Scam or not?

[KenC]

Someone posted the website (http://www.freepersonals.ru/cgi-bin/search.pl) a little while back.  Before I recommend it to a friend, has anyone used it?  Is it on the up and up or not?
KenC

[Philb]

... in response to Scam or not?, posted by KenC on Dec 8, 2002

I have corresponded with several women whose profiles were posted on this site and I am actually thinking about going to see 2 of them.  I have never been directly asked for money or to pay for correspondence by any of them (sometimes it was strongly hinted at).

The women on this site appear to run the gamut in that some are affiliated with agencies and some have their own email and use an internet cafe.  I think that most of the  agencies that post profiles here tend to be smaller ones without their own websites.  

In general I think this site is freer of scammers then say e e c l.  There is a sister site at

http://freedating.ru.host.inc.ru/index.html

Some of the women are the same some are different.

[juio99]

... in response to Re: Scam or not?, posted by Philb on Dec 9, 2002

Phil, I have corresponded with several ladies on E E C L, and never once encountered any scammers.

JR

[Philb]

... in response to Re: Re: Scam or not?, posted by juio99 on Dec 9, 2002

This site is owned by an agency.  This agency maintains its own web site and also posts their girl's profiles on the E E C L web site.  No where on the site does it mention any of this.  Write to a girl from Y.O. and see how quickly you get hit up for money.

Now is this out right scamming?  Maybe not. But it is less then honest.

There are some other agencies who post profiles on this site that also use some questionable "techniques".

That said there are some agencies that I believe to be honest which use this site also.  

One other thing, maybe I have missed them but I have never come across a girl with her own email on this site.  They all where affiliated with agencies.  Seems a little odd for a "free" site.

Oh I almost forgot here is your "T" Jack ;-)

[davet]

... in response to E E C L, posted by Philb on Dec 9, 2002

This e e c l site has changed over the last year.  I think it was bought by the agency in YO so it is run somewhat differently now than in the past.

Some of the profiles are picked up from other agencies -- some end up being free, others not.

I found my wife on e e c l about 2 years ago.  She was not even aware that her profile had been posted there.

I believe the YO agency that runs the e e c l site now changed from being mainly free to charging about the same time as it aquired the e e c l site.  Although I am not a fan of pay agencies, the reality is that the cost is minor compared to the overall process.

[juio99]

... in response to E E C L, posted by Philb on Dec 9, 2002

Phil, you said:  "One other thing, maybe I have missed them but I have never come across a girl with her own email on this site. They all where affiliated with agencies. Seems a little odd for a "free" site."

I just looked at the site.  For ladies aged 36-45, the latest page posted is page 118.  There are 10 ladies on that page.  I viewed the profiles for each of these 10, and found that 6 of the 10 had their own e-mail addresses.

valia_cher@mail.ru
irsa2002@hotmail.com
LubaQUEEN@mail.ru
helen-nem@rambler.ru
gulsina61@mail.ru
abramenko_alla@mail.ru

I have previously contacted several ladies on that site (however, none of the above) and have never been asked for any money from anyone.

[Zink]

... in response to E E C L, posted by Philb on Dec 9, 2002

I've met girls through this site. What you say is exactly true. Maksim's in Yoskar-Ola controls the site but other agencies also post profiles there. The ladies I met were from Volgograd. I have no idea what the cost to the ladies or agencies is but for every girl I wrote to there, I received a "this is your first and only free letter" response from her agency. I'm not sure I'd call it a scam but it definitely isn't free either.

[Jack]

... in response to Re: Re: Scam or not?, posted by juio99 on Dec 9, 2002

You old timers I don't worry about, to you new guys I want you to know this fine piece of advise comes from someone who says this,....."Biggest losers in world",....the guys who are married to or are marrying gals from FSU are really losers,....And those who aren't yet married are even bigger losers because they can't even attract the less than desirable gals from FSU.

There are for certain a few losers on this list and JR/juio99 is probably the biggest loser of the bunch.

[Jski]

... in response to Scam or not?, posted by KenC on Dec 8, 2002

You could always call him up and ask :-)

domain:   FREEPERSONALS.RU
type:     CORPORATE
nserver:  ns1.nameself.com.
nserver:  ns2.nameself.com.
state:    REGISTERED, DELEGATED
person:   Andrey I Boykov
phone:    +7 8552562618
fax-no:   +7 8552562618
email: junman01@mail.ru
registrar:RUCENTER-REG-RIPN
created:  2001.06.27
reg-till: 2003.06.28
source:   RIPN

Both this and the Freedating one have different contact info and use diferent nameservers, but they have the same contact e-mail address.

[Cold Warrior]

... in response to Scam or not?, posted by KenC on Dec 8, 2002

but true

( copied from the freepersonals forum )

Dear admin !
why I see sexism here ? )))))))))))))))))
I offer  to make a *black list* for man too.
sometimes we receiving such letters, that not only ears making red.  
what do you think about it ?

[Patrick]

... in response to Scam or not?, posted by KenC on Dec 8, 2002

I don't know if the advertising on that site can pay for the site itself or not, but I've only seen a handful of sites over the years that were truely free.  Some people have started these and then realized how much work it is to create and maintain a dating site.  Doing it without any compensation gets to be a drag pretty fast I'm sure.

Have him respond to some of the ladies and if they ask for money for translations to go through some agency, then forget them.  Have him ask them for mailing addresses and phone numbers of women in the first or second letter (or email).  If they don't follow through with providing an address and phone, then have him move on.

It's probably a good idea for him to create a free web based email account to do this so his regular email address doesn't get put on any agency spam lists if it turns out the site is just a lure to join any agencies.

I think avoiding scams is pretty easy really.  Just don't send money!

Another thing to consider is that agency fees are only a very small part of the overall expenses in this.  If he wants any services at all like translation, support while he travels, etc. then I think he would be better off going through a real agency.

I would suppose that free sites would attract a lot of not so serious men who are more into corresponding (without cost) than really making a serious effort to find a wife.  If the ladies on that site have had much experience with men who write and write and write without ever making any commitment to visit, then many of them may be hesitant to start expending the time, expense, and energy to start correspondance with another new guy who they think may be another arm chair suitor.  He should make it clear from the outset that he's serious and will be traveling to meet someone (and be honest about it) when he contacts the ladies.

[KenC]

... in response to It's really pretty simple I would think, posted by Patrick on Dec 8, 2002

Patrick,
All very good points.  I was just asking if anyone here has already done the legwork on this site.
KenC

[Jski]

... in response to Scam or not?, posted by KenC on Dec 8, 2002

This and the other site http://freedating.ru/ is what I used when I was looking.  I'm sure there are some scammers there but the cost is free.  

I found my girl at the one I listed.