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I've matched with this girl on Tinder. She still lives in war-torn Ukraine. I've sent her 80$ to take a bus to central Europe, according to online data, the price checks out. Sending money to people I hardly know is a red flag. However it's only 80$, for me that's not much. So I sent her the money via Paypal. She then tells me that her Paypal account is blocked, I should sent it to another Paypal account. I said, ok but first refund the money, which she did. Then I send the same amount to another account provided by her. Could I somehow now have lost 160$?

In my paypal account it looks as follows (censored names)

enter image description here

CuriousIndeed
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  • Did you get the refund? And most importantly, how much are you willing to spend to sleep with this girl? Ukraine has always been (and still is) one of the major European sex bait exporters. She may be honest, she may be not. Set a maximum limit you want to spend for this casual fun interaction and never, never, go beyond that. Keep it low to avoid money laundering. If the amount is bogging you stop. Remember: women can easily leave Ukraine, there are plenty of NGOs for UA refugees. If she can match on Tinder she's not experiencing the war. – Margaret Bloom Sep 22 '22 at 14:53
  • If you wonder whether something is a scam, it is certainly a scam. – Yuriko Sep 22 '22 at 14:57
  • The strange thing is I got the refund. – CuriousIndeed Sep 22 '22 at 15:05
  • How is she refunding you if her account is locked? If she did using the other account, then shouldn't she be at +80 and -80, implying she did not have any more money now? – Yuriko Sep 22 '22 at 15:11
  • She cannot withdraw money. Only receive and send money. I have the refund in my paypal account. She said she cannot take the money out via bank. – CuriousIndeed Sep 22 '22 at 15:13
  • Why didn't she send the money to her other account then? – Yuriko Sep 22 '22 at 15:14
  • Good question. Maybe she meant she cannot send either. She said: "the money came, but I can not withdraw my Paypal is blocked can you send my friend on PayPal I will now refuse to receive funds:" "I send you back" – CuriousIndeed Sep 22 '22 at 15:16
  • @MargaretBloom I'm not sure how easy it is to get out of Ukraine, especially for attractive young women. See for example this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wySbX6mbhnc I have no idea about the veracity of the claims. Also she never asked, I offered her. – CuriousIndeed Sep 22 '22 at 17:15
  • Unfortunately, we are not a personal scam advice site. – schroeder Sep 22 '22 at 17:30

1 Answers1

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This is probably a scam. There is different way it may work:

  • Your correspondent may have sent you a fake refund email;
  • They may abuse the charge-back option to get their refunded money back;
  • They may have reimbursed you using an illegal payment method such as a stolen account or credit card;
  • The list unfortunately increases everyday as people tend to be imaginative.

Note that even without the 2nd payment it may have been a scam, and they may have pushed their luck.

Also, understand that it is easy to create fake profiles on social media, and current events are always an easy backstory for scammers.

As a rule, you should be wary of someone unexpectedly asking for money, either a friend or a stranger. Pity, horniness, fear, sense of urgency, etc. are common ways to incite someone to send money. (Eg: impersonating one of your relative stuck in a foreign country and needing money quickly)

Yuriko
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  • Thanks for your answer. I agree with all your objections. Even when I made the payment I thought it's probably a scam. Then I got the refund which confused me. She also never directly asked my for money. I asked her why she is still in Ukraine, she said she does not have enough money to leave Ukraine I asked how much it costs and she said 80$. Then I offered her 80$. – CuriousIndeed Sep 22 '22 at 15:36