My fiancee was robbed

[Starman]

I sent some money to my fiancee today to purchase tickets at a local travel agency, and she was robbed. A man told her that she received his money and he received hers and quickly swapped envelopes and left. She opened the envelope and it was full of paper. She was quite upset and so am I. Everything had gone smoothly up until now. That was the last step to getting her here. Of course, I don't have any extra money at this time...unless I can borrow it. This sucks!!!!

I'm not sending any more money, thats for sure. I wanted her to buy the tickets there because only paper tickets were available for this particular flight. I'll have to buy them here and send them I guess.

Man this sucks!!

Tim.

[Cali vet]

... in response to My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 7, 2003

Starman I have bought tickets twice from American Airlines in Cali by phone to fly from Cali to the US and they were electronic tickets. If you do save up more money get her electronic tickets. That way you'll avoid any possibility of her losing them, theft or whatever. It's the "no excuses" solution.

[Starman]

... in response to Not paper, posted by Cali vet on Oct 8, 2003

I agree. I'm doing just that.

Tim.

[Michael B]

... in response to My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 7, 2003

[This message has been edited by Michael B]

Bummer. Glad she got the visa, sorry she got ripped off.

To the guys yelling 'scam'...wait a minute, scam for this amount ($1200, maybe 1400 [assume he's buying two tickets]) would be a good haul for the old 'she wrote to me three times, the third time her mother was real sick' routine, or 'I'll meet you in XYZ, but you have to send me the air fare'--but I doubt that's the case here--profile says 'wrote several months, visited twice, she has a kid' etc. I don't think after all that a woman (especialy one with a kid and the visa IN HAND) would risk it at this point to score the price of a couple of airplane tickets. Was she CARELESS? Yes, very. Is she a scammer? Not on this one incident....now if Starman says she has a HISTORY of 'stupid mistakes'or 'unfortunate events', all of which cost him money and are impossible to disprove, then we have a different story, but he didn't say that, he just said this one time. I'm sure the lady is absolutly sick over it.

[cassius]

... in response to Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by Michael B on Oct 8, 2003

Considering the exchange rate $1000 - $1400 is an absolute substantial amount of money for the majority in ven, period.

Most likely, perhaps, she had never dealt with such a bundle?

Well the more strange it is that she would allow someone to simply take it away as if she were a child.

Either this is a strange scam or a serious character red flag.

[Starman]

... in response to Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by Michael B on Oct 8, 2003

Yes, your accessment is correct based on the circumstances. And yes, she has been extremely sick over this. I had to talk to her and her family last night for several hours just to get her to settle down. This is a dream for her (coming to the US and marrying me that is) and she has been on cloud 9 for the last couple of days. As much as her story sounds weird, I just cannot believe that she was up to something.

Tim.

[cancunhound]

... in response to Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by Michael B on Oct 8, 2003

I tend to agree - from what I've followed of this story is here we have a Venezuelan fiancee that has probably rarely visited a Western Union to recieve money.  As with most anyplace that deals with large sums of money transactions (money transfer houses, travel agencies, etc.), typically you deal with someone over a regular counter then the paperwork is forwarded and you are steered towards another secure "window" counter to complete the transaction, usually guarded.  Here I'm picturing she received the money, was walking away when immediately encounters the con man from behind her - from the direction of the secure "window" - giving all appearance that he just was there also.  Probably even presented it as a good gesture because he had received too much.  Sounds like a good con - but still shouldn't happen.

[zack]

... in response to My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 7, 2003

A similar thing happened to a friend of mine and he later found out that she pocketed the money and was never robbed.

I'm not saying that your fiancee definately did this. But I can't help but be a little suspicious about this story. Why would someone want to swipe envelopes with a complete stranger who is not behind the counter, especially when it involves a lot of money?

Zack

[cassius]

... in response to My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 7, 2003

This story isn't straight at all. What do you mean by, "A man told her that she received his money and he received hers and quickly swapped envelopes and left".

