The RS-relevant topic of scammers posing as General Mathis can be found here: Scammers with pictures of General James N. Matthis.Users of RomanceScam.com, a watchdog site that exposes Internet con artists, have published emails, instant messages and photographs they received from someone claiming to be Gen. James Mattis.
Online romance scammer poses as CENTCOM chief
By Gina Harkins - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday May 24, 2012 15:52:44 EDT
An online scam artist has assumed the identity of Gen. James Mattis, head of U.S. Central Command, in an attempt to woo the unsuspecting and lovelorn, and dupe them into transferring money to foreign bank accounts.
Users of RomanceScam.com, a watchdog site that exposes Internet con artists, published emails, instant messages and photographs they received from someone claiming to be the revered Marine general. Mattis’ security team is looking into the alleged use of his name and photos, said Army Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor, a CENTCOM spokesman.
Romantic scams that exploit the identities of military personnel are nothing new. Taylor said CENTCOM sees at least one per year and they get resolved by the appropriate law enforcement agencies.
The Mattis case likely will be transferred to the Naval Criminal Investigative Service. Typically, these scams get shut down when officials identify the source via the scammer’s Internet protocol — or IP — address.
Marine Corps Times contacted NCIS, but the agency was unable to provide additional information about its procedures for addressing such crimes.
Marisa Johnson, who runs RomanceScam.com, said con artists assume the identities of military personnel for a reason.
“In many parts of the world, especially in the U.S. and the U.K., [service members] seem to have a lot of advanced trust,” she said. “People see them as defenders, and trust them more than others.”
Also, because troops deploy overseas for months at a time, an unwitting victim may not find it strange that the sender reaches out from another country and seems to disappear from time to time, Johnson said.
The helmets and bulky combat gear troops wear also factor into the scam. Because they can obscure a person’s face somewhat, the con man can have several photos at his disposal.
The messages with Mattis’ name on them originated from an IP address in the West African country of Ghana. The wannabe general leads his victims to believe he’s deployed in Afghanistan. After exchanging romantic messages about engagement rings and future travels he’d like to take together, the scammer starts asking for money, directing the mark to send wire transfers to a “sergeant” in Ghana, who will tote the funds to Afghanistan.
The money, the scammer claims, is to help his son, Dennis.
Mattis, known for his fireball turns of phrase and strategic acumen, is not married and he has no children.
One of his many nicknames is “Warrior Monk.”
Thanks to Gabriella, who started that topic, the topic of soldier scams was in the news today
