Oil rig scam - Armani Chang Wei

by Anonymous

Wish I had known about this website before yesterday and before losing half a million dollars of combined life savings and debts.

Early this March before COVID-19 pandemic lock down ACW sent me Facebook friend request using the name Mohmmad Ansar. I don't usually accept friend requests from a stranger but was intrigued by his profile picture of a man with a little girl so took the bait. He claimed to be born and raised in the US. His father is Singaporean Chinese and mother Korean and they moved to US from Singapore before he was born.

ACW's email address is goodengineer483@gmail.com

He is currently an oil rig engineer working on a contract in Gunashli oil field in Baku Azerbaijan. The project is 4 months long with a huge payout on completion. He is a widower raising his daughter after his wife Katherine and young son George were killed in an auto accident in California a few years ago.

I challenged him to show his face and he agreed to a Hangouts video chat but he needs to go to the rig control room (only the control room computer has a webcam) and I saw he looks exactly like his photos. He is a smooth operator, sweet talker, calm, sends flower pics, bouquets, long love notes (copy & paste), YouTube videos of love songs eg. Calum Scott (You are the reason), Bruno Mars, Celine Dion, Beyonce (Halo), Don Williams (You are my best friend), Westlife (I wanna grow old with you), Ed Shereen (Perfect, Photograph), etc.

Daughter Bella (Isabella) is being cared for by his 80 year old aunt in Istanbul. She continues to live there after her Turkish husband had passed away. Then his daughter's 8th birthday will be on March 12 and his aunt doesn't have money to throw her a big birthday party.

I offered to send Bella some gifts but he declined because he is used to spending large sums for her birthday by visiting orphanages and donating gifts. On Bella's birthday he gave her permission to meet me on Hangouts video chat. I saw the little girl from the photos for a brief moment and then she

waved and hung up. Then she typed "I saw you Aunt. I am shy". After that she said no more Hangouts because her father doesn't like her using it. She was using her grandaunt's phone and would uninstall the app. She writes me using this email address
isabella1000291@gmail.com.

ACW shared that Bella suffers from hydrocephalus since an infant age. She is scheduled for major surgery in San Francisco (hometown) on April 5, just in time when ACW's contract project wraps up at the end of March. He asked if I would be open to visit SF and be there for Bella's surgery. This was before travel bans and border closings. Then some explosion happened on the worksite and one of the gas cylinders was damaged and need to be replaced. He has no access to funds to pay for it.

I asked why he didn't have a contingency plan. Why couldn't he ask for an advance and his answer was his contract stipulated that he won't be paid until the project is 100% completed. I could hear him bawling on Hangouts chat; his laptop has no webcam; only speakers and microphone.

Next he convinced Gunashli oil company to pay for the gas cylinder and asked if I could help with shipping costs which amounted to over Euro 26K. One thing led to another, his daughter's surgery had to be performed in Istanbul because of travel restrictions, medical expenses, more damaged equipment not detected during examination after explosion, etc.

When he was all ready and packed to leave the rig another bombshell. He is contractually obligated to clear the platform otherwise he will not collect a single dime. More delays and asks. I was desperate to help him complete his project so he can join his daughter and aunt in Istanbul. I also need him to pay back all the loans I took out using my house as collateral.

By now I have already sent over $470K to his agents and interests payments are accumulating. To make a long story short, I found out my experience is similar to all the oil rig scams posted here.

Wish I had found this site 6 months earlier.

Comments for Oil rig scam - Armani Chang Wei

Average Rating

Click here to add your own comments

Nov 13, 2021
Rating

Scammed - Stephen Madonia
by: Anonymous

I was also scammed by an oil rig person. He sent very good pictures of him in a board meeting getting a contract. He also has a daughter. He said all the right things to keep things moving along. Did you eat, have you rested, texting me all hours of the day and night due to the oil rig schedule. Said he made plans to visit me in December then fly to Miami to see his daughter. We will buy a house together and he has many surprises for me.

My kids thanks god for their suspicion (me going through a divorce and such). We found he stole an actors pictures and some of his profile. Also he video called me to prove himself and he looked similar to the photos.

But thank you for the passport number as he also sent a photo of the passport and it’s the same number you referenced.

I had offered to pay for the plane tickets to Miami but then thought no I better not and when I told him he flipped out saying you need to have Trisha or something like that.

Then he asked me to buy 2 100 dollar steam cards because he was out of data.

