Stolen Images
Scammers post profiles, using stolen photographs of attractive women (or men), asking for men (or women) to contact them. Letters are exchanged between the scammer and victim until the scammer feels they have groomed the victim enough to ask for money. This might be for requests for airplane tickets, medical expenses, education expenses etc. There is usually the promise that the fictitious character will one day join the victim in the victim's country. The scam usually ends when the victim realizes they are being scammed and/or stops sending money. Victims can be highly traumatized by this and are often very embarrassed and ashamed when they learn they have become a victim of a scam and that the romance is a farce.
Read more about this topic: Romance Scam
Famous quotes containing the words stolen and/or images:
“A horse, a buggy and several sets of harness, valued in all at about $250, were stolen last night from the stable of Howard Quinlan, near Kingsville. The county police are at work on the case, but so far no trace of either thieves or booty has been found.”
—H.L. (Henry Lewis)
“For thousands the world is a freak show, the images flicker past and disappear, the impressions remain flat and disconnected in the soul. Thus, they are easily led by the opinions of others, are willing to let their impressions be reordered, rearranged, and reevaluated.”
—Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe (1749–1832)