Tuesday, March 6, 2012

WARNING: Scam artist targets donor-conceived

A man going by Steve Curtis has been emailing donor-conceived adults telling them he is their biological father.

An email reported on fraudwatchers.org states the following:

> Subject: YOUR ARE MY DONOR OFFSPRING...

> Hello,

> My name is Steve Curtis and you are my donor offspring. i am sorry i am
> writing you now to inform you that i am your donor parent. I have been
> trying all that i can to locate you all to no avail. But now, i found your
> posting over the internet trying to locate me and i took the opportunity
> to write you immediately.

> My dear, i really want to meet you cos its been a long time i left the
> states to UK and now am happy i have found you. Please, get back to me so
> that i can send you my phone number so that we can discuss on how to get
> close to each other.

> Once again, i am willing to do anything just to meet you and hug you once
> again.

> Thanks and God bless you,
> Steve Curtis.



His email address is mr.stevecurtis@live.com, and the street address he gives (18 Berwick St,
London, UK) in his message is that of a London restaurant (http://www.mediterraneancafe.co.uk).


This is HUGELY concerning to me, as this is obviously a very emotionally charged subject for all of us, and especially the young offspring who are posting their information on sites like AmFOR, that may not have the understanding or savviness to realize that this is scam.  


Please get this message out not to fall for this scam, but also be diligent in screening your emails in the future...I feel that this won't be an isolated incident.  Unfortunately, something like this could be detrimental for actual contact, if the recipient feels that it could be a scam. 

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

As IF the DCP's don't have ENOUGH social, emotional, search issues to deal with already. This person should be prosecuted, jailed and made and example of. Unfathomable, all time low.

Rebecca S said...

My first thought is "serial killer". I know that might sound a little overly paranoid but I studied sociology - more specifically criminology - for my undergrad & this screams mentally unstable guy! Scarry!!! Thanks for posting this warning Linds.

Rebecca S

Anonymous said...

"Once again, i am willing to do anything just to meet you and hug you once again"

This doesn't even make sense!!

Whoever wrote this email must be stupid. Not just for writing it, but, for the lack of authenticity in the email's contents.

In my search for my donor, I've emailed thousands of graduates from the university my donor supposedly attended, asking if they were donors. Most obviously weren't, but a handful were.

Out of that handful there were two that said they donated, but couldn't give me any relevant information, ie:clinic name, location, dates etc.

Something just didn't sit right. I think that for whatever self-serving purpose, these guys falsely admitted to donating.

Makes my blood boil thinking about it- The tone of this email sounds more like more common spam $cam$ than the work of a someone trying to cause emotional, or physical damage.

Rae said...

He said 'cos' instead of because.."My dear, i really want to meet you cos its been a long time". This lets me know right off the bat that he is a kid with perfect texting skills.... I surely hope that no one was fooled by this goof.