Dubious about Dubai: fun trip or kidnapping ploy?

I received the below email. I'm interested in everyones thoughts/opinions. I've taken out specific details to conform to the Eccie guidlines. Some things I would like to know/specify:

I am not in Washington D.C yet this man contacts me from D.C.

Is this a scam/kidnapping ploy??

Has anyone else recieved a similar email?

Is Dubai a big kidnapping mecca?

I'm not interested in going but I was at first: if it's too good to be true it usually is. I had to remind myself of that.




"Hi there,

My name is XXXXXX and i work as a research officer for XXXX and am located in Washington, DC. I will be going on a trip to Dubai, UAE for 5days and would like to have you as my travel companion. I will take care of all your travel expenses as well as getting a travel agent to prepare a document for you. I do not have a reference, i'm new to this.

I have made all necessary reservation as my company knows that i will not be traveling alone. Nevertheless, I will need your measurements (for shoe and cloth size etc.) in getting you a nice outfit that will suit different gathering; such as accompanying me to some of my meetings, going to a cocktail party, clubs and casinos.

About the donation, i will be willing to donate $2000/day and that makes it a total of $10000. Please get back to me with questions and i will be glad to explain further.

Regards
XXXXX"

Lol. We get those emails every week. It's either a kidnapping ploy or money laundering scam.

Screams scam to me. He's a newbie but ready to schedule a 5-day, overseas trip with a lady he's never met? He goes ahead and offers a number (that sounds impressive, and he knows it) instead of asking? Offers to clothe you and make documents for you? "Oh I'll take good care of you, baby." He doesn't offer or request to meet first to soothe both of your nerves or get to know each other? He doesn't ask ANY questions that a newbie or gent that cared about or was interested in YOU would. I'm ALWAYS suspicious about everything, and these things jumped at me immediately. He just doesn't talk like a newbie who's never done such a thing before, you know?

Your suspicions seem correct to me. Forget about it, it was never a legit offer.

No way! This was the first time I every recieved anything like this. Made me think.

Check here: http://www.eccie.net/showthread.php?t=178199, about a month ago.

Go at your own peril.

SCAM! Anyone wanting to pay that much upfront is either a con man or a total doofus...neither of which I would want to deal with lol.

I get emails like that all the time; this morning it was a PA for someone going to Canada. I think eventually they'll ask for wiring instructions and maybe more info than needed so they can pay you or they'll send you fake traveller's checks.

Charles Studor, thank you for the link. Wow! Now that I know it's a scam, I'm curious where it leads to......I think the Nigerian scam is taking on new forms.

I would tend to think it's in the arena of the Nigerian scams.

If not a scam, aside from kidnapping worries, Dubai/UAE is not a place you want to be right now. With the state of unrest unfolding across much of the Middle East/Africa (uncluding some riots in UAE and Jordan, which used to be rather tame, and now some in Saudi Arabia), I would not want to be in that area if things really hit the fan.

Libya/Qaddafi isn't going down without a fight, and all surrounding regions are potential collateral damage. Unless you're getting more than a few grand per day plus a private highly skilled security detail and an armored vehicle, I wouldn't consider going there right now. (Even the private security details are upping their rates now...so that should tell you something about heading over there right now, even if the offer were true.)

Regardless, I'd hesitate going out of the country with anyone I hadn't seen on several occasions beforehand. Half way across the globe on a plane is not the time to have your gut instincts about a person kick in

BTW...your avatar is hysterical!

Ya know, The man sent me some photos and I can't find them anywhere in my inbox now....
The thing that worries me is I always thought the middle east were breeding grounds for sexual slavery. I know Turkey is or was at some point. I admit his offer of 2k a day and clothes and clubbing sounded oh so tempting. But then I came to earth and I realized, if it's too good to be true it usually is!

if it's too good to be true it usually is! Originally Posted by incognito isis

Yup. The guy that tried to scam me also sent me pictures. He even went as far as calling me. yeah..

Yup. The guy that tried to scam me also sent me pictures. He even went as far as calling me. yeah.. Originally Posted by Naomi4u

I thought it was worth a shot...I didn't know what else to do...

I dont know which I hear about more, this one or the manager of the Rock Band scam.
Guess they are having to get more creative with that scams

Ed you are so funny, you and that sexxxy voice

The thing that worries me is I always thought the middle east were breeding grounds for sexual slavery. I know Turkey is or was at some point. Originally Posted by incognito isis

They are. There are so many Russian women in Turkey and the Middle East that if you want a hooker you say "I want a Natasha". Which makes it all that much more suspect, anyone going to one of these areas could find a huge selection of absolutely beautiful women for a fraction of the cost of actually taking one along.

Ya know, The man sent me some photos and I can't find them anywhere in my inbox now....
The thing that worries me is I always thought the middle east were breeding grounds for sexual slavery. I know Turkey is or was at some point. I admit his offer of 2k a day and clothes and clubbing sounded oh so tempting. But then I came to earth and I realized, if it's too good to be true it usually is! Originally Posted by incognito isis

I have friends who have done consulting work over there and from what they say, Jordan, Dubai, and UAE are pretty progressive and were reasonably safe if you followed some common sense travel rules, didn't stick out, and as a female, didn't go around scantily clad.

That being said, no place in the Middle East is really safe for companion work...especially if the companion is a Westerner. Punishment for women sleeping with someone other than their husband (even if you don't have a husband) can be death. If a man asks to marry you and you refuse, in some Mid East countries they can legally throw acid on you (that's happened).

AND if you are arrested over there for something (even if you didn't do it), your religion or lack thereof will be held against you by the judge. In Mubarak run Egypt for example, you could be Muslim, Christian, or Jewish, anything else and you legally couldn't get state ID. Many judges would rule harshly even if you were Jewish or Christian. Mubarak may be out, but I doubt that will really change.

Unless you know you're traveling with someone who will really cover your ass, even the funds and the clothing aren't worth it.

Next thing you know, you're over there with some shady judge telling you that you can work your way out of the charges, and then you find yourself in scene straight out of the movie Hostel. Yikes!

His pics were probably stolen from Photobucket or purchased on a stock photography site so even if you posted them he'd probably just use new ones the next time. At least you've given a heads up to the potential scam.

FYI, the Nigerian scam thing works in other areas too. About 4 yrs ago I was renting a room in my house and was looking for a roommate on roommates.com and they were even scamming on there...offering to send over the amount required (in certified checks of course) for 1st and last month's rent if I mailed them back the extra so they would have some "US funds" to use when he or she got here. I'm guessing there are few arenas in which they'll try to use that scam.