# Dangerous:
36%
# Details: Extortion:
I met this woman on a business trip in the summer of 2005. We had been in contact for about 1 year. I often sent money to help her. I used Western Union to send money to help her. She often claimed she needed help for medical problems, problems with her boss not paying her and she claimed to be a victim of robbery.
In May I met her in St. Petersburg, Russia. I had a translator with me. At our meeting in a cafe, a man joined us and began talking with her. Then the man took her out of the cafe by the arm. My translator told me that they were talking about money she owed the man. The translator and me thought they went outside to talk. But, soon I received a phone call from Irina. She claimed she had been abducted by this man. She claimed she was being held against her will and forced to work as a prostitute to pay him back. She begged me for help. But, she asked me not to go to the police because the man was with the Russian, FSB.
I met with the man the next day with my translator. We arranged for me to pay Irina's debt.
Irina continued to call me begging for help. She continued to ask me not to call the police, because the men holding her were with the Russian FSB.
I paid her debt. $3,500. But, she was not released. She continued to call me begging for help.
I realized I had been scammed and we argued on the phone. She sent me an email telling me not to leave my rented flat because it would be bad for my health (as she put it).
I left St. Petersburg and returned to the U.S.A. I then learned that Irina and the man Viktor Romanenko are living together and this was an extortion scam.
I have informed the Russian authorities about this scam. I sent all the details (money transfer documents, passport copies, emails from Irina and Viktor, business card copy from Viktor) via email and via post mail.
# Date: 2006-08-11