Vietnamese girlfriend with alleged heart problems

The story does sound very familiar. Now, while of course there always
is a chance (albeit very small I'm afraid) the story is true, I'm
afraid I have heard this sad story and a couple of dozen variants
being told hundreds of times in Thailand.


Kris


On Wed, 7 Jan 2004 21:35:23 +0000 (UTC), "Simon"
wrote:

My brother-in-law, Jim, visited Vietnam a year ago and met a Vietnamese
partner. He has now returned to England, UK, but since his return he found
out that his 'girlfriend' has a serious heart problem. She is in and out of
hospital and relies on financial support from Jim.

Has anyone had similar experiences to this ?

Regards,
Simon.

He has now returned to England, UK, but since his return he found
out that his 'girlfriend' has a serious heart problem.

Cut her loose. It's a girlfriend, not a wife.

"Simon" wrote:

To add to this, Jim would like to go back over to Vietnam to see his
partner, but her family are putting up much resistance apparently because
they do not want help from the UK/USA !

Are you saying that they are happy to receive his financial support but
don't want him to go out in person? If this is the case, doesn't it sound
suspicious?

--
Dave Fossett
Saitama, Japan

why do you keep calling her his "partner"? Are they in business together?
Is this a homosexual relationship? If she is his gf, then say so. What's
with the "partner" thing?


"Simon" wrote in message
...
You sound very sure that this is a scam. Have you been through a similar
situation yourself or do you know of anyone who has ?

The latest with Jim is that he has just heard from his partner that she
has
had a heart transplant. Do you know if heart transplant operations are
carried out in Vietnam ?
To add to this, Jim would like to go back over to Vietnam to see his
partner, but her family are putting up much resistance apparently because
they do not want help from the UK/USA !

I would really appreciate anyone's thoughts/comments/experience on this
subject as I am very concerned for Jim........it is pulling him down, he
is
quite depressed and he can't concentrate on his work.

Simon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"John Roy" wrote in message
...

"Simon" wrote in message
...
My brother-in-law, Jim, visited Vietnam a year ago and met a
Vietnamese
partner. He has now returned to England, UK, but since his return he
found
out that his 'girlfriend' has a serious heart problem. She is in and
out
of
hospital and relies on financial support from Jim.

Has anyone had similar experiences to this ?
^^^
99% sure he is being scammed and her only "heart" problem is she doesn't
have one and he does. Traditionally a "real" vietnamese woman would not
even
even share information of her financial hardship out of modesty and
pride.

Jim should not even fool himself that there is a "white lie" and somehow
the
money is helping her. His money is supporting cards (gambling), drugs or
make-up for a vietnamese slut, likely one with puppy-dog eyes and easy
tears.

-J

Regards,
Simon.

In article , "Simon"
wrote:

You sound very sure that this is a scam. Have you been through a similar
situation yourself or do you know of anyone who has ?


Used to happen to business associates who traveled to Eastern
Europe quite often. Usually, just to rub a little more pain into
it, the money was also going to a deadbeat boyfriend.

One guy did what your brother is thinking about. He flew
out there, unannounced, and found her living with her
boyfriend's family. To top it off, this guy KNEW the
boyfriend. She had passed him off before as her "cousin."

Typically, it's that the girl can't get into the embassy,
needs airfare, has a sick mother, etc.


I would really appreciate anyone's thoughts/comments/experience on this
subject as I am very concerned for Jim........it is pulling him down, he is
quite depressed and he can't concentrate on his work.


When someone's that deep in ANY kind of scam, it takes a lot
of evidence to get them to stop suspending the window of
disbelief. When it finally dawns on him, you really need to
be there more than even now. Finding out that you've been
taken like this is extremely humiliating and people have done
some really stupid things out of shame. He's not alone. The
people who told me were very successful people, usually,
but were only able to joke about it a long time later.

"Simon" wrote in message ...

The latest with Jim is that he has just heard from his partner that she has
had a heart transplant. Do you know if heart transplant operations are
carried out in Vietnam ?

[snip]

As far as I can ascertain, Vietnam does not yet have the skills,
technology or pharmacology for major heart surgery. Such patients go
to Bangkok, Hong Kong or other regional centres.

Cheers,

George W. Russell
Hanoi

On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 20:14:37 +0000 (UTC), "Simon"
wrote:

You sound very sure that this is a scam. Have you been through a similar
situation yourself or do you know of anyone who has ?

Just curious, but where did Old Jim meet this flower of the orient??


To add to this, Jim would like to go back over to Vietnam to see his
partner, but her family are putting up much resistance apparently because
they do not want help from the UK/USA !

If Old Jim is really pulled down by this why doesn't he hop on a plane
and go see for himself?? How can her family control whether Old Jim
buys a plane ticket or not??


This is such a common story over here, but it is a bit unique in that
usually it's the family water buffalo that has the heart problem and
needs the transplant.

Tell Old Jim to get his ass on a plane and go see. If it's a scam
he'll know instantly and then can get on with his (rarther naive)
life. If it's not, he's show his flag, as it were, and who knows-
maybe it will work out for them.

