Necessary Reading for New Guys

[I/O]

I think this article actually refers to events from a couple of years back as, IIRC the 26000 Euro German was being joked around the net quite some time back. Nevertheless, it is a worthy read for guys starting out, even if it is somewhat sensationalised.

What is most interesting to note is the justifications these people use. To some extent, what they say is true. Victims, at times, almost deserve their fate.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/femail/article.html?in_article_id=542276&in_page_id=1879

I/O   

[Caperone]

 €26,000???  WTF!!! 

It is that hard to have a little of  common sense? 

I admit that Anastasia Volochkova is quite a cutie! 

[55North]

I/O, I posted this at the time in a British visa agency forum, where I knew there was a resident/agency owner from Yoshkar-Ola.  The thread was quite good, and also picks up a RW marriage casualty story in the (Murdoch-owned) Sun.  Sad but amusing.

http://www.realrussia.co.uk/forum/forums/thread-view.asp?tid=1540&posts=18

[tim 360]

and it is just the very tip of the iceberg.

"The capital of the Mari-El republic, Yoshkar-Ola, is 500 miles east of Moscow and is still suffering from the collapse of its manufacturing industry after the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.

Today it is estimated that as many as one in 100 residents in the city is involved in dating scams.

No wonder this new industry is said to be worth an incredible £40-£ 50 million a year to the city.

One fraudster, who poses as an attractive blonde called Anna Ivanova, said: "The average salary in my city is £75 a month.

"The choice here is simple - either poverty or larceny. Now I earn £3,000 a month.

"People are fools if they want to find a wife on the internet.

"It is not real. I correspond with a whole division of Westerners - and they are all idiots.

"And I am quite successful in the business. I can wait to be noble and honest in my next life."

In one case, a dozen British men were fooled by a picture of a model talking on the telephone while sitting on a bed.

One of the names she was given was "Natasha Ivanova".

After complaints to the police, they discovered to their shame that they were being sweet-talked on the web by a beefy, 6ft 4in Cameroonian medical student named Nde Saninong."