Russian online scammers bilk 'sugar daddies' out of $160,000

[clancyhound]

Russian online scammers bilk 'sugar daddies' out of $160,000MOSCOW, November 10 (RIA Novosti)   Thirty-five men from Russia's Volga region have been charged with conning foreign men out of 5 million rubles ($160,000) by posing online as young women who needed money, prosecutors said on Thursday. Investigators said the suspects, mostly students, rented apartments in the city of Yoshkar-Ola and a nearby village and manned computers 24 hours a day. About 15 people worked in each “office” from autumn 2004 to July 2007.
“The suspects introduced themselves as local women and maintained e-mail correspondence with foreigners,” the prosecutors’ statement said.
“During their communication, they would ask the foreigners to transfer money for various reasons. The transfers ranged from $100 to $4,000,” they said.
The suspects received money from 125 foreigners in the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and Britain.
The most active members of the group might face up to ten years in jail if convicted.
 
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20111110/168570914.html 

[Faux Pas]

Thats an average of $1280 (USD) per fish

[Gator]

True, but an old story. 
 
The Internet was dangerous 10 years ago for lonely, stupid men.   Driven by the fantasy, many a man  went to the airport with his heart thumping to meet his beautiful Russian woman who loved him so much because he is a "good man."  I wonder what the average lapse of time was between the plane arriving and the man concluding she was not on the plane?   
 
It was so bad that Western Union stopped sending money to Russian women.  How many men never reported the scam realizing how stupid they were. 

[BC]

Couch potatoes have nothing to loose.

I wonder if the charges against this crew of scammers was fraud or tax evasion.

[OlgaH]

An article 2008 with photos

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-542276/Scamski-city-online-Russian-brides-turn-Mafia-conmen.html