In Ufa, a widow encountered a man who claimed online to be an American soldier. He asked her for 665 thousand rubles, saying the money was needed to cover taxes in Somalia and to purchase tickets back to Russia, according to Attention, a Telegram channel that reported the story.
The report notes that about a year earlier the woman’s husband had passed away. Six months after that loss, an unfamiliar man who called himself Alex John appeared on a dating site and soon became part of the widow’s life. He described himself as an American service member under a six-year contract with the United Nations and presently deployed in Somalia. Six months later, he traveled to Russia and expressed a wish to dissolve the contract. To do so, he claimed, money was required to cover living taxes in Somalia, a flight back to the Russian Federation, a visa, and the purchase of a phone and a computer allegedly stolen by Somalis.
The woman sold her car and took out a loan to assist her supposed lover. From December 2022 through February 2023, he wired 665 thousand rubles to individuals connected to Russian accounts. The so‑called army contact insisted the funds represented data from UN representatives in Russia, a claim that was later disputed by investigators.
When the widow exhausted her resources, she realized she had fallen for a deception. A police report followed after she flagged the scam. Bank staff had told her not to transfer money and warned about scammers, yet the entire sum was sent nonetheless.
Earlier reports described another case where a Moscow mercenary allegedly extorted 2 million rubles via scammers advertised alongside popular bloggers. The pattern in both stories points to a common scam framework: romance seekers are lured by convincing but false identities, then pressured to send large sums under the pretense of urgent personal or legal crises. The authorities stress cautious online dating practices and urge verification of claims before transferring money, especially when sensitive documents or substantial funds are involved, and to report suspicious activity immediately to law enforcement authorities (Attention, Telegram channel).