Melisa Emma Gemologist / Allure Gems alluregemslab.com / Date of posting: May 9, 2023

by Samantha B.G.

Phony gemologist / Jewellery appraiser scamName / Alias: Melisa EmmaSupposed Credentials:* On her phony website, it is noted: 'Melisa Emma is a highly skilled and experienced certified gemologist and jewellery appraiser, with a passion for the beauty and value of gemstones and jewelry.

'Website: https://alluregemslab.comWhere one can find the facial image? 'About us' page of Allure Gems Lab website at https://alluregemslab.com/about-us Date that website was first registered: 2023-03-17

Website domain registrar: NameCheap
Website hosting provider: NameCheap
Physical address cited on website:3046 Avenida De La Carlota, Laguna Hills, CA 92653, USA

Phone numbers cited on website:+1 619 736-9607, +1 858 429-9762Do the area codes of the phone number correspond to the physical address?: Not exactly.

The area codes of both numbers relate to California. However, the 619 and 858 area codes serve San Diego. Whereas Laguna Hills, California is served by the area code 949. Fresno is about 70~75 miles from San Diego.

Email address cited on website: info@alluregemslab.com

Also to note:* The same +1 619 735-9607 phone number appears as the phone number for another presently-active jewellery appraiser scam site, exquisitegemslabs.com, which features a gemologist named Emily Layla -- one who, amazingly enough, looks exactly like Melisa Emma.

Back in Sept 2022, the Exquisite Gems Lab site presented a different phone number. As of Jan 2023, the site used to only offer this one 619 phone number, but now it also offers the +1 858 429-9762 phone number as well.

* The same +1 619-735-9607 phone number also appears on another scam site, sandrasmithgems.com

That site features an identical-looking gemologist to Melisa Emma and Emily Layla, except in that case, she's named Sandra Smith. For Sandra Smith, the 619 phone number appears more out of place, given an address in Campbell, California -- a location that is about 470 miles away from San Diego, which is served by the 619 area code.

* The Exquisite Gems Labs site (exquisitegemslabs.com) lists an address that is very close to the one for Allure Gems. For Exquisite Gems, the address listed is 23046 Avenida De La Carlota, Laguna Hills, CA 92653, USA. (There is a '2' before the '3046.')

* The Allure Gems website appears to be of a lineage from a now-defunct Oak Creek Gems site. This site appears to have gone offline before this author was even aware of any of the collection of jewellery appraiser scam sites profiled in this posting and others like it. Copies of it via the Internet Archive merely show search engine listings, implying that there may have been something different there previously.

* The alluregems.com domain appears to have been a genuine jewellery retailer, from May 17, 2001 to March 23, 2023, as per the Internet Archive. The alluregemslab.com domain / scam site should not be confused with alluregems.com.

* The Allure Gems Lab website behaves somewhat differently from other scam sites like it, in that it is somewhat glitch-prone.

Content for Allure Gems site served up by Amazon AWS?: No

While some related websites featuring the image of the same woman's face have had content served up by Amazon AWS in the past, this website does not appear to do likewise.'Melisa Emma' (or whatever alias being used) may attempt to reach out to men on dating / social networking sites, under whichever alias.
After having supposedly busted her laptop, she may attempt to get someone to send her a replacement laptop to her, in Turkey, where she claims to be working temporarily. Given the high number of websites in question, it's hard to say how many angles there could be for different targets and how many people and/or organizations may be working behind the websites and their presumably related profiles on various dating / social networking sites.

However, one possibility is that a proverbial targeted victim is being recruited, via a romance scam, as a conduit to ship other people's jewellery -- from the U.S., in this case -- off to Africa and/or the Middle East.

It's possible that people may send their jewellery for appraisal, possibly to a home address listed on a jewellery appraisal website. (This would be the supposed business location.) The 'jewellery appraiser' may have an address located somewhat close to the person who wants an appraisal. The romance-targeted-victim, netted via the romance scam, may then, in turn, ship that jewellery off to their loved one, under the context of doing her a service, as she is temporarily traveling abroad.

The romance-targeted-victim may then be facilitating a theft against a jewellery appraisal customer. In doing so, the individual shipping jewellery out-of-continent may be an unwitting accessory to a crime. Once the jewellery reaches Africa or the Middle East, it won't be coming back.

