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Well, it looks like America's most notorious Scam agency may have just scammed the wrong person.

Over the past few years I have received several reports from men about how they were scammed by Ashley Neal and the scam agency Face of Siberia. I have a friend who one year ago bought 10 address's from this agency and had the 10 letters personally hand delivered to these 10 ladies only to find out that 8 of the 10 ladies had no idea they were on this website and they had no interest in marriage to a foreign man. Each of these 8 ladies said they only signed up for a beauty pageant that Ashley Neal was promoting. When confronted with this, as well as all the other allegations by others, of course scammer Ashley Neal denied such.

This morning I received this e-mail from a man I do not know and have never heard from before. Is his story true or not, I will leave that question for each of you to decide.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Alex Roy"
To: Jack Bragg
Sent: Thursday, December 12, 2002 2:52 AM
Subject: FaceofSiberia.com is a scam

FaceofSiberia.com is a scam

Sequence of Events:

12/01/2002
I visited FaceofSiberia.com. It is a Russian Marriage
Agency. I was interested in only one lady, Yuliya
Ilyinich(2115). I called the owner of
FaceofSiberia.com, Ashley Neal in San Antonio, TX(
tel. 1-210-824-6982). He never answers the phone, so I
left a message to call me regarding Yuliya
Ilyinich(2115). I wanted to find out if she was in
fact was available and had a telephone number. He
never called me back, instead he emailed me back and
said that he would not discuss any ladies with me
unless I became a "Personal Consultation client" for
only $500 or "Personal Matchmaking client" for $2500.

12/02/2002
I emailed Ashley Neal (faceofsiberia@nospam.com) again
to ask if I could just buy Yuliya Ilyinich's(2115)
telephone number. He refused. I was informed the least
expensive ($149) package I could buy to get her
telephone number was "Package A":
· Profile, and Photo Submission of Yourself
· 20 Addresses and Phone Numbers
· 10 Tokens for email
· Online Visa Kit
I asked again if Yuliya Ilyinich's(2115) was indeed
available. He finally said yes. I repeatedly told him
that I was only interested in Yuliya Ilyinich's(2115),
and not others. I reluctantly bought for $149. They
only sent me 7 telephone numbers. I was told to first
use email tokens when initiating contact with Yuliya
Ilyinich's(2115) and send her email and wait for her
response. I did as I was told.
12/03/2002
No response

12/04/02
No Response

12/05/02
No response. I called Yuliya Ilyinich's(2115). I sent
the following email to Ashley:
Ashley,
As I said earlier, I was only interested in Yuliya
Ilyinich (2115). But you would not sell me only her
telephone number, so I had to buy your Package A.
As you suggested, I first sent her an email using your
token system. I waited a few days. No response. I then
called her and to spoke her personally. I was very
polite with her. She was nice and polite with me. We
spoke in Russian. We understood each other very well.
She was very clear that she was only interested in
competing in the Beauty Contest put on by your company
earlier this year and NOT interested in your marriage
agency. She told me that she informed your company on
several occasions. Naturally, I was dissapointed, and
we said good-bye.
I also called 2 other girls, Elena Timiryakova (2120)
and Natalia Zubina (2176). Both of theses girls told
me almost exactly the same thing that Yuliya Ilyinich
told me.
I have absolutely no interest in any of your other
girls.
This experience has been another waste of money and
time for me.
It is not fair to me that I have to pay for this.
Please refund credit card. I would like to just forget
about this.
Thanks,
Alex Roy


All three girls also told me that they never even
visit the "marriage agency" to check emails. They did
not even know the name of the "marriage Agency" in
their home town of Omsk, Russia.

Ashley Neal emailed me back and refused to give me a
refund for totally ridiculous reasons related to me
being an Arab.(Which I am not) Even if I was, the
ladies had no knowledge of my ethnicity. They never go
to the "marriage agency" to look at any photos. His
email was very aggressive and insulting.

12/10/02
I got this email from one of the fake ladies:
--- Sibiriada wrote:
 J34 Snejana Sobinova to Alex Roy
 
 
 
 Dear Alex, Hi!
 
 I found your profile in faceofsiberia.com and I am
 very interesting about you. I'll tell you about me.
 My
 
 name is Snejana. I am 19 y.o. I am working in
 restaurant's business and just the same time I study
 at bank's
 
 school. My hobby is modeling business, I was
 published many time on covers famous magazines. I am
 
 
 single, haven't children. I am looking for only
 serious relations. Please, tell me more about
 yourself. Why are
 
 you look for Russian woman? I will be glad to get
 your reply soon.
 
