MaryLou writes in with information that may relate to the Skype scam. She suggests that it may not be servicemen overseas but scammers using the photos of dead servicemen. So do watch out.
Romance Scam – Photos of Military Men
These men or women who contact you are scammers. I was contacted by a few of them several years ago and investigated. They are basically Nigerian scammers using pictures of service men some of whom have actually been killed in action.
There is a site called TinEye. TinEye is a reverse image search engine built by Idée. Give it an image and it will tell you where the image appears on the web.
services.tineye.com
If they have the image on file you will get the results.
They usually tell you that they have a small child and their wife has left them or been killed in an accident. They move really fast to tell you they love you and then start asking for money.
The supposed female scammers contact lonely soldiers and wealthy men.
There are forums for people who have been duped by these people.
Romance Scam – Photos of Military Men
The database of Russian and Nigerian scammers with photos … Home > Nigerian scammers: males > Photos of military men: Photos of military men: TITLE + – FILE NAME + –
www.romancescam.com/album/thumbnails.php?album=7 – Cached
This is just one of many links found by searching “military scammers”.
I hope this info helps and that no one gets tricked into giving their money away. I was very lucky because of my skeptical nature…lol.
Namaste
MaryLou