WHO is Nataliya Sokol - or Natasha, as she calls herself? She (or he) is almost certainly not the young woman in the photographs she will send to you from Yoshkar-Ola, in the Mari-El Republic of the Russian Federation, if you are a lonely man who responds to her professions of eternal and tearful love. The young woman in the pictures is probably someone else - a student, housewife, worker or unemployed person who has supplied the writer of the letters/emails with the wherewithal to swindle gullible men out of thousands of dollars. In return for her pictures, and possibly a few personal details, the young woman has received some money from the scammer - who may, as I have said, be a man. And that, I suspect, is the extent of her involvement in the subterfuge.
I was intially contacted by Natasha through FriendCircles, a worthy enterprise that has, unfortunately, been infiltrated by scammers of all kinds. If you join FC, you may also receive scam emails of the "Nigerian" variety. Typically, the writer of the email has received, or has access to, a huge sum of money, which he or she wants to transfer to your bank account, so that it can be "invested" in your country. In return for your providing access to your account, the writer offers a "commission" of 20% or so - which always amounts to several million dollars. The stories told in these emails, to explain how the writer came to have such a fortune, are ludicrous, and often involve the original owner of the money dying in an air crash and conveniently leaving no next of kin. But the mere fact that masses of these emails are still being sent out shows that some greedy, gullible recipients are still responding to them, and sending the requested "fees" for the transfer of the money.
Natasha's English is appalling to the point of incomprehensibility. But she knows what she has to say to make a good impression. She loves nature, adores children, feels sorry for the homeless, goes to church regularly, and is cultural enough to appreciate the music of Tchaikovsky. She is also very emotional - and free with her flattery, as well as her hints of the physical pleasures to come. If the letters have a fault - apart from the atrocious English - it is that they are set pieces, which can be sent to almost anyone. Don't expect Natasha to directly address matters you raise in your letters. Even when I said I was flying to Russia the next day, and would see her the following Friday at her (bogus) address, there was no appropriate response.
As a 64-year-old married man, I never saw myself as a suitable partner for a 30-year-old fiery redhead from the Republic of Mari-El. I was, however, prepared to give her a helping hand, so to speak, by constructing a small website for her - a task that required that I do a little research into the city of Yoshkar-Ola (which I must confess I had never heard of before). And it was then that the truth about Natasha was revealed. At the time of writing, she is on two blacklists - one a list of bogus brides, and the other a list of non-existent women that has been posted on the net by a floral business that is tired of trying to deliver flowers to all the "Natashas" between Ukraine and Siberia. For the first list, click here; for the second, click here.
The hope of Nataliya Sokol, and others like her, is that the correspondence will lead to a proposal of marriage, which will enable her to request money for a visa, travel to Moscow, and a flight to her lover's home country. When this is provided, needless to say, the lover is of no further use, and can be unceremoniously dumped. - Alan Ireland, May 2005.
PICTURES
Natasha posing in what appears to be a Russian apartment.
Too hot to handle? Natasha in a sizzling studio shot.
Another studio shot of Natasha, looking a little less severe.
This picture of Natasha is so hideous, I wonder why she sent it to me.
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INDEX: HOMEPAGE SCHIZOPHRENIA KIWICRAFTS LUCKY KIWI PERSONALS