Detained at Customs

[Cathi 5,771]

13 hours ago, Family said:

Hmm…a sophisticated caller impersonated CBP, not once, not twice but thrice!! …then re routed / intercepted OP’ s outgoing call to the airline to dupe her into believing he will be on a flight back to Nigeria….

 

In reality, OP is having a really rough time and blaming herself needlessly. She did nothing wrong to voice her misgivings…and even have a fight with her fellow. 

 

 

There is no need to be condescending.

I'm not convinced because I have seen a lot stranger things in my over 10 years on this site. She, herself had an entire post stating she thought she was being scammed. We have seen more than one person say they weren't coming only to show up and leave the airport with someone else. It is not beyond reason that he could have had someone call her, yes three times. A scammer is a scammer is a scammer. There are too many things that are not adding up, especially the call about his luggage. Why on EARTH would anyone ever call her for that?

The OP can both be having a hard time and blaming herself PLUS being scammed at the same time.

[Mike E 11,741]

1 hour ago, African Zealot said:

Why are posters working extra hard to assert that the call from CBP was a scam despite OP confirming multiple times that it wasn’t?

1. One call from CBP is normal.  3 is unheard of. 
 

2. The luggage thing makes little  sense to anyone.  There are however multiple explanations for the bag getting to St Louis without the fiancé that don’t involve the fiancé successfully entering the USA.  I’ve haven’t read OP confirm that OP has possession of the bag.  
 

Despite  the above, I go back to my earliest comments.  OP posted weeks ago that OP felt there was a scam.  CBP somehow felt the same.

 

We’d all love to know what caused CBP to look at the phone. Random selection, while possible is the least likely explanation.  CBP reading the post from several weeks ago, while my own hypothesis, seems second least likely.  

 

Most likely is something the fiancé did or said at passport control (or a normal secondary that some if not most K-1s get) that triggered suspicion.  If the fiancé at any time said they were married that would do it: Based on other comments from OP, It seems like they considered themselves married and so the fiancé might have used the m word.  

 

 

Edited May 22, 2022 by Mike E

[Redro 4,611]

@belinda63's partner was detained at Chicago over night.

I'm wondering how many times CBP contacted her while her partner was in secondary... 

 

 

 

[belinda63 3,041]

5 minutes ago, ROK2USA said:

@belinda63's partner was detained at Chicago over night.

I'm wondering how many times CBP contacted her while her partner was in secondary... 

 

 

 

None. He was allowed to call me after he was released to let me know of his new flight. I was already at the airport and the flight he was supposed to be on had landed before he was able to call me. But for someone who is denied entry the process may be a bit different since the person is in custody the entire time and wouldn't have the opportunity to call

[Redro 4,611]

52 minutes ago, Ted277 said:

I just don’t get it man. If the fiancé is from UK, they won’t be working this hard I guess. 

OP's partner is from Nigeria. 

They flew Nigeria> UK>Chicago. 

They were allowed to transit through UK because they held a US visa.

 

US visa was cancelled upon entry (Chicago).

CBP has to figure out how to get him back to Nigeria but he can't transit via UK or a Schengen country (doesn't hold a visa/transit visa). 

He also needs to fly via America Airlines (or American Airlines alliance flight: ) Because that carrier is responsible for getting him back to Nigeria. 

They managed to get him on a Qatar flight... it flew out on Saturday.... 

Edited May 22, 2022 by ROK2USA

[nastra30 2,298]

Op, I know this is a difficult time for you. Hopefully, when your fiancé gets back to Nigeria you can get more details from him as what actually transpired with CBP. You initially had a feeling you thought you were being scammed; maybe CBP also came to that conclusion but who knows, it could be for many other reasons. Good luck.

[Dashinka 24,645]

I still think this is pretty simple.  When they brought him to secondary and looked at the chats/IM’s CBP saw either 1) references to already being married nullifying the K1 visa; 2) references to a potential scam, or 3) possibilities of other chats with other people lending more credence to the potential scam.  I doubt the OP has all the details on what was on the WhatsApp of their fiancé.  The luggage thing is just an aside, and most likely due to the fact that he could not be sent back via the same route he arrived on.

 

To the OP, you will need to wait and see what your fiancé says when you can talk to them directly, and make other plans if you pursue this relationship.

 

Good Luck!

