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My online boyfriend asked me to do bank transfer because he is in another country and he can't access it.So I log in to his account and I did the transaction, there was an international pin ,cot pin, and conversion code and I successfully transferred it. Then I logged out his account. But when I tried logging in again, it says the bank account is suspended. So I tried reaching out the bank and they said my IP location and address in not on Whitelist and they require me to pay the fee which is 2090 dollars. So I did pay but they ask again for another payment inorder to allow me to new transfer fund and the fee is 5000 dollars. I got suspicious so I never tried paying it again and my online boyfriend is frustrated, but I suspected him too because he ask me to pay the fee but I don't have the money and he don't have that.

Now I'm highly suspicious if my boyfriend is in cahoots with the bank and if the bank is legit or not

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    I removed the link so that other people don't accidentally fall into the trap. This is clearly a scam and the "boyfriend" is scamming you.
    – littleadv
    Nov 28, 2022 at 1:05
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    To help avoid being scammed again in the future, I would strongly recommend visiting consumer.ftc.gov/articles/how-avoid-scam . That's a page maintained by the US government, but the advice should be good even if you are in another country.
    – keshlam
    Nov 28, 2022 at 1:22
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    I hope you did not pay that first 2090 fee out of your own pocket. No one just pays a fee that high on someone else's behalf without running it by them first. That's a lot of money.
    – DKNguyen
    Nov 28, 2022 at 2:22
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    Ignoring all the other red lights, his account being suspended is your problem... how? You did what he asked you to do. If that resulted in "his" account being suspended (I'm assuming it was not his account, and wanted the access tied to your location, not his), he can pay the fee to unlock it. Frankly, this doesn't even sound like a real bank. No verification of who is unlocking the account; they just sell renewed access to anyone willing to fork over $2000? And a $5000 transfer fee? How much money are you transferring?
    – chepner
    Nov 28, 2022 at 14:26
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    @DKNguyen you'd be amazed how gullible people can be. The scammers are masters of identifying people who are easily trusting, and would not even try checking whether Austria has a southern coast or Nigeria has royalty. You're saying the mark should have run it by the scammer, but maybe she did - what help would it be?
    – littleadv
    Nov 28, 2022 at 19:01

3 Answers 3

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Any time someone asks you to move their money through your account, assume it is a scam.

Any time someone asks you to log in as them, assume it is a scam.

Any time someone asks you to do them a favor and there's an unexpected fee, assume it is a scam.

Any time someone tells you that something has to happen Right Now, assume it's a scam.

Always ask yourself why they need you to do this for them rather than contacting someone they know better or already have a business relationship with.

Remember that anyone you know only on the Internet is still a stranger. And may be a complete fiction existing only to get you interested enough to be scammed. (And yes, this means any "internet boyfriend or girlfriend" must be considered untrustworthy, just as any other kind of penpal must, until proven otherwise. Sorry; that's the world we live in. Have fun with your online chats but do not take them seriously unless you know the person In Real Life -- and even that isn't always enough.)

Yes, there are sometimes legitimate exceptions. But they're vanishingly rare, and should be cross checked using contacts other than the ones they gave you before being trusted.

At least you got suspicious after the first $2000. It could have been worse.

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  • ..."Any time someone tells you that something has to happen Right Now" - it IS a scam. Excepting clearly timed items like a taxi to the airport.
    – Therac - Peace for Palestine
    Nov 29, 2022 at 5:10
  • I wouldn't pay for a stranger's taxi to the airport unless I was willing to lose that money. Urgent does not necessarily mean important, especially when it's someone else's urgency that they shouldn't actually need your help with
    – keshlam
    Nov 29, 2022 at 5:27
  • (BTW, thanks, rephrased.)
    – keshlam
    Nov 29, 2022 at 5:28
  • For a flight, urgency is implied. All other financial transactions - all other than paying for public transport - are normally time-insensitive. Asking for urgency when it's not really reqiured is an extremely common tactic for suppressing the victim's diligence.
    – Therac - Peace for Palestine
    Nov 29, 2022 at 5:31
  • True. Con artists want you to react before you think about whether what you are hearing actually makes sense.
    – keshlam
    Nov 29, 2022 at 9:12
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I'm sorry but there is no boyfriend and there is no bank.

You just gave away $2,090 to an Internet stranger. I don't know how you sent this money but assume it's gone forever.

To be in cahoots implies that at least two parties are involved but your "boyfriend" and "bank" are quite likely the same entity; err, criminal.

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    I would dispute your last word. It should be "criminal," not "entity."
    – WGroleau
    Nov 29, 2022 at 1:35
  • @WGroleau Fair enough!
    – MonkeyZeus
    Nov 29, 2022 at 15:27
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You already have a good answer but this can be answered way way easier.

There is no reason to ever ask someone to login to a site because their country is blocked. Sites have to follow regulations of countries to do business in those countries but banks/websites are not internet police.

For $5 a month (or possibly free) anyone can sign up for a reputable VPN service and can login from virtually most countries in the world. The website does not care if they are on a VPN.

So yea its a scam and the "excuse" is pitiful as it is something that maybe would have a tiny bit of teeth 20+ years ago.

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    Sorry to contradict, but when you are abroad, bank can REALLY be a pain in the a$$. That what makes this scam a bit plausible. For the record, my multiple bad experiences are with french banks.
    – Madlozoz
    Nov 28, 2022 at 20:59
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    It honestly does depend on the bank, but some of them will block all VPN services, so its not a guaranteed solve.
    – B-K
    Nov 28, 2022 at 23:13
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    Also, some countries (China?) block VPNs or at least try to. But that doesn't change the fact that OP got scammed. It just amazes me how often I've seen warnings on TV and social media about this, and yet criminals keep doing it because people keep falling for it..
    – WGroleau
    Nov 29, 2022 at 1:36
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    I banked with multiple US banks that wouldn't allow me to log in into their online portals while I was traveling abroad, it can most definitely be a nuisance in some situations. Also, many geo-filters have pretty decent VPN detection.
    – littleadv
    Nov 29, 2022 at 6:28
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    @blankip Maybe all reputable banks where you live recommend a VPN but thats not the entire world, so you can't just make blanket statements saying that something never happens. For the record, here in Australia, I or my friends/family have had issues connecting to 3 of the 4 biggest banks by a VPN (no not porting through another country, just connecting from Australia to Australian servers), and the only reason I can't comment on the fourth is that I don't know anyone with an account there. I'm sure there are many more banks around the world with similar situations...
    – B-K
    Nov 29, 2022 at 6:37

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