Russian Dating Scams

I sincerely wish I didn't have to write this section, but sadly Russian dating scams are everywhere! If you are not a naturally cynical, skeptical, or paranoid person, these are some qualities you may want to further develop before dealing with the Russian dating world! It's a bit like stepping on to the sleaziest used car lot you know, only much worse.

If you pursue Russian women you will almost surely encounter Russian dating scams somewhere along the way, but they are almost completely avoidable with a little common sense combined with a little guidance.

Scams in the Russian women dating/matchmaking business are so numerous it would be impossible to catalog them all here, so I will instead describe several major categories.

Before getting into some of the more common scams you should know that almost every site, agency, or agency network will have some very convincing antiscam policy and will mention that they are part of the such-and-such antiscam network, etc.

They may be honest or not, but the fact that they talk about how tough they are on dating scams is meaningless... EVEN if they describe some of the Russian dating scams you will read about here and the measures they take to prevent them.

And one common trick scam agencies use is to actually create their own antiscam organization, network, or website. Of course they don't tell you they OWN AND OPERATE the antiscam organization/network/site.

OK, now on to the scams...

Email Scams

If you sign up for "direct-connection sites" (sites where members communicate directly with one another without any human intermediaries - like Match.com) and correspond via email with women you meet online, you will definitely encounter "Email Scams". With this kind of scam, the "girl" with whom you think you are corresponding doesn't even exist. "She" (may not even be a woman) stole pictures, posted them on an online profile, harvested men's email addresses, and entered into a fake email dialog, and eventually will try to con her victims into wiring "her" cash for some urgent need.

Of all the varieties of Russian dating scams, this is the easiest to recognize and avoid. Click HERE to read about how to avoid email scams.

Letter and Gift Fraud

If you use the services of "marriage agencies" to pursue Russian women, then you run a pretty good risk of encountering another family of Russian dating scams known as "Agency Scams".

There are infinite varieties of agency scams, but one of the most common and lucrative Russian dating scams are what I call "Letter and Gift Fraud". This is simply where you use an agency's letter services to correspond with one of their Russian women clients, but really the agency is writing letters on behalf of the women, often without their knowledge.

These "Letter and Gift" scams are lucrative mostly because they prey upon distance and anonymity. Since a large percentage of men who visit these sites never actually end up making a trip, the agencies can really rake it in without getting caught.

Click HERE to read more about how to avoid Letter and Gift Fraud.

In-Person Scams

But agencies don't need the distance and anonymity present in "Letter and Gift" scams. They have another whole bag of tricks to use when you visit in person, and you should be aware of some of those tricks.

For instance, if you travel to a Russian or Ukrainian city for an individual tour, many of the girls you may have selected to meet will require a translator present on dates (which will usually be an extra $10-$15/hour USD).

Other Russian dating scams perpetrated in person on a tour can include taking you to restaurants or use taxis where they receive kickbacks.

These kinds of Russian dating scams may not seem all that insidious on their surface. I mean really, paying $10-$15/hour for a translator isn't really a big deal if you are serious, and paying a $50 restaurant tab and having the girl later be able to get a $20 commission is nothing in the grand scheme. The real scam in these situations is the fact that you were lured all the way to the city for an individual tour under the false pretenses that the women you would meet were real and serious about meeting a man to marry.

Click here to read more about Russian dating scams "On The Ground"

Avoiding Scams

So much for knowing about all the different kinds of Russian dating scams... Now how do you avoid them? Well, knowing the scams is a good first step to avoiding them, but there are a few fairly simple guideliness you can follow that will drop your risk of being scammed to near zero. For instance, you can shop only on the reputable sites, and you can "follow the money". All true Russian dating scams are about tricking you out of your money, so as long as YOU control how and where your money is spent, you can't be scammed. Click here to read my full discussion on avoiding Russian Women Scams.

Non-Scams

So far I have discussed email scams and various agency scams. But in some cases men throw around the term "Scam" a bit loosely and label as a scammer any woman who does not fully cooperate. For instance, a guy may invite a Russian woman with whom he has been corresponding to join him for a tropical vacation at his expense. She agrees, but during the trip she refuses him sex. So he feels scammed.

Or, similarly, a man offers a woman gifts. She accepts, but then does not later acquiesce to his physical demands, or maybe she just eventually loses interest. He demands the gifts be returned and labels her a scammer.

OR, a man pursues a woman, maybe even sponsors her for a fiance visa, or even marries her, then after she is here in the U.S. and a full citizen she wants a divorce. BUT, all along he has treated her like crap, like his own private sex slave. Well, in my opinion, he had it coming! He should consider the bright side: If he did that to an American woman he might have been SHOT, or at least had his thingy chopped off!

These are not Russian dating scams by any fair definition. A "scam", at least by my definition, involves INTENTIONAL DECEPTION FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINANCIAL PROFIT.

Another kind of scam that is not really a scam is the "Green Card Scam" or "marriage scam". It is a fairly widespread myth that any significant percentage of Russian women in these agencies are mostly just looking to get to the U.S. There are many Russian dating scams, and surely this does happen, but it is extremely rare.

Yet another "Non-Scam" (that is sometimes labeled a scam) is the "Gold Digger". They DO have those! MANY Russian women have the impression that American streets are paved with gold and that all Americans are rich and can buy them whatever they want. Although I personally believe it best to try to identify and avoid such women, I don't find them to be that isolated to Russian women. I know quite a few self-entitled "Gold Diggers" home grown right here in the U.S.

There is an important thing to note about "Gold Diggers" that could prevent misunderstanding. There are substantial cultural/political differences between the ways Americans and Russians view money that could make some Russian women sound more like "Gold Diggers" than they really are. Many Russian women either own their own apartment or live with their family. Very few of them pay any kind of income tax, property tax, or health/life insurance premiums. Very few of them have their own cars, so they don't have to pay for car repairs, car notes, car insurance, or gas.

What this all means is that typically a far larger portion of a Russian's earnings are "disposable income". Therefore they think the same is true for an American, and may think you are just really stingy if you earn $60000 USD/year and won't fly to visit them every month bringing nice gifts each time. After all, you earn $60K per year and a flight is just $800. You get the idea!