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Scam: #1965

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Person

  • Posted By: Anonymous
  • Submitted: 01/24/2011
  • Severity: 10
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Nikos Barnabas, dreamfinda00, soulsmile1967

Dating - then Request for Money

Round Rock, Texas

Met Nikos Barnabas, on Match.com, with the then user name of soulsmile1967. Today found a current profile on his with user name of dreamfinda00. Both profiles said he was from Round Rock. Current profile says looking for someone within 50 miles of RR. Originally said he had been in RR, but was in UK on a project. Current correspondence with him, as of chat on 1/22/11, says he is in Lagos, Nigeria with financial/legal issues. In our corespondence, had said he had given up his apt in RR due to funds for the project (Contacted the apt complex, they report no one by the name of Nikos Barnabas has ever rented from them.) Corresponded via personal email and yahoo chat for a period, as long as it took for me to 'fall in love'. Said he was a subcontractor who was working on, then completed a mall rennovation in Manchester, UK. While 'working on' said his funds were low, needed $ to be able to complete the final shipment of supplies and that he was then in Lagos, Nigeria, the reported source of the 'supplier'. I provided. Then said as he was leaving that he was mugged enroute to the airport, his passport and papers stolen, got malaria and was hospitalized. Again I provided for the 'medical bills' and 'legal fees for his papers to be re-issued. THEN said he was coming to FL. He made a 'reservation' said he was 'short' on the full fare... I sent another 1K. Never arrived on the flight. Airline said no activity on this, no bags checked and no record of monies received. (He said the money had been paid to the KLM office in person, and he had had to obtain refund for legal costs. ) He THEN tells me he was picked up at the airport for 'tax evasion' from a 'mistake' on the project and had a court scheduling in Manchester for that ( that date has changed X3). Also told me he had declined another project in Lagos to be with me, and that from that he also had a court case for 'breach of contract'. Has been telling me, as recent as yesterday, that he is in Lagos, has no money, has been part of a 'prayer group', needs 25K to pay the 'settlement' for the court case, that his 'uncle' is selling property (in Greece) to provideand the case in UK has been postponed until June. (I have not sent $ on that one). Prior to the flight he did not arrive on, I'd sent approximately 20K to him. Since the 'no-show', based on my 'what if' I've sent an additional $500 case and laptop/mp3 player valued at 400. He has never provided verifiable info, attempted to induce guilt, appealed to my sense of love, appealed to my faith in God and professed his. His last comment about money (1/17/11) says he has to pay 100 USD for customs fee... (it was a gift, not merchandise, so customs does not make sense, at all). As of chat on 1/22/11 he says he is in Lagos, Nigeria, no way to pay the 25K, funds are low, loves me, and can't stop thinking of me. Today, 1/23/11, ran across a new profile of him on Match.com, username of dreamfinda00. Two of the pictures are ones he has sent me, Profile is very similar to original profile. He is VERY good... used bible references freely, very well versed in bible content, which is the main reason I had continued to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Scam Images

Dating - then Request for Money Dating - then Request for Money Dating - then Request for Money Dating - then Request for Money

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I have had the exact thing just happen to me this month. january 2010. Can you please contact me and help me...
Dear Anonymous,
I wonder if some of the letters /poems I received could have possibly been copy and pastes of yours...
Is there a way for us to get together on this?
Okay. Thank-you

also as of January 30 Nikos Barnabas is on match.com with another new profile.

this time he is dreamfindaa001
follow who scammed who case #2006 as well
NEVER give money to someone you talk to online!! These Web sites warn of this all the time!!!! Read your scammer alerts. Seems Match.com has quite a few! Just had one myself! For his dying daughter to get surgery in the UK. Please people, they will woo you and tell you they are falling in love with you, then tug at your heart strings to get money out of you! Please be careful!!
I'm quite sure this is the same guy on Match: Meandyou4real11

He said he had just been on match for 2 hours and was on a 3-day trial.

I was just chatting with him and something didn't add up. Thanks to Google, I quickly uncovered this!
You are right he is the one and the same.
Unfortunately when I was googling him nothing came up except the confirmation that he "was in the white pages" under Round Rock Texas "as he stated"...

