A
female
age
41-50,
anonymous
writes:Hi and thank you for your adviceI met a male online approximately two months ago. He is very charming. We've talked daily. He tells me his wife died in an accident and he doesn't communicate with his family and he has one son who stays with a nanny. This man tells me he is in the army. He has asked me to send an iTunes card because he apparently uses his own personal phone not the army cell. I asked him why he can't buy the card himself. He stated he tried but there weren't any available where he is. I told him I had heard on the news about an iTunes scam and I wasn't comfortable with sending any card. He was fine with that and we continued to talk. He mentioned he's in Special Ops and will be going to Nigeria on an assignment. When he got down there he said he was unable to access his funds and it appeared he had been hacked. He went on to say he is without food or shelter and is staying outdoors. He asked me to send money to him. A red flag went up and I asked for his army email and he didn't give it. I also mentioned the army wouldn't allow their soldiers to be on an assignment without any money food or shelter. He said he can't contact them as he's special ops and can't give his whereabouts to anyone for his life sake. I have received about 6 pics of him with his name wearing his uniform.Is this man scamming me?
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Fancy yourself as an agony aunt? Add your answer to this question! A
female
reader, aunt honesty  +, writes (28 March 2017):
 Yes off course he is!
A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (20 March 2017): He was briefing you for an operation to save time after Bruce Willis showed up!
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (20 March 2017): Anything relating to Nigeria is a scam. Anyone asking for money online is a scam.
Yes, this is a scam.
Turn the info you have on this guy over to the authorities to see if they can make a case from it. Might help the next person who could fall for it.
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A
male
reader, Been there Now over it  +, writes (19 March 2017):
Yes, this certainly sounds like a scam job.
But I wouldn't just cut him off. Canadian Special Ops should really know about this, so report him. They will probably want his on-line contact info, and you'll give it to them. Here in the USA, it is a crime to pose as a police officer. I'm not sure what will happen in your case, but I'm sure that a call from Special Ops would get him out of the scam business. He is likely scamming a catalog of people and trying to rob them, not just you. So consider it your duty to report him.
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A
male
reader, CMMP +, writes (18 March 2017):
Duh
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A
female
reader, anonymous, writes (18 March 2017): Tell him that he's a lying sack of shit, and that he's BUSTED!!
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A
female
reader, Youcannotbeserious  + ♥, writes (18 March 2017):
 YES! YES! YES! Photographs of a random man in uniform are no proof of who he is. In any case, if he is "special ops", he should not be sending out photographs of himself in uniform.
This man is SO scamming you. If you have nothing better to do, hang in there and ask him lots of questions so he has to waste his time answering you. There is a fabulous site called 419 Eater which gives tips and advice on dealing with scammers.
I am sure I don't need to tell you not to give this man any personal information like where you live or work.
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A
female
reader, CindyCares  +, writes (18 March 2017):
 You bet he is scamming you !!
He says that he is in Nigeria with no shelter ? tell him to enjoy the sight of the star studded African sky at night, I've heard it is an impressive view.
Contrariously to Honeypie, I know very little about how the army works, but logic is logic in any situation , and this guy's story defies logic on several counts.
For instance, he is doing something so secret and dangerous that he can't tell anybody where to send him help and funds, - nobody must know, including his superior officers in the army, i.e. the outfit which hired him and pays him to do Special Ops...- but he can tell you, a perfect stranger at the other end of a PC screen ?...I mean, really. That's a scam and not even a very smart one.
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A
female
reader, Honeypie + ♥, writes (18 March 2017):
 Sounds a total scam.
Special OPS have a MUCH most comprehensive support net than the average military unit.
He is NOT (if he actually were spec ops) going to be without food or money. These guys are EXPENSIVE to train so NO government is going let them run around on "secret missions" and starve. It's irrational. It's like going "mudding" in a Ferrari... YOU JUST don't do that!
My advice? DO an image google search of the imagines he sent you. I BET YOU!! the farm, that you will find the belong to another man who has NO IDEA his photos are being used for scams.
https://www.google.com/intl/es419/insidesearch/features/images/searchbyimage.html
I saw a documentary from Australia with a BUNCH of women who were ALL scammed by a person (or group of people) using photos ripped from an ACTUAL soldier's private Facebook. They even used the same story as you heard, wife dead, kid being looked after by someone else....
And if he CAN'T give anyone info of his whereabouts - how can YOU send him stuff? ILLOGICAL.
AND if he is on some "top secret shhhh mission" how come he has time to talk to you daily? HECK! when my husband was in Afganistan I was lucky to talk to him once a MONTH on the phone. Not JUST because they were at a FOB in the middle of the mountains with sucky connections, but because he was BUSY working. And my husband was NOT Spec Ops. So I can imagine a Spec Ops guy having even LESS time.
Honestly OP, IT screams scam - bad scam.
People like the guy (most likely NOT the guy in the photo) is making the presumption that you know nothing about how the military works and thus will fall for this ridiculous bullshit.
From what you have written there is enough MANURE in the story he's been telling you, to feed the lawn at the White House.
Sorry to burst your bubble, OP.
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