Either you haven't described it well enough to us or the info you have recieved is very out of the ordinary.

If this took place at any commmercial store (bank, transfer or travel) I'm not sure how two seperate transactions can get so closely intertwined for a theft like this to occur.

When a person is recieving money there is no reason to be involved with the person in front of you or behind or beside you. Every where people must be cautious when transacting  personal business, everwhere!!

So you need to find out how your lady became involved with the con man. I can't imagine how anyone can get involved with a stranger when they are transacting personal business.

Did she just stand there whilst he swapped the envelopes? Do you mean that after she transacted your money transfer (the exact amount counted), she readily allowed someone to tell her that the money wasn't hers, and then allowed the man to 'swap' envelopes???

Look, either try to tell us clearly what happened or you need a very good explanation from your lady. I'm not sure what anyone can do for you here when you have made little effort to explain it and pursue your money.

I'm just tired of foreign men getting coned by people in SA. Guys need to get mean and sharp!

[Starman]

... in response to Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by cassius on Oct 7, 2003

I was definately not conned. My fiancee is a very naive and trusting person. She got the money from the Western Union and was confronted on the street. The man confused her with a lot of fast talk and he made her very nervous with his threats of called the police. One of her first thoughts was "Oh, no. No police! This could cause a problem with my visa!" This is something I'd never fall for but I could see it happening to her.

Its a hard lesson learned since this has never happened to her before. She was extremely distraught over this and could not sleep and was still upset this morning.

Her mother and father even called me. If this was a con, anyone would fall for it (that is my my fiancee conning me) because I could not prove it otherwise. Our relationship is almost a year long now and she has never given me any reason to not trust her in any way, shape or form. So I have to go with my gut and trust her on this. I'm not easily fooled and I feel like I'm a good judge of character so I have to simply believe her and go own with our plans.

Tim.

[senge]

... in response to Re: Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 8, 2003

Dude, she wasn't robbed, YOU WERE.  It's as simple as that, but unfortunately, you are in denial right now.

[Starman]

... in response to Re: Re: Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by senge on Oct 8, 2003

Thanks for the opinion, but she is a little naive, and thats why it happened. Lesson learned. I can only trust her based upon what she and her parents told me...who I trust completely. I guess your are implying that she is being dishonest but she has never given me a reason not to trust her. I can only go by my gut feelings...I'm not stupid.

Many times what you say is true, but not always, esp. based upon our relationship so far. You do not know my fiancee or me well enough to know what the real story is, but I do appreciate your input.

Tim.

[Cali James]

... in response to Re: Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 8, 2003


In Latin America, people learn to be very very suspicious of others especially when it comes to money.  I don't see how anyone could become confused about the money they had just received.  Like I said before, Western Union has standard practices that are applied worldwide.  Your money is counted right in front of you and if a substantial amount, it's is counted twice.  They may then put it in an envelope for you but this is done in front of you and you are alone.  There are no comingling of transactions with other customers and you receive a receipt that identifies how much money was transferred.

If your fiancee was confronted by someone else as she was leaving Western Union, the obvious reaction would be to say "no, this is my money, I have the receipt and if you must we can return to western union and discuss it with the clerk".  Nobody but a very foolish person would turn over $1400 to a stranger in the street.  A lot of times, there's a security person out in front of Western Union and this person would be available also.

Sorry, but I'm still suspicious...

[Starman]

... in response to My fiancee was robbed, posted by Cali James on Oct 8, 2003

The actual amount was $725. Still a lot of money to lose. She received a check from the Western Union and had just cashed it at the bank. I've sent her money on many occasions in the past and have had no problems at all. If this had happed earlier I'd be suspicious; but, this was for her flight to the US after just receiving her visa.

Maybe she was foolish, but I believe she was also very nervous and was confused. Anyway, like I've said before, lesson learned.

Thanks for the comments...

Tim.

[Michael B]

... in response to Re: My fiancee was robbed, posted by Starman on Oct 9, 2003

Is that for one ticket or two? If for two, let me know who your travel agent is.