Interesting Article on Scams in FSU

[visaveteran1 33]

I do think that sometimes there is a mentality when someone is searching for a wife from the FSU that he is rescuing her from poverty and that Russia is a poor third world country. That may have been true 15 years ago but its not true any more. If a woman was able to survive before she met her man there is no reason to think she can't survive while waiting for a K-1 to come through. I also agree that you can't buy love and if you try to get a girl to love you buy buying her expensive gifts you are probably setting yourself up for failure after she does arrive.

I have had more than enough experiences with scammers during my search and its an easy trap to fall into. Some of the things I have seen with other guys make me wonder how someone can throw so much money at a woman who wants nothing but what she can get from a guy and not know they are being used.

I always think back to a friend of mine who has made every mistake in the book and his comment that the one lady he persued for a few years had told him she had decided she didn't want to leave her family but even if they had no future they would always be friends. Then he added that they would be friends as long as he kept sending money anyway. It was true.

I see nothing wrong with sending money when it is appropriate, perhaps a special need or the costs related to the visa but I have seen guys who sent a fiancee $ 1000.00 a month and that is stupid.

Yes, and there was no real internet back in the early post Soviet downfall to facilitate wholesale scamming. The internet has blessed and cursed we intrepid men in search of our own Aphrodite. The tours can lead to scamming too but it's harder when they have to look you in the eye.

[slim 1,514]

...she drives STRAIGHT in th garage, why not just back STRAIGHT out? Why the compulsion to turn the wheels one way or the other?

My wife stuck her head out the window several times to see which direction the wheels were pointing when she first started driving. She just could not figure out the whole reverse thing.

I don't get it either. I guess, as posted, it's a woman thing.

Actually the house did much better than my pickup truck. She drove into a brick wall and it wasn't damaged.

There's a picture on here somewhere of my Jeep parked into the side of our house courtesy of my wife. "Hey, wake up. Uh, look out the window."

Our house still says Goodyear on the side.

[LvivLovers 39]

I have never complained about Alla regarding spending. She is the biggest bargain hunter you ever want to see and really very frugal. More than me, actually. She has a lot of credit cards now but none with any balances. If Macy's is going to give her another 10% off the sweater she is buying on sale for $7 she will use the card, come home and write a check and send it in. She makes her "own money" with her interpretation and occasional modeling. But then she will go out and buy a new sofa some other items for the house. It isn't like she keeps it for herself.

Sounds like my wife. She always comes home to show me "how much she saved". But really, if she spends $100, she'll have like 20-30 items. The biggest issue we have these days is space to put all the bargains. She also has tons of icons and other paintings she brought from Ukraine...it's a serious challenge finding enough wall space for them all.

My wife stuck her head out the window several times to see which direction the wheels were pointing when she first started driving. She just could not figure out the whole reverse thing.

My wife had the same problem. I'd have her get out of the car a lot to see where everything actually was. That and I'd have her drive in reverse for like an hour at a time maneuvering around little islands in the parking lot and doing simulated parking jobs. She probably had more practice going in reverse than forwards! lol

There's a picture on here somewhere of my Jeep parked into the side of our house courtesy of my wife. "Hey, wake up. Uh, look out the window."

Our house still says Goodyear on the side.

I remember that photo! Got a good laugh out of that.

[slim 1,514]

I'd have her drive in reverse for like an hour at a time maneuvering around little islands in the parking lot and doing simulated parking jobs.

We did the same thing but as soon as we went forward again, it was like all the reverse training wore off.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Sounds like my wife. She always comes home to show me "how much she saved". But really, if she spends $100, she'll have like 20-30 items. The biggest issue we have these days is space to put all the bargains. She also has tons of icons and other paintings she brought from Ukraine...it's a serious challenge finding enough wall space for them all.

I guess that idea came to Alla one day also because she came home with bags full of stuff and announced she had "saved" something like $400 ( maybe $300 or $500, the exact number escapes me) And I said "But Alla, why did you stop? Maybe you should stay and shop until you save $1000"

Alla didn;t bring stuff for the walls but she is an amatuer photographer as makes really good photos. We have a lot of her photos on the wall now. Mostly of buildings, cathedrals, etc. in Ukraine/Russia and nature photos from Vermont. She was making a little money at one time selling her photos in local gift shops, but her schoolwork was just taking too much time. I am looking for ward to her finishing school this year.

[slim 1,514]

We have Chinese feng shui stuff on our walls.

That's one thing about the girls from the far east. They're close enough to China to "save" money there too!

[sea-monkey 13]

Anyone here have any rugs hanging on their walls?

[eekee 182]

Anyone here have any rugs hanging on their walls?

