My Scam Story #36

A Romance Scam Victim/Survivor’s Story

Survivor’s Origin: BRAZIL

This is the original victim’s story, enhanced by the SCARS Institute Editorial Team to improve comprehension, readability, and continuity.

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My Scam Story

Okay… get comfortable. Kick your feet up. Maybe grab a cocktail if you feel like it—because my story? It’s a doozy.

On the right was the man who scammed me. On the left was the man he pretended to be.

I first fell for the man he said he was. We met in a comment section online. Someone posted something funny, and we both replied that it was hysterical. That’s how it began.

He introduced himself as “Richard Scott.” He said he was a contractor working in oil and engineering, with an 11-year-old son. He told me his wife had passed away. We talked as “Richard” for over five months.

Then, around the beginning of the sixth month, something shifted. The texts started getting weird. They didn’t make sense. Then he asked me for money. I didn’t send anything—not at first. But something about the way things were going made me suspicious. So I took a chance. I emailed him and asked, “Who are you really?” Honestly, I was bluffing.

To my shock, he answered. He told me his name wasn’t Richard Scott. It was Christian Ighodalo. He was Black and from Nigeria.

The first time I saw him on camera, I was in disbelief. He was nervous and tried to hide his face under a blanket. I was in shock. But despite everything, I kept talking to him. I don’t know why. Maybe because I believe in second chances. Maybe because I wanted to believe there was still good in him.

He was smooth with words—just like they all are. He told me he loved me early on. He sent me poems, love songs, and sweet messages. He apologized for lying. And little by little, I fell for him. I fell in love with the scammer.

He told me we’d be together. He said he needed help getting a visa so he could come to me. He promised to handle his passport and flight; my part would be covering the cost of the visa. Besides that, I sent money here and there for things like food and gas for his generator. He used my own words and values against me—he knew I cared deeply about hunger and hardship, and he used that to get what he wanted.

We talked face-to-face on video calls. I even took a screenshot of him once—he got really angry about that. But still, I sent the money for the visa. I never gave him my address, and I didn’t really have many details about what kind of visa he was applying for. He sent me forms to fill out. I didn’t sign them right away. I had a gut feeling. I asked my friend Lisa to look at them. She said, “Don’t sign this. These are fake.”

It stopped me in my tracks.

Up until that moment, I had been numb. Desperate. I wanted him to be real so badly. But that warning woke me up. I felt nervous, and I was afraid. I called him, and during that call, he said horrible things to me. He told me, “Don’t worry—we have your details. We can do the rest.”

I was terrified.

So I called the American Embassy in Nigeria and told them everything. I filed a case against him. I gave them all the information I had—his name, his threats, the fake documents. Within 24 hours, they closed the case. The only comment they made was, “We know you didn’t fill out the paperwork.” That was it.

He scammed me for over $2,000. But the money isn’t what hurt the most. He took my time, my emotional energy, and my heart. He broke something inside me. It’s hard for me to trust men now. I tried a dating app on Facebook, but every single response I got was from another scammer.

I’m healing, slowly. I’m definitely a lot wiser than I was. And I’m thankful to be in this group with all of you. I don’t see myself as better or worse than anyone else here. A scam is a scam—every one of them is awful. Every one is a violation. A personal invasion. It’s painful.

But I believe I’m strong. I’m getting through the pain day by day. I fight it every single day.

At the end of the day, we’re all human. We’re emotional, we care, and like many of you, I wear my heart on my sleeve. That’s who I am. This is what happened to me. I’ve reported him. I’ve blocked him from every device, every app, every contact list.

And I need to say this: Thank you, Iris Münzel and SCARS, for finding me when I was at my most vulnerable. You saved me. I will always be grateful for that. And thank you to everyone here—for your kind words, for your support, for simply being here.

SCARS Institute Notes:

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