I told him to ask his nannie who is taking care of his daughter.

We aren’t talking anymore.

His name is Stephen Madonia. This fake guy.

Dec 20, 2020
Rating

Oil rig story
by: Anonymous

I got 3 oil rig engineer claims for a broken machine in 3 months just after a couple of weeks of chatting on hangout, WhatsApp, and Viber,
They all claim to need some money to fix the machine and foodstuff. I have known them are all scammers, I have 1 passport photo and 2 contract award certificates photo.

All look Chinese, but I don't know who exactly they are so please never ever send out money for any reason.

You have a good heart, but should put in the right place

Nov 10, 2020
Rating

Michaels story
by: Anonymous

Your Michael sounds like my Michael. Michael Abrahamsen. Does yours have a adult daughter Loren who lives in Atlanta? The only difference is my Michael is stuck in the Dominican republic.

Same story, on a rig, there was an explosion, he has to pay for the damages. This took place 3 years ago and he still texts me from different numbers begging for money

Sep 28, 2020
Rating

Michael's story
by: Anonymous

I was told Michael's story is similar to Armani.
Michael is "stuck" on an oil rig in Alaska because of an an accident. He must pay for repairs out of pocket before he can collect his contract check of $850,000.00. I

n the meantime he needs me to help him raise money to pay for repairs when the 'explosion' happened. This all started with $200 in iTunes gift cards to update his computer program. Then came love, and then came the proposal. I'm the best thing that's happened to him since his wife passed away in a car accident back home in Norway.

Michael is very sweet and smooth and not to mention very handsome (allegedly) he would send me pictures but could not tell me anything about them when I would press him he would tell me "ill be right back" then hope I would change the subject or forget about it.

He has asked for loans stating everything would be paid back once he got his check from the contract. He has sent e-cards, music videos, poems and is extremely sweet. He is on LinkedIn as Michael M Paulson and claims to have a masters degree in mechanical engineering from Norway.

Please be aware and share Michael's story as well.

Sep 27, 2020
Rating

GET REPORTS
by: Anonymous

TRUTH FINDER IS GOOD FOR REPORT SEARCH

GOOD LUCK BE CAREFUL

Sep 18, 2020
Rating

ACW - more pictures
by: Anonymous

https://www.watchforscams.com/more-pictures-armani-chang-wei-fake-oil-rig-engineer1.html

Sep 15, 2020
Rating

TinEye Reverse Image Search
by: Anonymous

Did a search using ACW’s passport image and had over 35 results. Many have the same US passport number 431276122; very clearly a photoshopped image.

Sep 15, 2020
Rating

More pictures - ACW
by: Anonymous

https://www.watchforscams.com/more-pictures-of-fake-oil-rig-engineer-armani-chang-wei.html

Sep 13, 2020
Rating

How do we put the fake photos on a site?
by: BoniParker

How do we put the fake photos on a site?

I have a question being sent on tinder and the photos were of a 57-year-old male from England with a 12-year-old daughter name Rose and the scammer sent me numerous photos of this person and his daughter so my question is how do we post these photos of a stranger being publicized on a website for dating.

What if this is a real person who is not aware of him and his child being publicly shown through a scamming website.

How do we post the photos I have so many?

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

Sep 13, 2020
Rating

Spokeo
by: Anonymous

I subscribed to Spokeo and found a lot of useful information on there. However, I cancelled it after one month and subscribed to Been Verified because it's cheaper and has more information.

Sep 12, 2020
Rating

Facebook
by: Biggles777

Hello

This is for the woman who is the victim here.

You met the scammers on Facebook and it is likely you still have your account. On Facebook there is a closed group for people such as yourself. You mentioned your family and as a suggestion you may wish to reach out to the like minded women in this group who have been through a similar experience to you.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/126669254586610

They are well intentioned and very helpful with oil rig romance scam victims. It's not just emotional support as they also help with how to recover financially as well.

It is called: OIL RIG SCAMMERS - REPORT THEM HERE

There are about 235 members and you can read a little about them before joining at the link above.

Sep 12, 2020
Rating

Where can we see photographs of these people who are scamming us?
by: BoniParker

Where can we see photographs of these people who are scamming us?

I was just fooled about two weeks but let me tell you what a bunch of sweet talking by the book…… Wow

Well thank God my friend sent me this website it really is totally amazing and everything that is printed about the oil rigs is absolutely by the book.

