One of the Most Used Faces in Romance Scams

At Social Catfish, we interviewed Nancy on her experiences of chatting with a man online. He claimed his name was Quintas from Greece and also claimed to be working on an oil rig. He has asked Nancy for money so that he could get surgery, medicine, and pay for supplies on the oil rig. Nancy has given him around $20,000 and has been wanting to know the true identity of this man. After doing our research, we have figured out that the photos Quintas used were actually from one of the most used faces in romance scams. We discuss the results with Nancy and Vea who is another woman that has also been scammed using the same photos.

How Did Nancy Get in Contact With Her Romance Scammer?

Nancy met Quintas on Instagram through a post that he commented on. After that, they started talking for four months on the phone and through messaging. He claimed that he loved her, but she doesn’t know why he does since he barely even knows her.

She’s talked to him about how she thinks he might be a scammer in romance scams but denies it every time. She doesn’t know why he kept asking for money for certain things but still gave him money each time. He would never want to video chat with her but would send her pictures if she asked for them.

Nancy is Actually Married to Someone Else

Nancy is married to someone else but isn’t happy in her relationship. She feels like they are roommates before anything else and their romance is non-existing. Because of the loneliness, she reached out to Quintas for something new and exciting.

This romance scam has left her to struggle financially. She now feels like she needs her husband for financial support and can not leave him even if she wanted to. She feels like she can’t grow and is just trying to survive and exist.

She plans on leaving the relationship she is currently in. She has tried to make it work and has talked to him about the possibility of couples counseling and getting the tools they need to work things out, but he’s not interested. Since it’s their second marriage and they’ve already been through a divorce, he wonders how that would work out if it failed the first time. Her husband doesn’t think there’s a problem.

Quintas actively listens to her and engages in conversation, showing a genuine effort to understand her perspective. She feels that her husband doesn’t do this, and is not willing to engage in discussions with her.

What Have Nancy’s Loved Ones Said Quintas and Romance Scams?

Her husband doesn’t know about Quintas, but her friend does. Her friend is a probation officer who has spoken to Quintas about how she thinks he’s a romance scammer. She threatened to look him up in her system. Quintas didn’t say anything when she was talking and kept his distance.

Her daughter also knows that she has been talking to someone online. She’s dealt with people who have lost all their retirement to scams. She has told Nancy that she better not send Quintas any money, but by then it was too late.

When Did the Romance Scammer Start Asking For Money?

The first time he asked for money, he claimed that he traveled to Greece. He was there for two weeks when suddenly, some equipment broke down and he needed money to get this project done. Before this happened, he was discussing how he wanted to bring Nancy to Italy and spend the rest of his life with her. Because of the pure excitement of this statement, she believed him and sent him the money.

In January, Quintas claimed to need surgery for a heart condition and asked for money to get it done. Nancy gave him money for the surgery so that he could get it done. After this, he asked for money for medication. After he got this money, he asked for more money for other reasons and it never seemed to end. Nancy didn’t understand why his insurance wouldn’t cover it and he claimed that he lived in a barbaric country with no insurance.

He claimed to be an engineer who traveled all over but lived in Italy. He also claimed to be working on a project on an oil rig and needed money because something broke. However, he still needed to pay his employees and didn’t have the money to fix it. Nancy gave him the money since he was so good at his words and spoke such good English, she almost believed what he was saying.

Now he is claiming to need $1,200 for medication. He states that he knows how hard it is for Nancy to give him money, but is still asking for it anyways. He tells her that she needs to try harder and work for it. She hasn’t been sending him any more money because she feels like she already lost a lot. So far, she has lost $23,500.

Social Catfish Investigates the Scammer’s Identity in Romance Scams

Linnie spoke with both Vea and Nancy about their experiences with their romance scammers. Both romance scammers used photos from the same man that Linnie scoured the Internet to identify. The man’s name is Jose and he is currently an architect living in Brazil. They also found that scammers were using his videos and using voiceovers to make Jose say what they wanted him to say. His image is one of the most used faces in romance scams.

Vea also met this person on Instagram and he came on to her super strong. She almost blocked him when he messaged her, but what really caught her attention was the words he was using. He would tell her what he was looking for in a woman and how he wanted the right woman. He also claimed that he was a widow and his wife had passed away.

She decided to go along with it until three weeks later where he would call her every morning at 7 AM. He claimed that he was on an oil rig and his friends were going to send money to her to send to him. However, in order to receive this money she had to pay $1,500.

That’s when she reached out to the real Jose and let him know what happened. He told her that he didn’t know this was happening so he deleted all his social media profiles. Vea states that until you meet someone in person, it’s not real. Because Vea shared her story, it lifted a huge burden off of Nancy’s shoulders.

Social Catfish is Here to Help You!

If you think you’re dealing with a scammer or have had your pictures stolen, Social Catfish is here to help you!

If you want to be a part of our next YouTube video or blog post and share your story, now is your chance. You can educate our audience about what you have gone through and make sure no one else goes through the same thing. All you need to do is email ShareMyStory@socialcatfish.com, and we will get back to you with more details.

You can also reverse search any information you have on the Nigerian romance scammer to see who it is you’ve really been talking to. If you have their name, email address, phone number, social media username, or image you can search it up in our search bar to see if there is more information on the suspected scammer you are talking to.