No Fools Like Old Fools

Page Sponsor: ANTI-SCAM GUIDE

While visiting my family for the holidays, my 72-year-old father informed me that a 29-year-old Russian woman was coming to America to be with him. He could hardly contain his excitement. Dad didn't want me to tell my brother and sister, because he knew they would be critical of him being with a 29-year-old Russian virgin. He's correct. They would judge him. But I couldn't care less who he fucks.

I did ask if he had sent this woman any money. He insisted that he had not. Over the next couple days, I got my father to confess to sending this woman more than $3,000 (he won't give me the real number). A few days later he went to the airport to meet his lovely Russian girlfriend. Obviously, no Russian woman got off the plane.

I have since had some conversations with my dad about the likelihood that a legitimate 29-year-old woman—or even a 50-year-old woman—would want to be with a 72-year-old man in bad health. There is nothing exceptional about him. He is overweight, basically lives on social security with enough left in retirement savings for some luxury in life, has no special talents that would make a much younger woman attracted to him, i.e., he is not Jack Nicholson, etc. I encouraged him to think about more age-appropriate partners and did some internet searches for him on legit dating websites. He's not interested in anyone close to his age. Those women are "old," he says.

Dad says he's lonely without female companionship. I don't think this is about being lonely. He works on occasion for my brother, goes out with family and friends. I think it is about an old man who wants to recapture his youth by being with a younger woman. Which is fine. But as his son, I feel obligated to protect what little my father has. He has already been scammed once. We have always had a good relationship. But he confides in me less now because I "lectured" him about his Russian girlfriend and the age difference.

Should I help him with the dream of finding a much younger woman? Or, do I continue down the path of convincing him to seek out women who, if not age-appropriate, at least have similar life experiences?

Page Sponsor: ANTI-SCAM GUIDE

Miss Valentine’s Day Contest

It’s the season of love and Anastasia International is ready to celebrate it with a Miss Valentine’s Day Contest.

Anastasia International has put together a charming panel of Valentine’s for you to choose from. The voting begins February 12 and ends February 26. This year’s voting on Anastasia International is particularly interesting because you can invite your friends to vote.

The Winner of the Miss Valentine’s Day Contest will receive Valentine’s Day gifts and the Grand Prize of 5,000rr or her national equivalent.

Find your Valentine and vote for her at Miss Valentine’s Day Contest.

Cyber love lost in Russian bride scam

Page Sponsor: ANTI-SCAM GUIDE

An online Russian dating scam that Canadian police say has organized crime roots has bilked men of thousands of dollars.

Several men report being duped into sending romantic gifts and money to men posing as Russian brides on internet dating sites.

According to an investigation by Radio-Canada's La Facture program, the number of incidents involving Canadian men is on the rise.

Francis, 29, is a Quebecer who said he was scammed after falling in love with a blond Russian named Irina Gorachkina, whom he found on a dating website.

He said they started out exchanging neutral, friendly e-mails. "At first we talked about what we were like," he told Radio-Canada. "I told her I liked the outdoors, walking in the woods."

Francis's e-mail correspondence with Irina grew intimate and after weeks passed was filled with declarations of love such as, "I need you like a fish needs water, like a bird needs wings. I cannot live without you."

He fell in love and made arrangements for Irina to fly to Montreal. She asked him for money to help pay for tickets, visas and other costs, which he said he gladly wired to her — $2,650 in total.

On the day of Irina's scheduled arrival Francis went to the Trudeau International Airport, bought a single rose, and waited.

After eight hours, she hadn't walked through the gates, and Francis noticed another man in the arrivals area holding a bouquet of flowers. "He said, 'Yes, I'm waiting for someone.' And I said I'm waiting for an Irina Gorachkina. He said, 'That's not a joke.'"

The men realized they had been waiting for the same woman, who, as it turned out, did not exist at all.

The experience was humiliating, Francis said. "To think that someone could do that, it's diabolical. It breaks my heart."

Women profiled on sites don't actually exist: Russian authorities
Russian authorities are aware of the problem, said Irinia Zubareva, a spokeswoman with the Russian Interior Ministry.

Scam artists — most often men — create sophisticated profiles of Russian women to lure North Americans into online courtships, she told Radio-Canada.

"These are mostly men who use young girls, who can speak foreign languages to write e-mails and speak on the phone with their victims," she said. "These girls are often language students."

According to RCMP and Quebec provincial police, few people have come forward to make official complaints.

But a U.S.-based webmaster who monitors online dating scams said the websites are elaborately planned and victims have little chance.

As time passes the schemes are "more advanced, with trained psychologists actually participating," said Damien, who didn't want to reveal his last name because he fears reprisal.

Several people are involved in mapping out online courtships, including "planning a different scenario that might take place in a conversation, and then there will be a fork in the road, what to do, and those sort of things," he said.

"These plots are pre-planned initially, and especially with people who've never done it before, it's easy to become a victim."

Online dating fraud is a growing problem, Damien believes.

"I think the amount of money is increasing because scammers are getting hungrier," he said. "They are getting smarter and the number of people they can potentially cheat is getting bigger."

Damien's website allows people to cross-check their girlfriends' names against a list of names used in past scams.

Russian authorities insist the fraudulent internet sites aren't exclusive to their country, and they have caught some of the criminals.

Page Sponsor: ANTI-SCAM GUIDE