24 February 2023 Article translated and edited by: Adisorn Suksomatthu Reviewed and proofread by: Khomsthanon Sukajjasakul While the fate of the victims of being tricked into love and then stealing money It is a story that communicates the dangers of Romance Scam that creates problems all over the world. But behind the scenes of the criminals' decision to enter the Romance Scam industry There are many things that people may not think about. When many criminals use the excuse that What motivates them is to earn money by deceiving fellow humans. It is also due to poverty that drives them to do whatever it takes to survive. Erica Johnson Yahoo Boys of Nigeria Erica Johnson, a 59-year-old Canadian woman, was praised for her bright smile by a handsome man in his 40s named Bobby Brown who introduced himself on Instagram. Bobby Brown said he was an American from California. Currently working as an oil rig engineer in Scotland. and has a 9 year old son who is studying in a boarding school Erica Johnson doesn 't normally talk to strangers online, but with Bobby Brown, she felt there was something deeper hidden about him. Bobby Brown After two weeks of dating, Bobby Brown confessed that he had special feelings for her. And start calling her by the pronouns that couples call each other, such as dear or sweetheart. But things started to go wrong with Erica Johnson. That is, Americans like Bobby Brown use English differently than native speakers use it in their daily lives. Photo from Scotland where Bobby Brown claims to work. It was found that cars drove on opposite sides of reality. His ID card had a signature that didn't even resemble the words Bobby Brown. After six weeks, Bobby Brown confessed that he wanted to marry her. In another case, Bobby Brown, who claims to be a handsome young American engineer, It may be expected that everything is going according to plan. But what he didn't expect was Erica Johnson, an award-winning host and investigative journalist for CBC Television, who was gathering informatio n to expose the Romance Scam movement that has been having a social impact in Canada over the past year. come Data from the Canadian Anti-Fraud Center found that in 2023, 945 Canadians were victims of romance scams, totaling $50 million in losses. Erica Johnson has changed Bobby Brown's status from a scammer to a news source for her. Bobby Brown opened up that he is one of a group of people called Yahoo boys, a name used to refer to members. Online scammers in Nigeria Bobby Brown says poverty forced him to become a Yahoo boy. He and his fellow Yahoo boys would romanticize foreign women to scam them out of money. Half of the income must be shared with the gang leader who provides food and housing. The boss would provide photos of good-looking Western men stolen from social media. The most popular profiles used to trick victims include: Having a career as an oil rig engineer, doctor, or soldier, and often citing having children It is used to build trust and serve as an excuse to later scam money from victim s. Fraudulently taking money by requesting a gift card and transferring money. There are two steps to scamming money from victims. The first step is to ask them to send a small amount of money via a gift card. You will begin to create a situation where you urgently need money. and have victims transfer money in large amounts at a time Bobby Brown said that if he couldn't get money from his victims, He will be punished by his boss. When you can't stand the pressure So he ran away from the gang after working for 2 years and then turned himself into a Romance Scammer until now. Bobby Brown did not reveal that How many women have fallen victim to his romance scams and how much money has he made? But he insists to Erica Johnson that he feels guilty and is doing this just to survive. Romance Scam victimization course WRTV Indianapolis, an ABC News affiliate, interviewed Christ Maxwell, a former Nigerian Romance Scammer, who admitted that it's easy to scam money from foreign women who pretend to be in love bec ause Romance Scammers in Nigeria get... Receive training on how to win the hearts of Western women. From a manual produced specifically for Romance Scam. Contents from the manual will teach techniques for selecting target groups. Conversation that should be used and the right time to start asking for money from victims. NBC News interviewed Laura Francis, a 68-year-old American woman who met a younger man online. What she initially received were the dreamy greetings sent to her every day. Even a young man had an accident and needed to spend a lot of money for treatment. She was willing to help him financially to the best of her ability. Before Laura knew it All money transferred to your lover goes back to the Romance Scammer account in Nigeria. She lost the money she had saved for her retirement, up to 248,800 USD, or about 8.7 million baht. By Romance Scammer, the person behind that scam was Christ Maxwell, who received a share of 20,000 US dollars, or about 7 hundred thousand baht. After defrauding vict ims for a living, Christ Maxwell felt remorse and reached out to Laura Francis to apologize for his actions. Surprisingly, Laura Francis has not blocked her communication with the former Romance Scammer and believes that Christ did it because of poverty. Later, Christ Maxwell brought his experience of being a Romance Scammer to pass on to socialcatfish.com The website specifically checks for people who are at risk of being a Romance Scammer. Source: Thai News Agency