He has used the same profile 5 times since Mid January.... except under different match.com names....

youandme4real11
dreamfinder00
dreamfindaa001
dreamfinda00
soulsmile1967
Nikosgirl - check your listings... I posted question - info that came through under 'Believed' to compare timelines. Honestly, I just want the truth on all that has happened here. If he had a 'relationship' with you before me, that's not necessarily a 'scam'.
You said 'Jan 10'. Did you mean Jan 2011, and did he tell you that the bauxite shipment was being sent during Jan 2011? He told me it was being sent/ was sent Sep Oct and the project completed in Oct 2010 time frame.
REplied under case #2006

yes he said the bauxite HAD NOT yet arrived...even in January of 2011...he was going to Lagos to expeditite the shipment.
Obviously

"Efcc Office"

is a scam as well... I emailed the address they provided and just got a email stating to give them whatever they requested!!!
Nikos contacted me last evening via phone. Says he has returned to the U.S., that he is in Texas, (area code is from Texas) that as he had told me before, his Uncle came through with selling property, which allowed him to pay the fine and leave Lagos. Referred to being aware of my having posted this description on the site. I confirmed that yes I had. Accused me of 'revenge'.. (nope) told him that after seeing the 'new' profile - referred to in the main description, I had believed he was looking for someone else to get money from, and that I want to maybe help others not have broken hearts, as I did. Told me I 'draw conclusions', and that the lack of trust had been why 'we' had not 'worked'. I told him that in the face of all the information that said otherwise, why had he not loved me enough to provide proof of his project. (So I thank you Nikosgirl for the detail that leaves no question that there are major differences in the two presentations of where he was in Jan 2011, as well as the 'status' of the building project in the UK. He'd told me it was a 'mall rennovation. ) I don't presume to 'know' what is / isn't true here. Only he really knows. What I know now, with no doubt, is that there are clearly two different stories to two different women, both of who have sent him very large amounts of money.

He told me I have one week to 'make this right' of him being 'all over the internet', (this site) or that I would not get my money back. (Last email about this he had told me he would repay me after all in UK was cleared up.)

I also told him I had contacted Western Union, they have a record of all funds sent to him, and had sent a 'concern' to Match. com.

While on the phone with him, logged into this site, saw Nikosgirls posting, I told him I had posted mine, 1965, but not 2006. He logged on, saw the posting, said 'Oh My God, My Life,' then that he was confused and had to go to sleep.
From: Scambusters.org
Thought I'd post it here, if helpful for anyone.

What To Do If You Get Scammed
We're frequently asked: "Who can I turn to report a scam about...?"

We hope this never happens to you. And as a subscriber to Internet ScamBusters, you're much less likely to get taken than other people. But, if it does happen, here are some excellent resources to help you.

The National Fraud Information Center: http://www.fraud.org/ is perhaps the best site for reporting fraud in the US. The NFIC accepts reports about attempts to defraud consumers on the telephone or the Internet. (It does not accept reports about home improvement, auto sales, or other transactions that usually take place at consumers' homes or retail stores.) It includes the Internet Fraud Watch. There is a very good section of the site on fraud against the elderly. Also included is an excellent set of federal, local and non-profit links: http://www.fraud.org/info/links.htm (including the state attorney generals for many states).

The National Consumers League was founded in 1899, the National Consumers League is the oldest private, nonprofit consumer organization in the United States. It includes a good section on Internet fraud, including top tips for avoiding Internet fraud, and the top ten Internet frauds. The Internet Fraud Watch (see above) is also sponsored by the National Consumers League: http://www.natlconsumersleague.org/

CyberCops provides some very useful resources. You can file a complaint about your experiences, abuses, or gripes, or report suspicious activity on the Net. You can also search the complaint archives, read success stories, check out a list of reported "suspicious characters", as well as find information, tips and suggestions from experts and online users on how to surf the Net without getting ripped off. http://www.cybercops.org/

The National Consumer Complaint Center is sponsored by The Alexander Law Firm. It provides a method of communicating consumer complaints to agencies that are interested in investigating and taking action for consumers. You can select from the following seven categories: 1) automobiles, trucks, and motorcycles; 2) food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, radiation-emitting electronic products, veterinary drugs and feeds; 3) pesticides, herbicides, related chemicals, air and water pollution; 4) consumer products, hazardous household products, appliances, and toys; 5) meat and poultry products; 6) Internet fraud, false advertising and breached warranties; and 7) computers, printers, modems and related high tech products. http://www.alexanderlaw.com/nccc/cb-intro.html

The Better Business Bureau also lets you file complaints online. http://www.bbb.org/complaints/file.html

Here is our "What To Do If You Get Scammed" Page.

