There are a lot of grinches in the world. Since I wrote my first article on romance scams, I’ve received “please help” emails each week from the children or friends of victims who have fallen head-over-wallet in love with a romance fraudster. The senders are usually in a panic because their soon-to-be-broke loved one or friend cannot be convinced that they are sending money to a romance scammer no matter how strong the evidence is.

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I’m not shocked anymore to hear how someone’s lonely mother thinks Yanni is in love with her and just needs some money to end his marriage and escape into their arms. Or a foreign doctor needs their remote “lover” to send “green dot” cards so they can get a visa into America. Or a lovely young Russian beauty who can’t wait to hold her gruff-looking senior American boyfriend’s hand in marriage…once he sends her a few thousand dollars so she can escape her horrible life in a remote village.

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