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Hello to everyone. I have been reading the posts for a while and now have a question and need some advice. I have been e-mailing a girl named Svetlana Pastuschenko fron Vinnitsa. She seems nice and early on she told me she works as a "tourist manager" . Well after quite a few e-mails she said she hoped we could meet in person. So The other day I told her I was planning a trip to Ukraine for late March. Well the next day I get an email from a lady by the name of Elena Kugay informing me that she runs the ELEN Agency and Svetlana is her client and Svetlana is so excited because I am the first man that wants to meet her. All she did was offer the services of her agency with respect to planning my trip i.e. pickup at Kiev airport, book an apartmnet for me  in Vinnitsa ( very nice $25 a night) tours, etc etc. She also said she could arrange for me to meet some other ladies if Svetlana and I did not hit it off. She did not ask for anything and Svetlana has never even hinted at any money or anything else.

Am I being paranoid or is Svetlana a schill to get business for this lady's agency??? All opinions will be appreciated. By the way I have been in contact with another girl from same city that want to meet me and seems very nice also so there is a backup plan in place. Thanks for all help regarding this situation and also any other help with regards to visiting Vinnitsa

Larry
Atlanta

... in response to Girl from Vinnitsa  Ukraine..Is she a sc..., posted by exlabman on Feb 7, 2003

Hello folks.
Thanks for the opinions I received. This is how I handled it. I told Svetlana  to thank the agency lady but I was using an agency here in the US to make my arrangements etc. Told her I was looking forward to hearing from her. I figure if she continues to write me fine and if not I know whatn she was after.

Now I need more opinions. I received this email from one of my other ladies. This is her 4th letter to me..What do you all think??

Hello, my dear LARRY !!!!
Thank you for your nice letter ! I think, our correspondence will obligatory lead us to our meeting in April. Yes, I agree to meet with you in April and I understand you, that you want to  see at once some women and chose one of them.  Yes, of course, it maybe impossible to make such a long journey only for one woman. :-))
I understand, that you write to some women and you want to see them all. I don't mind this. :-)) I also, as you, don't believe in correspondence by Internet, but believe only to personal meeting in real life, when we can look into each other's eyes and feel the LOVE and CARE with out hearts and bodies !!!! I don't mind " leap of faith ", because my girlfriend had a meeting with an Englishman in KIEV only during 4 days and in a month they got married in my town, because she couldn't get visa to LONDON. Their wedding took place in the end of December, I send you a photo of their wedding. OK ? I agree to go to USA, if I can trust you and fall in love with you. But we must really see each other personally for this. OK ?
Yes, my dear, of course, you can call me without problems any time suitable for you, it won't frighten me. :-)) I'll be happy to talk to you, but, please, be patient to my English, speak distinctly and not quickly. OK ? :-)) (she gave me her phone number here)
You can call me even today, I think, that time difference is about 7-9 hours, we're ahead.  OK ?
Yes, my dear, really my daughter ILONA is a very beautiful girl - you can see this on photo - she is very kind, independent and open-minded. I love her very much and she wants me to be happy. She doesn't mind my departure to some other country, but she personally don't want to leave our country.  Time will show us, what will be further. :-))
My dear,  I love nature, sea, forests, endless horizont, sunsets and parks...I must say I am a romantic person. I love long walks in the forest or at the beach. I prefer Summer and the warm weather, being at the beach together with my beloved man would be one of the nicest moments of life for me !!!! I also like reading books and meeting friends !
To my person, I am kind-hearted and caring woman, which is sometimes abused by other people, I am very loyal,  interesting, reliable and honest person. I love all the
beautiful things in life !!!
MY dear, I work as a secretary in the private office. I like my  work very much.
I have only daughter, & Ihave no other relatives all of them are dead about 10 years ago.
The only relatives I have are my Aunt & Uncle who live in the village, They are about 80 years old & they have no children. I love them very much & always try to help them.
well, my dear, I hope, that my letter and photos will brighten your day and give us a chance for our future and our meeting ! :-))
Have a nice day and business !!!
With love, lonely TANYA

She attached some family type photos. In her previous email she seemed to be expressing her thoughts and feelings and not using a "canned" response. Oh yes she is 42, I am 66. Opinions please !!!!

Thanks,
Larry
Atlanta

... in response to Re: Girl from Vinnitsa..Is she a scammer..., posted by exlabman on Feb 10, 2003

Larry,

Hi. Im new here so take what I say with the proper grain of salt, but Im not getting any bad signals from this letter.

BTW...has the first girl you mentioned gotten back to you yet?

Good luck.

