Table of content:
- A genuine person will not object to a video call
- General scam pattern
- Suspicious readiness to move abroad
- Why would someone spend weeks setting you up for a fraud
- No expensive gifts
- No translation services
- Variations on the visa or ticket scam
- The best way to avoid scammers
While it’s certainly possible to find a wonderful woman through Russian dating sites – and while countless men around the world have in fact done so, the fact also remains that there are a great many scammers out there, and you have to be wary of them. Fortunately, there are some very easy ways to make out whether the woman who is writing to you is genuine, or, instead, perhaps not even a woman! Yes, ‘she’ could be no more than pictures that a fat and sweaty ‘Boris’ has downloaded from the net and sent to you. So here are some sure ways to detect Russian girl dating scams, and to make sure that you win the woman of your dreams.
A genuine person will not object to a video call
Almost everyone has either a smartphone or a webcam these days, and setting up a video call is easy. While there are, of course, more sophisticated scammers, and while we’ll tell you how to detect them as well, first of all, you need to be sure that the ‘woman’ you’re writing to online is really a woman. After all, it’s effortless to steal photos from any one of half a dozen sites on the net. Inviting her to video calls is a sure way to check whether this gorgeous Russian girl on dating site is real. If a woman video calls you without hesitation, it’s certainly a good sign.
If, on the other hand, she makes excuses to put off the video call, you know that you may be dealing with one of the Russian girl dating scams. Another common trick that scammers use is to start a video call, and then pretend that the connection ‘went down’ before you really get a good look at the person you’re talking to. Don’t be fooled by any of this – after a few letters, you must insist on a video call, and, if a woman won’t talk to you directly in this way, you must, at the very least, become extremely wary of her. But that’s only the simplest level of scammer.
General scam pattern
A more sophisticated scammer is a genuine woman, or even part of a gang of online criminals. Organized gangs of this sort will usually even pay a woman to talk to you over the phone. However, there’s a recognizable pattern to even these more sophisticated scams that you can easily pick up on.
For one thing, the young woman in question will start to talk about how difficult things are for her in Russia, how most of the Russian men around her are boors, drunkards, or quite simply unappreciative of a good – and beautiful woman. She’ll make you feel like a romantic knight from out of a fairy tale, come to save the damsel in distress – you’ll feel like the glorious, romantic hero, saving the good – and beautiful – girl from the trials of life. Still, everything might really be possible – the girl might still be genuine, so long, of course, as she does not ask for money! And if this is one of the Russian girl dating scams, she does, earlier or later.
Suspicious readiness to move abroad
The clearest indication that she is a fraud comes if she asks you for money. She’ll tell you that she can’t wait to see you, and to send her the money for her ticket as soon as possible. This is extremely suspicious, especially if the request comes within weeks of your beginning to talk to her. This scam also taps into stereotyped assumptions that a man in the west might have about Slavic women being ready and eager to move to the west at the drop of a hat, which is not at all the case.
Remember that a genuine woman, even one who loves you, will have to leave her family, her friends, everything she has ever known – to come to be with you. While she might make this great sacrifice if she genuinely cares for you, she is unlikely to be eager to do it after you’ve known her just a few weeks.
This sort of move to another country requires a strong attachment and a strong commitment on the part of a woman, and is only likely after you’ve known her a reasonable length of time.
Why would someone spend weeks setting you up for a fraud
Well, the dollar conversion to roubles, and the basic income in some countries makes it worthwhile – even if the scammer spends weeks ‘reeling you in’. Another sign that a woman you’re talking to is a scammer is if she not only asks you for money, but asks that you send it to her through a not-very-easily traced system, such as Western Union, instead of systems that interface directly with bank accounts, such as a bank transfer, or a paypal transaction.
If a person asks you for money to buy a ticket to come to see you, and you feel that she is really genuine, offer to buy her the ticket yourself, or to come to see her instead.
If she is genuine, she really shouldn’t have any problem with either of those offers. If she makes a fuss about your offers, or refuses them outright, you know that she’s probably a scammer.
No expensive gifts
Also, you shouldn’t make any expensive gifts before you even meet a person face to face. Contemporary Russian girls may claim that something has gone wrong with their laptop or a desktop computer, and now they can’t write any of those amazing love letters to you. If only you send a certain amount to repair her laptop or to buy a new one, there wouldn’t be any obstacle for them to write you again. In the world of today there are lots of ways to keep in touch in long-distance relationship. They may use their smartphone to keep in touch with you, or even use the snail mail. Some girls also ask for a new smartphone or even a fur coat to be gifted. Don’t fall for that either.
No translation services
Sometimes they say it’s hard for them to read and write in English, and it would be wonderful if you pay for the translation services. Her English may be not so advanced indeed, but in the world of today there are plenty of free softwares that will do a great job for her translating to and from English.
Variations on the visa or ticket scam
Since more and more people are getting to know of the basic scams, scammers these days have introduced a variation in which the woman claims that she has already applied for and got a visa. You’ll be sent a digital picture of a visa, which is a forgery, of course. She won’t even ask you for money at first. However, the scammer will then claim that there’s been some lasts minute hold up, and that she needs a certain amount of money to deal with it. The man, by this time, is usually eager to see ‘his girl’ and will tend to send her the amount without question.
And this is one of the most common and widespread Russian girl dating scams. Do be warned that scammers can sound very convincing when talking about these last-minute hold ups, so you must be careful not to be taken in just because the scammer cites some immigration law when asking you for money.
If you allow yourself to be convinced by a scammer of this sort, and send her anything, you may rest assured that you will never see her again – unless, of course, she feels that you are so gullible that you can be taken in a second time.
You may also like: What You Need to Know Before Dating a Russian Woman
The best way to avoid scammers
Drop anyone who asks you for monetary help in the first weeks or the first months. That’s an obvious ploy, of course, but by far the finest way to avoid scammers is to read profiles carefully, and to select a woman to write to who is genuinely like you. If a profile shows that a woman shares your interests and hobbies, and if you have wonderful conversations about those interests and hobbies when you start talking, then the person you’re talking to is a genuine person, and you may even have found the woman of your dreams.
Men who simply go through pictures of women, searching for the prettiest face are bound to get into trouble with a scammer sooner or later. But the man who searches for a genuine connection, someone intelligent and sensitive – someone with whom he has a great deal in common with – such a man is likely to find a wonderful and genuine woman.
Of course, you can and should take precautions against Russian girl dating scams, but the best way to avoid them is to be genuinely idealistic about your goals on the dating site yourself, as well. Be the sort of man genuine women, not scammers, want to meet.
