Russian Dating Scams...Breaking
Hearts and Bank Accounts.

Russian Heart Breakers.

Russian Dating Scams rake in tens of millions of dollars each year from unsuspecting victims.

Most are men. For some reason you don't find many women online looking for love in a rugged, handsome Russian hunk (who is poor and trying to escape to a new land and better life).

With an endless supply of photos of stunning, sexy young women it's no wonder Russian Dating Scams showing phony 'Svetlana's, 'Alena's and 'Sofiya's are breaking hearts and draining bank accounts around the world.

So for all you lonely guys out there hoping to find a soul mate and partner online be warned... don't stumble into a Russian Romance with your eyes wide shut.

The reality is... many of the fraudsters running these Russian Dating Scams are ruthless, ugly, criminals (often men) who hide behind fake pictures of pretty girls.

Some scams are perpetrated by one or two individuals.

Others are run by highly organized crime gangs run along the lines of the Nigerian 419 Scams.

Some gangs have dozens of gang members, each with their own particular skills and duties.

"Organizers" construct fake profiles using phony photos to use as bait. They map out online courtships, write phony scripts about eternal love and needing money (sometimes with trained psychologists helping).

"Executors" troll genuine online dating sites and data-bases to establish contact with potential victims.

Finally, multi-lingual "Communicators" go to work on their prey before the "Money Movers" take care of the scammed money via international money transactions.

Lonely, vulnerable men are seduced by romantic love emails pledging eternal love and gratitude... and sexy, revealing photographs promising sexual pleasures.

Unfortunately, many good-hearted, well-meaning, lonely guys are going to have their hearts ripped out and their wallets lightened.

Examples of Russian Dating Scams.

• 2004... 40-year-old American Robert McCoy of San Bernardino County was sentenced to 5 years in a Federal Prison for cheating around 350 men out of over $1 million in a Russian Bride Scam.

  His Russian wife of 2 years (with whom he had a 2 year old daughter) was also convicted of being an accessory for posing as a prospective Russian bride. She received a lighter sentence because she had met McCoy after the scam was up and running and had only played a minor role.
  McCoy had previous convictions for kidnapping, assault and weapons charges.
  
  
• 2006... Anna and husband 34-year-old photographer Yuri Lazarev convicted of swindling up to $1.5 million in a scam involving some 1,500 men in Australia, New Zealand, the U.S.A., Canada plus other countries.
  Anna (posing as 'Alfia') told her victims she was a virgin who was saving herself for the 'right' man.
  Her husband had also used photos of his better looking clients without their permission.
  
  
  
• 2006... Two Russian students (Alena Fedoroskaya, 28, and Vladimir Osipov) are convicted of using fake marriage and travel agencies to scam men in Canada, U.K. and U.S.A. of up to $3,000 each.
  Both received 5 year prison terms.
  
  

• 2006...Russian police break up a highly organized internet dating scams group.

  It was run out of a dozen rented apartments by over 100 (mostly) male scammers aged 18 to 35 using around 50 computers and cell phones. Three teams would work around the clock in eight hour shifts. Seized records show the scammers were communicating with some 750 victims and were pulling in around $300,000 each month.

  The scam had taken in $2 million before it was shut down.
  
  

• 2007... Two Russian men convicted of scamming $36,000 from a German male using stolen photos of Russian ballerina Anastasia Volchkova.
  Both were sentenced to 3 years in a labor camp.