Hi guys,

Would you please enlighten me on how to get the phone system set up with him in Afghanistan. Does it cost anything, are there local numbers, do I need a code etc etc... Who sets up the phones?

If anyone can help me and walk me through the procedures I would be most appreciative....

edited to change title for Sticky-worthiness! this is a first hand account of a lesson almost learned! Thankfully Mia was able to recognize the danger signs and was NOT caught up in it! Mrsjvb

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Mrsjvb,

Buy him a phone card, and send it to him.

The military runs the phones for the soldiers, and they control when the guys can call. You can't call Ma Bell, and have them hook up a phone line where you can call daily..... they don't have that yet.

you can do nothing except buy him phone cards.. any access at his end HE will have to set up. and like Lyn said.. there is no option to have a private line..its stand in line for the payphones and the MWR phones. Unless he wants to get a satellite phone or an international cell phone ..and those puppies are EXPENSIVE.

So what you are telling me is that you don't have to pay a huge fee to get set up on the phones or anything and it doesn't have to go through an attache officer?

No and if he told you that you are being scammed. There are phone centers where they can call from with a calling card-but there is no expense associated with setting it up-its provided by the military-the only cost the soldier incurs is the calling card. Some soldiers in Iraq do have international cell phones-they are fairly expensive for them to call out on-much more than using a phone card-but you can some times get calling plans to call them-i have an international calling card that costs me 59 cents for each call that connects and 39 cents a minute to call iraq. Thats actually quite reasonable-direct dial to an iraqi cell thru AT and T is 2.49 a minute. As Mrsjvb said-Sattelite phones are expensive-but even for that you do not have to go thru an attache-just buy the equipment and pay for the satellite time.

quote:

Originally posted by Mia1307:
So what you are telling me is that you don't have to pay a huge fee to get set up on the phones or anything and it doesn't have to go through an attache officer?

pay: only if he is buying a satellite phone and not sharing the expenses with others.. we are talking a couple of grand just for the phone and then buying satellite time~ runs hundreds of dollars a month. usually 5 or ten guys go in on this together and share the expenses, phone and air time.

Frankly, doing so is a waste when they have MUCH more reasonable options at their disposal..including, in some cases FREE calls that are basically just like local.. called DSN lines.

as for going through an attache officer: never heard of such a thing unless he is on Embassy duty.

I love you!!!!!! just ckecking.. I know I am being scammed now, that is why I am asking 10,000 questions!! He said it would cost 2000 to set up the phone, he wanted me to pay 800 my end... Then he said that it is going to cost alot of money to set up the transit for him to come home on leave. Then he says that they are not allowed to have cell phones because of security!!! I am laughing at the moment, because these dudes are pathetic..

But I also cried my eyes out today because he sent me a pic of "himself" and I am convinced it is of a deceased soldier and it breaks my heart....to think these *******s do this to women... It was thanks to a post title here that I found an article about people posing as soldiers to scam women and what he said to me was word perfect from the article...

Scary ****!

Thanks again...
Mia

well in many locations cell phones are NOT allowed. cell phones are being used to detonate IEDs remotely. so that in and of itself may not necessarily be a patent lie.

But good on you for NOT falling for stuff and doing some research. when do you plan on letting him know you are on this scam? I';d copy that article and send it back to him... and if I knew of a way to get that proper ID of the soldier whose pic he sent..that would be even better. since I doubt he's going to tell you his real Unit or anything so you can't exactly call up his rear Det and let them know he's being a poopie head.

Or better yet..turn some of the Ladies here loose on his sorry butt...

quote:

Originally posted by Mrsjvb:
Or better yet..turn some of the Ladies here loose on his sorry butt...

I am so disgusted ... I'm game, I really wouldn't mind giving this person a piece of my mind!!!

But well done to you for not falling for it.
Good luck

Have you gotten original emails from him? Do you know how to trace it? That is a good way to find out where he is. Because we can get a group of ladies to go string up his sorry butt together pretty quickly

I did I sent him the article, he said How could you think I would lie, blah blah blah... I am waiting for the woman in that article to contact me as I found the author and we are going to talk.....

I then called up the boarding school supposedly where his child is, and guess what... No registered child by that name!! He comes back to me saying that he has given the school strict instructions not to let anyone have contact with the child for security reasons!!!

