Curious As To What To Do Now

[Gylden]

RW,
You are funny, sometimes right, not very helpful, but I do enjoy your sense of humor and hope someday you find a good man to use your energies on.

 

[apple47]

Leave him alone. He prefers overseas shopping. Everybody learns only from own lessons.

          True,but,there are now only 2 options here.

              Option 1- she is a scammer that called his bluff

               Option 2 - she is sincere.

           I believe option 2.   After 6 months of writing it can be assumed he made an impression on her,as she appears to be excited that he is finally coming to meet her.  
            
               While he seems to be not so serious,or,at least a bit clueless.

             Do you,rockford75,possess a passport?   If so, get that trip planned now.If not ,when were you ever planning to go,if ever?  Also,if not,why not?  It really doesn't take 6 months of writing to get the notion in your head that a trip is soon to be necessary and you should at least have a passport by now.

                Presently,in my eyes, rockford75 is looking like a keyboard romeo and Gator could well be correct that rockford75 should forget about it and find himself a nice round AW to keep him warm at night.

                 Just my opinion as things stand now. Further information could change my mind. Time will tell  how things really shake out.



                                                             ...Larry

[Gylden]

Well said Larry,
It is a risk, but let's face it only one way to find out!

[mies]

I took your advice and wrote her back. I said that me and a pal were going to Moscow for a couple weeks. She said she wants to meet me and is very excited. She also asked if id be hangin with my pal all the time cause she wants to show me around. Basicly she told me she wants couple time. Right off the hop she asking how much time am I gonna spend with her. Also she said since my pal was meeting his own date. Would I stay at her place with her family. She also asked when I head back to Canada if id be bringing her back with me. Well the poker game continues lol..

what a surprise   
Sorry my advise brought this turn. but good development, huh?

Do you have money to visit her (or take a trip to Russia)?

If I were corresponding, i'd reply:
1) will your parents mind if I stay with your family?
2) during my trip i do not plan to spend time with other women - so i can spend as much time with you as you desire.
3) details/timeframe on what is the procedure of bringing her to Canada if things will work out and you both will like each other.

[mies]

rockford75 should forget about it and find himself a nice round AW to keep him warm at night.

Rockford is Canadian but AWs are closer than RWs - that's for sure 

[Mars]

Sorry, but this doesn't sound like a scammer woman to me.
What scammer, man or woman, is going to take the time to write daily in hopes for some totally uncertain longer term payout.
Doesn't meet the logic test for efficient use of time and energy.

Could very well be, however, that she is currently cohabiting with another male.  That would explain the no phone calls.

In that case, she is merely hedging her bets.  Looking around for something better, but in the meantime having a place to live and a man for company.

[mies]

She said they would set her up with a visa and passport for 500.00 She did mention shed need help with the air fare which is fine but. For a Canadian travel visa youd have to go to the Canadian embassy in Moscow. For a passport iam sure youd have to go thru the Russian government. So iam thinking scam! What you fellas think?

you are correct about both. But some travel agencies provide this kind of service (from time to time russian authorities forbid this practice, then allow again).
Normally it takes longer to get a passport. Travel agency has some connections and can pull strings in state agency that issues foreign passports. So people who do not have time to stand in queues and wait months for passport - pay extra to the agency, and the agency does the "dirty job" for them - acting on behalf of the applicant. Of course agency collects some extra fee for the service, so this procedure is several times more expensive than regular passport fee.

With visa - travel agencies do arrange visas for the travelers. If a traveler books a trip with the agency - the agency representative goes to the consulate - with the visa application package. Then the traveler receives back his passport with visa, and flight tickets from the agency. Agency collects fees for the service.

Having said all that - it no way the information above proves that your female penpal is legitimate.
1) how old is she that she doesn't have passport?
2) how likely it is to get a Canadian visa into freshly issued passport? (probably about as "easy" as to get UK, Shengen, or USA travel visa into pristine clean foreign passport)
3) why the need to do passport via agency? Can't she get her passport same way as most of other russians do?
4) still - she was able to find the travel agency to arrange her passport and visa, writes e-mails every day, and still no phone???


Even if you decide to go to Russia - treat it as a trip to Russia - not a trip to visit a woman. This way you won't be disappointed.

[mies]

Sorry, but this doesn't sound like a scammer woman to me.
What scammer, man or woman, is going to take the time to write daily in hopes for some totally uncertain longer term payout.
Doesn't meet the logic test for efficient use of time and energy.

apparently Rockford is so naive that he has not noticed her gentle hints into money topic 
and when he started the thread - he was basically "cooked" to buy her ticket to Canada.

