Anastasia’s Anti-Scam Policy

It’s not by chance that Anastasia International has become the world's leading Russian-American Introduction Agency. For over fifteen years Anastasia International’s constant commitment to honesty, integrity and hard work on behalf of her members has allowed the industry to raise its standards. The history of Anastasia International has been one of providing clients with genuine, valuable service in the face of other less scrupulous Russian dating agencies whose iniquity tarnishes the reputation of all.

Anastasia International is the first and only agency to tackle the issues of internet dating fraud and anti-scam head-on. There are other Russian singles and mail order brides agencies that conduct honest business. However, in the online introductions industry simple honesty isn’t enough to make a real difference to the consumer with regards to dating fraud. Industry professionals must be proactive and fight scam directly, and here's why:

No agency is an island, and no mail order bride agency can operate independently. All major agencies depend on networks of dozens, (or in the case of Anastasia International over a thousand) smaller dating agencies to register ladies (Russian women and Ukraine women), perform services for members, and fight scam. Whenever a consumer deals with any given Russian or Ukraine brides agency they should keep in mind that their agency depends on numerous other affiliated agencies for scam and internet fraud protection.

If other Russian ladies’ agencies are less scrupulous (scammers), or if a particular Russian or Ukraine woman is disingenuous, the client suffers regardless of the integrity of their home mail order brides agency. Following this, a particular agency simply "being honest" is not enough to protect consumers. What is required is vigilance supported by forceful action against scam. Such attention is the pillar of Anastasia International scam and anti-scam operation.

Anastasia International scam and anti-scam unit has spent over a million dollars implementing an industry-wide business system designed to ferret out less than honest agencies suspected of internet dating scams while helping upright and trustworthy agencies prosper. Creating this comprehensive anti-scam watchdog system to protect and serve our members is a Herculean task as well as a significant financial investment. But Anastasia International’s scam and anti-scam operation firmly believes that the long term survival of our industry depends on stepping up to enforce discipline against dating fraud on the industry level. At the heart of the Anastasia International’s scam and anti-scam unit’s success is the protection she provides her members by establishing and asserting an ethical standard on the numerous Eastern European affiliate partners she deals with.

No other company has come close to investing the energy, time and resources necessary to create a system that obliges participating agencies to operate by strict U.S. business standards and the International Marriage Broker Regulation Act of 2005 (IMBRA). Anastasia International is the only Russian dating company in the industry to even attempt a consumer protection campaign of this magnitude to combat internet dating fraud and scam.

• Anastasia International scam and anti-scam unit is the only agency that maintains a full time anti-scam staff specifically devoted to checking correspondence for fraudulent activity and reacting to reports of suspicious correspondence and internet dating fraud.
• All single Russian women who register on Anastasia International are personally contacted by Anastasia International scam and anti-scam staff to verify their identity and contact information, and to confirm that (1) the Russian or Ukrainian woman exists, (2) she knows and understands that she is a part of Anastasia International’s system and (3) she is interested in finding an American or European husband and (4) understands the terms of her participation.
• No other Russian dating agency comprehensively validates the identity of each and every woman on their site. Every other mail order bride agency in this industry, including Anastasia International’s major competitors, rely on local agencies to establish their ladies' identities.
• When issues of possible fraudulent or inappropriate activity arise on her web site, Anastasia International scam and anti-scam unit launches a quick and thorough investigation, documents all findings concerning possible internet dating fraud, takes appropriate action and reports to her members.
• In all cases where improper or dishonest behavior is found, Anastasia International scam and anti-scam unit removes the Russian or Ukraine lady from her system, fines the lady’s agency and issues a refund to her member.
• Second or third offenses by an internet dating agency are fined more severely.
• A fourth offense results in the mail order brides agency being permanently removed from Anastasia International’s system.

The evolution of the international dating industry bears significant relevance to today’s situation. The industry was founded by dozens of small, family owned agencies helping Western men meet Russian girls and Ukraine girls via postal mail correspondence. In those days, the small agencies in Eastern Europe existed by selling addresses of their local ladies to Western owned agencies who then sold them to their clients. With the advent of email correspondence sites, these Russian ladies' addresses (the bread and butter of the small local agencies) became worthless almost overnight. The days of agencies simply selling the same information again and again became passé.

