{"id":10294,"date":"2021-01-05T12:07:21","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T20:07:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/blog\/?p=10294"},"modified":"2026-01-21T15:23:46","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T23:23:46","slug":"victim-duped-out-of-year-salary-by-romance-scammer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.socialcatfish.cloud\/scamfish\/victim-duped-out-of-year-salary-by-romance-scammer\/","title":{"rendered":"Victim Duped Out of Year Salary by Romance Scammer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Merci from India was chatting with a man named Ivan Michael who claimed he was in the military stationed in Afghanistan. He first messaged her on Instagram<\/a> and sparked many conversations with her. Their relationship was going well for a few months and everything seemed to be fine until he started asking her for money. Now she’s realizing that she was actually communicating with a romance scammer.<\/a><\/p>\n[aesop_video src=”youtube” id=”TvODEeGZJ4s” width=”100%” align=”center” disable_for_mobile=”off” loop=”off” controls=”on” mute=”off” autoplay=”off” viewstart=”off” viewend=”off” show_subtitles=”off” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Why Did the Romance Scammer Need Money?<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Hacker-portrait-image-726642-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

He told her that he needed to go back to the United States to see his son, but the military wouldn’t send him back<\/a> unless someone gave them money. He claimed that they were threatening to send him to a different country away from the United States if they did not get the money that they needed.<\/p>\n

To make this situation look even more legit, Merci even received emails from the supposed military<\/a> with the same claims. They told her in the email that if they didn’t get the money, they would send Ivan to another country away from the United States.<\/p>\n

Why Was Merci on the Fence About Sending Him Money?<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Handful-of-money-364552-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

However, Merci was conflicted. She was torn between helping Ivan out and giving him money<\/a>, or keeping her money safe to provide for her family. She only received $3,000 U.S. dollars a year to provide for her family, and she was the breadwinner meaning that she was the only one working to earn this money. Because of this, she would lose out on an entire year’s worth of her family’s income if she helped Ivan.<\/p>\n

The Romance Scammer Kept Insisting That She Gave Him Money…<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Screen-Shot-2021-01-05-at-11.59.14-AM.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Ivan insisted that he was desperate<\/a> and needed Merci’s help. He promised her that when he was able to go back to the United States, he would pay her back every penny that she let him borrow. Finally, after thinking hard about her decision she decided to help Ivan, thinking that she would just get her money back.<\/p>\n

The Romance Scammer Started Asking Her For More Money…<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Classic-piggy-bank-765244-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

Once she helped him out, there was an email sent to her asking her for more money for his friend’s ticket back to the United States. This would total up to $8,000 if she decided to send the money to the supposed military official emailing her. She told them that she could not send them any more money since she had already sent an entire year’s worth of income. That’s when she started to grow suspicious.<\/a><\/p>\n

Why Can’t She Tell Her Family About Her Story?<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Broken-red-heart-356769-scaled.jpg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”left” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

She didn’t tell anyone that this was going on, and to this day her family does not know the decision she has made. She is scared that they would kick her out of the house for spending her family’s money since they are very poor. She also fears that she could be beaten by her dad and siblings if they knew the truth about what happened.<\/p>\n

Social Catfish is Here to Help You!<\/h2>\n[aesop_image img=”https:\/\/socialcatfish.com\/scamfish\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/05\/3283248F-3999-40D8-9482-3020F015F001.jpeg” panorama=”off” imgwidth=”100%” align=”center” lightbox=”off” captionsrc=”custom” captionposition=”center” revealfx=”off” overlay_revealfx=”off”]\n

We thank Merci for sharing her story with Social Catfish and being brave to share her story with others. Because of her bravery, she is able to help many people realize that they are not alone and that they can get through this. There are many people who have gone through a romance scam story similar to this and have become stronger listening to other people’s experiences who have gone through the same thing.<\/p>\n

This is why Social Catfish encourages you to share your story.\u00a0If you think you\u2019re dealing with a romance scammer or have had your pictures stolen, Social Catfish<\/a> is here to help you!<\/p>\n

If you want to be a part of our next YouTube video<\/a> or blog post<\/a> and share your story, now is your chance. You can educate the 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<\/a>, and we will get back to you with more details.<\/p>\n

You can also reverse search<\/a> any information you have on the cargo scammer to see who it is you\u2019ve 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 romance scammer you are talking to.<\/p>\n

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