Other related scam sites, which feature the photo of the SAME WOMAN'S FACE, but each under a different alias, including some sites with corresponding Watch for Scams report pages, are as follows:

Lauren Angelo laurenangelogems.com -- New site, registered via NameCheap on March 18/23

Reenie Hanson reeniehansongems.com -- New site, registered via NameCheap on April 19/23

Stacey Lambert staceylambertgems.com -- New site, registered via NameCheap on April 21/23

Cornelia Williams corneliawilliamsgems.com -- New site, registered via NameCheap on April 21/23

Julie Cooney juliecooney.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/julie-cooney-gemologist-juliecooneycom-date-of-posting-may-6-2023.html -- Somewhat new site, registered via NameCheap on Nov 9/22

Carola Kemp carolakempgems.com

* Carola Kemp site still online, as of May 6, 2023.Emily Layla, Exquisite Gems Labs exquisitegemslabs.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/emily-layla-gemologist-exquisitegemslabscom-date-of-posting-jan-21-2023.html

* Exquisite Gems Labs site still online, as of May 6, 2023.Cynthia Lewis, Royal Glamour Gems royalglamourgems.com

* The Royal Glamour site still online, as of May 6, 2023.Andreea Sasser andreeasasser.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/andreea-sasser-gemologist-andreeasassercom-date-of-posting-june-27-2022.html

* Andreea Sasser site still online, as of May 6, 2023.Sandra Smith sandrasmithgems.com

* Sandra Smith Gems site still online, as of May 6, 2023.Claudia Denise Wallace claudiadenisewallace.com

* Claudia Denise Wallace site still online, as of May 6, 2023.

Naomi Pat Collins naomipatcollins.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/naomi-pat-collins-gemologist-naomipatcollinscom-date-of-posting-aug-14-2022.html

* The Naomi Pat Collins site appears to be down, as of May 6, 2023. All the same, you can find an archived copy of the homepage of this scam site (which includes the image of the same woman) via the Internet Archive at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230123033833/https://naomipatcollins.com/Julia Dimaggio juliadimaggio.co -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/julia-dimaggio-gemologist-juliadimaggioco-date-of-posting-june-20-2022.html

* The Julia Dimaggio site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023 and is still down as of May 6/23. Archived version of site available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220620091102/https://juliadimaggio.co/Sandra Hall sandrahall.co -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/sandra-hall-gemologist-sandrahallco-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html

* The Sandra Hall site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023. As of May 6/23, the homepage now just offers links to searches. Archived version of site available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220517041420/https://sandrahall.co/about/Zaee Harris zaeeharris.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/zaee-harris-gemologist-zaeeharriscom-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html

* The Zaee Harris site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023 and is still down as of May 6/23. Archived version of site available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220628010826/https://zaeeharris.com/Carola Johnson carolajohnson.co -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/carola-johnson-gemologist-carolajohnsonco-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html

* The Carola Johnson site appears to be down, as of May 6, 2023. Archived version of site available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20230123034251/https://carolajohnson.co/Martina Paugh, Universal Gems Diamond Experts universalgemsdiamondexperts.com -- see https://www.watchforscams.com/martina-paugh-projectconsultant-manager-universalgemsdiamondexpertscom-date-of-posting-may-20-2022.html

* The Universal Gems Diamonds Experts site appears to have been down as of Jan 21, 2023 and is still down as of May 6/23. Archived version of site available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20220517224028/https://universalgemsdiamondexperts.com/Another recently-created jewellery scam site, involves a woman wearing a medical mask:

Suzanne Sasser suzannesasser.com - Somewhat new site, registered via NameCheap on Nov 11/22

Yet another jewellery scam site, which does not presently appear to feature a photo of the supposed jewellery appraiser, is GemPro Lab -- gemprolab.com - Site registered via NameCheap on March 24/23.)

For more discussion of this romance scam interfacing with a jewellery appraisal scam, please go to the aforementioned Watch for Scams page for the now-defunct Sandra Hall site: https://www.watchforscams.com/sandra-hall-gemologist-sandrahallco-date-of-posting-may-19-2022.html