Complaint
Resources
Western
Union
If you sent money
with Western Union contact them and supply them with the information.
I would also suggest you ask them to respond to your inquiry. My understanding
is that emails or phone calls will do you no good but you can try
sending a certified letter to them at 13022 Hollenberg Drive; Bridgeton,
MO 63044; USA. This is the only physical address we could find.
Send a copy of your receipt and remember you are not getting your
money back. This is just to advise them of the scam and hopefully
stop it happening again. Address the correspondence to Fraud Prevention.
If anything it alerts them to the contents of the letter and hopefully
gets it routed correctly.
FBI
(Federal Bureau of Investigation) <U.S.>
You've always
wanted to turn someone in to the FBI and here's your chance. They
have an Internet fraud division to handle complaints of cons originating
from the web. Although their international reach is limited it is
slowly getting better with the combined forces of nations trying to
stop cons and scams from the Internet and not just these types. Their
page for registering an Internet Fraud is at www.ifccfbi.gov/cf1.asp.
FTC
International Internet Fraud
April 2001 a new
web site was formed by the FTC (Federal Trade Commission) aimed at
resolving international disputes by allowing Internet users from around
the world to file complaints at one location. Their website can be
found here at http://www.econsumer.gov/.
Specifically designed to address cross-border, international e-commerce
disputes, Econsumer.gov will record the complaints and pass them along
to civil and criminal fraud fighters around the world. It allows users
to file complaints in English, French, German and Spanish.
Her
Embassy
Contact the embassy
to her country. We reserve this for the absolutely positively I was
scammed group. Send a letter documenting what has happened and request
a response. Send it registered if that is possible and include a self
addressed stamped envelope. They might not return a written response
but some will. So consider calling them a few weeks after you send
it. This is to her embassy not to your countries embassy in her country.
For a resource of embassy listings go to EmbassyWorld.com
Suggestion
Whether mailing
a letter or sending an email do your best to keep your temper and
anger in check when contacting any of them. If you want their help
or just for them to follow through you need to give them the details
in a clear and concise manner. Annoying them or angering them from
the start is not a good idea. Another suggestion if sending standard
mail is to supply them with a self-addressed stamped envelope for
their 'hopeful' reply. They may or may not use it but they will see
your concern and that you are trying to be reasonable and helpful.
Seems silly maybe but remember although you are writing to a company
or organization whoever opens that letter is a person that can either
help your cause or stop it in its tracks.
Her
email provider
Contact the provider
for the email address she used or is using. The best way to due this
is to send an email to several addresses at one time. It's not a guarantee
because it is possible if she is working with the agency in her scam
that the agency is the provider and will receive this notice but it
is worth doing this. Because in reality most are on their own and
shutting down their email is helpful. Yes, they will track down another
but any block in their progress is good. To contact their provider
send an email to all of the following versions of their address.
Example address
that she may have used: ksenia@aol.com.ru
You should send
a letter detailing the events to the following:
webmaster@aol.com.ru
support@aol.com.ru
info@aol.com.ru
admin@aol.com.ru
administrator@aol.com.ru
You will only
need to send one message and "CC"/ copy to send it to all
of the addresses you decide to create. Your hope here is that one
of these addresses gets through to the provider of her email address
and if you're lucky more than one of these addresses is live. You
should receive messages later from your provider on which did not
get through. Make note of this so you know which did get through.
This way you will have it for reference if you need it later. Tell
them you expect them to shut her email account off. Ask for them to
respond. This step is not a guarantee of any sort but it's like an
election and every single vote counts so just do it! Scammers - stop
them; get in their way what ever it takes to slow them down at least.
Share your information with others. You can do it anonymously and
might just save someone else from the same terrible experience