Stupid scams: The fraud girl from Russia

Spam seems to follow a 'flavour of the month' pattern. Certain types of spam become popular for a period of time.

Nigerian scams had theirs. Recently 'cheap meds' had their moment. Now it seems it's time for the dating scams. Here's a recent example.

Dear friend,
I found youbr pictaureb on one of the websites, acan we talk to
each otaher? I might be coming to your place in few aweeks.
This would be a grbeat opportunity to meet each other.
Btw, I am a woman. I am 25. Drop me a line at [email removed]

I love the "Btw, I am a woman" line near the end. As if to say "If you speak to me, there's a good chance you'll get laid".

Typically here's what this scam is intended to do.

1) Lonely and gullible man receives email and wonders "Wow, who is this chick"?
2) Man responds to email.
3) 'Woman' responds to man. Probably sends pictures to show how hot she is.
4) Man thinks he's on to something and invites her to visit.
5) She needs help with her ticket. For some reason she can't buy the ticket herself but promises that if you send her the money for the ticket, she'll return the money when she arrives.
6) Man sends money and never hears from them again.

This site has a nice write-up of this type of scam.

Fraud girl from Russia