[BillyB]

she talks alot about her everyday life her hopes and dreams.

That's what scammers do, talk about their hopes and dreams like a broken record of never ending cut and paste letters. Pure garbage. When she starts asking you personal hard core questions about yourself and sizing you up to be a husband and father, then she is probably serious about you and is not a scammer.

Thing is why wait 6 months before you hit the mark up for cash? She has never mentioned anything about money.

One guy on the forum got scammed after a year of communication. Most scammers DO NOT ask for money. There will be hints of the need for money for travel expenses, can't communicate anymore because she can't afford internet, or a crisis in her personal life such as her mother being in a hospital or other problems that will be solved with money. The scammer depends on the man to step up and BE A MAN and offer her money.

My ex fiancee did not have a cell phone but she did have a landline. It's best to avoid any woman who does not have access to a phone.

The odds of anything fruitful coming out of this are remote. Find a woman that gives you little doubt she's real. Rockford, the fact that you're so focused on this one woman/man for 6 months tells me you might not have a #2 woman to go to and would have to start all over communcation with the ladies. Sorry, we can't give you the green light to go for it. You have to start over. It's your life, don't waste it chasing something that may not be real. Talk to more ladies and give yourself more options. use your big head and you will never come back here again wondering if a woman is real or not after 6 months of correspondence.

[Timothy]

Russian Wind: lol on your post. Overseas shopping...yeah I guess you could put it that way.

Rockford: If she is sincere, then she is really naive that she could come back to Canada with you that quick. I thought the immigration laws there were just as tough as U.S or am I wrong?
I get the sense she (or he) is playing with you. You need to get her on the phone if you intend to continue on with this.
Holes in this story, that's for sure but entertaining.  

[greg2654]

What guys used to do to verify a RW was real was to send flowers and have a photo taken of the woman and the flowers together which was then sent to the AM. Is this still done? If not what ways are used now?

[RussianWind]

RW,
You are funny, sometimes right, not very helpful,

Not helpful? How do you want me to be helpful on this forum? To deliver lectures about types of scam? It's pointless like to teach a blind person to play golf because most men want to belive in their pinky dreams here. I am laughing in my sleeve at great naivity of some members. Not my problem if someone doesn't understand given hints. And everyone has to shoot himself in the foot to understand his own mistakes. "Sometimes right" lol. Show me places where I was wrong then

Gator, you should take fees for consulting newcomers, you are too kind, they take all your time

[RussianWind]

What guys used to do to verify a RW was real was to send flowers and have a photo taken of the woman and the flowers together which was then sent to the AM.

If somebody decided to send me flowers and take a picture in witness, I would throw them in a garbage bin and asked a boy to take that picture.

[BillyB]

What guys used to do to verify a RW was real was to send flowers and have a photo taken of the woman and the flowers together which was then sent to the AM. Is this still done? If not what ways are used now?

Sending flowers and getting a photo is wasting money. Maybe you find out the woman is real but that doesn't mean she likes you. Calling on the phone often is the best method. A scammer can only be enthusiastic about you so long before she gets tired of you calling. A real woman who really likes you will accept your call almost any time of the day. Some women will take my calls when they're at work. Through the phone you could tell by her tone of voice if she's likes talking to you or not. Also if you can't hold a conversation with her on the phone, you probably can't hold a conversation with her in real life, thus you better move on.

[apple47]

Rockford is Canadian but AWs are closer than RWs - that's for sure 

             oops!!


                                         ...Larry

[greg2654]

Okay, so how do you know if a RW you are emailing is real. Is the telephone the only way?

[mies]

Okay, so how do you know if a RW you are emailing is real. Is the telephone the only way?

Even real person can scam you. Robbers and thieves are quite real yet they get people's money.

The telephone is not the only way of course. But certain claims sound suspicious. And if things are suspicious - they are worth avoiding or at least being verified.

[mies]

What guys used to do to verify a RW was real was to send flowers and have a photo taken of the woman and the flowers together which was then sent to the AM. Is this still done? If not what ways are used now?

this practice is humiliating for honest women. imho.

If somebody decided to send me flowers and take a picture in witness, I would throw them in a garbage bin and asked a boy to take that picture.

i second this

[RussianWind]

Okay, so how do you know if a RW you are emailing is real. Is the telephone the only way?

You will know it after exchanging few letters or even messages. If you have some doubts about a woman, she is not your woman, real she or not. Six months correspondence won't help if there is no flash from the beginning. People understand at once if they like each other.