I assume that this is a male Vietnamese that Old Jim is involved in,
as you keep refering to it as the 'partner'.


C.

You sound very sure that this is a scam. Have you been through a similar
situation yourself or do you know of anyone who has ?
^^^
I lived and worked in saigon for a long time and became very familiar things
there. And yes people have tried it on with me and other people, its
extremely common. I caught one person on a straight barefaced lie and they
still insist its the truth 3 years later ... hilarious. I got the whole
works -- tears, insistant denials - wow what a show, but my proof was solid
so I just found it so amusing how far they would take the scam.


The latest with Jim is that he has just heard from his partner that she
has
had a heart transplant. Do you know if heart transplant operations are
carried out in Vietnam ?
^^^
"Partner" so a guy right? generally the same story as the girls. Heart
transplant - right, so not only is this guy getting your brothers money he's
telling his friend over beers. oh god I can see it right now, him and 10 of
his vietnamese scumbags bend over with laughter about the heart transplant.

To add to this, Jim would like to go back over to Vietnam to see his
partner, but her family are putting up much resistance apparently because
they do not want help from the UK/USA !
^^^
This keeps getting better. Even if they are not interested in money and if
they are real "polite" vietnamese then this may well be the case ... but
they LOVE having visitors.

I would really appreciate anyone's thoughts/comments/experience on this
subject as I am very concerned for Jim........it is pulling him down, he
is
quite depressed and he can't concentrate on his work.
^^^
Your brother is getting scammed. Now I'm 99.999999% sure. All the signs are
right for it. Contact me directly if you like with more details and I'll
help.

This thing is also common amoungst vietnamese ... so common that lawyers
regularly hire guys to "find out" information. For a fee you could get
photographs and copies of hospital records. This is common practice. Contact
me and I'll put you in touch with a lawyer friend of mine in saigon, better
to send him a few $ for absolute proof of the scam than your brother waste
time and money.

Note:
- Where did they meet? work or introduction is OK, bar or night club ....
red light!
- Bet his friend doesn't want him to send money directly to the hospital -
right?

Don't give anyone here the e-mail address of the "partner" if third-parties
start contacting directly the scammers will go into "how could you do this
to me...." mode and that will really drag your brother down.

Heart transplant. Jesus I have to remember that one.
-J


Simon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"John Roy" wrote in message
...

"Simon" wrote in message
...
My brother-in-law, Jim, visited Vietnam a year ago and met a
Vietnamese
partner. He has now returned to England, UK, but since his return he
found
out that his 'girlfriend' has a serious heart problem. She is in and
out
of
hospital and relies on financial support from Jim.

Has anyone had similar experiences to this ?
^^^
99% sure he is being scammed and her only "heart" problem is she doesn't
have one and he does. Traditionally a "real" vietnamese woman would not
even
even share information of her financial hardship out of modesty and
pride.

Jim should not even fool himself that there is a "white lie" and somehow
the
money is helping her. His money is supporting cards (gambling), drugs or
make-up for a vietnamese slut, likely one with puppy-dog eyes and easy
tears.

-J

Regards,
Simon.

Just to be clear on the relationship, this is Jim's girlfriend (not
boyfriend) in Vietnam we are talking about.

Simon.



"Simon" wrote in message
...
You sound very sure that this is a scam. Have you been through a similar
situation yourself or do you know of anyone who has ?

The latest with Jim is that he has just heard from his partner that she
has
had a heart transplant. Do you know if heart transplant operations are
carried out in Vietnam ?
To add to this, Jim would like to go back over to Vietnam to see his
partner, but her family are putting up much resistance apparently because
they do not want help from the UK/USA !

I would really appreciate anyone's thoughts/comments/experience on this
subject as I am very concerned for Jim........it is pulling him down, he
is
quite depressed and he can't concentrate on his work.

Simon

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~


"John Roy" wrote in message
...

"Simon" wrote in message
...
My brother-in-law, Jim, visited Vietnam a year ago and met a
Vietnamese
partner. He has now returned to England, UK, but since his return he
found
out that his 'girlfriend' has a serious heart problem. She is in and
out
of
hospital and relies on financial support from Jim.

Has anyone had similar experiences to this ?
^^^
99% sure he is being scammed and her only "heart" problem is she doesn't
have one and he does. Traditionally a "real" vietnamese woman would not
even
even share information of her financial hardship out of modesty and
pride.

Jim should not even fool himself that there is a "white lie" and somehow
the
money is helping her. His money is supporting cards (gambling), drugs or
make-up for a vietnamese slut, likely one with puppy-dog eyes and easy
tears.

-J

Regards,
Simon.

"Simon" wrote:
You sound very sure that this is a scam. Have you been through a similar
situation yourself or do you know of anyone who has ?

I've seen variations of this with countless Vietnamese acquaintences. In those cases it was
family members out to get some extra money, which is exactly, without a doubt, what is
happening here.

The latest with Jim is that he has just heard from his partner that she has
had a heart transplant. Do you know if heart transplant operations are
carried out in Vietnam ?

No, they aren't. I will verify that as I work with a number of doctors here in the USA who
go to VN regularly.

Doug Reese
Vietnamtourism/Washington DC