It's insulating!

[Bad_Daddy 2,209]

That $6,000 bill TurboGuy posted about keeps sticking in my head. lol...that's a lot of dough.

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

Anyone here have any rugs hanging on their walls?

In our flat in Ukraine...YES. Not here though.

[ONA 133]

Anyone here have any rugs hanging on their walls?

My grandmas do... But it's an old trend.

[Tanya and Barry 59]

Anyone that sends money to someone they have never met except online gets what they pay for. It always strikes as odd that anyone that stupid can ever manage to earn money anyway.

In my experience an FSU woman no matter how difficult her situation, would not ask for money from a stranger nor even accept it if offered. From a close friend or a family member, yes, but "close friend" in the FSU does NOT include someone you know only online.

The good news, for us, is that the frauds in the FSU are not the type that end up at the consulate applying for visas. Most of the FSU frauds stick to the internet and simply say they are something they are not. Most often it is men saying they are women. You get the occasional woman saying she is a man though. I don't imagine there is much money in that. Must be for other reasons.

When Tanya and I were in the Syping, texting and emailing stage she had a situation come up with her son and his university. The amount was trivial to me but she would not take any money from me because we hadn't met yet. She wouldn't even discuss it.

[slim 1,514]

Anyone here have any rugs hanging on their walls?

Nope. But I have some super king sizee double mink blankets hanging over my windows.

When Tanya and I were in the Syping, texting and emailing stage she had a situation come up with her son and his university. The amount was trivial to me but she would not take any money from me because we hadn't met yet. She wouldn't even discuss it.

This is what we call a GREEN FLAG.

[Brad and Vika 129]

Some of the things I have seen with other guys make me wonder how someone can throw so much money at a woman who wants nothing but what she can get from a guy and not know they are being used.

Right. Sometimes the amount of money sent regularly just blows my mind.

Seems typical of people that say they are married to Ukrainian women but are really just phonies.

I was thinking of guys (or girls) who get so intoxicated by the attention when they find some one who starts talking the talk, that they just seem to loose their minds.

As far as Gary's comment that when RW go bad they really go bad, the one I remember most was one young guy who was quite active about the same time AK Diver was here. I won't say who it was since this was told to me in confidence. It's been years and I don't think the story itself will hurt anything. One member brought a gal from S.P. on a K-1 and came back early from work one day. She had been doing naked web cam with about 20 different guys.

ALMOST funny. I suppose there were flags all over the place before that happened, and they were ignored?

Yes, and there was no real internet back in the early post Soviet downfall to facilitate wholesale scamming. The internet has blessed and cursed we intrepid men in search of our own Aphrodite. The tours can lead to scamming too but it's harder when they have to look you in the eye.

The first time I visited Ukraine, I ran across a group of British guys who were sure they were being scammed. One of them told me a story about going to the bus station and watching his intended get off the bus. At the time I didn't think to ask him how he got to the bus station in Odessa, or how he knew when she would be there. He says she got off the bus and took a taxi to Deribasovskaya (I think) to meet him. He says she promptly told him she needed $200 for the taxi from Nikoliev, and $200 for the ride back, and she needed to leave right after dinner because she had a test the next day. He said he gave her $200 to get home and left. So even eye-to-eye, he gave up the cash.

I read lots of posts here about people who spend weeks with a non-USC, and proceed to send thousands over time, for relationships that don't pan out. I really believe that some people cannot be helped. Same thing happens with USC couples too.

When Tanya and I were in the Syping, texting and emailing stage she had a situation come up with her son and his university. The amount was trivial to me but she would not take any money from me because we hadn't met yet. She wouldn't even discuss it.

A sure sign of a good one. Vika wouldn't even discuss money before she got here, let alone ask me to help her. I sent money for stuff like train tickets (to Lviv) or vacation packages (Turkey), before I came for vacation - but that was it. I sent some flowers too.

Edited May 14, 2011 by Brad and Vika

[Gary and Alla 3,694]

When Tanya and I were in the Syping, texting and emailing stage she had a situation come up with her son and his university. The amount was trivial to me but she would not take any money from me because we hadn't met yet. She wouldn't even discuss it.

Even after we met several times, I tried to send Alla some money just to pay her phone bill (we were talking on the phone a lot) I did so without asking and she was MAD! She refused to pick up the money and I had to take it back, minus the service charge.

Later, when we were engaged and had filed for the K-1 we made up a budget of expenses we would incur for the move (it wasn't just her, it was also two sons) etc., etc. Alla was working and making good money and worked until just a couple days before she came, we did up a budget, counted both our expenses and both our incomes and worked it out fromthere...kind of like two adults.