thousands of introductory letters from ladies, and have had chats and videos with quite a few. Therefore, my thoughts and observations, whether correct or incorrect, are at least predicated upon broad experience.
Prefatorily, AnastasiaDate is overall a very good dating site. The women are generally real human beings (more on that below, re AI), and many strike me as genuine in their emotions and intentions. It is expensive, but everything of value tends to be. The women on the site are in many instances spectacularly beautiful.
In all of the following, by the way, I am presupposing that AD is not itself an enormous criminal enterprise, though this is of course possible (more on this below as well).
Artificial Intelligence
I have the overwhelming impression that at least three ladies with whom I have had actual video chats were in fact AI generated images, not real human beings.
This is initially surprising, as to my understanding AD conducts diligence on all the ladies who wish to become members of the site, including review of their passport and various other identifying information, questionnaires, and a real time interview.
However, it appears that an individual who has a false passport can get past the site’s national ID checking protocols, and with a sophisticated AI system can get through the real time (presumably video) interview.
The reason I think at least three of the ladies with whom I have had long video calls were fact AI, not human, is based on the following observations.
First, the image does not move like a normal human being. The image is too still, too static, and the movements exhibited are limited to a small handful, none of which involve gross motor movement but instead are generally restricted to the head, neck, face areas. In particular, the arms don’t move. This is a person who is allegedly typing chat responses to you. If you watch very carefully, staring at those arms, they won’t move. The shoulders don’t move. In one, the spacing between the arms and the body was slightly different on the two sides, but that spacing never varied, not even once, over the entire course of a long video chat. The movements of the face, for example the smile, look identical each time they are made. Similarly, there are often large movements of the head to the side, apparently hearing something or looking at something off screen. But every single time, the precise pattern of the head turning, the angle, the direction, everything, is precisely identical each time. Moreover, the larger movements, like the head, are a little crunchy, not smooth and continuous, but rather like a series of shorter sequences pasted together. And identically the same, each time. That is, there is a kit bag of facial expressions and movements from which the AI system may draw something, but it is a limited kit bag, and every single movement comes from that kit bag.
To uncover and defeat this, I have asked such a “lady” to do something that likely wouldn’t be in the kit bag, for example, take off the locket around her neck and hold it up to the camera, or move around a bit in her chair, anything other than the established kit bag. The response (approximately): “This is an unusual request. Why do you want me to do that?” I said, “To show me you aren’t just an AI image. Play along with me, humor me, please.” No movement, just a chat response, “Why would I make ridiculous movements in front of the camera? Why are you asking me this?”
But don’t rely on waving at the lady and hoping she’ll wave back – the AI picks up on that, and has a wave all ready to go for you. Likewise, don’t just ask her to smile, the AI is all over that, and will trigger an automated smile by the lady.
The resolution of the AI images is also not quite as sharp as the real human beings. The humans can have crystal sharp resolution, which is difficult for an AI system to mimic. A slight lack of focus, a slight haziness, helps the AI system past all that.
Then, there are the responses in conversation. Again, the kit bag. The AI system has a collection of stock things a lady can say to a guy which guys tend to like. The AI systems are really good at mimicking normal conversation. But if you go off the beaten track, particularly if you ask the AI system a question, something more complex, some atypical, the AI system may not have an obvious stock response to give. So it reaches back into the kit bag, finds something it thinks will like to hear, and “types” that back to you, rather than actually answering your question. This can, of course, also happen with real humans, but if it becomes a pattern, if it becomes an impediment to conducting an actual exchange of ideas back and forth, then my own conclusion has been AI.
As someone who has now spent several months and thousands and thousands of dollars on AnastasiaDate.com, I thought some of my recent experiences might be of use to other men using that dating site. On that site, I have also received thousands upon thousands of introductory letters from ladies, and have had chats and videos with quite a few. Therefore, my thoughts and observations, whether correct or incorrect, are at least predicated upon broad experience.
