If you are an American or European man thinking to get a mail-order bride, some pieces of advice how to identify and avoid scam will come in handy.
First of all one has to realize what scam really is and not get paranoid about any unexpected reaction from a Russian, Belarus or a bride from another country.
Scam is an attempt to intentionally mislead a person usually with the goal of financial or other gain. So this is a pre-planned activity from the individual or a group of people. Note that scammer can be not only women, but also dating services, and quite often men as they know what men fall for.

The usual pattern scammers on dating sites follow is:

- place an attractive photo. If the dating service offers online registration, this is quite hard to check the identity and anyone can place whatever photo they want to.
- actively contact men-clients and flood then with letters. The letters usually sound quite formal, as were prewritten and are sent to a big number of men.
- quite quickly show affection to the victim and intention to meet/marry, etc.
- either suggest meeting in a victim's home country or a third part country which is requested to be paid for or produce a touching story about sudden illness, loss of job/rented apartment, licking roof or another misfortune. Alternatively scammers just ask for financial aid to pay for Internet expenses or education.
- make a victim send necessary amount of money through international money transfer services (Money Gram, Western Union) that do not require creating a bank account and could be quite anonymous. One can just use someone's name to get the money (make a partner or relative get it on their name). The money is usually sent until the victim can't afford or the fraud is perceived. Then the scammer disappears.
The least thing most men do is report to the agency, post a woman to the scam list. Very few go further and report to the police, Internet Fraud Complaint Center of FBI, or the embassy or even come to the scammer's home country to find her or him.

     A great majority of men think it is impossible that they could be lured in such an affair. Yet, there is still so much scam on the dating scene that it lets quite many cheaters make a living. Thus the main and basic advice all dating service give is stop feeding scammers - never send money to the person you have never seen whatever persuasive she is or whatever much you seem to be in love. Be down-to-earth whatever much you get to believe and seem to fall for a person. If you are getting involved go and see her before making any further decision about your future prospects.

     Many men, especially from the USA do not realize opportunities a single woman from Post-Soviet countries has to come to the US. This is usually a fiance visa only, which is sponsored by a US citizen personally. All promises to come on student -exchange programs or on travel visa are most likely a part of a scam scenario. There are exchange programs and students go to the States, but they are hardly ever clients of international marriage brokers. As for tourist visa, US immigration service is very stiff to issue it to single young women so the possibilities to get it are almost zero.

     So if a Russian woman suggests visiting you in the US instead of your coming to her, this is under current immigration law an obvious scam attempt.
Some other tips to identify a scammer and protect yourself:

- avoid agencies that hide women contact details, send big amount of letters from glamorous women much younger then yourself, all sincerely interested in you just because you are what you are. Do not fool yourself. Russian woman are just as other women all over the world. A usual marriage-minded woman will be looking for an adequate partner, close to her age with the same social background and educational lever as well as financial status. Yes, Russian women tend to be more family oriented, more tolerant, compromising and traditional then western women, however you should be realistic about your chances as well.
- It is worth performing a web search for a woman's full name and email (if you correspond privately). - a bad sign if she is registered with too many dating service. If you have found her email in a scammer's list, this is the time to stop.
- ask for telephone number and real postal address. If a woman refuses to provide them, this is a red flag for sure. Having her postal address you can send her a gift or flower through international delivery services and have them check if this is real person residing at the address you provided.
- always ask specific questions in letter and expect specific answers. Ignoring them, looks like sending form letters, which is obviously a sign of a scam pattern.
- ask for recent photos, photos with your gift or letters, at work and home. Something that could prove this is a real person, not just a "bait profile".
- if things get serious and you plan engagement, ask a woman to delete her inform from all other dating websites and check the reaction.
- planning a trip and financing the expenses for the both of you rather book flight and hotel then send money for the woman to do this. When finally you sponsor a fiance visa for your bride, consult with a lawyer about the proper steps to be taken before you sign cheques for your Russian bride arranging everything.

Useful resources:

Russian women scam, girls black list, dating scammers database

EECL - Russian women scam investigator- Useful info on how identify and avoid scam. What to do if you have been scammed.

Scammer's List : all about scammers: scam scenarios, scamming ways

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