Russian Brides Cyber Guide's "Black List"

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Elena Shelepoon

About six Russian women have contacted me through an on-line dating service in the last four months. At first I thought that a coworker had submitted my address to a Russian mail-order bride sight as a joke. Three of them were using such horrible English that I didn't even try to contact them, the other three I did. This morning, I received my 4th letter from Elena Shelepoon. In it, she mentioned a Russian word, Skosobochilasi, which I did a web search on the only sight that turned up was the blacklist sight. It was almost the exact same letter that I'd just received only it was addressed to Randy and was from Anastasia Smirnova (see http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage170.htm for full contents). From other letters that Randy had posted, I found that Anastasia had the same occupation and parents as Elena. Going through the blacklist archives, I found that she was also named Natasha Kiseleva (see http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage178.htm#kiseleva). I have yet to reply to "Elena".

Also, while scrolling through the archives I saw several pictures of Tatyana. I never wrote to her lone enough to get her last name, but apparently she has several of them as well as different first names. Darya/Dasha Miheeva (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage182.htm#miheeva), Ekaterina (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage185.htm#busigina), Elena Volohina (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage187.htm#kosulnikova), Tatyana Solovyova Eremeevna ( http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage187.htm#kosulnikova), and Tatyana Eremeevna Solovyova (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage188.htm#lubimova) are all the same person. Unlike Elena, she does use fresh material from time to time, but the snowman story that Tatyana Solovyoka Eremeevna tells was also told to me. When Tatyana sent me a picture of her in her underwear I quit replying (that was moving a little too fast for the short amount of time we'd been writing and I really couldn't think of delicate way to call it quits); oddly enough, she never tried to contact me to see why haven't written to her.

Natallia Kisialevich is the only one that I corresponded with long enough for her to ask for money. I think I've found four other letters by her on the blacklist. Natalia/Natasha Abramova (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage185.htm#busigina), Nataly Khartman (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage191.htm#koldyreva), Natasha Litvinova (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage192.htm#pushkareva), and Aliona (http://www.womenrussia.com/blackpage192.htm#pushkareva). She is by far the most clever of the ones I've come across so far as writing original background stories for herself, and as you can see from those I've listed on the blacklist, different pitures. Nataly Khartman and Aliona gave themselves away by using the same story when they requested money. The other trait that gives her away is signing off using 'kissing you' or 'kisses to you' or other such phrases. It is also interesting that one of the women who I didn't respond to was named Natasha which seems to be one of ! her aliases; it makes me wonder how she would have handled it if I was e-mailing her under two different names.

Anyhow, when she asked for the money to get her visa, she didn't consider that I've dealt with enough student visas to start asking questions. Some of the suspected 9/11 hijackers were here on student visas, and the government is looking at them more closely so I thought it would be wise to see if her visa would allow her to leave the student group she said she was coming with in order to visit me. She kept insisting that all I needed to know was that it was a student visa (there are more than one type of student visa), and that the deadline was getting too close to waste time (to paraphrase, send me the money - NOW). I told her we were rushing things to quickly find another way to meet and she sent the following letter:

Letters:

"Hello Will! You can't imagine how I am sad, I so planed to visit you. But it's the life. I am not angry with you...I all understand. It is simply a pity that we can't meet. I know that you are a nice man and I'd like to share all my life with you, but the distance interrupts us very much. In any case, know, that I want to see you happy. It's a pity that I can't be with you. But it was a real pleasure to talk to you. Now I feel like a small silly girl which built a lot of plans about the future in her head. I really dreamt too much... But now I fall to the earth. It's necessary to live in a real world and enjoy what is near by you. You are a wonderful man, but you are too far. It's nice that we correspond, but how long will we talk... ? I don't know what to tell you more right now. I need the time to think about everything. Bye. I kiss you. Natallia"

Still not suspecting it was a scam, I suggested that we meet somewhere in Europe. I had vacation time coming up, it would be cheaper for her, and we could make sure that all the travel papers were in order without rushing through. She never responded. It was then that I started suspecting that this one was a scam. What I learned from Natallia... I started checking up on some of the information that Natallia gave me. For the most part she kept things generic, but she left a few ways to check for potential scams. For one thing, she gave me her father's name and told me he was a history professor at a local university. I checked on-line for faculty lists of the universities in the Minsk area and couldn't find his name listed; I also did a general web search for his name. I checked with the university that her aunt worked at to see if their English language program was having tours to Detroit like she said they were. She told me whatairline she'd be flying on, so I cheked their flight schedules for the dates she had listed. Also, use the U.S. heightened security as an excuse to ask them about their visas; if they are serious about wanting to meet you they'll get you as much information as possible.

Other signs of potential scams:

Some of these keep cropping up in the various letters that I've received and have read on the blacklist sight. A homelife that they can't live without but are ready to leave it to be with you. Do they say that their job means everything to them? Do they realize that they probably won't be qualified for a job in the same field if they come to the U.S.? Is their family everything to them? Do they realize that they'll have to leave their family behind? (Tatyana told me she was an only child and great stories about how she missed her mother when she died, but there was an elderly woman in the next apartment that filled the void). Do they act like you're already married but don't want to discuss marriage? (I told Natallia that we should consider things like her being separated from her family if we got married and she said that it was too early to consider such things, but still kept referring to me as her one and only, her soul mate, her love, as being in her dreams, etc.). There seems to be a tendency for them to be semi-professionals (teachers, medical assistants, etc.) who love their job. There's an emphasis on religious devotion without a lot of substance to it. They've told their friends and relatives about the correspondence and they are all very happy about it (though the parents were concerned for about five minutes at first).

What can we do about it?

For one thing, keep writing to them. Get their information, learn their patterns, and waste their time. Share it with as many men as possible. I don't have any pictures with me right now, but still have some on disk at home and will try to remember to bring them in to add to the archives.

Black List - page 193: UPDATES August 14, 2003 - page 1

Black List - page 193: UPDATES
August 14, 2003 - page 1