[mies]

You will know it after exchanging few letters or even messages. If you have some doubts about a woman, she is not your woman, real she or not. Six months correspondence won't help if there is no flash from the beginning. People understand at once if they like each other.

this isn't very proper advice. *Some* men have doubts about ALL women, **Some other** start online dating because the feeling of risk (oh these horrible scammers sending hot photos, and travel to the country from behind the iron curtain) is titillating. They do it for the reason that they have doubts.
So with your advice - you deprive of hope all men from those two groups.

[Gylden]

Not helpful? How do you want me to be helpful on this forum? To deliver lectures about types of scam? It's pointless like to teach a blind person to play golf because most men want to believe in their pinky dreams here. I am laughing in my sleeve at great naivity of some members. Not my problem if someone doesn't understand given hints. And everyone has to shoot himself in the foot to understand his own mistakes. "Sometimes right" lol. Show me places where I was wrong then

Not helpful, yes I believe that is what I said  
I never said that it was my wish, that you were helpful, just an observation.
It is your privilege to belittle people who you feel are not as clever as yourself, if it is your wish.
I do notice you post quite often though. Maybe you are shooting yourself in the foot by using so much of your time here.

Anyway I not trying to scare you off or insult you, I really like your blunt sense of humor.
 And yes Gator deserves a hats off for the time he spends sharing his experiences and lending advice.

[BillyB]

You will know it after exchanging few letters or even messages.

A lot of men don't know and may never know. They may have been focusing on their career all their lives or recently divorced after a 20 year marriage and they would be clueless in the first communcation or dates they have with women. Their social skills are suffering. They may be good guys but they don't know how to read words, body language and they may have clumsy interaction with real ladies. The only ladies that will give them the attention they desire are scammers.

[RussianWind]

Maybe you are shooting yourself in the foot by using so much of your time here.

You are absolutely right on here.
No, I don't belittle them, not that cruel. They don't understand the irony anyway. But I do respect few fellows here and that doesn't mean I won't bite them too if I have a chance

[I/O]

this isn't very proper advice. *Some* men have doubts about ALL women, **Some other** start online dating because the feeling of risk (oh these horrible scammers sending hot photos, and travel to the country from behind the iron curtain) is titillating. They do it for the reason that they have doubts.
So with your advice - you deprive of hope all men from those two groups.

Perhaps substitute *serious* for *some* may have been a better way to put it. I disagree in principal. I think the advice is correct. If in doubt, leave it out.

mies: IMO your advice is not very good although well meaning and somewhat novel. You advised to write and say he was coming to visit and look how he went about it. Any effing RMan could see through that one a mile away, did, and called his bluff. He's painted himself into a corner. Coming to Moscow with a friend FFS? Give Vova a break...!!!

It never ceases to amaze me how posters (Both men and women) on these boards scream and shout about integrity and on the other hand continually promote lying ones way through this pursuit.

He should write and tell his hairy mate he is going to spend all his time with "her"? Why was it he and his friend were coming to Moscow if he suddenly has all this time on his hands?. Scammers are way more intelligent than the idiots who part with their cash (Not that our prince has yet according to the story although I am sus). Your series of suggestions would stick out like 3 balls on a race dog as BS to me, surely much more so to a guy/girl/group in the business of parting fools with their cash?

mies, it isn't your fault our prince worded his letter in such a way his bluff was immediately called. I understand this however, it is a case in point of why novel advice is not always smart. Who knows how the reader will take it and whether they have the capacity to use it wisely. Methinks Gator came close. This guy should stay home period. This is a scam end to end and anyone playing up his dream is being less than kind. I am, after all this time, beginning to understand why a number of RW become very annoyed with men talking about scams on every forum. Most of these scams are just so damned obvious they don't need discussion and the constant talk of scams seems to paint every RW in that light. Isn't so.

[GQBlues]

This was from page 1.

Yes I agree!  Further to that after going over my emails from this lady. When she talked about coming to Canada,she claimed she went to a travel agency to check about prices for coming here. She said they would set her up with a visa and passport for 500.00 She did mention shed need help with the air fare which is fine but . For a Canadian travel visa youd have to go to the Canadian embassy in Moscow. For a passport iam sure youd have to go thru the Russian government. So iam thinking scam! What you fellas think?

...and I am willing to bet that would roughly be around 800 USD. Why can't you boys just tell rockford this over-used scamming line in the first place, chrissakes.