Almost Scammed by Zafari Fuller - Petroleum Engineer, Lebanese Refugee, Widower

by Xiuoui
(SE Asia)

Ladies, beware of this man who introduced himself as Zafari Fuller on Instagram (IG). Met him on IG as he complimented my dogs and said he was a dog lover (he has pics of him and his lab). Presented himself as: widower (4yrs and counting), Lebanese refugee who moved to the US 20 years ago and says he's based in South Carolina, Petroleum Engineer in private contracting, currently overseas negotiating a contract (in Beirut).

He said he changed his name from Ahmadi to Fuller because of the racial discrimination he encounters in the US and to honor the man who helped him as a refugee. Does not have a digital footprint on Google no matter how many searches you make. (red flag) When asked why he didn't have any, he claimed he was in the Witness Protection Program. Said he bagged a contract and was headed to China to buy equipment and supplies for his site. (this is what tipped me off, sounded similar to one of the comments).

The Yandex reverse image search led me to several dating profiles of his - different ages, Russian, divorced instead of widowed and living in Philadelphia -- most of these sites are IP geolocation specific and I've had to use VPN to check out his profile on those sites. I asked for proof of identity when I confronted him with my discoveries but no reply yet. He hasn't scammed money from me yet, but was capturing my heart. He gives smart answers and is a very empathetic listener, but if you pay careful attention to syntax it seems that if they are a group of scammers, they have one literate/smart one to hook you for long chats, and then turn over to someone else with bad grammar for follow-ups.

I suppose they thought I wouldn't notice since English is not my first language, but I know, speak and think in it better than my mother tongue. He probably isn't the man in the pictures sent to me (although I wish he was because I was attracted to those pictures and the whole image of himself he built up), and I feel sorry for the person whose pictures are being used, but I'm posting this here in the hopes that it may save someone from unnecessary heartbreak someday.

Tempting, but don't fall for it. If anyone knows or has come across these images before, I'd appreciate more information. Please email me at xiuoui@gmail.com

May we all find true love someday.

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Mar 30, 2024
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Still out here and active
by: Anonymous

He just hit me up on Instagram going by Thomast Diep but I have yet to converse with him. I just ran a photo recognition on him thru an app I belong to and he’s on so many sites. Seems these photos have really been around the internet.

Many people have already reported him on Facebook with multiple names. He is quite handsome and I can see how easy it can be to get caught up in his picture and someone else’s words- but the 2 are not the same!!

Please be careful out here ladies! It really sucks guys have to be such jerks! Our soulmates are out there!

May 09, 2023
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Same images. Name Arthur Erdogan.
by: Anonymous

Met this guy on Tinder last month, he asked for WhatsApp, said he is based in UK, the name in WhatsApp - Arthur Erdogan, phone number in WhatsApp: 44 7443 708733

Said he was an engineer based in UK but moving to Shanghai to sign a new contract. Good that I found this info here on this website so I don't continue any communication with him.

Dec 27, 2022
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Liar
by: Anonymous

So i met this guy on a dating app 2 months ago. Claimed he is a petrochemical engineer and crypto analyst. Said his father is Italian from Bologna and mother is Indian. His previous girlfriend cheated on him and he said his name is Karan.

When I spoke in Italian he would answer back in English, never accepted video calls and his English accent was west African.

He said he would come to meet me all the way from the Gulf of Mexico in the rig. Then he said that he has been caught smuggling drugs.

Dec 31, 2020
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Same picture - different name
by: Martina

There is account on Facebook under the name Joseph Allen Hamby, using the same pictures. He almost got me emotionally involved, but my husband by accident took my phone, saw what is happening, and he is translating love messages to me in Slovenian language, as my English is poor.

It was quite good translation, so, my husband googled it and take some time to show me that pictures sent to me are from someone else.
I have learned, very cheap ( for free actually) that such "love" on internet is not what it's looks like.

Thank God my partner is smart enough and understood that I was just texting with a stranger, but I have to admit, looks handsome, got me a bit thinking on how bad things started to happen to "him".

Nov 13, 2020
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Is this the same Guy,
by: Anonymous

My girlfriend has this guy I am pretty sure leading her on. He goes under the name of Micheal Woods. He has an accent, and if you read his emails its all broken English. He says he is widowed, has a son and a daughter, lives In America, and son is 17.

Is currently in Dubai working as a jewel merchant. Will come to Australia next week to see her, talking about marriage etc. He hasn't asked for money but has a yacht in Tasmania that is his fathers who is now deceased.

