Hood soldier says dating scams are on the rise - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Hood soldier says dating scams are on the rise

One active duty soldier has taken it upon himself to begin an effort to stop a scam he says people in western Africa are using to prey on unsuspecting people in the U.S. looking for love.

Master Sgt. C.J. Grisham is a military blogger who has already posted dozens of photos of soldiers used in the scam, most if not all of which probably don’t know their images are being used to lure unsuspecting love-seekers into their trap.

“It’s a really big deal,” Grisham said. “I literally get dozens of e-mails a day.”

Grisham said the scam works simply. A profile is posted on a dating website claiming to be a soldier looking for a relationship when he returns from Iraq or Afghanistan. Soon, interested people contact the soldier who then asks the interested person for money to get a plane ticket home or other things.

Some of the photos are those of soldiers who have been killed overseas, Grisham said.

Grisham, a member of the 504th Battlefield Surveillance Brigade at Fort Hood, Texas, said he still has some 500 e-mails that he hasn’t responded to and some 50 photos of soldiers he hasn’t posted to his blog site.

“It’s endemic because it’s working,” he said.

Sometimes the supposed soldier will send the person in the U.S. trinkets or candy to convince them they are real, but it’s only to sink their hooks in farther.

Grisham has seen this himself first-hand.

Grisham created a fictitious profile on Match.com using the photo of a 30-something female who he described as a “huge supporter of the military and wanted a relationship with a soldier,” and saw results immediately.

“Within a week I was getting these kinds of e-mails,” he said. Grisham could easily tell the people contacting him were not American because of their lack of knowledge about the military and use of the English language.

Although he wasn’t positive, Grisham said one of the soldiers’ photos could have been a member of the 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell.

Betty Geren, financial readiness program manager at Fort Campbell, said she had not heard of the romance scam before Wednesday, but would be taking a proactive approach now that she is aware of what is happening by adding the information to daily briefings done with family members and incoming soldiers.

Geren said there are several other scams her office is aware of an educating the local military population on, but the safest thing to do is contact her if you see or experience something suspicious.

“If you ever question it, come to us,” she said, adding that she and her staff can help with consumer complaints as well.

Grisham said there’s not much that can be done at the federal level given the commitment to attention in Afghanistan by the Defense Department, but hopes a cooperative effort with the State Department will begin.

“I really think through diplomatic means something could be done,” he said, suggesting the State Department contact its ambassadors or embassies in the countries — Ghana, Mauritania and Nigeria — Grisham knows to be involved.

“It doesn’t have to be a big thing where [Secretary of State] Hillary Clinton gets involved,” he said.

“At least try,” he said, “because this is hundreds of thousands of dollars going overseas. Who knows what it’s funding.”

He also enough awareness will inspire a grassroots effort to educate the community on the scam.

DISCUSS: THE DATING SCAMS