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| Nigerian scammer "Christopher Maxwell"; credit NBC4 Washington |
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reported that romance scams totaled $1.3 billion in 2022.
Now the consulting firm Social Catfish consults with a past romance scammer from Nigeria.
Cofounder Brianna McClellan shares a big red flag.
She said:
“You met someone, and they're professing their love to you right away followed by someone asking you for money, gift cards, wire transfers, anything,” she said. “Anything that has to do with money being sent, red flag.”
Take the image of the person you are talking to, and put it into Google reverse image or on Social Catfish reverse image feature to see if you are talking to a catfish.
Nigerian Man Shares Details About His Past Romance Scams
A Nigerian man shares the details of his past romance scams on American women so now they can be careful when dealing with scammers online.
Maxwell stole about $100,000 over five years and was arrested by authorities in Nigeria. He paid a $250 fine for his crime and spent one day in jail.
NBC4 Washington reported that a man who calls himself "Christopher Maxwell" is now divulging how he targeted women with romance scams to steal money.
Maxwell shared how he typically picked his victims.
He said:
“I usually pick my victims from the ages of 38 to, maybe, 60 to 65. Single women. I look for women that’re single that have kids, and they need someone to take care of them, to love them.”
He would often look for divorced women on dating platforms while using a picture of a military service member to portray himself as a trustworthy individual.
He said that sometimes his scam could yield money quickly, while other times it could take months. He would employ a "sob story" that he was deployed, and didn't have access to his bank account, and he needed help making a payment on a house, car, or for his kids. Of course, it was always a lie.
He said:
“Sometimes you have to be patient for months,” Maxwell said. “Sometimes I can get money in three days...Definitely, she would want to help me, because I’m her boyfriend.”Maxwell even admits that he worked on and perfected his American accent so he could chat on the phone with his American victims.
He said:
“If you’re talking to someone online, a stranger that you don’t know, um, you can ask for a video call,” he advised. “If someone is refusing to talk to you on a video call for absolutely no reason, it’s a scam.”But Maxwell said he did feel guilty taking money from these women based on his lies.
He said:
“I felt so guilty,” he said. “I showed her my face on video call. She cried. She did not block me.”
He confessed what he did to his last victim after she got sick and went into debt.
