Russian Mail Brides - Scammers Guide Part 2
Monday, August 11th, 2008This is part 2 of our guide to scammers and Russian mail brides.
Type 3. The Long Con
This type of scam I’m not even certain actually exists today (I know of no recent confirmed cases). But it may exist and I guess has existed in other contexts for time immemorial so its worth having a quick look.
This scam involves a woman feigning interest in a man for enough time, and with enough conviction, so that she eventually gains a western passport and/or half the mans money.
My own view on this is that it ‘takes two to tango’. That for it to work there has to be a man whose character at the time in some way allows for it to happen. I say that if somebodies character is like this, that type of victimization can just as easily happen with the woman next door.
There is a lot of wealth in Russia today and there is no great reason for a woman skillful and dedicated enough to pull off such a thing to turn her attention outside Russia.
I could go into a lot of pondering here (using a lot of cod-pschology) into whether this scam exists all the time - its just the participants refuse to admit it to themselves that it is a scam.
Do ‘relationships of convenience occur’? Yes, but that is very different to a deliberate scam.
Instead lets keep it short.
With one or two exceptions, every woman I met was completely genuine.
So basically in my opinion
- The chances of this Long Con happening are
(a) Incredibly small
(b) About the same as whether you are looking for a wife in Russia or looking in the next street. So finding a Russian mail bride is just as risky as any other relationship.
Conclusion
If you use a little bit of common sense, you have nothing to worry about when it comes to scammers. The vast majority of Russian women are genuine and if you use quality websites, you should have nothing to worry about.
In my own experience I only ever encountered one Type 1 (very easy to spot), one Type 2 (I lost about $20 and was foolish) and nothing would surprise me more were I to find myself in a Type 3
So my advice is don’t worry. You’ll be fine. Do it. Finding a Russian mail bride that is perfect for you is pretty much the best thing you can do.
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