Romantic Scammer met from Facebook

End Jun’13 I started talking to someone online who said he lived in Phoenix, AZ. He said he was born in the US, but was raised by his American mom who speaks Japanese fluently and spent childhood in Japan. He said he only went back to Phoenix when his Japanese-American dad passed away. He had a strong southern accent.He said he was going to Kuala Terrengganu, Malaysia, for a project with Petronas for 8 months. He said he used to work for AMEC in the US. He said he’s interested in crude oil and machinery. He said his name was Owen Harvey, an independent contractor. He said he has a son call Oscar, 6yrs old. He lost his Japanese wife, Ayumi, for lung cancer last year in Nov. He said his late wife battled the disease for a very long time and that he suffered the loss tremendously. He said if I was a smoker he would have to steal the pack and throw it away when I sleep. He said he doesn’t like to talk much about the past. He said he hate lies. He said he was born in 3rd Feb 1968. He said he was worried over his son and wanted to fly him over. He said his son is being taken care by a 65yrs old nanny name Amanda. He said he despise American women and tend to fall for Asian women. He said he would see what opportunity he could get in Hong Kong so he could be with me and possibly relocate. When he “got to Malaysia in Kuala Terrengganu”, he said he would go to Kuala Lumpur over the weekend to do some shopping for his own well-being. When he arrived in KL, he said he got hit on the head and robbed near his hotel, lost his wallet and passport. He sounded very traumatized and he only wanted to talk to me to make him feel better. This is the first time he asked for money. When I said no, I can’t help, he said “ I love you so much baby, don’t forget that. I’ll soon be fine. Feeling much better”.He said the way he was raised, they didn't have close friends. He acts as if he is a proud man and doesn't ask women for anything, but when he said he really had to get going, get to the embassy, open an account, and back to Kuala Terrengganu to start his work, he asked me. I told him I couldn't help him. He asked if I had human sympathy, but then said that he’d find another way. He told the hotel manager he was there on business and the manager has been allowing him to stay there at the hotel even though he said he ran out of money and is waiting for me to send him some. He asked me to try to help him get $2000. On 23rd Jul, I gave $500. On 25th Jul, I gave $1000 to different Western Union accounts. He apologized for giving me all the stress. He asked for my account number. He posed a Christian man, went to a Baptist church on Sundays. We spoke everyday online and on the phone. I have a photo of “him and his son”, I have his US and Malaysian #. I met him on my company’s FB. He said he fell madly in love with me, that I have a pretty face, nice voice and good heart. We exchanged songs online, watched Jimmy Kimmel show on youtube about parents prank their kids that they eat all their candies, he asked how my little girl is doing, he wanted/ was curious when all of us (him, his son, me and my daughter) meet.He “was real and I was in love with him”. He said he want to help me with my financial issues and make sure I will be OK after this. He said he has a big house, live in very secured and one of the best areas in Phoenix. Since day one he said he would “swear with all his life that he would come to see me”. As I’m writing, I feel very ashamed of myself. He turned slightly cold when I refused to give him more money so he could “secure the dredgers in the machine store” whilst waiting for his money to be transferred from his US bank to his newly open Malaysian account”. I sensed his disappointment for “not being able to secure the damn machine”. The last attempt was, one of his team, a fake“doctor” name Ahmed Fazli, picking up his phone telling me he was rushed in hospital for a fatal car accident and that he lost a lot of blood, unconscious and had to go for surgery”. The “doctor” said the hospital’s name is Colombia hospital and that he needed to secure a deposit before starting his surgery. A girl name Safrina acted as “nurse in shift”. I was ready to fly to KL to "safe him". Something stopped me when I was at the airport. I called the hospital, no Owen Harvey in ICU. I then checked my FB, his account has been deleted. I’m still grieving and could not believe that this man I “loved”, was fake. He knows I’m a single mom, with a child, almost 100% supporting myself. He called me “Sugar, Sweetie, Honey, Sweet Melon”. He said I’m an adorable thing, one bag full of goodies and fun and he wants the whole bag. I asked how he could do this to me, or to anyone. He sounded very apologetic, he said I am a nice person and that he fell for me along the line. He said I have helped a cancer patient to survive.I want to stop them so there’ll be no more victim.

I'm not as shocked as I was yesterday. Could I get FBI involved?

classic story, you fell for it, now learn something and move on. if they have any sense, they have their tracks covered and no police involvement will do any good.

just accept you were a victim of a scam, be careful next time when you deal with a stranger and never remit any money. move on, don't waste your time further and just treat the $2,000 as a lesson.

i had the exact same experience


after i had refused to send her money, she said the exact same words as your case but luckily i didnt give her a single cent and the communication just stopped


is there anyway to track these people and get them arrested

Thanks for your responses! I wasn't able to see what came my way. If it was to happen to my sister, or any female friends I would've immediately told them to stop talking to the man. Yes 'iwilltry', how could I have even believed the stories? It was the right pictures of " a kind looking man and a beautiful son", the right voice, the right stories, the right everything, happened at my most vulnerable time. It just happened and got completely out of hand. Honestly I don't think I was hunting for love. The evil came to me. Prior to this, I've been on my own for a year and was just fine. I'm able to protect people I love, especially my daughter- but this event shows that I fail flat in protecting myself. Maybe I'm just posting this to get it out of my system...but not getting police involved in this... Can't they track people from those Western Union account names and phone numbers? Has there ever been a case where scammers got caught?

Ha ! Just as I googling things away...................http://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx



'lonley_boy'.. here's your chance... I accept I was a victim and to move on but I would at least try to stop this.

SCM07, lucky you got out quick. If you had gone all the way to KL to meet him, who knows what would have happened.... if you would have risked danger to your life.

These evil people know how to hunt for their victims. When you are at your most vulnerable, you can't think straight and fell for it.

Never mind, put this behind you and move on.

Forget about trying to catch this scammer. He's not worth anymore of your time.

This story could have been written in three short sentences.


Met a guy online. Wanted me to send money to Malaysia. Money sent.


Heard this so many times and yet it continues in circles!

I do not think the FBI can do anything, but I would contact the bank you transferred the money to and tell them their accounts are used for illegal activities.

If you have ever got scammed, please post all the information you have on scammers. Phone number used, email address used, where you met him/her, the emails they send you because the potential victims can Google with the same phone number /email address and hit your post then they will know they are just about to get scammed and will stop sending them money.

This is the only way you can revenge on the scammers.

Same scammer(s) (usually in the gang so your scammer wasn't acting alone) change email address/phone numbers/names and move onto scam other victims. But your post may lead to somewhere, may link with their now-changed-profile (many keep their phone numbers because it's harder to change) to save another potential victims from getting scammed.

Act now!

# Hong Kong Romance Scam

Its a sad story , u need to stop trusting ppl fast and dont send money to someone u talk on the internet only ,The ic3 can track anyone use FB,PHONE NUMBER EVEN IF CHANGED ,EMAIL and some others way, but for my knowledge send ur claim and they will get back to u after time , the important is show all the history with him ,bring all and every phone number he did use or email , (fb have app inside called adress track list , witch mean it will save every place he have been there and they will send some special team for investiigation and more serious stuff ,i recomand u to do one thing , "DONT LIE TO THE IC3 " if u do u will lose ur right and the case my drop down or it can turn against u so be honest and tell everythings and announce that u were a victim of an internet scammer and im sure ur case my tske like 6 months or more