I travel frequently around Asia and I often read and participate in different expat and travel forums. They are usually great for getting travel and visa information, but they can sometimes be very entertaining.
One thing I have noticed on forums for the Philippines about once every few weeks, you see a post like "I got scammed by a girl I met on a dating website". The post usually starts with a story how a guy met a beautiful Filipina on an online dating website and they started chatting and talking incessantly on the internet. Eventually the girl tells the man she loves him. Of course the guy thinks he has found his future bride. Then ever so subtely the lady starts asking the man for money to pay for the internet so they can chat.
Of course this seems reasonable to the guy so he starts sending her some money so she pay for the internet, which then turns into money for a new computer, college fees, school fees for her sister an operation for her poor mother and so on.
The man then decides to book a trip to visit his future bride in the Philippines. If he even meets his girlfriend, he is then in for a surprise as she is either:
- already married
- has children
- looks very different from the photograph she posted on the internet
- or perhaps the worst case scenario, "she" is actually a "he" or ladyboy
The Philippines has many beautiful, available women and many of them use the internet to find a mate, especially a guy from the United States. They speak good English and many have dreams of moving to the U.S. The Philippines is a poor country and even extremely qualified people find it difficult to find work. Even if they do find a job, it is usually not highly paid.
For people with no education the chance of finding work is even harder, which is why many women (and some men) have found a source of revenue by scamming guys on the internet.
Sometimes older ladies or men who have experience chatting with western guys on the internet will employ young women and train them in the fine art of scamming. If you do find a girl and chat with her via a web cam, you might see her eyes shift to the side as she might have someone sitting beside her coaching her along.
I have been to internet cafes in the Philippines and I have seen the girls operating and they might have nearly half a dozen chat windows open carrying out chat sessions with several people concurrently.
Well for anyone reading this who still wants to make friends online with women from the Philippines, follow this golden rule - never send anyone money you met on the internet, for any reason. If she is a scammer, she will quickly move on to her next potential victim. Try to find a woman who has a stable job and do your best to learn as much as you can to learn about the Philippines and Philippine culture to avoid being a victim of a scam.
http://www.infobarrel.com/Online_Dating_Scams_in_the_Philippines
http://because-u-can.co.uk/training/
http://www.forwomenentrepreneurs.com/index.htm
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