@Lisa, they are a pest!
The funny thing - to me at least - is that this is perhaps the <em>worst</em> place to try and pull off this type of scam. I get people messaging me who say they are American or British (someone asked me what province of the UK I was from, and also said they were from the UK but now lived in Scotland!) and they barely speak the language. They are often learning Chinese, Russian, German, or Spanish. They usually say they are engineers. And the dead wife is a very common ploy. I confess, I often play with them for a while because I figure if I keep them busy, they aren't bothering anyone else.