During the summer, when Tinder still allowed me to swipe (yep, I’ve since been banned), I came across the profile of Steve. To be honest, the first thing I noticed was his arm muscles. Apparently I’m a sucker for big guns. The second thing I noticed was the misspelling of the word professional. Or, maybe there is another form of professional spelled with two f’s that I just don’t know about. I thought to myself: “Hmmmm, this profile has the markings of a scammer…swipe, right!” So, I listened to myself. And imagine my surprise: we matched!
Steve sent the first message. Very straight forward. I sent him a message on WeChat and he told me he wanted a serious relationship, but with someone who understood that he was a very busy man and he had very busy schedules. Yes, I rolled my eyes when I read that message. Trust me, my eyes rolled plenty of times after that as well.
Our conversations were pretty basic. He wanted to know my marital status and job. Like many scammers, Steve lived in England, worked as an engineer in the petroleum industry, and went to church. He did try to throw in a compliment here and there (hence the eye rolling), but was not a natural at it…I’m guessing he was new to the scamming business (must have been to busy with those schedules). I was also assured he was intelligent in his profession (with one f…maybe that’s why he was such a “proffessional” like his profile said).
I will say that one thing Steve did that not all scammers do was to actually read my messages and replies. Most of the scammers just skip details like that. Not Steve. Oh, and he was lite on the “dears” which was a nice and welcomed break.
After a week or so, he started on the “I miss you” crap. Seriously, it only took him about 10 days for this. I got this message every few days. At the 20 day mark, he started with the “my love” malarkey.
When it comes to the scammers, I find myself growing tired of talking to them. Sometimes, I just wish they’d start off with the money business instead of dragging it out. So, I sometimes try to push it along by asking if there’s anything I can do to help. This one was a bit difficult (not the most difficult, I have yet to write about that one) because chatting with me was enough for him (his words, not mine).
A month after we matched, Steve started to set up his scam story. He was busy with paperwork relating to a new contract application. I got excited at this point because I knew what I’d been waiting for was coming soon. I got super excited when he said he would visit me after he received his contract since he would be in Malaysia. He was even going to relocate to be with me! Yay.
When August came, he let me know it was his birthday month, plus his application for the new contract work was approved and he would be going to Malaysia soon. He would be with me within a week. During that week, he said he loved me and couldn’t wait to meet. I said thanks, and then secretly celebrated because I new within the week I’d be asked for money.
Are you ready? It wasn’t even a week, but rather a few days later, the sub contractors were demanding a down payment from him before allowing him to sign the contract. Sadly, he didn’t have enough money so he needed a little (his word) financial assistance from me. He would totally pay me back, too. At this point, I was feeling a little bitchy, so I told him I couldn’t help because I was on vacation in the French Riviera.
But then my bitchiness left after having a mini conversation with myself about how this was for ScamTales. So, I let Steve know I might be able to help but he would have to provide some evidence. The amount he needed was just $2,850. Not much, right? He also sent the bank info (Man, if only there was a way to transfer money into my account with all the bank details I’ve gotten over the past year from all the scammers I’ve met). Anyway, I asked about the name on the account…a man named Juanidiah. That was the sub contractor. I requested his contact information, but did not get everything I asked for.
I was told that once I was done with the payment to Juanidiah (who was not the company that needed the money) to let Steve know. I also told Steve I would need to see a copy of the contract for my records. Panic must have set in then. He said he’d send a picture of the contract after he was able to sign it, but they needed the money first. What a joke. I told him that wasn’t happening. Sadly for Steve, I was his “only hope”. I said no again, not until I got proper information or confirmation about the job. But, apparently none of that was available until I sent money. This went on for about a week…I’d ask for evidence of the contract or offered contract, he’d say after I paid the sub contractor, I’d say I wanted evidence or proof, he’d say what kind, I’d reply pictures of contracts or offers, he’d say he didn’t have anything like that, and so on. I think you get the point.
After telling him a job that YOU pay to work at isn’t worth it, I finally cut Steve loose because I became bored with the “my love’s”, “only hope’s” and the back and forth nonsense. Besides, I needed to find my next scammer (which I did without the help of Tinder).
Steve, in my book, was a novice scammer that obviously met a very unsympathetic fighter. Better luck next time, Steve…or not. In the meantime, let’s enjoy a few more of Steve’s photos.
Scammin' for Love 