Scammer on Match.com

another nigerian scammer story

I am a mid forties woman living in Melbourne and have been on Match.com searching for a partner. I am a single Mum with a small child and a 21 y.o. Autistic boy.
In early February 2009 a man by the name of Tyon Gates (tyon_gates2000@yahoo.com sent me an email telling me how beautiful I was and that he wanted to get to know me . ..that he could not believe he had met such an angel as me. ..
I was hooked into his charm. He soon removed his profile from the dating site and we were chatting frequently on yahoo messenger (which he helped me set up!) I soon gave him my number and he began ringing me frequently calling me “Sweetie,Honey” etc. He told me that he soon was telling me that he wanted me off the MATCH web site.
When we spoke he was very difficult to understand but I fobbed it off as he told me his Dad was American Indian and his Mum Italian. Tyon claimed to come from Texas but was currently in London on business. He was an importer of antiques allegedly!
HE then told me that he had to go to Nigeria to buy antiques and would call me when he got there.
He gave me his direct number to his room in Lagos and we spoke regularly, but mostly chatted on Yahoo messenger.
He told me he had been out shopping for antiques and sent me the invoice with my name on the top with him “Mr and Mrs Tyon and Sandra Gates”. Telling me that I will be a part of his life and that he wants to spoil me – take care of me and that he will be very wealthy once he sells his wares back in the US. Tyons spelling was poor and I tested him with some basic Italian phrases which he failed. (His mother apparently is Italian living in Italy)
Tyon kept telling me how great our life would be together and how much he would love and take care of me. Tyon’s accent I could not distinguish – it did not sound Nigerian at all!)
Then one evening while we were chatting he told me that he had just got the=2 0tax certificate from the Nigerian government and the tax on his goods was much more than he anticipated. He asked me to help him by sending him money. I told him I did not have it to send but he insisted and kept at me and got quite agitated at times that I would not help him when he needed me most! He kept assuring me that he would pay me back and that he was going to make me very happy! He asked me my ring size and said that he had bought me a ring.
I relented and sent him AUD$1400.00. .. HE was so grateful and kept telling me how much he loved me. He sent me flowers and chocolates..
He assured me that he would not ask me for anymore money but then his friend was talking to me and asked me to help him with more money so Tyon could leave and come to me. I was very angry and wrote Tyon an angry email..
Somehow he seemed to bring me round with his charm and also was very manipulative in his convincing me that he just needs a bit more money. I sent a subsequent AUD$700.00 dollars to him. And he again was so loving and grateful. He sent me his itinerary of his intent to travel to Australia to meet me. Then later asked me to help him with a little more money.. I kept telling him I did not have it and could not meet my rent payments or buy food. HE told me I was lying about that!
Through his pleading and demands I sent another AUD$650.00. HE assured me that this would the last and that he could not wait to see me!
He told me that he was checking out of the hotel on the Tuesday morning and scheduled to fly out of Lagos that evening. The last time he called me he said he was at the bank picking up the last money I sent and that he loved me very much! He asked me what I was going to cook for him. He would always ask me how “our” boys were.
On the Wednesday evening I received a phone call from someone with an accent telling me that Tyon had been in an accident on the way to the airport. They asked me if I was his wife. They spoke a little about the accident and said he was in a coma. I asked them for information about what hospital he was in. They then rang me back about half an hour later and told me they needed $50,000 in Nigerian currency before they could operate. This alleged doctor said he would give me his office number but I insisted on knowing what hospital Tyon was in. They hung up (bad line!) then called back again. I asked again what hospital but they were being very evasive. I told them to ring his family for help. I hung up the phone. They kept trying to ring me so I pulled the phone out of the wall. I was feeling bad as I could not understand what was going on and that if in fact he was in hospital, then I ought to be helping!
I tried ringing hospitals in Lagos, Nigeria but could not get through. I wrote emails to the email address that apparently organised his flights. I looked up the air France website and typed in his booking details and came up with nothing.
I feel very concerned as this man has my address and my phone numbers.

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