Although there are many legitimate people around the world looking for sincere penpal exchanges, please be wary of the following penpal scams:

The “International Youth Conference” scam

The person pretends to be sponsoring or working with an “International Youth Conference” of some kind, and tries to get you to send them money for registration fees, hotel reservations, etc. Many times, it all looks very real and legitimate. Sometimes, they will use a name similar to that of a real International organization or NGO.

The “Help me get Millions out of the Country” or “Help me invest my money” or “419″ scam

Person pretends to be a relative of a former dictator, prince, princess, or rich person from another country and asks for your help to get millions of dollars out of their country. They usually promise you a percentage of the millions. Once they get your phone number, bank account number, or other information, they drain your accounts dry and leave you hanging. Please read the US State Department’s information about advance fee scams for more information.

The person pretends to have suffered a terrible loss, or a terrible illness, pretends to have a sick child, or little sister, or other family member, and begs for money to help them.

The person asks for money to help them attend school in your country.

The person says it is the custom in their country to send gifts, but never sends you a gift first.

The “I love you, really” scam

The person pretends a romantic interest in you, and then tries to get you to send them money to visit your country, get a manuscript or book published, get medical help, etc. Here’s a note I received from someone who was scammed with a romance tactic:

Hello, I was scammed , but it wasn’t by them asking me for money, it was a different kind of scam. First, he romanced me for 4 months, then asked me to cash a check for him, saying I could keep some of the money. For 4 months he pretended to be in love with me, we were to get married and I was to move to London where he said he lived. The scam check was for 27,545.00. I was to wire 25,000 to a Japan and Lagos, Nigeria, and send 2,000 by Western Union. When he didn’t get the 25,000, he got mad and called the wedding off. Of course, he sent a very sexy pic, but would never get on a cam. For 5 months he did this. Then another man tried the same scam right after all this happened! It wasn’t through an e-mail, he had instant messaged me from London, so he said. I was chatting in a US chatroom at the time. So, I hope you can warn other females.

Remember: emails sent through Penpal Party usually contain the Internet IP address of the person sending it. If the person says they’re from one country, but their IP is from another country, you need to ask yourself why they would lie about that.

The “Work in our Hotel” scam

Messages come from a person who says they are in Canada and need people to work in their hotel. Generally, these messages come from somewhere in Africa (mostly Senegal, but Guinea Bissau seems to have started doing it also). The Canadian High Commission has warned against this.

These are just a few examples but there are many more. The thieves that perpetrate these type of activities are cunning and adaptable. Please take every precaution not to get duped.