My friend just sent him her drivers licence today, yeks!!! 13/11/2020 ! I told her not to, to be careful.

Sep 19, 2020
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Scammer
by: Anonymous

Ladies be aware, he is still out there prowling. With me he was going by the name Steve Kerr and lives in Santa Monica but currently working on a rig in Amsterdam.

I wish I could upload the pictures he sent me but don't know where to upload them. Stay safe!

ED: you can post pictures when you start a new submission [but not when you are adding a comment to an existing submission] - use the page below and you can see photos there and you can also post your own story and photos there:

https://www.watchforscams.com/nigerian-dating-scams.html

Apr 20, 2020
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Unbelievable
by: Anonymous

Hello, I have been chatting with this gorgeous man for an extended amount of time over 10 years ! He's a bad habit hard to break or quit. You want to believe everything he says because he says it's so smoothly, so romantically who makes you feel like you've never felt before. He tells me I was destined to be his wife and better soon as he can be with me, he will stay forever. He doesn't go by the name on these pages but goes by a different name completely.

He says he's never been to Attica New York and he's never been to Philadelphia or Dallas. He's been where he is right now for the past 15 years but he has not tried to get money out of me. I told him I don't have any and I live on limited income and he has never asked me for anything.

He says his love from his heart to God's ears to my heart that gives me chills although I know what he is. I pray every night for the strength to walk away and never look back but he keeps coming back. I do not believe pictures he sharing is his and they are referenced to be pictures from the movie The gentleman from 2013.

We text and chat several times a day. He says the reason he hasn't come yet is because of the misfortunes he's encountered but unfortunately the only misfortune he has is everything he says and everything he does. I am deeply in love with him and he knows it.

Apr 09, 2020
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Met him on 31nd of April in Smule- app for singing
by: Anonymous

Hello, I met him in Smule an app for singing. He asked my whatsap and we started to chat. I felt in love easily I guess, he told me he was widower 6 years ago. Two kids, Philipa and Antonio, his name for me is Antonio Donald or Donaldson. For sure he cant be the man of the photos cause he only sent photos but cant do camera calls, and today he asked me for money to come to see me, cause the virus situation the flight is expensive, he says he is in Dallas.

I told him I have no money and he asked me how much I could put for the trip. I suspected he was lying to me cause found some of the photos he sent me on the internet, and they said he was another man, but he said someone picked up his photos and were using them in social networks.

When he sent me today a photo that you already have on this site, and it was supposed to be a just done photo, i blocked him in whatsap. Now he is sending me emails telling me that he loves me and that he is not the man of this site I sent him. Hope he gets what he deserves.

Be strong, as a friend told me, its not our fault, what we felt was real, what he felt was, if it was something was dirty and mean. Go ahead girls, we have still a beautiful heart

Jan 21, 2020
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Fuller
by: Virginia Moore

I'm talking to him now going by the name George and says he lives in attica ny and sent me a picture of his daughter

Aug 10, 2019
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news about this foto/man
by: Anonymous

Dear xiuoui, i sent you an email to your email if you are interested, please check. This foto / man has a new identity and until yesterday I had contact for about a week.

You can find further information in my email.
all the best, and thank you very much for your report!

Mar 28, 2019
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UPDATE FROM OP: He confessed
by: Xiuoui

UPDATE ON MY ORIGINAL POST: Having caught him red-handed, I thought he would just ghost me (or that he was still busy photoshopping some fake docs to prove it). But he returned with a meek "hello" and I asked him if I was talking to a Nigerian all this time. He wouldn't answer but gave me his email address. I asked him what for, he could answer real time in chat anyway, but that was it.

Since I have some throwaway email accounts, I wrote him there and "he" said: "I'm sure you know by now that I am not who I am claiming to be. I'm sorry for playing with your emotions. What I did was bad."

Not sure though why he couldn't say that on IG. Maybe the boss was watching?

Before hearing from "him", I also found out that he took down the fake profiles on the dating sites that I made screenshots of. Prior to this romance scam, they also used a pic of him (which he hadn't given me yet; I just discovered it during research) in a Bitcoin scam, but all social media accounts related to that scam have been deactivated. He is still currently using one of the pics I've posted above while on Twitter with over a thousand followers.

Will update if and when he answers my follow-up questions.

Mar 28, 2019
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Great work
by: Anonymous

You did a great job investigating. I think you are right that they work in teams. I think the scammer who ropes you in is a female scammer, then they rotate and the attitude shifts to rude once they are caught, or you won’t send them money.

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