Silly question perhaps, but if anyone knows the answer, I guess this forum is the best place to ask...

We have to be careful what we say in these situations. The truth is, we don't like recommending anywhere. If we say somewhere's scammer free and someone gets hit by a scammer then there could be all sorts of legal problems. A place could be scammer free today, then get hit by a gang tomorrow. The simplest thing to do is to make yourself aware of all the warning signs of scammers before looking. Being aware of how scammers work is the best piece of advice we can give you.

Thanks Wayne, good points there. I was thinking along those lines too- and I think I can spot scams quickly by following those guidelines.

There are just too many dating sites nowadays- literally thousands of them. Most of the sites include a certain percentage of really stunning women- and it's these profiles that are increasingly likely to be scammers than real women seeking a husband.

I guess we all know that the free sites/agencies are infested with scammers, but what about the pay ones? The cheap sites/agencies also have considerable numbers of scammers, whilst expensive sites have fewer. Saying that, the expensive sites are designed to make money for the agency. In other words, another scam- but the site/agency rather than the member! A no-win situation nowadays, perhaps? Stating the obvious maybe, but what's the best answer, I wonder?

Scammers often join paid sites using stolen credit card details. That's why they try to get you talking off the site as soon as possible. As soon as they're found out their accounts are closed, so they need to get their victims away from the dating site and into emails/IM where they can work their scam uninterrupted.

That's really interesting, hand't thought about stolen credit cards. Now it makes sense why several of the scammers have asked me to reply to their email rather than using the site's message system in their first letter. Some have even mentioned that their credit is running low. I assumed it was because they didn't want to pay for another month's subscription or something.

Saying that, scammers also include such emails on free sites. Maybe they're so stupid that they just bombard all sites, whether paid or not, and forget which is which?

They do the same on free ones because once they're spotted and reported then the site will close their account. What usually happens is they join a site, bombard the members with their spam and then get kicked off. Of course the ones that pay with stolen cc details will get kicked off quicker because the site will ban them the moment they spot it's a fake transaction.

It's good to know that... but I'm not sure that all sites act so swiflty in kicking them out. Some sites are better than others...

Ah, that explains (on the other thread) why you were looking to recruit women from Estonia.

Does your wife's agency deal mainly with women based in the UK?

Personally I would avoid Russian women based in the UK. You must ask yourself how they are here and more importantly who funded it.

My wife deals with mostly women from Ukraine and Russia. And for men who want to communicate with and/or verify women they met elsewhere. Of her women, she either knows them or verifies them by telephone before listing them. If a RW cant smell a scammer at first base nobody can. We have never had a scammer - but on the downside, we dont have too many women as a result.

Most of her work is three way calls and translation.

That's a good point about women in the UK. I've also got a suspicious mind. On the other hand, it's easier to communicate with those already here- and those abroad could be simply looking for a passport.

What does your wife's translation involve? I guess with things such as visas, legal and other travel-related documents (hotels, etc)?

I checked out the site in a bit more detail... and it seems that many women live far away.

For example, Togliatti. I saw on Google that it's quite a big city, but I'd never heard of it before. I was wondering how anyone would be able to get there to visit a lady... unless, of course, some of the ladies travel to Moscow or St.Petersburg and meet there?

In my case, time is a big factor. I travel often, but each time can only be away for a few days at a time. I could get to any part of Estonia or Latvia in a relatively short period of time- no problem at all- and I have been to those countries many times. But "out of the way" places in Russia are not just further away and more difficult to get to & from, but the hassle of getting a visa is an additional thing. Because I travel often, I would be reluctant to send my passport anywhere... without it, I'd be grounded!

In my case, the easiest way for me to get to Russia would be from Estonia (Tallinn to St.Petersburg)...

Togliatti is actually quite easy to get to, from the UK you connect either through Prague with Czech Air or Frankfurt with Lufthansa. The airport serving Togliatti is Samara KUF. Travel time is usually about 7 hours all in.

Its my wifes home town, hence more women from there on LG. Visas are easy and fast, I was there a couple of weeks ago in fact. I wrote a small trip report

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- and as you are interested in Estonia, I wrote about one of my drives there from England

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green frog wrote:

What does your wife's translation involve? I guess with things such as visas, legal and other travel-related documents (hotels, etc)?

Most of it is just letters/emails to and from women whose English is not yet up to scratch, the three way calls are usually similar stuff. Telephone work can be anything from helping a woman getting her internet connected and maybe teaching her how to use Skype to calling a place a women purportedly works to verify her under some pretext.

Its quite varied really, the translation and telephone side of it is the bit she enjoys doing most.

Do you know if Togliatti is easy to get to/from if travelling from Tallinn or Riga? In my case, I could do the visa bit myself in Tallinn (via a travel agent I know there- I also visit TLL quite often in any case). From Tallinn to Riga or St.Petersburg would be relatively straightforward- and I wonder what sort of connections there would be from those to KUF? (It'd work out considerably cheaper than from London, I'm sure).

How about accommodation in Togliatti? Luxury is not important for me- Safety and security would be Number One, plus somewhere to wash, of course. Maybe staying with a Russian family, for example- that would be interesting, as well as challenging language practice if they speak only Russian

It all sounds quite adventurous, and I think that there must be more than one reason to travel in any event- ie; not solely to try to meet someone (as it may not work out)- but also to make a memorable trip. Of course, it'd be necessary to do as much groundwork and get as much info as possible and examine the options. I'll also read up on the articles you mention...

Your wife's translation work sounds interesting, especially being able to check up on things such as where a woman claims to work. As for me, I can get by in basic Russian (up to a point), but if I were to encounter problems on my travels with aggressive airport officials (or God forbid, bandits in some isolated place), it'd be a different story!

Sorry for the delay in reply -

TLL to KUF can be done either through Moscow via Estonian Air and Aeroflot or through Prague with Czech Air.

For clients of my wifes going to Togliatti, she usually gives them her UK mobile and if they have a problem they just send an SMS and she will call them back.

When in Togliatti, I always use the Park Hotel. One of her clients was there recently and he wrote a trip report about it on RUA.