I LEAVE THIS STORY IN THE WORDS OF THE VICTIM.
A story of Crime, fake love and something as bad as a Nigerian scammer... willing mules ready to make money from other people's misery. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It started on Match.com on August 16, 2016. I had been divorced and single since the 80’s and hoped to find a good man to share my life with. After a frustrating 3 weeks on Match, I was thinking I might not find anyone who captured my interest. But then, I received a wink and message from a man living on the other side of the nation. I lived in Florida, he lived in California. He said he too was 52, widowed after 18 years of marriage, had a 12 year old son and was a mechanical engineer that was moving his business to...my town in 3 weeks. He said he worked for CAT HOLT and has his own business renting and leasing heavy road construction machines. I thought, ok - why not. He told me his name was Thomas Marcos George, Dutch, from Belgium.
I noticed his English was so-so, but he had my interest. We exchanged several email and Messages to learn more of each other. He asked me if he could call me, and I said absolutely, however the connection was not good and I could barely hear him. He told me he had an accent, and I didn't think much of it. I told him when he and his son arrived to my town, I would love to go for coffee and would show him around. We continued to exchange daily text messages.
He didn't waste much time in calling me Babe and sweetie. Three weeks in, get told me he had a dream and I became his wife in it! I laughed it off and assumed this was a cultural difference. Three weeks in, he asked me for a big favor and wanted to know if I could buy some iTunes cards for his son. I told him he can buy those just about anywhere, but he said he was really busy with preparing for the move and would appreciate it. I gave in - ( first of many mistakes!) and bought two $50.00 iTunes cards.
Several things that stood out to me: We communicated via text messages, usually well after midnight.. I figured no big deal, he’ll be here in a few weeks. Plus the few times we tried to call each other, I could never hear him, and often, I would ask him questions, but he never answered them. (personal questions about himself.) I let it go, thinking I will find out when he gets here.
Then, he dropped a bomb on me. He told me he was leaving for a 2 week business trip to China! He was taking his son and would only be 2 weeks and when finished, get would be flying in to my hometown! He fell silent for the correct amount of time to fly from California to Hong Kong. I was really stressed out with worry for him and his 12 year old son - who was born with a hole in his heart!
Day one, he accidentally dropped his phone in the shower, and can't take pictures. Day two, he came back from his business meeting to find his son in critical condition. He rushed his son to a private Hospital and found his sons heart condition is bad and now needs open heart surgery! He asked me to help him with the down payment needed to give his son this operation. I explain to him, I make less than $14.00/hr. and don't have a savings account. He pressures me beyond words, and I decide to take the few gold and diamonds jewelry pieces to the pawn store. It brought in only $500.00! I sent him a Western Union. But he told me to send it to his business contact, William Kevin Buchanan.
He continues to beg me to take out loans and or borrow money to help him save his son. I break down and ask my sister for a loan. I borrow $1100.00 and send a wire transfer to his business guy, Mr. Buchanan. He tells me he borrowed $38,000.00 from his friends and family, and the surgery is a success!
By now, I am barely Sleeping and not eating much. Maybe 4 hrs. Or less of sleep. I only hear from him from 2:00 am - 4:00 am. And only for about 5 Minutes. He claims he is not doing it on purpose, but rather his phone is acting up.
Next, he tells me he needs money for both to fly in to me. I again borrow money, this time my sister's credit card to buy 2 one way Tickets. He demanded that I give him the credit card to pay for the tickets himself, but I refuse. He said fine, do it my way. $2600.00 later, I buy 2 Tickets from Hong Kong to Florida. They disappear from communications for 2 hours. I went to the airport and waited for 2 hours….crying, and left confused, angry, and upset.
The next day, I drive to the east coast to track down the one person I knew who knows my new love, Mr. Buchanan. I sent several text messages to Mr. Buchanan, letting him know I was sitting in front of his apartment. I received a text message ...in CHINESE! Something about husband and baby in accident and it's critical! My phone rings - it's Thomas! And he's crying. He tells me his taxi was hit by a truck and they are back in the hospital!
Yep, you guessed it he now needs more money to pay for taxi, medicines, and hotel bills. By now, I am completely dumbfounded! And heartbroken! I already owe my sister $3,800.00! Thomas said they need to recover and will fly to Texas where he has shipped his machines. He begs and begs for more money. He promises to have all the money paid back within 3 days of selling his machines. He said his family is all tapped out and it's now up to me!