Then I called up the head of security at the AZ recruiting office he is of high rank and a former police officer, I explained everything that was said to me and he immediately detected the scam....

I was very naughty last night!! I played cat and mouse with him, to see what other BS he would come up with!! I told him, if he loved me so much he wouldn't push the money for the phone etc and that he would pay for his transit and come home, that would be proof enough for me to know.... Hee hee... He said he would and guess what complete silence this morning!!

This morning I tell him to go stuff himself somewhere where the sun don't shine.... Thanks you all for helping me, and yes I wish I could find out about the guy in the picture he sent me...

Mia

quote:

Originally posted by Mia1307:

I then called up the boarding school supposedly where his child is, and guess what... No registered child by that name!! He comes back to me saying that he has given the school strict instructions not to let anyone have contact with the child for security reasons!!!

actually legally, the school cannot tell you ANYTHING becuase you are not the child's parent. they cannot even confirm that the child does or does not attend.

But its the one or two instances where the BS might be plausible that only adds fuel to the fire and allows these slime puppies to expand on things..'well, if A is true then B must be true too, right?!"

yeah you are right... I am beginning to doubt myself, what do you really think?

Mia

If he is legit (and this is doubtful), tell him to get SPAWAR. This is a voice over internet protocol (VOiP) phone system. My son had that when he was in the sandbox. It was cheaper than the phone cards and the connection was much better than what we had when he would go through the phone bank and calling cards. There was almost no delay in talking back and forth.

If he can't pony up the money for that himself (and remember their pay is tax free and they are getting combat pay) then you will really know it is a scam.

Cav Scout dad

personal opinion: there is NO need whatsoever to fork over so much money for a phone while they are over there. heck, I am about to celebrate ten years of marriage and 2 months later mine is deploying and no way in hell would we even CONSIDER wasting money on a satellite phone when he will have many alternatives that are free or cheap. between VoiP options, phone cards, email and DSN lines, there is NO reason at all to 'have to have' a satellite phone.

what does he plan on doing with said phone when the deployment is over?


This guy is trying to play you. unfortunately once he realizes that you ain't stoopid enuff to fall fer his games, he will move on to someone else who probably WILL get scammed.

IF he is legit as he claims.. than he will understand why you are are advocating caution and are unwilling to commit anything financial. becuase a Legit person would understand you trying to protect your interests. Only people with somehing to hide try and make it all your fault.

I just think if he was legit he wouldn't have asked you to pay out all that money ... honestly my DF who I have known for 8 years would go nuts if I even thought to waste so much money, I would really need the most amazing explanation!!! lol That is alot to ask of someone that you have never met, good thing that you did your research
In another thread I read about newspapers runinng an ongoing dedication to all the Soilders that have fallen which included their pictures, not sure how far back this dates to, but maybe this is a good place to start ...

Good luck and keep us posted!

Hi,

Well 24hrs ago I sent him packing with an e-mail telling him that he is a scammer. He wrote me back an IM stating that he wasn't into silly games and that he read my silly e-mail and that he regretted meeting me on the dating site and that he couldn't force me to trust him!!

Oh and during my research I also checked the source of his IP address, comes out of South Africa and not Afghanistan!! That was a HUGE red flag....

Anyway I am glad to be done with him and didn't lose any money..... I hope this can be a warning to others.....

Mia

P.S since I sent e-mail I haven't heard one single word.... heheheheh!!!!

good for you. I think I will sticky this for a while so that more people are informed of the perils.

In the interest of making it easier,I am also going to move her other thread over here to bring everybody up to speed.

Mia's orginal post:

Mia1307
Basic Training

Posted Wed 20 August 2008 12:23 PM
Hi everyone, I am new here... I read your article about women being scammed by so called soldiers. One of them really scared me.. I have started going out with Cpl P. NO Names. PERSEC is an issue. who says that he is working in the TOC in Afghanistan... However some of the things are the same as what was mentioned in the article... his wife died 7 to 9 yrs ago and he has a son in boarding school in the US... So now I am freaked out.

How do I check him out on the military websites etc... is there a number I can call... Can someone help me and if he is scamming me I want out.. He sent me a few pics of "himself".... I just want to be sure you know...

Thanks for any help,
Mia