Mike - Nigerian Scammer -Does This Sound Familiar?

A reader sent us this email to warn others. If any of this sounds familiar to any of you, you are dealing with a Nigerian scammer. Here is the email:
I don't know if any of you have heard from a so-called import/exporter of German auto parts. He calls himself Mike or Michael. He first sends you a questionaire asking for you to answer about all of your likes and dislikes. Then he starts sending email - passionate love letters that he finds on a love letters website. Tonight he messaged me that he is very sad and feeling down. It seems that he spent all of his extra funds paying duty on car parts he exported to Kuala Lumpur. Now he is stuck there, poor dear, and can not pay his hotel or return airfare. And he sooo wants to come and be with me for "the Xmas". He needs only $1539. He would ask his dear mother in Manchester, but she is not well. His Yahoo messenger name is "skyman02911" He will send you a link to his company's website and claims to have an office in Washington DC. He says he lives in Seattle though. At least that's what he says to women who live in Washington State. his email is devotedniceman@gmail.com. I had a little fun with him tonight as he was leading up to asking me for money. I kept changing the subject. Finally when he gave me the dollar figure I said Let me get this straight. You have been sending me love letters that you found on a website (I found them too) and now you are asking me for money. How would you react to that in my situation?" He was so hurt that I would say such things to him! He never did that!! I sent him the the link to the website and told him that all of these other people must be stealing his letters then and passing them off as their own. He told me that he is sad and upset and doesn't need to be having unpleasant exchanges. I told him that I am so very sorry that he is sad and upset and to go to hell. His reply was "K" I hope he isn'y crying too hard into his pillow!

Ben Ford - Nigerian Scammer

We received the following email from a reader who recognized a con artist/scammer before it could go any further. She found the photos he was using of himself on an online Italian magazine story. This is what our reader wrote:
He was instant messaging (IM), he asked for my email saying he was having issues with his IM at the dating site (which duh I gave, not sure if he can do anything with it). He kept asking the same question... what did I consider romantic? what did I think of the dating site? "how beautiful I was" messages were mostly questions, asking for my full name, where I lived, what type of work I did, and their stories are always the same: they are single dads, living with a child they adore at home, and they think "I" am so perfect... I started asking him questions about exact location where he lived, his favorite restaurant in the area, and he kept ignoring, and asking the question back at me. Then I made up the name "blue room" said it was my favorite place and asked him if he liked it, he said he loved it, I click disconnect, and therefore did not continue for him to ask for money, but I am pretty sure if I continue the communication game, he will. If that helps get them off the crook biz of taking advantage of women, I'll do it
Here is his first email:
From: Bend Ford <bendford@yahoo.com>
To: X
Sent: Sunday, November 13, 2011 11:22 PM
Subject: My Pics and More about me..

Hello How are you doing Am Ben 48 Years old ,From California , I feel I'm pretty laid back & have a really good sense of humor. I have lots of interests & can carry on a conversation with just about anyone. I'm very creative. Kind of hard to explain, but I love it & it keeps me occupied! I don't drink, smoke or do drugs. I'm a Christian & like to sing. I'm not a needy, clingy person, but at the same time I can be very affectionate & loving. I am comfortable in a crowd, but enjoy quiet times as well. I am said to have a great sense of humor and love to make people laugh. I am generally a happy person and once you become my friend it's a lifetime commitment to me. I would love to be in love but am not needy nor desperate.Friendship is the foundation and if love was meant to be, then it will. Am confident and satisfied with the life I have made for myself. Am not looking for anyone to change me but to accept me for who I am. I love to be romanced and to me the little things in life are very important. A card, flowers, an I love you call, holding hands and just those things that let me know that I am important to you. I love to be pampered and I love to pamper my Woman. What you see is what you get. No pretense, no show. I am proud to be a true man .what am searching for someone who is loving and kind, intelligent and adventurous. she will be my best friend, my lover and my partner. she must know how to laugh at life's absurdities and find the humor in things. ...i will be 100% honest and sincere to her but i will like her to do the same for me.i dont want to get divorced/widowed or allow what have happened to me in the past run my chance of happiness...because i will get hurt more and more.....But i know one day i will find my sweetest love ever...Actually understanding matters alot and trust is another thing that goes along with a good relationship and friendship.If you can give me your trust, am sure we can be friends without hurting each other.Although relationship is just like a perfume of which certain amount may delight you, but too much of it can turn you off...i want you to be there for me if am not in happy mood to carry me on i can assure you..you will be the happiest lady on earth.Though miles may lie between us, we're never far apart, for friendship doesn't count the miles, it's measured by the heart.No distance of place or lapse of time can lessen the friendship of those who are thoroughly persuaded of each others worth,also say My Special Angel.One of my questions is can you handle kindness?K kindness comes from the heart and most people treat kindness as weakness.So if you are looking for a kind person then you need not look any further.I am looking for a commitment.No head games please.So if my Angel is out their you can come to me.and i also believe Nothing good comes easy except by hard work.Hey guess a little about me will be glad to receive a response from you... Ben.. PS. The reader who submitted this info is going to "toy" with "Ben" and see when he asks her for money. Will post further details as we get them. Thanks so much to the lady who submitted this, and to all of you that submit your stories to us to help others from being scammed.

Internet Dating Sumitted Story

I met this guy on one of the dating site and we seemed to hit it off right away. We wrote to eachother on the internet dating site for a while and then exchanged numbers. I thought I was taking precautions by meeting him at public places for a while and not letting him know where I live. After a few "dates" he told me he was having some money problems and would I mind stopping over his house and watching movies we would rent instead of going out? I thought it wouldn't be a problem, I would be going to HIS house, and I could leave whenever I wanted to. He knew I would know where he lived, so he wouldn't do anything stupid or that would put me in danger. We picked out some movies over the phone that he would get before I got there. I went in, said hello, and sat down on the couch with him to watch a movie. He asked me if I would like a drink and I said yes, and he went to go and get it for me. I was engrossed in the movie when he handed me my drink and I just so happened to look down at the drink just as I was about to take a sip. I saw a weird powdery substance in the drink that made it look a bit cloudy. My alarm bells went off and I excused myself and said I needed to use the restroom. In the restroom I know I had to get the hell out of there, and thank goodness the restroom was right by his front door. I left his house shaken and upset. I drove home and called a friend of mine whose husband was a cop. He got on the phone with me and told me I did the right thing. He said that what most women do not realize is that many women who are raped and killed KNOW where their rapist or murder LIVES. He said that is why they call it DATE rape, because it happens to women that are dating someone, and not always on the FIRST date. He said that if there was a drug of some kind in my drink and I drank it, I may not have remembered what happened. If I didn't know what happened I may not have went to the police in a timely manner either. He made me realize that I was not as careful as I thought I was. I hope this helps someone, I consider myself very very lucky.