When I moved to STL in 2005 I was given a free membership to Yahoo Personals since I signed up for SBC/Yahoo Internet service. So, since I was single at the time I put up a profile just to see what would happen. I did meet a couple of women who were more or less dateable, but I also was contacted by Tatyana Abramova, from the Kamchatka Peninsula in the far eastern region of Russia. She was quite good looking and we had a number of back and forth messages before switching to email. She kept talking about visiting the US and, being as internet savvy as I was, I always said I would certainly buy her dinner if she ever did visit but.....she had to already be here. I was cautious about the scams of paying their way.
Long story short(er), she eventually had me about 95% convinced she was real, and that she had all of the travel arranged, visa in hand etc., etc. Then I got the official confirmation from a travel agency in Russia. While I remember her name I don't remember the name of the guy who was the "agent". His website showed links to American travel agents and it seemed he was very legit since he had these partnerships. However, his emails also included a request for the money to make it all happen. Around $1000. Need it sent Western Union. Thanks. I hate to admit it.....but I came way too close to accepting all of the "evidence" and taking a chance on it. Heck, I had some extra money at the time so would it be such a bad thing? And if it was real, hey, she's a looker. It occurred to me, about an hour before I would have probably headed out to send the money, to contact the agencies in the US he had listed. Yep, that's where the story started to fall apart. I then did a thorough search on the web for both names and it led me to a site in Russia, run by a Canadian who lived there, who was an expert in busting up Russian "mail order bride" scams. Turns out these two were among the most successful in ripping people off, either by getting the money upfront, then asking for more because of insurance for travel, then special fees etc., etc., etc. Or, they also ran a ring that would take the money, then give out the trip details. They would ask your address to finalize her paperwork as to where she'd be staying, and give you her arrival time and flight at the airport. While you were at the airport waiting for her your house would be emptied of most of its contents by their friends on this side of the ocean. I was also questioned by the webmaster as to the information they already had on me. All they had was my name, email address and a prepaid cell phone. Nothing trackable back to my address in those days. Apparently they would sometimes try a robbery just because they could.
Oh, and the pictures I had of her didn't match the pictures the webmaster had of her. So, he was quite happy I had contacted him as we could compare notes and he could get the latest set of fake pictures to add to the website.
So, after that very long story, which is very true, and explanation of all of that, I have your answer. Can you get a refund if you pay return shipping? No.
Also, I'd watch out for those special offers. Probably not a bargain either.
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