Dear friends,
In my today’s post, I would like to warn you of a known Russian online dating scammer, namely: Alena Sabova.
How does this scam process work?
This online dating scammer (who looks beautiful and sweet…) starts writing real “revealing” letters with unique content and then progresses to “remarkable” messages with quickly growing affection and desire to meet in person.
In just a week the woman was able to secure a visa and airfare for which one Western man was to be responsible for half to this travel agent in Moscow called Travel Bonus.
My advice is be careful! Although the woman is very nice and shows a great interest to get known you better, the second message from the travel agency shows clearly that Alena Sabova is a fake and she/they just want money from you. The scammer does not care about you, your emotions and hope… 
Kristina,
This is a sad tale to be told but a realistic one. I got all the answers to my questions, from James, that I wanted. All the other quesitons that I do have are simply small detail oriented questions that can only be answered once I’m in Kharkov. I’m glad James found his other half and hope the best for him 🙂
Now, about that scammer…..
Your article nearly made my heart stop. It wasn’t because the scammer was from russia or that russia and Ukraine share the same culture(and because of this I could get scammed by a Ukrainian woman). No, when you wrote this article I realized that ALL women, from ANY country, including the U.S.A have scammers that care nothing about a man or his emotions. It’s almost as if I wanted to give up my search right then and there when you wrote that article 🙁
I want the truth, but damn…the truth can hurt and I don’t want to get hurt by any scammer simply because I want to go such a long distance to find what I want. If I want to get scammed I would at least appreciate getting scammed from a woman in hawaii. That way I don’t have too much on the line as far as both time and money is concerned.
But, I’m glad that you wrote the truth and I will continue my learning journey. But, it does make me scared though….
Mahalo from hawaii,
Hilton
Hi Hilton,
I wrote this article because I wanted to to warn my readers of Russian & Ukrainian online dating scammers. I (or my words) did not want to make you scared…
My message means that the men have to be very careful – it is very easy to become a victim of scam. But there are some simple rules that help you not to get scammed by “fake” Ukrainian or Russian women (and I have written several times about the scam on my blog). The most important rule is: do not send any money to a woman you do not know!!!!!. Speaking honestly, the man may be a fool if he sends money (in this case, $340) on the first request of a “travel agent” or “translation agency”. I would ask myself why the travel agent writes to me, not to Alena. Alena could tell me that she needs financial support and I have to send her money for the ticket. This is the first sign of the Ukrainian & Russian dating scam if a “foreign” company sends you a mail on necessary payment for various services (letter or phone translation, tickets, drugs for the sick mother, etc.). If the woman has financial problems, she should tell you.
In conclusion, I have to mention that International (African, Thai or Latin) as well as local (e.g. U.S.-American or German) dating has scammers (not only Russian and Ukrainian). Therefore, you have to be careful everywhere. But already a little common sense and good considerations can warn you of scammers.
And remember – there are many women in Ukraine who want to start a genuine relationship with a Western man and can make you (very) happy. And their number is much more than scammers’. 🙂
Regards,
Krystyna
Krystyna,
Well, it certainly all makes sense about what you wrote and that using common sense and rational would be the order of the day in the Ukraine. For this reason, I have kept in constant contact with Michael Mordinson in Kharkov because I know that he doesn a good job of trying to weed out the scammers.
Like I said, keep the articles coming because I need to become more aware of the tricks used to get any man to send money to a woman for any reason without me knowing that woman first.
With that said, I have personally just begun learning Russian and although it’s tough I love it 🙂
I’m starting later than I wanted to because I actually wanted to start learning in November but I am presently having a fairly large Log home being built and it’s taking alot of my time. But, finally, I’m able to start my Russian studies.
Merry Christmas, or in our hawaiian language we say ‘Mele Kalikamaka’ which means Merry Christmas 🙂
Mahalo from Hawaii,
Hilton