^macro[html_start;Indicted couple allegedly used Internet to bilk lovelorn men;Indicted couple allegedly used Internet to bilk lovelorn men;Indicted, couple, allegedly, used, Internet, bilk, lovelorn, men, cybercrime, Hacking]
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<center><FONT FACE="Arial"><h3><b><font color="#333366">Indicted couple allegedly used Internet to bilk lovelorn men </b></font><br></center></h3></font>
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Source: <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/"><b>Signonsandiego.com</b></a><br>
<b>By Alex Roth</b><br>
Date: May 17, 2003
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 <img src="../img/img9.jpg" alt="Stop Internet scams" vspace="0" border="0" align=left hspace=10>
A husband and wife have been indicted in San Diego federal court on charges of using the Internet to sucker lovelorn men into shelling out money for prospective Russian wives and girlfriends who didn't exist. 
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The case was one of several cited by Attorney General John Ashcroft in a Washington, D.C., news conference yesterday to announce a crackdown on Internet scams. 
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Ashcroft said federal authorities have charged 135 people with Internet scams in recent months. The crimes range from conducting bogus auctions to setting up fake banking Web sites to collect account numbers. 
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In the San Diego case, a San Bernardino County couple was arrested earlier this week on charges of using the Internet to pose as Russian women seeking companionship. These fake women would strike up online romances with unsuspecting men and then ask for financial help to travel to the United States to meet them, according a federal indictment issued May 7. 
 <a href="http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20030517-9999_1m17wives.html"><b>Full story</b></a>
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