From Russia With Love

[onni4me]

I have had a gay dating and chat website profile for years. Nowadays and for last 10 or so years it's been mostly to keep in contact with few old friends and see what's going on in a scene that I left behind long time ago.

Since I have no revealing images of my natural beauty and my profile says clearly that I am partnered and due to the fact that I am over 40 (horror...gasp!) I very rarely get any proposals and that suits me fine since I am happy in my family life. Some might consider me a bore since I have zero interest in so called gay scene. Well, that was something I knew very well in my twenties so it was interesting then.

And then...suddenly I get this cute Russian guy sending me messages. Flattering, of course, he is seeking that true love and doesn't trust younger guys and it's difficult and dangerous to be gay in Russia and so on. Suddenly he asks me to give him me email so he can send me longer letters and more info about himself. I give him my email that has no info about me or way to track my personal details. Love letters start to roll in. They have one amazing thing about them, the accuracy of English language. I have known quite a few Russians and despite some of them being quite educated they struggle with the use of foreign languages.

It seems this kind of "business" is widespread in Russia...fooling lonely, middle-aged foreigners. And they are pretty good at it. Dropping few names, talking about coming good job prospects, making claims that they are studying at a university and so on. I think they try to move on to email as quickly as possible since they are normally banned on these sites as quickly as they are found out sending the same messages to as many people as possible.

I found out quickly that the stated place where this person claimed to be was not where the messages were coming from. Thanks IP address locators! When I asked more personal details like address and possibly a copy of passport (they do have forgeries to show sometimes!) or direct questions, they were mostly ignored or given some sort of BS answer. Many red flags. I was sure from beginning this was a money grabbing case and in very great probability not even a male. Seems that in Russia most of these persons are female (LOL!).

I was sent a nice pic of the young guy with a placard where he had written my name and a text: From Russia With Love. They do go a length to convince me and others that they do really exist but when it comes to sending me a copy of their passport to process them an invitation to visit me in my country me acting as their host, it all goes pear shaped...or should I say looks like a matuska doll?

I said I can send him an invitation since in that case I am responsible according to mu country's laws to take care of ALL the costs of his visit. Accommodation, food, transport and so on. He naturally asked money to buy tickets, get a passport (no have?!) and as I checked in advance how much Aeroflot would charge of a return ticket from his alleged town to mine and visa fees, he said he needed half of that money sent to him so he could visit me. I said I can give full refund when he reaches my country's capital airport. (BTW, the total price was about 500 euros). Couple of emails and excuses later he got upset and sent me few lines:

Great! I see your "interest" to our real meeting!
Come to me in this case ... it's easy to be home and just wait for someone to come to you.

That was the last I heard of him. Sort of pity that the love he claimed in his several emails was so short lived.

I might post some of his letters here if it suits the site regulations. I will remove all the personal data, of course. What do you guys think?

[onni4me]

1st email: (included with images of a very nice looking young guy)

Hi, XXXXX! It's me, S (XXXXXXX.com).
This short letter for verification. I send you my pictures. Send me your answer if you have received this letter. Then I will write a long letter to you about me and my life.
S.

2nd email:

Hello, XXXXX! Thank you for your good response! This is my first long letter to you, and I'm a little worried. I'm a shy guy, but I will try to write you a good and open letters. I rarely talk to men on the Internet, but I want to do it with you and get to know you better. You're a very cute man!
Yes of course! I understand your situation with the work. Write as soon as you can.
My name is S, I'm 19 years old (XX XXXXX 19XX). I live in Russia, Saratov, which is located about 850 km from Moscow. Population - about 830,000 people. This is a huge city, but not so big as Moscow. There are many theaters, museums and other cultural centers, but I rarely visit them. I send you some pictures of my city.
I live in an apartment with my mom. She is a very good woman, and knows that I'm gay. My mom has a neutral attitude towards my sexual orientation, and I love her for it. Nobody knows I'm gay. I'm afraid to talk about it publicly. I think you know about the attitude towards gays in Russia. This is very dangerous, because the government in Russia (President Vladimir Putin in particular) makes new laws and anti-gay propaganda. Many people in Russia have a bad attitude towards gays. This is terrible! The mentality of the Russian people. Even the police are looking for gay! For example, my city has no bars or saunas for gays. I'm not looking guys in Russia. Is it dangerous. I'm scared and I get a lot of threats and insults from the guys from Russia. They are fakes. Young guys from Europe wrote to me: "Buy tickets and come to me. I'm going to XXXX you! "This is not normal! And I'm trying to find a good experienced man from another country. I do not look at age. This is only a number. I look at the heart and soul of man. I also think that the experienced men can give me a lot of useful things in my life. I want to find a real, intelligent, honest partner for life! You are very cute and I want to know you better. I do not want to rush into a relationship, time will show.
Also, I am a student of the Saratov State University. Faculty of Economics. The second year of study (full course - 4 years). I can not say that university studies is difficult, but not easy. I also work as a consultant in a shop selling mobile phones.
I'll wait for a letter from you on Sunday (or Monday). Tell me about you, about your life. Then I'll write you more about me, my interests, sexuality and so on. Write me questions if you want to know something specific about me. Also I will be glad to see your photos.
I will try to write to you as often as possible. Best wishes, S from Russia.

Yes, there is a strong sentiment towards gay in Russia. And who wouldn't like to rescue a young man from his terrible situation? He is after all a clever, nice guy and is studying at a university. Pity that his IP address is about 600 kilometers away from Saratov...studying at the faculty of Economics applies to the fact he is responsible, economically aware person...

[onni4me]

I like to say at this point that with googling with words like 'gay internet scam Russia' there comes up hits with letters very much like these ones and seems that even the town of Saratov along some others come up with some regularity. New business method for gay hating Russia?

Edited February 11, 2015 by onni4me

[Scott]

I get very suspicious of anybody I meet over the internet. Please be careful.

[onni4me]

Well, I am not looking for anything. Still got my bf of decade or so. As I tried to say, had my profile online and started getting these messages. Out of momentary boredom wanted to know how long it takes to reach the money asking stage...in this case it took a bit longer than normal.

I would never send any money to someone I know only from the web. Not that into giving anything to people I know either...

[onthemoon]

I used to get letters from "Svetlana from St. Petersburg" and am not surprised that guys (?) now target gay men too. I never replied, but then I got these contacts as email spams and not on a forum profile.

Anyway, it reminds me a bit of the Nigeria 419 scam: Send money first, give me all your contact details (so that I can threaten you to send someone your way if you stop sending subsequent payments) etc.