John Ricardo
Complaint 136588 Details

I have been scammed by “Dr. John Ricardo”. He contacted me on an on-line dating site last Fall and said that he was a vet specializing in bird flu He also indicated that he lives in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and his wife had died of cancer. Then in October, he went to London and supposedly landed this $925,000 contract to vaccinate 500,000 chickens in Central Africa Republic. Supposedly he got an advance and set up an account in London, but when he got to his destination, the account would not work and he needed my help to finish the job. He then asked for more money, for additional vaccines. Then he supposedly got paid, but could not cash such a large check. Then the police in Airport stopped him and asked for income tax to be paid on the check he had received. So I sent him more money. Then he was ready to go but he got attacked outside his hotel and his money and passport were stolen and he was beaten badly and taken to the hospital. He had a supposed Dr. call me reporting that he was going to be OK. Also, older lady with British accent called me once pretending to be his Mom. So I sent him more money to pay for the lost money and hospital. Then he settled his bills and was ready to leave and this time the Airport police found some drugs hidden in his vet equipment and put him in jail. He implicated the hotel manager of the hotel he had stayed at, as he was holding on to his equipment until he settled his bill. But supposedly, the police did an investigation and could not prove anything. So, then he said the only way to avoid jail was to give the police $10,000, so I sent him more money. So by the time he left the country, supposedly, I was out $80,000, which he promised to pay back in double. Every time I said I had no more money, he would cry and tell me I was the only person in the world that could help him. His mother was elderly and ill in England and he had no friends that could help him. Anyhow that was in April, and I have barely heard from him. He sent me one e-mail saying he had difficulty cashing the check. Now I know it was all a scam. I have filed a complaint at IC3.gov, which is the FBI branch for internet based crimes. The e-mail he used was [email protected], which traces to IP address 209-131-136-158, and the phone numbers he used was 2348075625267 and 2348083227542 from Nigeria . His accomplices are Jane Ricardo in U.K., Anthony Dicello and Zhang Rong Lin in China and Areh Ikemefunas in Nigeria. When in Florida, he used 904-209-9252 and 958-848-4683 to contact me. He has my address, my phone numbers, my bank account including routing # and some credit card info. I am very concerned that he might even attempt further criminal activities with my info. Please help stop this criminal and his accomplices.