An Italian named Tony Vincente whom I knew through Facebook, claiming he is an engineer, a contractor with BP,working as consultant in oil and petroleum field, currently lives in Miami, Florida. After just two weeks exchange of emails, wanted to spend his life with me and come to visit me in Sydney Australia. However, he hasn't asked for money yet. But he said after many years of hard work for BP, he considering to settle down, doing something less challenging, thinking of investing in real estate in Austalia. Should I let him come to see me? Is this a scam?
There is no way for me to check to see whether this is a scam or not. However, you are correct to be extremely wary of anyone that you have met on Facebook, especially after only two weeks. I can tell you from knowing people that work in that field that they are extremely well paid and certainly would have no reason to need to ask you for any money. If the story is true, he can afford to come to Australia for a visit without any assistance from you. If he decides to come to visit you on his own, then you could certainly meet with him but you should continue to be very cautious. At that point you should hire a private investigator to have him checked out prior to his arrival. The cost of a PI would be minimal to the damage if he is a scammer and a PI can verify his information fairly easily. Don't use any of the internet sites but hire an actual PI in the city where he claims he resides.
Thanks for your prompt and efficient servcice. It's a bit late to get a PI. According to his plan, he already left Florida on 27th Jul for England to the BP head office to finialise his contract. He said he needs 2 working days to do it and he'll apply for an Australian visa through the logistic department of BP once he gets to England and he'll fly to Australia from there. I wonder what he said is genuine, does it make sense to you? I thought it'd be better to apply for the visa in Florida before he flied off to England. Please advise, Regards Edwina
That does not sound right. There would be no reason for him to go to the "head office" to finalize his contract. You might get a call that he has been in an "accident" and needs funds for some reason or has lost his passport. If any of that happens you can be sure that it is a scam and it does not matter who calls you or what documents that you might receive, it is a scam.
Thanks! He's got my contact phone no and home address. I've got very concerned now. What other precaution can I take?
I would not be concerned about any physical danger. If he is a scammer he only wants your money.
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Thanks for your prompt service. Just want to let you know that Toni is on the way to Sydney. We made a few contacts via mobile phone while he was in England. He acturally said he finished the contract with BP but needed to go to the head office to submit and signed some documents before he came over to Australia. It doesn't look like its a scam, he hasn't asked for money so far, he could be after a PR. I will still take precautions, Thanks for your advice once again. Will rate your service.
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Thanks once again. Really appreciate your warning. It turned out a real scam,just received phone call from Toni. He said he got in trouble in Malaysia Airport, they took him in custody, hold his passport and money because he got too much money withour declaring. Asked me to send US$3,500 to Malaysia to help him. What a joke!!
That it what I thought. If it sounds too good to be true .......