Is Skype and Email to Russian Women safe?

by Honest Man
(London, England)

I met this woman online only for a month, I have seen her on Skype but only once. I speak with her over the phone, but she seems to be always too busy to go on Skype as there is always problems with her microphone and her logging on. She does email me and ask if we can meet in Paris. She has not asked me for money yet!!!!! Are my email and Skype accounts safe from these women or can they get financial info? I hope that she is real :-) thanks


Bob's Answer:

Personally I have several email accounts for different purposes. Whenever I first give my email address to a Russian woman I met online, I give her my email address dedicated to corresponding with Russian women (a yahoo account, but gmail works just as well for this). If she turns out to be to be "real", I'll later give her my "real" email address. If I'm still not sure, I'll correspond using the yahoo account.

But as for your risk... No one can get to financial info through an email or Skype address. The only risk is that you will later be contacted by "Yuliya" who "saw your profile at 'the agency'...." (i.e. a scammer). And as long as "Yuliya" is writing to your Yahoo mail account, you can just click the "This is Spam" button and you'll never hear from her again (and probably her emails to many other Yahoo mail users will end up in their spam folder instead of their inbox).

It CAN BE true that Skype, webcams, and microphones don't work as well in Russia/Ukraine, but that is also often a convenient excuse used by scammers to avoid spending too much time on a 'mark'.

BUT, your girl's suggestion for a meeting in Paris makes me a bit skeptical (as you obviously already are). Even if she is "real", meeting in a world-renowned tourist hotspot runs the risk of giving her a GREAT vacation for free.

First meetings should ALWAYS be in her city for two reasons. (1) If you do it right, she gains nothing but a few free meals and the pleasure of your company (which, if she's serious, should be all she REALLY wants). (2) A SERIOUS, self-respecting Russian/Ukrainian woman would PREFER to see you in her own city (so those who seek to meet elsewhere are often motivated by less than ideal motives).

Solution: Simple. No Paris meeting. Just tell her you'd prefer to get to know her better through correspondence/Skype/phone, and if that goes well, you'd like to travel to her city to visit her in person.

DO NOT give a Paris trip ANY thought. If you DO a Paris trip, you will be $2000 poorer and still have no girlfriend or wife. She may be real, and she may show up, and she may spend that time with you, but she can do all that without any serious thought of a real relationship with you.

I hope that helps!