[JeanneAdil 6,583]

8 hours ago, Timona said:

1. I've read everything, even the post by OP showing CBP phone number that called her.

2. I've also read and understood the baggage transfer. 

 

Now, having a knowledge or two about how scams happen, I won't be surprised that though that number is CBP, it actually wasn't CBP. Yes, there are ways to do that. My own number has called me a few times. So, it wouldn't be hard for someone to use CBP contact of POE to call you. Is this what is called spooking? I don't know.

 

Anyway, you do know these numbers are public and can easily be found online. Best way to find out is call CBP yourself or go to them at the airport. 

 

My bet is that he's already in US at someone else's house.

 

You should have booked his ticket yourself and not use a travel agent. The travel agent might be on this too. Had you booked it yourself, you would have had better information if he indeed did board or not.

 

How old are you two? @Shelldb

yes,  my house phone called my cell phone and i was not doing it 

and i use to get calls from scammers that were in other countries and it would come up as a US number

How?  

1.  transferred from nearest cell tower here and picks up any number

2.  caller is close to that number and able to use invade it for their use 

3.  scammers (For information only)  get a sims card from a friend in UK,  france, USA ,  Canada, etc and use it in their phone in their country 

[JeanneAdil 6,583]

3 hours ago, Shelldb said:

I did call CBP a couple of times, it was definitely them. I booked the reservation myself through British Airways and Yes, when he didn’t show up I went to American Airlines ticketing agent and they advised he was not on the flight. I contacted AA again and got his new flight information. I wasn’t born yday. 

but he can turn in a ticket and rebook for a different flight /  he could be anywhere in the US

[JeanneAdil 6,583]

OP 

I must  apologize for not having more sympathy for your situation

we all know u have put valuable time and energy and your heart into this

we all know as we all have done it too

and i married from a high fraud country too so i took a lot of criticism 

but we know u fell in love

we know (from your posts) that your heart and head were in conflict

its hard to not know if your doubts are real or if others have influenced your thinking 

but please please be cautious 

and don't ever think we post on the negative for any reason other to make u aware and hopefully get u thru this heartbreak 

i was  talking reality here without thinking of your heart and what u have put into a relationship

i just think u dodge a bigger problem he would have given u if he was with u and u married

so very sorry for what u go thru now

[Sarge2155 4,590]

15 hours ago, SteveInBostonI130 said:

 Thank you.  This rules out the possibility of fraud.  

 

Please let us know how this works out.  I believe you mentioned that you will seek a lawyer on Monday.  Do a free consultation and ask if they had any experience in similar cases.  Some lawyers can lead you to believe they can help, only to find out later they never had experience with K1 visa revokes by CBP.

 

My intuition is that they saw the text about "Fake Marriage" in your chat and marked that as a reason, not because of suspected marriage fraud (or this could be a secondary reason), but because of being married when the K1 requires the beneficiary to be single to enter.  

I agree with you, the phone itself had red flags galore itself!

[Pinkrlion 2,724]

I fly through Chicago all the time.  You have to pick up your luggage after leaving immigration and take it to American for next flight.  

[texastincup 52]

It is possible to spoof a phone number. A friend of mine had his hotel reservation cancelled by someone who called the hotel and impersonated him, and his wife's cell phone appeared in the caller ID. I googled a website and made a spoofed call to myself. I used a different website but here is one I just found.

 

https://myphonerobot.com/

 

Number to call: OP cell phone goes here.

Display number: CBP Chicago number goes here (this is displayed on the OP cell phone)

Your phone number: this is the phone number of the friend of the Nigerian who is pretending to be CBP.

 

The friend will get a phone call from this website server on their phone. Then the OP is called and the friend talks to them as CBP.

 

 

 

 

[TBoneTX 45,649]

Rather than continuing with fruitless speculation, how about we wait for the OP to give us definitive information about what has really happened?

[Shelldb 44]

10 hours ago, JeanneAdil said:

OP 

I must  apologize for not having more sympathy for your situation

we all know u have put valuable time and energy and your heart into this

we all know as we all have done it too

and i married from a high fraud country too so i took a lot of criticism 

but we know u fell in love

we know (from your posts) that your heart and head were in conflict

its hard to not know if your doubts are real or if others have influenced your thinking 

but please please be cautious 

and don't ever think we post on the negative for any reason other to make u aware and hopefully get u thru this heartbreak 

i was  talking reality here without thinking of your heart and what u have put into a relationship

i just think u dodge a bigger problem he would have given u if he was with u and u married

so very sorry for what u go thru now

Thanks for taking the time to say this