NO NAME

by Anonymous

So I have a couple of stories that are not mine, but people I am close to and care about. Well, I guess I do have a story and am hoping for a happy ending. I did meet someone on Twitter of all places. We talked for weeks and then exchanged numbers.

We talked and video chatted a few months and then we met in person since we were only a 6 hour drive apart. He always pays for dinners, drinks, etc. and has never once asked me for money. I have taken the check a time or two just to be fair, but he feels awkward when I do that. I Googled the crap out of him and found everything he told me to be 100% accurate. I've seen him in person, his driver's license, his home, his background check and even his 23 and me report. He said he'd wonder about me if I didn't research him entirely. We've been doing this for a year and a half now and seeing each other every chance we can. He seems legit...fingers crossed.

But, that is not the case all the time. My sister has been single for many years and just hasn't had the courage to put herself out there. She finally did and joined Match.com. She started communicating with a man named Russel Cox. Nice looking, widow, grown daughter living out of state...all the boxes checked. He said he's from a small town just a couple of hours away, but he was on a business trip in Greece at the time. He asked my sister to get off the dating site so they could pursue a relationship and this after just a few days of talking (red flag #1). Then he asked for her email so they could communicate outside of the site (red flag #2).

She was already starting to feel uneasy because he was full of so many questions and he knew she owned her own business. Then the bombshell. Apparently he had ordered products while overseas and the payment for shipping was messed up and he needed $20,000 but don't worry he got $17,500 from a business partner but still needed $2500 and asked if she could she help. She did not respond and immediately reported him to the dating site. Go figure she never heard from him again.

A friend of mine met a guy online and she didn't tell how but I suspect it was on words with friends as that is how many scammers find their marks? Anyhow, he wooed her and she fell hard. She divorced her husband of 15 years. He said his name was Lewy Jan Butland from Poland but living in Anchorage, AK. He had a FB account but has since deleted it. It was very vague and only a few friends and most were international and hardly any from the US. It was fast love and infatuation. Friends and family would questions her new relationship but it would only make her angry and she would cut people off including her mother who died while they were not on speaking terms.

I know that has been terribly hard on her. Last Christmas they made plans that she would go to AK so they could start a new life together and then she would eventually move her children there. She used her husbands credit card to buy a plane ticket to Anchorage (they were in the process of divorce). While she was enroute to AK, this so called Lewy text her to say he was in London on a business trip and was trying to get to the airport to return to AK to meet her but was in a horrible car accident and was in the hospital.

That was Christmas time and as of today 6/10/19 as far as anyone knows he is still stuck in London undergoing rehabilitation. He has lost his job and needs money. She of course being a stay at home mom does not have any to send him so she started a "Go Fund Me" page, which she has since taken down as probably from nobody willing to contribute.

She still believes this person is real. I don't know if she has sent him money or not, but I suspect she has. She will not listen to anyone questioning him. I asked her about the relationship once and she said she wanted to keep everything private as he had asked her to.

If anyone knows of the names Russell Cox in Missouri or Lew Jan Butland in AK or anywhere else, please share your story. I have Googled both names and nothing comes up, and to me that is a red flag as anybody is Googleable. My sister was savvy enough to block her scammer, but I'm afraid my friend is all in. I'm hoping for a wake up call before it goes any further.