Are people aware of a well known scamming technique whereby individuals within the armed forces have their details and pictures used against their will to scam money from people? I have followed a scammer by playing along and their tenacity is only matched by their lack of remorse. PLEASE make people aware of the risks. Thanks.

Thank you for keeping the details private.
You can mail them to Mark:
http://mingle2.com/user/view/269271
Or, use any Report feature on profiles, email,
nudges and forum threads.

Hiya. Would you be willing to put a link to scamwarners.com to help people recognise these fraudsters. There's no doubt that they damage the reputation and credibility of sites like yours which is otherwise such a superb free resource. I wish I could find work weeding out these conners! ;)

I agree with you. It is sad that anyone out there would impersonate the military. But karma will get the best of them!

This particular individual knows that I have potentially serious health concerns and a young family to care for but is still doing their best to get £250 a month out of me! That particular profile was deactivated but they are probably using several personas so I wanted to warn the group as a whole. The admin will help given opportunity to do so. :)

People faking they are in the military should have to face real men and women of the military. They HATE posers and especially SCAMMERS! They will take them for a helicopter ride. I would bet it would be a one way trip though.

You can discuss it with Mark, but I am guessing
NO on the link.
Because for one, it is off-site, where Mingle2
had no jurisdiction.
And Mingle2 protects the privacy of its members.
He said-she said comes into play.

There is a lot of good information on that site :-)

I just thought it would boost the credibility of your site if people could see that you support us in our desire to avoid these fraudsters. Just a button to click on showing how to avoid the pitfalls would make using your site safer for all. No need for hearsay, just access to the facts for those who wish to check. Never mind, just trying to help. :)

Mingle2 is already at DEFCON 1, on scammers,
relying on members to report anything worrisome.

Ok. Well I will certainly alert you at every opportunity and hope others do the same. Sadly there is little else you can do as their intent is not overtly obvious until they start making demands. Thankyou for the discussion. X

Be sure to give Mark the details on the one
you suspect.
There are usually a few scammer threads
floating about the forums at any given
time, also :-)

Scammers will exploit any thing and everything they can. It is not recommended to play along or interact with the scammers. Instead, report them to the websites and authorities.

There are many good websites online where you can find useful information on protecting yourself.

There are also several databases for known scammers. You can look up e-mail addresses, usernames, names, etc. Not every scammer is listed, but most are.

Thanks for that, good advice. :)
There's certainly no doubt about this guy, he sent me emails from USA_base for "special leave requests" with pretty appalling grammar and a charge of £250 per month for a special phone. The emotional blackmail they use is shameful. I played along because I wanted to be sure before accusing someone, then when I was sure I wanted to try to find a way to stop him/her. Thanks everyone for your input. :)

OMG I just saw this. I've been talking to a guy who said he was in Kabul and if I pay we can talk properly. All sounds sickeningly familiar. :( How do I check if it's the same guy? I tried to find him but his account is deactivated. :(

This suggestion will also work for you :-)

If you have a username, even if it's inactive, you can look it up to see if they use that same name else where, a lot of scammers do that. Also, if you have an email address, or even a name they use. Any info they give can be checked out.

Great idea, thanks! Hey Lucy, what are the chances eh?! ;) xx

well from what has happened to me and what i have found out there is alot of places to report these scammers and i don't know if ppl r aware but there is actual soldiers themselves scamming women, which can be reported to the US Military... There is a FBI email address u can report to and u can report to romancescam.com... I do have other emails.. If u want help i can be of service...

Wow, very helpful, thankyou! I've saved all the "USA_army" emails...might just have to forward them on!! ;) xx

We don't want to give scammers the edge to change their tactics. Just please report anyone you suspect of being a scammer and the site will look into it. Although some slip through the cracks, this site is one of the best at dealing with scammers.

As Soufie said, if it takes place off site, then it's out of our jurisdiction. Just be cautious of who you talk to off site.