Gerhard or Detlev (Gary) Pinkus or Pincus

He is German or Russian
- creates an illusion that he is an influential, powerful, rich individual with many high-ranking contacts, frequently referring to them when contacting his "marks"
- creates a situation of emergency, when he was robbed or scammed in a foreign country (preferably Poland)
- asks to send money to him to pay for food, hotel, or collateral he needs to pay in order to get released (car rented, passport taken, etc.)
- receives money via Western Union from all those contacts, sometimes using nationals of the country where he is currently in (so that wire transfers are not actually in his name)
- maintains contact with his victims (marks) until he is sure i) there is no danger and ii) there is no potential to extract more money from the mark
- usually disappears, or, better, arranges a conflict with his mark, in order for the mark to feel guilty

He is in Athens, Greece now... be careful...