I became so desperate to get my money back to my sister, I believed all of his crazy stories. He continued to pressure me for money. He told me he has clients waiting to buy his machines and he would have all of this money paid back within a few days. He said he needed money to pay the hospital and taxi ride to the airport. So I started sending him my paychecks. (All wire transfers to Mr. Buchanan.
He told me he was on his way to Texas to sell his machines, and to give him a few days to give me back the money. (By the way, he also told me his client paid to fly him to Texas and that is the reason why he just wasted my $2600.00 tickets!)
After he arrived in Texas, he tells me Customs has a hold on his machines and needs $1400.00! Over the next month, I ended up giving him 5 of my paychecks...my house is now going into foreclosure status! I'm begging him to help me fix this mess. He continues to Promise to have things cleared up in a few days. It's always something else that has come up to keep him from selling the machines.
I can no longer wait for his broken promises. I went to my family for help as I was going to lose my home. My daughter help me save it.
I decide to take off to the east coast to find the man I have been wiring my money to, Mr. Buchanan. What I find is a woman who tells me that William Kevin Buchanan is her 26 year old son and that she met a man with the same name on Match.com about a year ago! She shows me pictures and they are identical to the pictures of what I have been given. We both contact our …..internet love interests and he tells me he is really sorry and that his real name is Paul.
He sends me a picture of a different man and told me he didn't mean to hurt me. He said he owes his ‘boss’ (the real Thomas Marcos George) a bunch of money. He begged for my forgiveness and told me he would never lie to me again. He continued this ‘story line’ for another 2 months, telling me that he needs to leave California and is afraid for his life. I did fall for it for one final time, and send him $700.00, but this time - he asked me to send it to his good friend, Daniel Coy Shiplett who lives in Riverside California. I did, and found out (again) that it was all just one elaborate lie. Although, Daniel does exist as I found his facebook account. I believe Daniel is on the scammer(s) payroll and is an American money mule.
What I have discovered through my investigation is that the scammer that uses the name Thomas Marcos George, is on all of the dating sites. My money as well as many more Victims money is sent to the woman on the East coast, William’s mom, who is a scam victim as well. The scammer turned her into his money mule and has his ‘clients’ (a.k.a. Scam victim’s) deposit money into her bank account. He then instructs her to wire the money to Lagos, Nigeria! She never questioned him on what was really happening and had been laundering money for almost a year. She showed me an envelope stuffed with receipts, in the hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Over the next few months, I uncovered three other victims who had been scammed by the same man, using the same pictures and names, email addresses and phone numbers. Most of the con stories were about the same. One of these other victims received a 3 carat diamond ring from the scammer. He had turned her into a money mule as well.
IF I had done my initial homework from the start, I would have found that the initial letter he sent me during the first week was copied from the internet! I never checked until the financial and emotional damage was done. The pictures of “Thomas Marcos George” I have yet to find the true owner. All of the other four victims had those pictures too. The picture of “Paul” I discovered belongs to a business man out of Georgia. I am posting the pictures in hopes to warn others. If anyone else has encountered this slim ball, please feel free to contact me at pam00452@gmail.com. I would love to hear your story too. Here are the names and email addresses and phone numbers to watch out for:
Thomas Marcos George
William Kevin Buchanan
Kevin William Buchanan
916-436-8824 (he is still using this number today)
754-202-0057
Tg78255@gmail.com (active)
Marcos111100@yahoo.com (active)
Williamkevin744@gmail.com ( active)
Money sent to:
Thomas OCHUKO
First marine gate warri
Delta State country Nigeria
23 480 323 8246
Isiche Cyrl
Odih Anthony
United Bank for Africa
UBA House floor B
Lagos
Daniel Coy Shiplett
3036 Priscilla Street
Riverside, CA 92506
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💔S.C.A.M.S. STOP, CHECK AND MAKE SURE//(*_*)\\ Don't become a Victim This Christmas ‹(•¿•)>
💔🎅🎄
👿YOU ARE NOT SPEAKING THE PERSON HERE.
JUST TO A CRIMINAL ON A LAPTOP
👎NEVER NEVER SEND *ANYTHING* TO ANYONE YOU HAVE NEVER MET IN PERSON. IT IS ALWAYS A SCAM
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