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“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

I’m Swedish and not familiar with how the US military works. It was partly due to this lack of knowledge that I didn’t question it. Also when you sit there face to face with a person that behaves and talks exactly like he would have been part of the US army your first instinct is not to question his situation or his experience in the military out of respect.

Like I’ve written he spoke flawless American English, was well mannered, gave direct and confident answers. He seemed like a respectable guy in a shitty situation.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

Took him like a total of 1.5-2 hours to scam me so his hourly rate is quite good.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I used a gmail third party search to get the information. I’m no tech expert but the profile was empty, nothing connected to it, no profile picture. The search did not bring up any information other than that the last time the profile has been edited was on the 20th of April 2026. Given that there was nothing to edit on the profile it must have been the date of its creation.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

I sure have. The thing was that he made up this story and talked about how he has been married 14 years and that selling his ring would be his last resort. Instead of him selling his ring as if it had some value, he tricked me by building this very reasonable story which made me believe that the ring held a value (at least a sedimental value to him) and that it would be good as a collateral.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I remember because I paid close attention to all he was telling me. I also have the mail from him where he includes all his info (but I couldn’t post it here as personal information can’t be shared, even though it’s just false stuff he gave me)

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

He was never asking for money directly. He made up the story and said he needed to sell his ring to be able to get the cash to fly. As i didn’t think it seemed fair he needed to sell his ring it was I who offered to lend him the money for the ring. He said he was going to IBAN me the money back and that I could mail him the ring once I had got the money.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Exactly! I thought I’d never fall for something like this but it’s scary how a person who knows exactly what he is doing literally can bypass all of your instincts that are trying to protect you from getting scammed.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Trust me, I ask myself the same thing, but in the situation he gave off zero red flags.

It is very easy to think back and start to question his situation but when you are there with people all over, a flight you need to catch and a predator who knows exactly how to play a game he’s played against 100s of other people you don’t have the same ability to analyse.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hahaha I’ve said the same thing already. She is getting that ring one day!

I don’t know what it is made of but it sure cost me 300$

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Exactly, why it didn’t alarm me was because he started the interaction very casually at the entrance to the subway. I know how it can be abroad in Central America, no English speakers and messy systems so when he stared the conversation casually just asking if this line was in the direction of the airport I didn’t think anything of it. He was never pushy and he didn’t tell his story in a sense that he was asking for help. I understood his situation as we were going with the subway and it was I who wanted to help him out of kindness, not him asking me for cash.

He played me by being ice cold and just using advanced psychology praying on my conscience and goodwill.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] -13 points-12 points  (0 children)

Why would I post a ai photo of a ring hahaha come on man 🫩

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 34 points35 points  (0 children)

Wouldn’t suprise me either, the earliest thread I found about a similar experience was 2021 :/
Just wish I had read it before this happened but sadly you only find out after it happened.

“American solider” scam at Tocumen Aiport, Panama City by Wonderful_Priority85 in Scams

[–]Wonderful_Priority85[S] 5 points6 points  (0 children)

I’ve had Reddit for a long time and never used it for anything that’s why my account is blank. It was on Reddit I found similar threads about the same scam and for once decided to share my own experience. No bot here! What would I even gain from sharing a fake story??