 Take care, Snejana

I sent the Following email:
From: Alex Roy
To: Sibiriada
Sent: Tuesday, December 10, 2002 2:35 AM
Subject: Re: J34 Snejana Sobinova to Alex Roy

Hi Snejana,
I can speak Russian.
Please email me your telephone number.
I will call you.
Thanks,
Alex

I got the following response:

????????????

I though you do not want our services???????????????

Didn't you see that sign:
 To answer please login to www.faceofsiberia.com open
 personal page of the lady and click on link Email
 Her.
JUST REMEMBER ONE THING - YOU ARE RIGHT - WE DON'T
NEED YOU, JUST AS MUCH AS OUR LADIES DON'T NEED YOU
EASER.

BACK OFF, AND DO NOT CONTACT US, OR OUR AGENCIES, OR
OUR LADIES. I WILL MAKE SURE ALL OF THE LADIES THAT
YOU GOT ADDRESSES AND PHONE NUMBERS OF WILL KNOW WHAT
KIND OF PERSON YOU ARE.

If we are scam and "white trash" WHY DO YOU STILL
CONTACTING OUR AGENCIES AND WOMEN??

You are out of email tokens already, you got
addresses, phone numbers - now BACK OFF. You are on
your own.

Da, eshe esli ti razgovarivaesh po-russki, yi bi
hotela uznat naskolko horosho ti poymesh etu frazu :
poshel na huy.

Yuliya Neal
www.faceofsiberia.com

ps. Andrey and Severina I am sending to you emails
from this individual and numbers of the ladies that he
tried to contact in next email, please make sure all
of this ladies will see what a low trash he is.

------
The fact is I gave them $149.00 and I received
nothing.


Description of Fraud:

This "marriage agency" sold me telephone numbers of
ladies that were fraudulent. The only purpose of the
ladies photos on www.faceofsiberia.com is to sell
"packages" and "memberships" for hundreds and
thousands of dollars to lonely and desperate American
men. I myself speak Russian and I am able to
breakthrough the lies, deception, and fraud. To top it
all off, they even had the nerve to send me a fake
email from on of their "ladies" (J34 Snejana
Sobinova).

If anyone else was cheated by faceofsiberia.com,
please email me at aroy3719@nospam.com . I am filing a
class action lawsuit for all the plaintiffs.

The amount of scamming done by internet dating
agencies is exploding. Lonely American men are being
victimized and cheated constantly. Most of these
lonely American men are too embarrassed to file
complaints. Something must be done.

That is the end of the original e-mail I received from Alex.

Ashley, I am sure you are reading this and I want you to know you are a disgrace to every honest agency owner in America. This sort of thing happens in the FSU and although we do not like, it is known to happen and expected. This type of scamming and dis-honesty is not expected from an American agency owner and I for one hope you have cheated and scammed your last client and you get what's coming to you.

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

I also had a negative experience with that agency.  I had a similar experience with women who were personally contacted by a third party in Siberia and most of the women said they were not interested in marrying an American man and were not aware they were even on a "marriage agency" website.  Also, I purchased a "year's membership" on FOS and "Foreign Secret," and a few months later Foreign Secrets went under and FOS changed the format of the website to a "purchase a token" system and my membership account was somehow de-activated...but I was not given a refund.  It was a small amount of money (I think $149) and not worth even an hour's worth of my time to complain.  But, Jack's persistance has convinced me send notice of what I consider to be fraudulant activity to the Texas AG's office.  (I'll keep you informed, Jack.)

... in response to Re: America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by johnnydudeman on Dec 14, 2002

I am proud of you Johnny dudeman.

I would love for Assley to deny what happened and threaten  lawsuit as he knows he screwed the wrong person in S.A.

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

Texas is one of the most agressive states in the nation to combat corruption and fraud.

Your just wasting time writing letters to the siberian website

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

I hope he gets what he deserves!

... in response to Let Him Rot a Jail Cell, posted by Bobby Orr on Dec 12, 2002

Lets hope he gets his just reward.

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

Isn't this the guy that was interviewed on a syndicated talk show not to long ago?

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

I looked at this agency once but the set up and the pricing policy did not smell good. Since then (at least 6 months ago), I still appear to be on their regular email hawking list and cannot seem to unsubscribe to their spam email marketing. I wish your correspondent every success in closing this business down, and I hope the face behind it can be prevented from resurfacing under a new name.

... in response to Re: America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Streetwise on Dec 12, 2002

I hope so also Streetwise. This guy gives not only the industry a blackeye but indirectly all who pursue a Russian bride because of the horror stories that surface from such individuals.

If this guy Alex does pursue legal actions against Face of Scam I bet he will be successful. And I bet he is getting other guys who have been scammed by Ass Neal to write him.