From the EFCC website:

The most common way of accepting cases by EFCC is through a petition written by an individual or organization. The petition will be evaluated and if the case falls within the purview of the commission's mandate, it will be accepted for investigation and possibly prosecution. Petitions that do not fall within the purview of the commission are sent to the appropriate agency, be it the Nigeria Police Force, Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), etc. Members of the public can also send complaints electronically to the commission email address: info@efccnigeria.orgThis e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

The commission has had complaints and also investigated cases where fraudsters impersonated the EFCC Chairman and other employees of commission in order to defraud them. The public should be aware that EFCC does not collect money to receive petitions and does not charge fee from victims to investigate their cases. Emails messages not emanating from our domain (i.e. bearing @efccnigeria.org) should be verified.

The Operations unit is the investigative arm of the EFCC headed by the Director of Operations. Below are the various sections under the Unit:

OTHER NAMES INVOLVED

I sent money via Western Union to these 'contacts'
Femi Jones
Bukola Brown
Address given of
No1023 Victoria Island
Lagos, Nigeria
01234
In Nov - January, it was sent $ straight to Nikos Barnabas, with no intermediary.
He told me he'd not had contact with either in a 'while'.

In January, sent the package for 'Nikos Barnabas' 'in care of' to:
Donald Landon
24 Ekololu Street
Surulere, Lagos
Nigeria
23401

I was told this was the person who accepted packages, provided security for them.

See post 2070
hmmm....
see 2154
I though maybe reading this may be helpful for others that they are not alone in this exploitation and betrayal. This is a copy of an email I sent to 'Nikos' in earl February after I really learned 'the truth'.

I want to ask 'why', but already know the answer, because you could.
I want to tell you how betrayed I feel, but you won't hear it.
I want to tell you I deserve better, but you don't care anyway.
I wanted to know the 'truth' and now I know at least the most important parts of it.

Inside me, it feels as though you 'fed' on me, like a vulture, taking bite after bite.
It feels like you sliced and diced my heart
Stole my love,
Stole some of my faith in mankind.
Stole some of my hope.

I know God will heal these things in me.
I know that love, faith and hope come from God and He can and will restore all of this in me and more.
I take full responsiblity for how I opened the doors to you and the decisions, grounded in love, that I made.
And I acknowledge fully your responsiblity.
It is now extremely clear you exploited my, and others' love for money.
That you betrayed my trust, with no concern at all for the impact on me.
That you did all you could to elicit my trust in you, made promises you had no intention of ever keeping, for money.
That you would have allowed me to do as much as possible for you, even if it had meant my going into financial ruin,
With no concern for the impact on me, financially, emotionally, in trust, faith, love.
I pray for your soul, and if you won't let the light in, I pray for God to stop you from being able to do this to anyone else.
I pray for God to put barriers in your path so you can no longer exploit the beautiful innocence of true love, true hearts.

I had been praying, telling God I was ready to know the 'truth'. And then I found your 'old' profile. Prayers are always answered, one way or the other.

See post 2241
I just want to stress that they man in these photos is not the actual scammer. I was scammed also with this same story...name used Gregg Erasmus, erasmusgregg@yahoo.com.
forgot to add that he used profile names of walkinpath0 and walkinpath110 on Match.com
i met this guy (for the lack of other words) on match.com (his name now is fedor kallistos and he uses different usernames in match- i try to follow him and report to match but i think match should act about it) and yes he was so romantic and so supportive. he told me a hear breaking story how his parents died when he was a child in Greece. he also told me a story how he is so broken because his love of his life died from cancer and he was so destroyed that he had to leave TX. he said that he is now in UK work on this big project of millions of dollar and things are going barely. he sold everything and he lives in apartment without heating. he cried and sounded hones. when i didn't believe me he manipulated me to believe that i am wrong to do so. we decide to forget about the money and we indeed forgot about it getting closer a month later he asked again and i broke and gave him the money. needless to say that we fought a lot about the money issue. the story is too long but all the posts are very similar word to word to what i encountered.

here is the info he asked to send the money:
Agent's name: Steve Brawal
Address: 1189 Victoria Island
City: Lagos
State: Lagos
Country: Nigeria
Zipcode: 23401
Tel:+2348090529581

Amount:2500usd.

Security question: Shipment doc for fedor?

Ans: Done

Agent 2

Wale Thompson

same Info

amount 2500usd.

same security question text and answer.

YOu will send me the MTCN (Money Transfer Control Number) its a 10digit on the reciept for each of them..and the detail of the sender's name(you) name as on the receipt and zipcode.


he is so good that he even continue to be in communication for several months later. until one time he stopped. needless to say that each time i asked for my money back he asked for more time.

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