Randy

... in response to Re: Re: Girl from Vinnitsa..Is she a sca..., posted by Rando on Feb 11, 2003

Hey Rando. No I have not heard from the first one and really do not expect to.
Thanks for the opinion on this one.
Larry

... in response to Re: Girl from Vinnitsa..Is she a scammer..., posted by exlabman on Feb 10, 2003

I think Tanya sounds sincere and yet careful, maybe better to use the word 'realistic'. I think you better figure out the time difference and call her tonight.

... in response to Girl from Vinnitsa  Ukraine..Is she a sc..., posted by exlabman on Feb 7, 2003

Can't beat that (if it's on the level). Combined with a good winter rate airline ticket, I'd say go for it.
Karl

... in response to Girl from Vinnitsa  Ukraine..Is she a sc..., posted by exlabman on Feb 7, 2003

Hard to tell with the info that you have so far. No real red flags (pink ones maybe).

I'd drop Jack (firstdream.com) an e-mail and see if he knows anything about this agency. I would also be careful, as stated below, about using this agency to provide your flat. Some times they have other agendas that aren't so obvious.

If you do decide to go this route, I would be certain to keep Jack's phone number with you just in case you need some help. He's bailed out more than one guy who got himself into a pinch over there.

Good luck in your Quest.

... in response to Re: Is she a scammer?, posted by Rags on Feb 7, 2003

I went to Lugansk in Nov & used an agency to book a flat for me. When things didn't pan out as good as I wanted I went out on my own WITHOUT an agency. The agency was VERY PISSED!!! Too bad I had a blast without them anyways. Jack was VERY helpful over there. He hooked me up with a flat in Kiev that was nothing short of GREAT! Also his contact person Galina is great as well. She even gave me a phone card & phone #'s for her as well as people in Lugansk should I have encountered problems there. I will be going again in May & using their help again. If you are going over great but contact Jack to help you hook up with the right people over there. I understand many people don't like the guy here but I have yet to hear ANY guys who have actually USED his help complain. It does sound a little weird in your case. I wrote to a lady through one agency then got a bill from ANOTHER agency to pay for correspondence!!

... in response to Girl from Vinnitsa  Ukraine..Is she a sc..., posted by exlabman on Feb 7, 2003

How did you get in touch with the lady in the first place?  The reason I ask is because there's been many guys who've used the free on-line sites to contact ladies and they turn out to have been placed their by an agency, who then gets in between the lady and the man and charges money. Usually it's for email translation and forwarding.

Are you comfortable traveling all on your own, or do you want the help of an agency?  If you want the help of an agency, I think it's best to start with the agency to make contact with ladies.  If you're comfortable on your own, see what happens with the lady if you make it clear you'll be visiting her without any agency involvement.  Have you spoken to her by phone?  That's something you'll definitely want to be doing before you visit and not just one conversation.  If she says she'll go to the agency for the call (with you being charged by them) then it becomes obvious what's going on.

... in response to Girl from Vinnitsa  Ukraine..Is she a sc..., posted by exlabman on Feb 7, 2003

This one is very 'grey' as far as what is the situation.  It could go either way.  I had a similar experience, except it was somewhat worse in that the agency (that didn't show up until the last week before my trip), stated that they would arrange meetings for me with the woman, for a fee.  As always, I dropped all further correspondence with the woman.

But an offer for airport pickup, help with apt, etc., could be useful.  However, I would never arrange an apt with any gal, or her agency, if the plan were to see other women.  They will just have too much control over the situation and could (worst case scenario) kick you out at a very inconvenient time.

However, on the other hand, I would never go to see just one woman.  You say you have a backup lady, but I can advise you that one is not enough.

I have lost track of the exact number, but for my last trip I had 3 or 4 ladies (of 15-20 I had final contacts with) drop out at almost the last minute.  The situations were something like:  Sick relative in another city; taking a new job that would not allow vacation days now (obviously); transfer of job to another city, etc.  Luckily, all the ladies advised me of the situation, and offered to meet weeks or months later, in other locations, etc., but you can read many stories on these sites where the women were just simply No Shows.  Most don't believe it will happen to them, can't even conceive of the idea . . . . but it still happens.

JR

... in response to Girl from Vinnitsa  Ukraine..Is she a sc..., posted by exlabman on Feb 7, 2003

In your profile it states your age as 66. Thus how old are the women that you are writing to and looking for?

... in response to 1 question before we can answer you, posted by Stan B on Feb 7, 2003

These laddies are 38.....yeh I know.....  But let me say this I do not go for the movie star type. I only answered the rather attractive working girl next door type that seemed to be down to earth and plain looking in comparision, if that makes sense. Let me also say my 2nd wife was 25 yrs younger than me and and she could not keep up with me.

Larry