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

[This message has been edited by BubbaGump]

We had negative posts on the earlier.  Too bad Faces of Siberia is fake because they did have some great women on their site.  Is the guy running this agency the same one that used to run Club Prima?  That guy was suposed to be very dishonest also.

... in response to We suspected them already, posted by BubbaGump on Dec 12, 2002

Bubba, Club Prima was run out of Austin, Faces of Scam is out of San Antonio.

I had not heard anything, or experienced anything negative about Club Prima, did you use them much?

During the mid to late 90's I was dealing with several different agencies and keeping track of the ladies who responded back. I had my highest percentage of replies from Club Prima at about 32%, Scanna was a close second at almost 30%. Scanna was a pretty good site before they sold out to Anastasia. My reply rate from Anastasia was 7%, European Connection 8%. They were the lowest replies rate I had.

... in response to (*/*), posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

I was only in the investigating stage back in those days.  I think Club Prima was out of San Marcos which is in the San Antonio area but not far from Austin.  That's why I was wondering if the agencies were related.  I heard Club Prima spent a lot of time harassing their competitors but don't know if that's true or not.  

The surge of women in marriage agencies makes me wonder what the reason is.  Are more women advertising because they are hearing good things from women abroad or are they deciding we are easy picking?  Do you have any idea what the response rate is for men writing women from your agency?

... in response to Re: (*/*), posted by BubbaGump on Dec 12, 2002

Bubba,
I think you accurately hit on two of the reasons behind the surge.  Also, from what I've garnered, more than just a few of these ladies have no idea they're even on a MOB website AND those that do know have no idea they're on multiple websites. Unfortuneately, this does not seem to bode well for the long term survival of the entire MOB business.  I'm looking forward to Jack's answer to response rates and/or his opinion re: all this.
Bob

... in response to Re: Re: (*/*), posted by robobond on Dec 12, 2002

Bubba and Robo, will answer your very good questions later this evening or hopefully by sometime tomorrow, just swamped at the moment.

And Bubba, you are absolutely correct, Club Prima was located in San Marcos, a beautiful city in the hill country between Austin and San Antonio. When I was a young lad of 20 to 30 I made many trips to San Marcus to canoe down the white waters of the Guadalupe river just below Canyon dam.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: (*/*), posted by Jack on Dec 13, 2002

I think we have to realize the response rate may not be all that great even at a completely honest agency.  If an ordinary guy writes to the hottest women on your website then he can't really expect a great response rate.  Of women that wrote me first, I did not get a great response rate to my letters.  I can only assume I was not enthusiastic enough, they didn't like where I lived or maybe they wrote several men and I was not their first choice.  I would be embarrased to tell you the percentage of women I replied to of the women that wrote me first.  

For a typical agency I would guess 10 to 20% for the response rate of women to men.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: (*/*), posted by Jack on Dec 13, 2002

Jack.

I think it would be an interesting and valuable service if you could give the response rate for your agency and also perhaps some thoughts of the other question (why the upsurge) and your opinions on the future of the CIS MOB internet future.Perhaps in essay form like the introduction on your agency web site.

... in response to Re: Re: Re: Re: (*/*), posted by Watcher on Dec 13, 2002

Like "Watcher" above, I too would find it useful and enjoyable reading your insights on the current state of the (poor choice of words)"MOB" industry. Admittedly, you could probably write a book regarding my short questions and may not have the time or inclination but .......... How has the industry evolved since it's inception??? How have the perceptions (disillusionment? or heightened excitement?) and expectations of FSU ladies changed??? Have FSU ladies themselves changed over the past 10 or 12 years? How about the AM pursuing FSU ladies today vice 10 or 12 years ago? Any discernable, recent trends? Any predictions concerning the future of the industry? Opinions? Again, in one brief paragraph, I may be asking you to write a book. Thanks in advance for anything you can offer.

... in response to America's Biggest Scam Agency!!!, posted by Jack on Dec 12, 2002

At one time, Foriegn Secrets was legitimate. He actually delivered. That was a time when the economy was much better. Since the demise of Foriegn Secrets, probably due to having recruited scammers, anything Ashley Neal does is now suspect. I remember when I posted a some comments on "Faces" and nutball Drew went crying to Ashley to come post here. He did, but he refused to comment on why "Secrets" took a dump or any other queries as to his business practices.

Now it seems that Ashley is scamming both the Russian girls and his clients. What a sleaze.

If Alex received anything that mentions money or charges by the US mail, he can file a complaint for mail fraud. A conviction would shut down that crooked agency for good.

Perhaps it's a good idea to request an agency to send you information by US postal mail. If you get scammed, you can take it up the with US postal inpectors.

-blm