Are honest Russian Ladies offended by the fact that dishonest Russian women scam American men by email?

by Boyd
(Anchorage, Alaska U.S.A.)

This may sound like complaining of my own stupidity, but it really isn't.

I know very well that there are "good" and "bad" in all aspects of life and that the internet can be a "dark and deceptive" place at times. I truly wish that I would have researched this "cool website" earlier.

I was contacted in my email about a month ago by a supposed Russian woman who was supposedly looking for love and a partner in life... like I stated earlier, I wish I would have found this site earlier in time as most of the "red flags" were exhibited in the emails.

Long story short, I sent her (if it was even a "her") $1589.00 via Western Union for round trip airfare to visit me in Anchorage, Alaska... WHAT A FOOL! She sent me a list of departure and arrival times for flights... all times checked out with flights that I had to search intensely to find, as if set up by a travel agency. She (and I use the context lightly) then sent an email asking for $2400.00 (a supposed travel visa requirement of $80.00 per day for 30 days) in order to show financial stability while in the U.S. I did not send the money, but then contacted the U.S. Embassy in Moscow to verify her visa...I am waiting on an answer now.

In summary, I would think that honest Russian ladies may find this insulting to them, as this may decrease their chances of finding a good American partner in life and "tarnish" their reputation.

I deeply respect the Russian people as honest and hardworking people with good morals and this unfortunate act of stupidity and naivety does not affect my deep respect for the Russian people at all.

Thank you,
Boyd


Bob's Answer:

Wow, sorry to hear of your bad experience. Yeah, definitely don't send any more money even if the embassy confirms that this is a visa requirement (since it may actually be a requirement - though I have never heard of it - but she still would not be planning to come).

But as for how honest Russian women would find this insulting, the fact is that very few of them are even aware of the existence of these kinds of email scams. As I think I mention on my site, these email scams are serious volume operations that send out hundreds or even thousands of messages per day.

So what ends up happening is that from our side of the ocean it looks like 9 out of 10 women in Russia/Ukraine are email scammers, when in fact the vast majority of them don't even know what an email scam is. They're just honest, sincere ladies who don't understand why foreign men are so cynical and paranoid.

But, as you know now, Russian dating scams are really easy to avoid!

I'm glad this hasn't lowered your opinion of Russian/Ukrainian people.

Good luck!