Anyway… WHERE ARE THE PHOTOS?????

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

Sep 12, 2020
Rating

Thank you S.
by: Anonymous

You said "Our thoughts create our reality" hit the nail on the head. I wanted to believe so bad and ignored all the warning signs. I was blinded by images of a promised future. Looking back now I realized if I had told someone it wouldn’t have come to this.

He made sure that I didn’t tell my family and friends using excuses that it’s best to introduce him in person after he got off the rig.

I will need a lot of help to move on from this bad dream. Financially I have to avoid bankruptcy and losing my house. Mentally I want to keep suicidal thoughts at bay. I will check out the books and videos you suggested.

Thank you for the support.

Sep 11, 2020
Rating

Update on phone number
by: Biggles777

Hello

You are right not to trust much of what is seen on the web.

The reason they like using WhatsApp is for the situation you're finding yourself in now. A number can be used and then very little left.

Your original question was to find out who owned the number. Since you posted the number is completely gone from that app. There's no text history and you're unable to report it to them.

I make the assumption you've reported everything to the law and that you're in the USA. That is the FBI.

No matter who it was if they created a virtual number online and then used WhatsApp. They've left a trail that the FBI or any countries law enforcement agency should be able to find if a thorough investigation is done.

They won't tell you who owns it even if they find out. Neither would WhatsApp if the number was still in use.

You asked how they can "spoof" that mans number. I don't know sorry. But it is very easy to create a US number for that app.

Sep 11, 2020
Rating

SPOKEO Report obtained
by: Anonymous

I got the report on phone number 6197467472 and it’s a landline number belonging to a 82 year old man. How did the scammers spoof this man’s number and used it for WhatsApp?

Sep 11, 2020
Rating

Is SPOKEO safe to use
by: Anonymous

I searched the phone number using SPOKEO and I have to enter credit card information to pay for the report. Right now I am skeptical about everything online. Has anyone tried SPOKEO and found it useful?

Sep 10, 2020
Rating

Update on phone number
by: Biggles777

Hello

Okay, as I understand, this was a number they used for that app.

I also tried it and am unable to find it or connect on WhatsApp either.

I'm sorry to say but that number appears to no longer exist or be in use and may even have been a virtual number.

Sep 10, 2020
Rating

Update on phone number
by: Anonymous

Re: Biggles777 report phone number to WhatsApp

It appears that +16197467472 is not registered in WhatsApp. That's the error message I got when I placed a call from WhatsApp. Messages I sent are also not delivered.

I am not sure if this means there's not much WhatsApp can do about its activities.

Sep 10, 2020
Rating

Thank you Biggles777
by: Anonymous

I will report to WhatsApp ASAP. Your advice is much appreciated.

Sep 10, 2020
Rating

More on Oil rig engineer scam - Armani Chang Wei
by: Biggles777

Hello

In relation to finding the owner of the WhatsApp number you gave. It may be quite hard but you can do 2 things

1: I've no doubt you have reported everything to the police or a federal agency. They can look into it for you as part of their investigations.

2: The number is still "active" as it rings out. It's not blocked. Report it to WhatsApp and WhatsApp will register the report you've submitted and add the number to a 'Watchlist' where the other person's activities will be closely monitored.

Try not to block it as you may lose your text exchange history.

Sep 10, 2020
Rating

Armani Chang Wei
by: Anonymous

These Scammers are Professionals, they have learned this deceptive behavior, and are good at this. Whether they are a actually on any Authentic Oil Rig is debatable.

I hope you have Reported him to all the Authorities. And now your focus must be to Heal yourself. To find a good Counselor and talk with her or him.

There's a wonderful Book by Mark Matousic, called "When you're Falling, Dive". It is about Resilience...and stories that I know will give all that read this a different perspective.

Also Dr.Joe Dispenza's Books I believe there are 3. Read them and watch as many videos on YouTube.

Our thoughts create our reality.

To avoid all sites where these Scammers are. If they send a Friend request.. Ddtd and Block.

Good Luck & Breathe

S.

Sep 09, 2020
Rating

More on Oil rig engineer scam - Armani Chang Wei
by: Anonymous

ACW was using this phone number +16197467472 (San Diego, California) for WhatsApp. It rings but no pickup. Any advice on how to find out more the owner of this phone number?

Click here to add your own comments

Join in and write your own page! It's easy to do. How? Simply click here to return to Nigerian Dating Scams.