Christy Ortega
Complaint 172755 Details

Christy claimed to be a Marine Engineer who found my profile on face book. She began expressing a serious interest in me and before the end of September she had to go to Russia for a month and go out on a ship. By this time she claimed to be in love with me. After exchanging telephone numbers we spoke on the phone frequently even after she sailed out on her ship. In Malaysia, she told me they were in danger of being over-run by pirates.Therefore, she placed her contract, 250,000 British Pounds, and her daughter's picture in a security box and mailed it to me. The company sending the box was an actual company, at least according to their web site. They sent me a bill stating she paid international fees amounting to $13,602.00. However, her ship left before she could pay internal fees, such as the Value Added Tax for Malaysia, which came to $1550.00 She asked me to pay that because her ship left Malaysia before she could get back to the company to pay those fees. She told me to take that money from her after the parcel arrived.The money was to be sent via a Western Union Money Gram, broken up into two payments because there's a limit for one money gram. After I told her that I had to report to customs that I received 250,000 British Pounds (Over $499,600.00)from a foreign national and she would be required to explain the source of her money and why she sent it to me. She got mad and did not respond anymore.
This woman appeared to be so sincere. I received an email from British Airways stating she paid for a ticket to my home town, but she really had no intention of keeping that date, because her arrival date conflicted with her shipping job in Russia. The flight information was valid and it stated a fee over $10,000 was paid for a business class ticket. It was a refundable ticket, so she had the option of a refund. This whole operation was complicated and very convincing considering the companies used were valid organizations. The fact that she backed away from me when I told her the funds must me reported to U.S. Customs opened my eyes. I did not lose my $1550, but I was very close to sending the money. People tell me it was a scam, but I did not accept that until I knew she felt threatened reporting her cash to customs. And then I realized, everyone was probably right.