Love, Scams, and a Very Strict Internet Timeout: A Story About My Dad

He fixed his hair , setup a profile on RussianBrides.net , and found love online. She (or they) found $10,000.

Author

Vince Porter
April 25, 2026

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Love, Scams, and a Very Strict Internet Timeout: A Story About My Dad

For those that don't know, my dad was a character. And the patriarch of the firm. I wrote one of my most proud pieces when he passed in February: "You Can't Be Both a Good Businessman and a Good Father."

While my dad did a lot of great things and I am proud of him and what he gave me, this might have been the moment I was most frustrated and angered by him. He gave, over the course of a couple of weeks, what he believed was a true love overseas around $10k. From the company account. Without my knowledge. He had been duped by a stranger he met on a some off color Russian Dating website. To set the context, my stepmother had passed several years before this happened.

So he spruced up his hair, got my sister to take a profile pic, built a profile page and he was off and running on the wild west of the internet. This was around 2012 or 2013. He meets what he thinks is the jackpot: a woman half his age, gorgeous, and apparently very interested in a 70-something CPA in the DFW metroplex. I don't fault him for that. Being lonely is hard, and when someone takes a interest in you it is a boost of confidence. I am sure that was a feeling he had not had in some time. Even old men have young memories.

Well, this was all fine and dandy until his new love needed help getting out of a bind. It started small. $200 for a passport. A new pair of shoes and an outfit. “Send me the money for the plane ticket but don't buy it yourself, I am not sure about the dates” she told him. “My mother is sick and needs medicine” she would proclaim. And on it went until something flagged in the company bank account and I went digging. What I uncovered was staggering. They had done a number on him and he never saw it coming, because a newfound love makes a smart man naive. He lost the money. We never recovered it. And I had to put him on a very strict internet timeout.

You remember the Nigerian Prince email hoax of the mid to late 2000s? He showed me that email one day thinking he had hit the jackpot. I should have disconnected his internet connection then.

If this sounds crazy, but it is not. I have since spoken with very successful clients who fell for the same trap. The promise of love makes a man gamble and turn off his better judgment. I have seen clients give money away far easier than they should in hopes of great returns or this or that.

I wrote in October about how sophisticated AI scams are getting . And they are only getting better. A client forwarded us a podcast last week that sent me right back down that memory lane with dad and his Russian romance. Protecting yourself against Financial Crimes

These scams are serious now. If you have any internet presence, bad actors can deepfake your image to send to a relative or clone a loved one's voice to make a convincing phone call. And the old game of love on the internet is sharper than ever.

So , as a word of caution trust your gut. Fact checks anything before you send money. Stay safe out there. And check on your parents , this AI game is prime for elder abuse.

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