Earlier this week, I got a call from a very concerned daughter. Her 50-year-old mother, Jean, was about to send a $5,000 MacBook Pro to a man named Keandre Thomas.
Jean is a talented professional quilter who shares her work in a popular Facebook quilting group. That’s where Keandre first reached out—complimenting her quilts and striking up a conversation.
Keandre claimed he worked on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. He sent her photos, flattered her, and over time, a relationship developed. But the first photo he sent her was already a red flag—it was a low-quality image printed on copy paper and folded into thirds.
I began digging.
I ran multiple reports. There was no record of a white male named Keandre Thomas in the U.S. database. That alone was suspicious.
Then came the emotional manipulation. Keandre told Jean he had cancer and needed her help. He claimed he was waiting on a paycheck from his employer but needed a new laptop in the meantime—to keep working. Jean, being kind-hearted, sent him the expensive computer.
By the time her daughter found out, the MacBook had already been shipped—to an address in Chicago. Jean gave me the full address:
1440 W Taylor Street, Apt 1801, Chicago, IL 60607.
Something didn’t sit right with me. He says he works offshore in the Gulf of Mexico—but lives in Chicago? That address sounded familiar, so I looked it up.
It was a shipping store.
Through further investigation, we discovered that hundreds of packages had been shipped to that same PO box—and all were forwarded to Nigeria.
At that same moment, Jean’s phone was ringing nonstop. Keandre was frantically trying to confirm the package had shipped. I told Jean to answer the call.
As soon as he heard our voices in the background, he hung up.
I immediately advised Jean to call FedEx and attempt to stop the package. Thankfully, it had just been shipped the day before.
FedEx was able to intercept the shipment. The MacBook was returned to Jean—and with it, a huge sigh of relief.
Jean was so grateful she sent me a handwritten thank-you note and a $250 check for my time. But truly, catching the scam before it was too late was the real win.
🚨 A Few Takeaways:
- Be wary of online strangers who flatter and love-bomb you.
- Be extra cautious of people claiming to work on oil rigs, military bases, or in faraway countries.
- Watch for red flags like low-quality or oddly printed photos.
- Scammers often use shipping stores as mail drops.
- If it’s too good to be true—it probably is.
We’ll be posting photos and screenshots (with private info redacted) on our Facebook page to help spread awareness.
Romance scams are real—and they are targeting kind, creative people like Jean every day. Please share this story. It could save someone from heartbreak and financial loss.
— Renee Brewer & The StillWatch Investigations Team