Subsequently, in order to survive, small Russian dating agencies are required to contact ladies to ensure that they are reading and responding to their email. Essentially they must now actually work for their living instead of selling static data on Russian women over and over. The transition to electronic marketing and correspondence has opened new opportunities for growth but also exposes avenues for potential corruption. So from the beginning Anastasia’s attitude toward small agencies has been simple: Anyone who tries to scam our clients is scamming us. We will react to this with great consequence to those proven guilty.

Most Russian dating agencies see this scenario as a positive change and an opportunity to professionalize and grow. There are numerous participating agencies that flourish within this system and open additional offices in multiple cities. These are the agencies for single Russian women that Anastasia supports, and we applaud the great strides and progress they have made.

Correspondence with a potential Russian bride is a very valuable and potent tool. However it’s but the first in a series of steps towards a face to face meeting with a possible partner. All the advanced technology Anastasia International employs on behalf of her members - correspondence, phone calls, video chat, etc…are preludes to the ultimate litmus test one must take in order to find a Russian or Ukraine woman as a mate. Ultimately, one must go there oneself in order to determine if any one of several Russian women they have connected with are suitable partners.

You must meet your would be Russian bride face to face and spend time with them in person in order to determine suitability to include them in your life, and for them to decide to include you in theirs.

The standard procedure for both Western men and Russian mail order brides when beginning correspondence is to list a brief description of themselves on a Russian dating website. Included is usually a personable, general introductory letter wherein they describe themselves and their life in modest detail together with what they are looking for in a mate. Men send copies of their introductory letters to many Russian women, and Russian girls send theirs to numerous men. Once both people have a better idea of who they are dealing with they decide to begin personal correspondence. At this stage more pertinent questions are asked of potential partners once the field narrows.

This procedure has been standard for everyone since the international dating industry began, whether the correspondence is by snail-mail or email.

Russian and Ukraine women’s agencies that perform match-making services in addition to simply providing introductions are considered more proactive about the process. These agencies take the further step of searching through databases for their clients and sending introductory letters to perspective matches who meet members criteria.

Anastasia International’s email forwarding system links men in America and around the world with Russian and Ukrainian girls who are represented by over 1000 local internet dating agencies.

Local Russian and Ukraine women’s agencies join Anastasia International’s network on a separate Russian language website where they list ladies from their own sites. Some agencies perform matchmaking services for their ladies by looking through our database of men and forwarding a lady's introductory letter to them through Anastasia International. This is considered a proper and wholly ethical matchmaking service performed for the ladies and men on Anastasia International’s system. Anastasia International and the International Marriage Brokers Regulatory Act (IMBRA) do not consider this practice to be internet dating fraud or a dating scam. However, should an agency write further letters "on behalf" of the lady, after the Introductory Letter, this is certainly objectionable to which Anastasia International will take action.

Consumers are sometimes under the mistaken impression that if a Russian or Ukraine girl’s photo and profile is on an agency's website means the agency vouches for the woman, for her character and trustworthiness. This is simply not true. No company can vouch for the character of any man or woman using their services, and no self respecting agency in the business, including Anastasia International, will make that declaration.

The only measures a forthright agency can take is exactly what Anastasia International does; keep a vigilant eye out and aggressively react to inappropriate behavior and possible internet dating scam scenarios when they come to her attention. The response of any professional organization should invariably be to investigate all reports, come to a clear determination of the facts, document the findings in detail, and if there is a problem, resolve it. In the case of a misunderstanding a reputable Russian dating agency will make the facts clear. If fraud is found, they should refund a member’s fees and insure that the perpetrators are removed from their system.

This is precisely Anastasia International’s approach. She does it every single day and strongly urges her members to immediately report anything that seems suspect in their correspondence. Anastasia International will immediately look into the issue, speak with all parties involved and take appropriate action to protect her members best interests

It’s impossible for any Russian dating agency to anticipate and prevent all instances of internet dating fraud or web scam. However, Anastasia International has made significant progress by screening and monitoring both it’s Russian dating affiliates and ladies who register on her site. As a result, Anastasia International has been successful to a large degree in sorting out undesirables and possible scammers from this industry.

To put the scale of the problem in perspective, Anastasia International has approximately 400,000 pieces of email moving through our system every week with from 20-30 complaints about suspicious activity that may involve internet dating fraud. About half of those cases turn out to be misunderstandings or situations where gentlemen have unrealistic expectations from the system.

Running an email-based correspondence system such as Anastasia International’s is a highly complex task. This is why Anastasia International’s is the only company that has been able to be effective and deliver for her members time and again.

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